Oscar Meme

I totally stole this from MAW.

You're supposed to highlight the ones you've seen. No matter when it was. Even if it was yesterday. Or in a past life.

Hell, if that's the case, I've seen 'em all!

Yeah, I'm a cheater like that.


1980. Ordinary People, Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess

1981. Chariots of Fire, Reds, Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982. Gandhi, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict

1983. Terms of Endearment, The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies

1984. Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier’s Story

1985. Out of Africa, The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi’s Honor, Witness

1986. Platoon, Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room with a View

1987. The Last Emperor, Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck

1988. Rain Man, The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl

1989. Driving Miss Daisy, Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot

1990. Dances with Wolves, Awakenings, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, Goodfellas

1991. The Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides

1992. Unforgiven, The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howards End, Scent of a Woman

1993. Schindler’s List, The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day

1994. Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

1995. Braveheart, Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino (The Postman), Sense and Sensibility

1996. The English Patient, Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine

1997. Titanic, As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential

1998. Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line

1999. American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

2000. Gladiator, Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic

2001. A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!

2002. Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

2003. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit

2004. Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways

2005. Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich

2006. The Departed, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

2007. No Country for Old Men, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

2008. Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader

Yeah, these past couple of years, I haven't been to the movie theatres much.

And I miss that.

How did you do?

Later,

Mama Dawg

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

This one is titled: "Where Is Rizzo?"

Well, by the photo, you can tell that she's at my place of business. Just hanging around watching me work.

She's awesome, isnt' she?





When I opened the box and took her out, of course, I started playing with her.

And I discovered something VERY Rizzo like of her when you pulled her arms straight back.



I swear, she'd be a hit at Mardi Gras.

And yes, that is my daughter forcing her to do that.

I expect my Mother of the Year award in the mail any day now.

If you want to have some more foto fun, head on over to Candid Carrie's.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Still?

On Sunday after church, LOML and I had lunch and then went to the park so I could get my 4 miles in and she could play on the playground.

When we arrived at the park (which is located next to the high school parking lot and a residential zone), we could see some kids on the playground.

LOML was excited. Sometimes when we get there, there's no one around and she gets sad and bored.

However, this time there were some kids there.

I parked in the parking lot that was behind the play area. We got out of the car and I got my gear together. iPod=check. Bottle of water=check. Kleenex=check.

LOML got out of the car and got her jacket on.

I went ahead and started walking while LOML got her stuff together. As I got closer to the play area, I could hear the kids loudly yelling. Since I had my earbuds in, it was mostly noise, but the closer I got to the playground, the more distinctive the words got.

And boy, were they some ugly words.

Little kids (younger than LOML who is almost 9) saying "fuck you" and "ass" and "shit".

I was shocked but, hey, they weren't my kids. Mine knows better.

I did worry a little though that she might not have as much fun as she was thinking if the kids were this "rough".

I make my way around the walking path and notice that by this time, LOML had made it to the playground.

I kept an eye on her as I walked. I saw her on the slide and the climbing structure.

As I got about halfway around the path, I hear "Mom" real loud. I turned off my iPod and turned around.

She's running up to me with tears falling down her face and gulping air.

When she reached me, she said "They told me to get out of there".

Confused, I asked her "What do you mean?"

She said, "A girl told me to get out of there.".

I asked, "Do you mean the playground"?

She said yes.

Oooohhhh boy. The mama bear in me woke the hell up.

I started to storm over there all the while LOML is yelling at me not to go over there.

She decides to go back to the car while I'm storming over in a huff.

I can see that the kids at this point have noticed me coming over but to their credit, they didn't run.

I marched right into the playground and demanded in a LOUD voice, "Who said it"?

They immediately started pointing at each other.

I asked it a couple of more times, all in the same LOUD (not yelling) voice.

I finally said, "Someone told my daughter to get out of here".

Some little girl spoke up and said, "We didn't tell her that"!

I asked if she was lying then.

They didn't say anything.

I then told them that she has as much right to be there as they do and that it wasn't right for them to tell her to leave.

I then went on to tell them that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for cussing since they're only kids and that if I heard one more cuss word out of them, I was going to track down each of their mamas and inform them of what they had been doing.

They all just stared at me and didn't speak another word.

I walked back to where I had left off in my walk and continued on. When I got back around to where the playground was, I noticed that they had all left.

I assumed that they were going to go home and tell their parents what happened.

Since I hate confrontation, I decided to leave after just a half mile of walking.

I went and got in the car and started driving around.

The more I drove, the more angry I got.

I was NOT going to be that person that gave up something like a nice safe walking path just because I didn't want to face a potentially angry parent.

So, I sucked it up and went back. I parked the car. LOML stayed inside while I started on my second lap. Halfway around, I saw this white car pull up and this HUGE woman get out.

I wanted to pee/vomit/shit so bad. I just KNEW this was going to go bad.

But, I held my ground. I took my earbuds out as she approached me.

