Month: February 2007

I got home and Doug was still in a very unusual mood- he was a bit glum from the not-so-typical-Monday. This is what occurred when I walked in the door.

I set down my things, gave him a long hug, got slippers on, put my hair in a pony tail, and thought to myself, “a margarita sounds good. I bet Doug would like a Margarita.” The line from the song popped in my head “in margaritaville…” I thought to myself, “Jimmy Buffet likes margaritas. I wonder when he will be in town next. Doug says he doesn’t come very often, if ever. I wonder if he will be anywhere close anytime soon. I should take Doug.” So, I sat down, Googled Jimmy Buffet, went to his Margaritaville website, and clicked on the tour. There was several listed, and Illinois in July didn’t sound good. There was a show in Frisco Texas in April that just started selling tickets today. “I wonder how much tickets would cost.” By the time Doug came back in from barbequing some steak, I had found two tickets.

“Wanna go? I’m serious… wanna go?” I asked him. I was only partly serious, but it did sound fun. Besides, the idea was forming in my head as I spoke- I have no idea what to get him for his birthday. This would do nicely. I pulled up a map to find out where Frisco is- north of Dallas. “Wanna go?” I turned to see two tears just starting their streaks down his cheeks. He was smiling, and gushy, because no one had ever done that for him before. “Wanna go?” The smile said it all, so I paid for the tickets right then and there. The whole thing took less than ten minutes. The entire thing is now only an hour or less old. Spontaneous. That is something that we both love in the other person.

He has been to two Buffet concerts, I have never been. So, now I have a month and a half to learn more about the side of my husband who is the Parrot Head, and we are both looking forward to it. At this point, we have this planned out for this event better than our honeymoon. We know a full month and a half ahead of time what we want to do. On our previous trip, we had plane tickets that nailed a few things down, but only a week ahead of time, but that was far more open ended. And ironically, we will be sitting for about the same amount of time to travel to the destination that we sat for Australia. One is 70 mph, the other is 570 mph.

Did I mention spontaneous? Margarita anyone?

We have been in the swirling dance of God’s plan this month, as minute by minute, day by day, where we are going to be living April first changes. If the house sold, if we could trade it, if we were to go month to month in the apartment, etc. There were several hits on the house and several walk thoughs, but today was the expiration of the six month contract with no further interest. We have decided, since we have one month left at the apartment, that if we are to do a month-to-month situation, that we would rather do it with the amount of rent in our pockets instead of out the door. So, we are headed to the house this month, piece by piece. The bedrooms need new carpet, as the carpet was almost original to the house. The main rooms were replaced a few years ago and are still in very good condition. And we have decided that we want to give the interior a fresh coat of paint before we move in- we are thinking a very faint cream yellow. So, we have several things to do this upcoming month. Wish us luck.

herding cats.

Actually, it is herding cats. Each night, when it is bedtime, we go to round up our two kittens to put them in the laundry room for the night. I don’t like them roaming around at night crashing into things. We also don’t let them in the bedroom, which means the closed door keeps the bedroom really cold, and we open it up at night so the air flows better. Cats on your face while sleeping, or cats biting your toes, is not what either of us have in mind. So, we put them in the laundry room each night with fresh food, water, toys to play with, and their beds and box.

For Sadie and Sprite, it is an end to getting into mischief each day, and they don’t ever want to stop playing or being with us. So, they avoid us when we go to round them up. Sprite has learned all the places she can run to in order to hide and avoid getting scooped up. It takes two of us some nights to stealthily sneak up on her from both sides, and even then, she scoots out from under our reaching grasps. Under the table, between the chairs, behind some boxes, squeezed between containers, repeat in a random order. Eventually, she makes the wrong move, and is caught and put in with Sadie, who doesn’t resist her fate as much, but still would rather escape when the door is opened to put Sprite in. A sturdy wooden chair is placed against the bi-folding panel door, (they have learned to push on it and open it) and then the job of rounding them up at night is done.

That is if we put fresh food and water down first. If we did that second, sometimes we have to catch both cats all over again. At times, our already sleepy minds don’t quite remember the order, or just don’t care, or believe that we can open the door, block it just right, and put food and water in, without them getting out. It is a daily comedy we can look forward to.

But yeah, sometimes it really is like herding cats.