Two Words

MOVING AGAIN

* more to come...

I Live in a Small Creature HOUSE

So I have great topics to write about, but I can't help but post this. I AM SICK OF THE BUGS! and I AM SICK OF THE MICE! Get the picture? A week ago I came home after taking Willoughby on a walk and went to throw something out under the sink when I notice something grey and moving in my trash can. Screaming I slammed the door to the cupboard shut and waited for Dhrumil to come home, all the while hearing scuttering of tiny feet. When Dhrumil got back I was so overwhelmed with mice that I hardly noticed the beautiful roses he brought home and made him get to work right away. He covered the trash can with something and brought it outside. When he came in I found out that there wasn't one mouse there were THREE MICE. That makes a grand total of 6 mice that I have encountered since living in this old farmhouse. I now have two more traps set up...

That's not all. Because it's been getting a little warmer and MUCH damper with all of the rain (making my roof leak in the bedroom, but that's another story) we have had more ants and spiders. Going downstairs in the basement is like entering spiderville. I just went down there an hour ago with my can of Raid... I left laughing thinking "I hope no Harry Potter like Spider comes to attack me for killing all it's babies" I SHOULDN'T have even thought that. While dusting about 20 minutes later I noticed something in the curtains. THE BIGGEST spider I have ever seen that hasn't been in a zoo. I screamed and ran for the Raid again. Needless to say I'm out of Raid, my dinning room smells like Raid and I'm waiting for Dhrumil to come home to throw the thing out. I don't know how I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.

The Bandaide

** I wrote this post a few weeks ago but was so busy with life that I am just now posting it...**

Today I’ve been doing some self evaluation and it’s all because of a snoopy bandaide. For some reason ever since I entered college and started buying my own bandaides I have been drawn to those with cartoon characters on them or patterns and colors. I never really thought much of it until this past week when both Dhrumil and I got cuts. Dhrumil happened by his cut while putting together our new grill and ran to put on a boring tan colored bandaide. Later it became dirty and while getting ready for a black tie event he asked me to grab him a new bandaide. I grabbed the first one that was in our first aide kit and it happened to be one of my snoopy ones… he shrugged, put it on and we went to the event. While there someone pointed out his wound in a “nice bandage” sort of way and the next day at church someone asked, “what happened to your hand?” I had to defend his manhood by stating I was the guilty one who picked Snoopy over tan. Yesterday I cut myself and again the first bandaide I came across was good Ole Snoopy. I was asked at work by a trader, "what did you do to your finger, interesting bandaide…" and then boom it hit me. My fetish with fun wound covers was not because I wished I was 5, but because growing up we never got the “cool” bandaides. No matter how much I asked, my parents would always revert to the tan ones. Little did I know, but I was spouting my newly discovered life mystery to the trader who shrugged and said his kids loved cartoon bandaides, I guess they’ll never struggle with my issues. So the question is… do I buy these bandaides for my future children or do I stay with the more practical and probably cheaper tan and let them discover what I’m discovering now at 27.

Moms

It’s hard not to notice Mother’s Day coming up… the commercials about flowers and cards, the TV programs about moms, the stories and news spotlights and the call I got from my mom on Sunday when she informed me my gift can be to pay for the calla lilies she is planting in her yard. So it was no surprise when I found an article about moms on cnn.com. What caught me about this particular article was the list of questions to ask your mom. I sometimes wondered about these things, but have never taken the time to ask.

1. What’s the one thing you would have done differently as a mom?
2. Why did you choose to be with my father?
3. In what ways do you think I’m like you?
4. Which one of us kids did you like the best?
5. Is there anything you have always wanted to tell me but never have?
6. Do you think it’s easier or harder to be a mother now than when you were raising our family?
7. Is there anything you regret not having asked your mom?
8. What’s the best thing I can do for you right now?
9. Is there anything that you wish had been difference between us – or that you would still like to change?
10. When did you realize you were no longer a child?