She asked me what had gone on because her kids came home crying about some lady at the park yelling at them and calling them "black bitches".

I was STUNNED! SHOCKED! HORRIFIED! that these kids had gone home and told their mom this.

She started off by saying how she had some white folks in her family and she hates that some white people around here treat the black kids this way and that she doesn't hate white people and on and on and on.

I literally couldn't speak I was so shocked.

When she finally stopped talking for a minute, I managed to tell her exactly what happened and that I did NOT, under any circumstances, call any of the kids "black bitches".

She said that she knew that some of the other kids that were there were trouble and were known liars but that her kids generally weren't.

At that point, I asked her kids, with her standing right there, if I had actually said those words.

Their mama looked at them and told them to tell the truth.

The looked from me to her and back again. They finally said that no, I didn't say that and that it was the other kids that told my daughter to get out of the playground and that they were also the ones that lied about me calling them names.

The mama looked appeased at that point and the crises was diverted. They all got in the car and left.

My knees were shaking. I was so terrified that some sort of big issue was going to be made and that there was going to be a beat down with me as the recipient.

After I got over the now non-existent reason for fear, I started thinking about how that mama IMMEDIATELY assumed it was a racial issue because my daughter was white and the other kids were black.

And it broke my heart.

That because of how things are around here, it's STILL an issue today...in two thousand FREAKIN' nine!

Come on people. Get with the program. Get over this hatred you have of people that are different than you. Get over yourselves. Trust and believe that you are NO BETTER than anyone else on this earth. Get your head out of your ass and have some compassion.

And I'm not talking about that mama either. She just went on the offensive and I understand that.

I'm talking about all the people that live here that make it to where she has to go on the offensive and immediately assume that the problem was a racial one.

I sometimes literally get sick to my stomach at the hatred that still exists today.

I try my best to raise my daughter not to listen to the racial slurs that are spoken in mixed company around here. I tell her that it's wrong and that it's a banned word in our house.

I did learn something valuable about myself out of this, though. It was not all for naught.

I learned to take a pro-active stand for something that I wanted and to not let fear beat me down.

No matter how big she was.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Mama Dawg, The Demon Slayer

I had the most awesome dream on Sunday night.

As you know, I like my Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Don’t judge. It’s a well-written show.

That and it has hot male vamps. Hello, Spike! You can find me here on this blog every day!

That being said, it was an awesome dream.

I dreamed that all these demons were breaking into my grandmother’s house where a bunch of us lived. I can’t remember who all lived there but it seemed like it was people from high school, a couple of bloggers and some friends.

At one point, I realize that LOML is not with me and I go to find her. I find my mom and LOML is with her all safe and sound. I start getting all teary and say that if we’re all gonna die, I want her to be with me when it happens. My mom wearily nods her head and passes her on to me. For some reason, she was in a helicopter.

Anyway, she flew away. Demons were coming at me fast and furious and I couldn’t very well fight them off with LOML just hanging around.

We ran as fast as we could behind the house where I found some rope. Somehow, I got the idea in my head that I would just tie her on to my back and I would fight the demons with her strapped on like that.

I also had the problem of trying to keep a backpack strapped on that had all of our supplies plus food inside of it. So, I just strapped that on her back.

At this point, I look like a deformed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

However, for some reason, it seemed to work.

I went back out into the fray and slayed demons left and right.

Despite the obvious danger elements, I woke up feeling invigorated and driven.

On the way into work, I started thinking about the dream.

I remember a lot of my dreams when I wake up but I don’t really take the time to analyze them. Usually the dreams consists of snippets of conversations or TV shows or thoughts I’ve had during the day.

But this one stayed with me long after I awoke.

And I realized that what I felt during the dream was a sense of purpose. I had a goal.

Granted, the goal was to not get killed by a demon, but still…I had a reason for fighting. A reason for living.

Now, I know, I know. LOML IS reason enough for living.

And I’m quite content in my little neck of the woods.

But I feel like I need to be doing MORE. You know?

I need to have something to strive for. Some sort of attainable goal. Something that makes me passionate.

I don’t have that in my life.

I’m not really a passionate person. I have brief moments of great passion, but they fizzle before I can really even come to terms with the idea/goal/object.

I’m working on something that I think might give me the release I’m searching for.

However, it’s a project that takes patience.

And as my mom can attest, that’s something I sorely lack.

So, I’m trying to curb my impatience. I’m trying to wait to see if I can breathe some life into it.

Sigh…..I hate being patient.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

It's Monday and I'm busy already. Today's version of "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest) will be short and sweet and really kind of disturbing. We haven't had one of those in a while, so, here you go.

Get some flashback action. Who would you do: Ethel Merman or Shelley Winters?

As usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

Have a good(?) Monday.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Karma Chameleon

I'm a chameleon.

I am Bartholomew Cubbins.

I am stressed.

Part of my quirky Gemini trait is the ability to blend. The ability to change. The ability to multi-task.

And it's stressing me out. It's gotten to be too much.

I started thinking about that this past week.

