A Cat By Any Other Name

“The space shuttle is floating over Texas,” I heard from Richard as I staggered, barely awake, from bed to the bathroom. I mumbled something unintelligible. “The space shuttle is floating over Texas,” he repeated. “Killing all the astronauts.” And as the words sunk in and I realized that something about that statement seemed horribly out [...]

The putt-putt-putt noise made by my car when I stepped on the accelerator turned out to be an extremely expensive something-or-other gauge that is part of the smog system. Nearly $500 and two days at the mechanic’s later, at least it’s fixed and there are only the usual noises from my car. Now if I [...]

It has been windy all week. Incredibly windy. Windy enough that even the mere thought of going bike riding in this wind makes me curl up into a little ball, stuff my fingers in my ears and sing “La la la la” until the feeling goes away. However, my dear husband really, really wanted to [...]

We finished our bike ride yesterday and had just reached the exit to take off the freeway to get home when the phone rang. A friend we’ve been trying to meet with for a week or two now was on the other end. Her mom is one of those marvelous people who not only loves [...]

This just hasn’t been our week for cars. First there was the putt-putt-putt noise in my car, which necessitated us having to leave my car for several days at the mechanic and then fork over large amounts of money for the privilege. Next it was Richard’s car, which went in for its normal maintenance and [...]

Sunday morning we went to choir practice and ran through a song that has a tenor part so high that this is now one of the few times when they are all grateful they’ve got a woman singing tenor. I may have to occasionally shift to my ‘falsetto’ voice (yes, women can do them too [...]

I woke up this morning to a sore throat, a stuffed head, and a large amount of frustration. Not again! I sat there in bed and pondered the fact that this is now the third time in less than two months I have come down with this same whatever-it-is. And I decided that maybe, just [...]

She got into the car with me and the look on her face told me something had gone wrong. Again. “He’s smoking again,” she told me. And this time I wasn’t so surprised. The first time it was a shock. How could it not be, to find out that someone you thought you knew had [...]

For the first time in two days I can (mostly) breathe through my nose. Of course, I still feel as if I’m hearing everything from down a long tunnel, since sinus pressure does such wonderful things to the ear drums. But at least it’s going away. Always nice to know that I’m finally on the [...]

It gets harder and harder to leave each time I have to go. I pack early, so that I have time to wander the house and pass all the things I forgot to stuff into my suitcase, like my phone charger, or extra socks. But then once I’m packed and everything is loaded into the [...]