Incoherent Scribblings

I’d like to start this post by thanking Dawn and Kathryn who nominated me for the “I ♥ Your Blog Award.” I really appreciate the fact that there are still people out there who not only read my blog, but even go so far as to ♥ it. Of course, I know the “rules” for receiving such an award, but I’ m afraid the buck stops here. It isn’t that I don’t ♥ lots of blogs, but like memes that get passed around I feel these things border on chain letters.

Anyway, I am sure my five loyal readers are wondering what the heck I have been up to lately. Have I been stitching? Have I been reading? Have I been faithfully serving my feline masters? Have I been sitting around on my duff all day pretending to work? Well, the answer is yes on all accounts.

I have actually been stitching some. In fact, I even have some progress to show as soon as I get off my duff and take some pictures. Maybe I will even spoil you with two posts in one day and show it later tonight… then again, don’t count on it.

I have also been reading. A lot. I am taking another class this semester and this one is called “The Literature of Dissent,” which means we are reading “social protest literature.” This is an American Literature class and we are covering materials published between 1853 and 1940.

I just finished reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle for class this week. If you haven’t read this book, I would recommend it. However, given the nature of the story, I would also recommend that you skip dinner if you are planning on reading it. (Anyone who has read it will know what I mean!) Once I got past the repulsive descriptions of the meat-packing industry in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, I actually began to appreciate this book. In fact, I think I will probably write my critical analysis paper on it.

I have also spent quite a bit of time at the vet’s office the past few weeks. First Scooter had an ear infection. When I took him to the vet to get some antibiotics, the vet recommended that he get his teeth cleaned. I knew that the vet would say this because Scooter has a history of chronic gingivitis, so I wasn’t unprepared. Later that week he got his teeth cleaned. Of course since he is 13 years old, I also had the vet do “geriatric” blood work to make sure all his organs are working fine and that I wouldn’t have another case of feline hyperthyroidism on my hands. A week later, Mouse had to go to the vet to get her blood drawn and her thyroid pills refilled. They are both fine, but two vet visits sure put a crimp in my budget this month!

The fact that it is early in the semester also means that I have spent a lot of time working. And not just Monday through Friday 8-5 (or in my case 8:30-ish to 5:30-ish) either. I have been keeping very busy and even putting in a good amount of “overtime” (which in my case equals comp time.) I want to blab a bit more about work, but I will save that for another day.

And finally, I alluded all summer to a social life and if you have noticed the tags on my password-protected posts, you have probably realized that I have become involved with a man. In order to protect his privacy I won’t discuss that any further here, but I will mention that I have been writing a great deal concerning this development in my life. However, most of this writing is not fit for public consumption… even as password-protected posts.

Nevertheless, this development in my life has also prompted me to do something that I had been contemplating for many months. I have finally officially filed for divorce from A. I have to admit that in a way I was using the fact that I was technically still married as a way to prevent myself from becoming too attached to anyone. While I did not actually file for divorce because of my involvement with the new man, getting involved with him made me realize that I was ready to be free of the remnants of my marriage and move on.

If you have reached the end of this post, I congratulate you and as a result, nominate you for a new award that I made up at this very moment: The “I ♥ You for Reading My Blog!” Award

How many times have you heard the phrase, “I am tired of games” in conjunction with romantic relationships? Like me, I am sure you have heard it more times that you can count and I am sure you have probably uttered it once or twice yourself. However, when it comes to love, it’s always a game.

It might be like tennis: You volley phone calls, attentions, and/or affections back and forth. It might be like basketball: You shoot, you score, or maybe you foul out. It might be like chess: You strategically plan your next move and hope that your opponent doesn’t outwit you.

But the object of any game is to win. So any move, no matter how slight, is carefully calculated and evaluated until eventually someone has enough points to consider him or herself the winner.

But what does the winner of this game achieve? Everlasting love and devotion? A good romp in the sack? Something in between? Is there really a winner or a loser?

Sure the game can get old, but I keep playing it because if I don’t life is just so damn boring…