I am a different person with each person in my life and the people in my community.

And I'm getting exhausted trying to keep up with all of them.

I think that one of the reasons I started this blog was to let the real me out. The freaky, silly, weird, strange, lovable, funny one out.

The only place where I can be me 100%, well, take that back....90% of the time.

There are things I'll NEVER share with all of you.

And that's as it should be.

At least one of you knows another part of me. A part of me that I've never shared with ANYONE. And I thank you for keeping your silence.

But, in my life, in my community, in my job...I have to be a different person.

At work...I have to be quiet. I can't share my crazy stories about things I've done. They are so ultra conservative here.

Yesterday, my co-worker and I were treated to lunch as a thank you for working hard on a project. It was 2 co-workers, my immediate boss, my big boss and an auditor. I let it slip that one time I got kicked out of a club and they were SHOCKED. They said that they could not see me as the type that could get kicked out of a club.

Little do they know. I've gotten kicked out of a couple of clubs. And those are MINOR stories. Those are nothing compared to what else I've done.

I also stay quiet out of necessity. I'm surprised that I've not bitten my tongue clear off due to the crap I hear at work.

So.....I keep quiet.

As for my community? Well, I live in a small conservative town. Again, I can't let my freak flag fly around here. I would be labeled as trouble, or a bad egg or they wouldn't be able to define me at all because I'm so different.

And I'm not saying that because I think I'm special.

Cause I'm not. Or, no more special than anyone else on this earth.

In addition, my family lives here. I can't do or say anything to embarrass them.

So.....I keep quiet.

My neighbors know a few quirky things about me, but they really don't know much. I see the looks L gives me sometimes when I say or do something that doesn't jibe with the little microcosm that we live in.

So.....I keep quiet.

I have to keep quiet about things around my mom. I can't tell her anything anymore. I don't know if it's so much I can't as I won't. With a few exceptions, anytime I share, I get criticized or I get a lecture. When I have something big to talk about, most times, I just want someone to listen. Not advise or lecture or tell me I'm wrong or share war stories. Just listen. And she's not so good on that part. She knows that, too. We've talked about that.

So.....I keep quiet.

Around my daughter, of course I have to keep quiet. First of all, she wouldn't understand what I'm talking about or going through. Second of all, I need to PROTECT her from some of the things I think about or want to talk about. At least for now. Plus, she needs to be a kid...not a confidant.

So.....I keep quiet.

But, I'm getting stressed from all the silence. From all the harshness that's come into my life in the past few weeks. From all the negativity. From all the hardships due to lack of money.

However, I will tell you...I've "met" a few people through this forum that I've been able to actually talk to. On the phone, through e-mails, facebook, whatever.

And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you've done for me. It may not seem much to you, but really, you listened (or read).

And that means a lot.

Thanks,

Mama Dawg

"With Relish"

I have lots of stuff to talk about but nothing's finalized yet. I still haven't figured out how to tell you exactly what happened last week. I wrote the Army Captain a letter and he should receive it any day now. I think the letter actually sums it all up pretty well but until I know he's had time to receive and absorb it, I'm not gonna share. I might never share. I'm thinking about maybe just sharing some excerpts from it because it ties in to what I've been struggling with over the past few days.



Whew...that said, I got nothing.



I was at Wal-Mart last night and found myself a little pick me up.

Is that not the AWESOMEST thing EVER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm not a Barbie collector. I love Barbies and played with them religiously when I was younger. My daughter is a HUGE Barbie fan as well.

However, I've never paid more than $20 for a Barbie. I don't collect them and keep them in their little plastic boxes never to be opened and played with. I am a FIRM believer that if you buy a toy, duh, you rip the box open and play with it IMMEDIATELY. That's why they're TOYS!

Anyway, I saw this in the clearance section last night and I HAD TO HAVE IT!

I'm a HUGE Grease fan and Rizzo was by far my favorite character. About 80% of my waking day, I feel like a Rizzo. I connect with her in a HUGE way.

Yeah, this totally made my week. I got a Rizzo doll. And for only $10!

Told you I could shop!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Bits and Pieces

I've got nuttin' but bits and pieces today.

I'm feeling better. Both physically and emotionally. I'm working my way through some stuff. I'm actually writing it down. Like with a pen and paper! Wow. I haven't done that since high school. It seems to be helping. Thanks to the writing and physical activity (who knew it was so medicinal?), I'm doing much better. Thanks to everyone who's been concerned. You guys are terrific.

Still not at the point where I'm ready to talk about it, but I'm getting there. I do have a very important post to post sometime this week...maybe. We'll see. I just don't know how much to share, you know?

---------------

Sigh......I feel the need to retreat. Do you ever have those days where you want to get away from it all? Where you just want to leave everyone and everything for just a short bit of time? And be totally 100% alone? I mean, completely alone? Like Tom Hanks in Castaway? Find your own Wilson and whatnot?

