Remember when you were a kid in school and there was always one kid who had parents that seemed a lot older than most of the other parents? Or, when you were in your 40s and you heard about someone your age having a baby... and thinking, "They are going to be in their 60s by the time that kid is out of high school"?
Joan and I were young when we had Steph. I was 7, Joan was 6. There were times it felt like that. We were never "the old parents" at any school gatherings. And when Steph went off to college, we often heard, "I can't believe you two have a kid in college!"
And now, we are parents of a kid who is contemplating retirement in the next few years.
All that aside, we are now... the old parents. Cat parents of a feline who has a lot of energy... maybe a bit of ADD.
This morning, I took Murphy out before 7:00. A glorious morning, with our outside thermometer reading 67º. Today is forecast to be the first day in a long time where the high temperature won't reach triple digits; and the first time after 21 days in a row where we aren't expected to break a record high temperature. But, I digress... Murphy enjoys his outdoor time. For some reason, he has decided that Steph and Dan's yard is more interesting than ours. Our yards combine in an "L-shape" and we both have decent size yards.
Shortly after going out, Murphy trotted over to Steph and Dan's yard. I dutifully followed him and steered him back to our yard; where he decided it was time to poop. Yes, he will poop outside. In fact, he prefers to poop outside. TMI? We have a container of poop bags for immediate clean-up. We share a poop container with Steph and Dan at the far side of the house. I walked the poop bag around, fully expecting Murphy to walk along with me. But, no - he waited until I got back to our yard, then took off running for the "neighbor's" yard. I followed him over there, corralled him, and steered him back to our yard.
This went on two more times (for a total of 4, for those keeping score). Murph finds this quite amusing, as he is much faster than his older cat Dad. Did I mention the yards are a decent size? It's a bit of a walk every time I have to go after him and bring him back to his own yard. Murph obviously has more stamina than his old Dad, because he could keep this up all day.
After the 4th time, I scooped him up and brought him inside. Shortly thereafter, Joan went outside with him... and, of course, he took off running for the other yard. After a couple times of that, Joan opened our patio door and said, "Jim, call your cat." I can tell Murphy is in trouble when she calls him my cat.
One of us thinks it might be worthwhile to use a tazer on him. I won't mention which of us, but I am a pretty good shot. I don't want to hurt him, just slow him down a bit. And I figure after getting tazed a couple dozen times, he might learn to stay in his own yard. And it is a lot less effort to chase a tazed cat than one who is capable of running faster and jumping higher (is he wearing Keds???) than his aged human parents.
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Popular...
In the past 10 years, we have been residents in 3 different states. Which means we have been registered to vote in each of those states. Apparently, those who send out texts and e-mails from every candidate haven't kept up with our moves... no doubt, you have been getting all kinds of political spam from every direction, as well. The next 4 weeks is going to be even worse - we are getting down to the wire with the upcoming elections, so every candidate, every PAC, every group that gets their hands on voter registration info is looking for a donation and my vote. I'm tired of it. Just tired of the non-stop barrage of pandering and the media coverage of it all. Even YouTube is showing me political ads before I can watch a van, scooter, travel, camera, etc, etc video... and I entertain myself with YouTube videos.
If a registered voter hasn't made their mind up on candidates and issues at this point, I would not trust them to be intelligent enough to vote. That's 3 weeks of advertising dollars being pissed away. That should give you some idea of how a candidate expects to "compensated," when their advertising budget exceeds their compensation for holding any particular office. No, that doesn't sound right to me, either.
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Making Music...
I got together with my music buds today. Only the second time since we got back from our summer trip. It was good to see everybody; well, almost everybody: our bass player Danny couldn't make it today, because he is dealing with a family medical situation. We all missed having him there. Mark, Ron, and I took turns playing bass. Or, as Mark put it: "5 guitar players is more than enough." It was still a good time making some music.
And while the boys were playing, Cindy and Joan went out for lunch and did some retail therapy.
4 comments:
What a fun game. If I run into the neighbor's yard, Dad chases me. Yay! I doubt you can convince Murphy to not do that. The only that will is if it becomes boring - no chasing, no activity of interest.
You know cats. You can tell them what you want, but they won't listen. And I feel you on being the old cat dad. When Duke gets rambunctious, it is best to just let him run it out. I cannot keep up.
Glad you got to make some music with Mark and friends. I'm wrestling with a "problem child" at our weekly bluegrass jam. It is to the point where I need to ask him not to come anymore. So it is good to hear of a situation that is working.
Patty here. On the other hand, we had our children late, the last one when I was 44! I was 36 with Lydia and I remember her asking me, "Why did you have me when you were so old?" Compared to her friends, you understand.
That is a tough situation, with your "problem child" at your bluegrass jam. Maybe suggest he start his own jam group? Or suggest that he take up a new endeavor, like discussing politics online?
I am sure Murphy thinks his forays into Steph and Dan's yard is a fun game. I can't let him go over there unsupervised, in case he would discover that he can jump that 6' high wall... I would be hard-pressed to trespass into a neighbor's yard to get him back. I am leaning towards a tazer. ;-)
Hi Patty - nice to hear from you! If Lydia should ask that again say: "When a husband and wife really love each other, there is a 'special hug' they do... and that's how we had you." Offer to go into *much* further detail - that should eliminate any further discussion of that matter. ;-)
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