I really like number 10… I’ve never thought to ask this, but I myself am always wondering when I will stop feeling like a kid.

When my mom comes for a visit next week I’m going to go out for coffee and ask her these questions… I’m looking forward to hearing the answers!

Happy Mothers Day to my amazing mom and to all my friends who are new moms this year. I’m looking forward to the time when I will join the ranks of the selfless nurturers and hope I can do half the job my mom did with me.

Icky Bugs and Little Mice... a story of creatures

So I've been having my share of wildlife in the past few weeks... unfortunately this doesn't have to do with cute creatures, rather those beings who make me want to lose my lunch.

First... we got back from Mexico and Dhrumil finds a dead mouse in our basement. Thankfully I didn't have to witness that. I did feel sad for the mouse... we have no clue how it passed away. Perhaps killer spider?

Next... I was about to take a shower and a nasty multi legged bug runs out. I screamed, grabbed the Raid and that was the end of that bug.

Then... I noticed our mouse friends were still around by the beautiful presents they left behind under our kitchen sink. Without thinking I purchased a half covered mouse trap, set it up myself without asking the assistance of my husband, and then forgot about it. Two days later I bent under the sink to grab the trash... and there was the murder scene. All I saw was the back part of the poor mouse, but that was enough. I screamed and then wept. Yes I did... called Dhrumil crying hysterically because I was part of the terrible act of ending the life of the mouse. Next time I'm going to buy a safe the life mouse trap and let them out in a field.

NOW... just got back from a movie. State of Play actually... very awesome movie. Anyways the theater is a little dingy, but you can see well, which is a big thing for someone who is short. After the movie we were walking to the car, I felt something bump me, looked down and saw the BIGGEST cockroach EVER. Ok to me it was big. I have therefore concluded that it was on me during the movie and made its escape during my flight to the car. AHHH

Please no more creatures. I'm off to shower off the roachness....

The Lanyard - a beautiful poem by Billy Collins

ElisaBeth and I have been spending the past few Sunday nights watching a movie called Little Dorrit on PBS. Last night, before the movie, there was a clip of someone reading a poem called "The Lanyard". I didn't realize that 'someone' was a very famous poet named Billy Collins. I usually don't like this type of artsy stuff, and when the poem began I did find it a little corny. But once it was over, I realized how sweet the poem was so I wanted to share it.

You can also watch Billy Collins read it here:


The Lanyard - Billy Collins
The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

Happy Birthday To You!

My birthday was two weeks ago and it was an AMAZING day! :) I was so blessed to be able to turn 27 in Mexico. Dhrumil made the day so special for me...

It started with a relaxing massage the melted everything away! When I came back to the beach I found Dhrumil with snorkel masks he had borrowed from the resort... we proceeded to go into the waters we had been swimming in the previous days and discovered a whole other world right under our feet. Crazy I had been swimming around not knowing so many fish were swimming with me...also a little freaky. ;-) After an amazing time on the beach we headed back to the room and ( was greeted with rose petals, champaign and a birthday cake! We ate the cake on our balcony overlooking the ocean... so peaceful. The day ended with a surprise romantic dinner on the beach where we were serenaded by a violinist.

I am now back home in CT replaying that day in my head. Such a carefree day... so full of relaxation, no cares in the world and love.

The reason I have been thinking about my birthday today is because I finally received my parents birthday present. :) My mom picked it out and being the creative person that she is I found in my mailbox "Happy Birthday to You!" a book by Dr. Seuss. I have never read this book and after reading it I not thought it was funny and cute, but I felt extremely empowered! Here is a small excerpt...

"So we'll go to the top of the toppest blue space,

The official Katroo Birthday Sounding-Off Place!

Come on! Open your mouth and sound off at the sky!

Shout loud at the top of your voice, "I AM I!

ME!

I am I!

And I may not know why

But I know that I like it

Three cheers! I AM I"

How awesome is that? It makes me excited to be me. :) I am special because I'm me. :) Think about it...