---------------

So, I had yesterday off of work. I had to take Max to get de-balled. He is sooooo pissed at me right now. I mean, he's giving me the "death look" all the time. Except when he's in sleepy mode. Then he lets me love on him and snuggle with him. He seems to be recovering well.

---------------

I have to tell you guys what happened last night. I was in bed with a cup of tea, watching an episode of Buffy on DVD and painting my nails (Deep Chili in case you were wondering) when I heard that tell-tale scrabbling of little feet in the walls. I waited a couple of minutes and I could hear something rustling around in the kitchen. I got up stealthily (is that even a word?...if not, it is now) and rounded the corner into the dining room. I heard a mad scrambling and heard something run by my feet. I turned on the light in the dining room and saw a single saltine sitting at the entry way into the kitchen. The sight of that single cracker made me want to laugh. It was like I interrupted a break-in or something.

Anywho, I made my way into the kitchen and turned on the light. I heard some scrambling around in the pantry shelves and saw the shadow of something fall to the floor. I bent down and looked under the pantry and saw the biggest effin' rat! I tried to trap him by using a yard stick (quit laughing, I'm not Steve Irwin, y'all) and a rolling bin. It only caused him to run back up into the pantry shelves.

There he sat. 4 feet tall and carrying a big stick (ok, ok, he was more like 8 inches long, fat and had beady eyes, but still....he was scary). We stared each other down. I gently stood up on a stool and grabbed a butcher knife (one of my good ones, too, dammit) and eased back down. I very slowly moved a box that was in my stabbing range, all the while never taking my eyes from his.

All of a sudden, I lunged. I missed. He ran. Right past Max who, bless his little heart, tried to get him but he was still recovering from the anesthesia and his reflexes were too slow.

It was chaos as I tried to chase the rat all around the dining room. He ended up disappearing (how do they DO that?) and I gave up the chase for the night.

This morning, when I went into the kitchen to make coffee, I found the saltines box on the floor and a package of saltines sitting up right in the pantry.

Damn rat.

---------------

Swirl Girl sent me some interview questions. I love doing these. I don't know why. Probably cause it's all about me, me, me!

What 5 cd's could you listen to over and over again?

Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack, Uncle Kracker's "No Stranger to Shame", Shaggy's "Hot Shot", Jonny Lang's "Lie to Me" and Madonna's "Immaculate Collection".

What 5 articles of clothing would you have with you to wear for what could possibly be forever?

Jeans, sneakers, sports bra, my old LMHS football manager shirt that has paint splatters on it but is incredibly comfortable and a hat. Yes, I left out underwear. Yes, I know that's gross. But so is keeping on the same pair for eternity. I can't win that one.

What 5 foods (let's say there are endless supplies of whatever these may be) would you be willing to eat until/if you are rescued?

hummus, grapes, edamame, carrots and Hershey's Special Dark

What 5 people could you stand to possibly spend the rest of your life with?

LOML, Mimi, Vicky and I got no one else. Sorry.

What 5 blogs are a must read daily?

The Captain's, MAW's, The Irish, Ryan's and Jess's. If I only get 5 minutes on a computer, these are the one's that I immediately click on to check to see if there's a new post. I adore everyone that I read, but, these are the ones that are a must for me every day.

There's some rules to this, but I'm not in a rule following mood today (am I ever?).

---------------

Oh, lordy. While at home yesterday and writing my little heart out, I needed a break so I went to my room and stumbled across my hurricane bag.

My hurricane bag is one that I keep packed at all times with important papers in the event I had to evacuate for a hurricane and didn't want to take the time to find everything. Since I really don't need it much anymore, I've kind put it out of sight and forgotten about it.

I opened it yesterday and realized that at some point, I had cleared it out of important papers and all that was left was manuals to purchased items and some folders.

Boy, what a treasure trove of blog fodder did I find in those folders!

So embarrassing, but for your enjoyment pleasure, I'll post something from the folders each week.

Brace yourselves, it's bad high school poetry, writings and quotes.

And I mean BAD! LOL!

That's enough for me today.

Hope your Wednesday is going well.

Later,

Mama Dawg

To Tide You Over...

...till I get back to regularly scheduled posts.


Yesterday, we went to the creek again and had a picnic. This time my mom went with us and snapped these first two shots. We're acting all goofy on top of the hay bale!



She's so gonna hate me one day for always trying to lick her in pictures. But she tastes so good! LOL!

She's fake sleeping in this pic. We were both laying out on the hay bales and enjoying the breeze and the sunshine.

Spring has sprung in these here parts.

These are so cheerful. They never fail to bring a smile to my face.

More signs of spring.

So delicate.

These blue bottles are all around the magnolia tree at my grandmother's place. I love 'em. So shiny and blue.

Is this what they mean by rolling in the hay? Cause if so, Max has it down.

City kids have cable. We have rotten logs to kick.

First attempt at climbing a tree. I've tried for years to get her to do this. But, she finally caved in. I took her to the HUGE magnolia tree in my grandmother's yard and showed her which limbs to use.

Success!

Happy Tuesday!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

Good Monday post-Valentine's Weekend Morning.

How's everyone? Anyone get lucky?

We have a bit of a different spin on today's "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest).

In this one, you have to quickly choose between the two choices given. There will be a total of 10 answers.

You have 30 seconds to go through the following list and make your rapid-fire selections. Who would you do?

Pee Wee Herman or Herman Munster?

Jennifer Aniston or Jennifer Jason Leigh?

Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks?

Burt Reynolds or Bert Convy?

Marilyn Manson or Charles Manson?

Meg Ryan or Ryan O'Neal?

Richard Gere or Richard Chamberlain?

Hilary Swank or Hillary Clinton?

Larry King or Billie Jean King?

Sandra Bullock or Sandra Day O'Connor?

And, as usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

Later,

Mama Dawg

P.S. About this weekend.

It was both bad and good.

Bad because it got cut short. Saturday morning, he got a phone call from his brother informing him that his mom was in the ICU at the local hospital with some sort of kidney infection. Because his mama lived about 10 hours away, he decided to go ahead and get on the road so he could go be with her. When I talked to him later, she had been moved from the ICU to a regular room and was recovering. Even though I was disappointed that the weekend was cut short, it was completely understandable. I don't know how many times he apologized to me about having to leave. I kept telling him to quit apologizing and to just get on the road to go see his mama.

The good? Well, what I wanted to happen, did indeed happen. But, what I came away from this weekend with was not a feeling of satisfaction. Not due to any performance issues or anything. In fact, it has nothing to do with sex at all.

I came away from this weekend a changed person. And, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. All I can say is that I've had a difficult weekend emotionally and I'm still a bit raw from it all. I'm working on trying to get it down on paper, but it's still a work in progress. So, bear with me if over the next few days I either don't post at all or what I post is raw. And no, he didn't hurt me. So, don't get all angry at him for my emotionally wrecked weekend. He didn't DO anything to cause this.

Bow Chicka Wow Wow

The title says it all.

That's what I'm hoping to be doing this weekend.

Love and kisses to all your naughty parts my bloggie friends. Well, you can self love and self kiss or have a spouse or partner do it. I'm not gonna be doing the kissing of your naughty parts.

I should stop while I'm ahead.

Have an excellent Valentine's Day to you all!

See y'all when I get back from Birmingham!

Later,

Mama Dawg

The Other Light of My Life Finale

When I bring him home, I realize that I need to come up with a name for him. I went through the usual “black” names. Joe, Blackie, Blackberry, Java, Coffee, Blackbeard, etc….but nada.

None of them seemed right and he wasn’t responding to any of them.

I then started saying any male names I could think of. Bill, Dan, Bob, Richard, etc…

The minute I said “Mike”, he turned his wee head, stared at me with those luminous green eyes and meowed.

Swear to God.

He meowed.

So, Mike it was.

Mike and J.D. got along great. They played with each other and kept each other company.

During all this time, I noticed that his eyes were getting bigger and bigger. It was almost to the point that his eyelids wouldn’t close completely over his eyes.

I also discovered that the nerves in his eyes must have been dead or not there at all. Mike and J.D. were chasing each other through the apartment and Mike turned and swiped J.D. in the face and ended up scratching one of his eyeballs. With blood dripping from his eye, J.D. continued to chase Mike around the house. He was not even aware that his eye was bleeding.

That was my wake up call to take him back to the vet to get him checked out again.

The eye situation bumfuzzled the vet and she didn’t know exactly what was wrong.

She told me I basically had two decisions to choose from.

I could get some eye drops and drop them in his eyes 7-8 times a day to keep them moist or I could have his eyes taken out.

I looked at the vet long and hard and asked her what she would do if this was HER cat.

She said that she would have them removed. It would be the only way he wouldn’t suffer.

So, $2000 later, we had the surgery. J.D. was no longer just a blind cat but he was now an eyeballess cat.

He looked like a lion. They had to shave part of his fur around his eyes and so the fur around the cheeks stood out making him look all majestic. They also ended up cutting a couple of whiskers.

Poor kitty. For a few weeks, he walked around in circles due to the clipped whiskers! It was kinda funny.

About 6 weeks or so after his surgery, I was over at my mom’s house with the cats and J.D. was sitting near my mom or on her, I can’t remember when. Anyway, she shushed me while I was in the middle of talking and said “listen”. I strained to hear what she was hearing. All I could hear was purring.

Wait….purring….from J.D……who had NEVER PURRED IN HIS TIME WITH ME!

He was PURRING!

It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard.

About a month after that, he meowed for the first time. And cuddled and loved up on me and snuggled down.

When I went to the vet for a follow up a while later, I mentioned this to the vet and she said that his eyeballs were putting such pressure in his little noggin that he was probably in constant pain and didn’t feel like purring or being cuddly.

They did do a biopsy on his eyes and they were cancer free and glaucoma free. They were never sure exactly what was wrong. But, they gave him a clean bill of health which is all I cared about.

He truly is a miracle cat. It is so funny to watch him “watching” bugs that fly around (he can hear their little wings beating, that’s how he follows them). He is also very adaptable to his surroundings. I used to be afraid to move furniture or leave boxes and bags in his way, but, over the years, I’ve learned that it doesn’t bother him. He senses they’re there and will walk around them. The only times he bumps into things now is if he is running and not taking his time.

I found out in Christmas of 2007 that he has a heart problem. It’ll probably be what kills him. His heart is also throwing off clots to his back legs and for a while there, he wasn’t using his back legs AT ALL. He would drag himself around. It was to the point I was researching how to make a wheelchair contraption for him to get around in.

The vet gave me some meds and it’s pretty much under control now. However, I don’t anticipate having him much longer. I want to keep him forever, but I know that’s not the case.

So, I just enjoy every day that I have with my love.

That’s all I can do.

Thanks for reading.

Captain Dumbass…I’m done. You can come back now.

Later,

Mama Dawg

The Other Light of My Life part 2

Somehow or somewhere, I heard about a non-profit no-kill shelter that was constantly looking for volunteers. It was about 45 minutes away, but I started going there regularly on the weekends.

About a month into my volunteer services, I arrived on a Saturday morning and saw the new kitten that had been brought in the night before.

This little ball of dirty fur was in its own cage separated from all the other cats and kittens.

I went over to check out the new arrival and before I actually made it all the way over to the cage, I could see the fleas and smell this awful smell.

I dubbed the kitten Orphan Annie and proceeded with my volunteer duties. I would check on it periodically throughout the morning and before I left, I asked the front desk clerk what the story was behind the drop off. She said that some man came in Friday morning saying that he rescued it from some dogs that were about to attack it. He didn’t want to keep a cat so he dropped it off to them.

I went on with my day, running errands and whatnot. I went to bed that night thinking of that kitten.

On Sunday, I got up and went out to the shelter again. I check on Orphan Annie’s progress and noticed that it was even more lethargic than the day before. I tried to coax it into playing with me, but to no avail.

I asked the desk clerk what would happen to the kitten since it seemed so sick. She said that they had already made the decision to put it down the next day when the volunteer vet was making his rounds since it appeared to be fatally ill. They also didn’t want any of the other cats or kittens catching some sort of disease that Annie might have had.

Although this made sense to me, it still broke my heart a little. Even though it’s a no-kill shelter, they still had to take precautions as well as remain humane for the animals sake.

So, with a heavy heart, I said good-bye to Annie and left for the day.

I didn’t sleep a wink all night.

I got up the next morning, skipped classes (I was in my second year of community college) and went to the shelter, praying I was arriving in time.

I got to the shelter and ran to the front desk asking if the vet had made his rounds yet and they said that normally he would have been there and gone but that he was held up at his clinic and was running late.

It was FATE.

I don’t care if you believe in it or not. This is a real life case of FATE.

I went to the cat house, snatched up little Orphan Annie and ran out of there like I was on fire. All I had in the car to wrap it up in was an old flannel shirt. The whole hour drive back to my apartment, all I could do was pray and cry, cry and pray.

I arrived at the vet’s office and literally walked in with this kitten wrapped up in an old flannel shirt, crying and begging them to save it.

They took us immediately to a room and unwrapped the shirt. The vet came in, took one look and told me there was nothing they could do for it. That the humane thing was to put it to sleep.

I asked them to take a closer look and to make sure that nothing could be done.

They hesitated but went ahead. They cleaned it up, discovered what I thought was a she was actually a he (no real basis on why I thought he was a she, it just seemed fitting. I had never “peeked at the goods” so to speak) and re-evaluated.

He had ear mites, he had fleas, he had an infection, he was dehydrated, he was blind, he was OVER A YEAR OLD! They based this on the fact that all the teeth in his mouth were permanent ones.

Yet, he only weighed a little over 1 pound.

He was THAT malnourished.

They sent me home with a bathed and flea free cat. They told me that the infection would probably take him sometime during the night and to be prepared. They said if he survived the night, I was to bring him back in the next day for a follow up and a course of treatment.

I stayed up all night. Just holding and petting and giving him water and trying to encourage him to eat. He took a few small bites and drank a little bit of water.

He lived through the night.

I took him the next morning to the vet. They gave me vitamins, ear mite meds, antibiotics and feeding instructions.

Over the course of a month, he gained 4 pounds, shed the ear mites and fleas, got rid of the infection, learned how to use the litter box and learned the lay of the apartment. He rarely ran into anything.

After I had had him for a few months, I decided he needed a playmate since I was working full time and going to school part time.

At this time, I was also looking for a new apartment since the one I was in was getting too crowded and the lease was about up.

I found a complex across the street from the one I was in and fell in love with the apartments. When filling out the application, one of the questions was if you had a pet. I said yes and discovered that the apartment manager was a cat lover. She said that her boyfriend’s cat just had kittens and asked if I wanted another one. I thought about it for a second and asked if I could come see them.

She gave me their address and I went the next weekend. The kittens weren’t weaned yet, but they were at that really adorable stage. I fell in love with the tiniest one and they told me they would call me when I could come pick him up. They’d have all the initial shots done and then would pass him on to me.

A month or so goes by and I go and get my new kitty.

To be continued......(last entry tomorrow)

Later,

Mama Dawg

The Other Light of My Life

No, I don't have another kid.

This is about J.D. My cat.

I've gotten several e-mails and comments asking about J.D. and his lack of eyes, so I thought I'd do a series of posts on him.

For those of you that hate cats or hate reading stories about cats, you may want to come back another time.

If you look at my header up above, you see a cream colored cat “staring” right at you.

That's J.D. It stands for James Dean (although his vet swore it stood for Jack Daniels).

Yes, THAT James Dean.

I’m a HUGE James Dean fan. I think he was probably one of the most brilliantly talented actors to grace the silver screen and it absolutely sucks that he shined so bright yet so brief.

If you look closer at that picture, it looks like he has his eyes closed.

But….if you look even closer, you’ll see that that’s not the case.

He has no eyes.

Nope, not a single one in his furry little head.

Back in 1997, I was living in an apartment with my then best friend, Mimi (of the Mama Dawg was a Drug Mule story).

Wait…..

I need to give you some background info first.

I’m a HUGE animal lover.

When I was about 5 or 6, I caught a tiny minnow in the ditch behind our house. I took him home and put him in a small Tupperware bowl full of water and named him Squirmy.

We lost Squirmy later that night after I decided that he needed a bath since he smelled bad.

Yes, you guessed right. I went and got that little Tupperware bowl that housed the doomed Squirmy and dumped the entire contents, poopy water, fish and all, right into my bathtub that was full of soap, Barbies and me.

Did you know that soapy water will kill a minnow?

Yeah, I found out the hard way.

When I was seven, a tiny black kitten was dropped off in the street in front of my house. My mom found him and convinced my dad to let us have a cat. His name was Pirate and I loved him with all my heart. He was the tiniest little thing ever and I adored him…for all of 3 days. Then he just kind of faded into the background of my ever expanding life. I still loved him and took care of him, but my life didn’t revolve around his every need. He got sick and had to have an expensive operation which my mom paid for (mostly due to the waterworks I shed). My parents separated and my mom, Pirate and I moved to Florida. He lived until the ripe old age of 11. I was 18 when he disappeared from my life. All I can figure out is when I was taking out the trash one night, he slipped out the door behind me and either crawled off to die or got hit by a car or someone catknapped him. Whatever happened, he was out of my life. I was heartbroken. So heartbroken, I went to the shelter EVERY DAY for a month searching for him.

While at the shelter, I found a cat that I just felt had to be rescued. I took him home and called him Boots O’Malley.

I’ll make this one real short. We didn’t mesh. I put an ad in the paper and gave him away to a family that was able to incorporate him into their lives much easier than I did.

Also at this time, I was preparing to move out of my house and into an apartment with Mimi. We had a good friendship and were real tight and things were flowing smoothly. To make a long story short, life happened and the friendship got strained.

I got depressed.

To be continued:

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

Awwww....guys, it's a lovely Monday morning. No sarcasm....I'm feeling good today!

Here's a bit of a different Who Would You Do? (book by Susan Segrest) this morning.

Enjoy!

Which of these movie moments would you want to participate in: any sex scene from The Big Easy with Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid, Jason Biggs and the pastry from American Pie, the bit in Ghost when Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore make out over the pottery wheel, the tabletop scene in The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange or the menage a trios with Matt Dillon, Denise Richards and Neve Campbell in Wild Things?

And, as usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

And......how was your weekend?

Later,

Mama Dawg

Contest Winner!

I'll be in touch shortly.

Congrats!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Totally Random Post For Like The 541st Time

Normally I do a photo on Fridays, but I'm tapped out right now on photos I want to share.

So, you get a totally random useless post.

This morning on the way into work, I heard a song I have not heard in AGES!!!!! And I had totally forgotten about it.

It put such a smile on my face.

Here's a vid. It's just a vid with the song playing and the lyrics running across the screen, so there's not much there visually.






Here's a random sampling of crap that I've twittered recently.



I keep telling you people I have useless info in my head, but no one seems to believe me. Or if you do, you choose to overlook it.



"I got Rick rolled by my own iPod. Dammit!"



"I look like a freakin' Muppet w/my shaggy hair & I had a piece of glitter on my chin. Such is my life. Sigh...*closing eyes in exasperation*."



"I always get all warm inside whenever I win a game of Klondike on my iPod & all the Kings clap & holler & cheer for me & my win! Yay me!"



"Whenever I listen to "Give It Up To Me" I always forget I'm a white southern chick instead of a black Jamaican man. I heart you Sean Paul!"



"chasing dragons with plastic swords"....futility at its best.



"reggae always reminds me of drinking raspberry beer and painting at Virginia's house while her dogs drove us mad. Ahhhh...I miss those days."



"How is it possible for there to be "Too Many Fish in the Sea"? Have you seen the sea? It's frickin' HUGE!"



"Oh, Uncle Kracker, you can eat crackers in my bed anytime. As long as you sing "Aces & 8's" to me while making crumbs."



"I'm in such a Rizzo mood today."



"Kid Rock, when you sing "Fat Bottomed Girls" I so want be your bitch!"



"Psssttt....don't tell the Baptist Nazis I work for, but I'm listening to "Closer" by NIN on my iPod. Shhh......."



"Answer me this, what does Elvis mean when he sings "like the one-eyed cat, peepin' in the sea-food store"?"



"Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche" so nice 2 know that someone @ least is wrapping up their sanitary products, even if it's men."



"Have you noticed that I'm only funny in my own head? No?"



"It's been-a-fish-you-air-eeee.....not been-a-fish-you-ware-wee....silly woman."

And, I did manage to find a photo I wanted to share. It's actually over there on the right side of my blog, but here it is larger.

She got to order 21 BOOKS from the scholastic book order forms and she was ecstatic! Here they are all spread out!

What are your plans for the weekend? Anything exciting planned?

Later,

Mama Dawg

I Love It When It's All About Me

Pseudonymous High School Teacher sent me some questions for me to answer when I had a free chance. Well, I had a free chance.

Enjoy! P.S. If you're not reading her...why the hell not? First of all, she lives in Hawaii and post the most awesome pics and videos. If that's not enough of a draw....well, dammit, that should be enough right there. I dare you to go read her. She's like a bag of Lay's chips. You can't eat just one. Or, in this case, read just one entry.

1. If you could hook up with anyone for one week of the hottest sex ever, and it could be anywhere, where would you go and who would YOU do? (in honor of Mondays at Mama's)

Hmmmm....Birmingham, AL with an ex-boyfriend from high school who's now a Captain in the Army and is getting ready to be deployed BACK to the Middle East in July.

Oh, did I tell you guys that my ex-boyfriend from high school that's a Captain in the Army made plans for us to meet up in Birmingham next weekend? No? My bad. Sorry.

2. If you could time travel back in time or forward in time for an afternoon of hanging out and chatting, what time period would you visit and who would you visit with?

Hands down, easiest question.

My grandmother when she was young and hot and awesome back during WWII. She had some adventures. And when I say that, I mean clean healthy fun adventures, not wild ones (no sarcasm, my grandmother was a good girl). Her stories are so awesome from back in that time. And she was a stunner, I tell ya. I'd love to watch the men who watched her (not that she would have ever known they were watching her) as she walked down the street.

3. Someone wants to set you up in business and is willing to invest one million dollars. You have to use this to start your own business. What business would you go into?

I'd love to say my jewelry making, but if I'm gonna be realistic about this, I would have to say setting up some sort of warehouse/shipping business over the Internet. People always need things to be stored and then shipped when sold. But, I've not given this much thought. It was just off the top of my head.

4. You are going to be given one superpower. What do you want and why?

Invisibility. I'm a voyeur.

5. If you won a two week vacation with LOML to anywhere, where would you like to take her?

As much as I hate to be cliched, I gotta go with Disney World. I would love to take her some place new and different and with some more history, but if it's a free trip for two weeks and I want a guarantee we'll have an incredible time? Yeah, it's Disney. It NEVER fails to put a smile on our faces.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Conversations With A Lesbian Demon

Mama Dawg: So, Ms. Lesbian Demon…may I call you LD?

Lesbian Demon: Actually, you can call me Ellen. That’s my God given name.

MD: Really? You know, there’s an actr…

LD: Yes, yes I know. I hear about it all the time. Keep in mind, I’m waaaaayyyy older than she is, so she actually has MY name. Not the other way around.

MD: Sorry.

LD: That’s all right.

MD: So, anyway, I was at work yesterday and my co-workers were having this HUGE conversation about sins and what is and what isn’t in the bible and then….I don’t know how this happened, but they started talking about Lesbian Demons.

LD: ? Go on.

MD: Well, it got me to thinking…what if there really IS a Lesbian Demon? How cool with that be?
LD: Very cool. And, there is one. Me!

MD: I know! I didn’t believe at first. In fact, I wanted to get real snarky and say something like “Call Buffy to come slay the Lesbian Demon” or “I bet on Angel they never had to fight one of those”.

LD: Didn’t they fight something like that in Charmed? Maybe I’m wrong.

MD: You watch Charmed?

LD: Hello? Alyssa Milano? Major hottie!

MD: Yeah, you’re right. Remember her as Sam from “Who’s The Boss?”

LD: Yeah….sigh…she was so young and innocent then. And rather flat-chested. I’m so glad she finally grew some boobs.

MD: Ermmmm….okay.

LD: I’m sorry. I got distracted. You were saying?

MD: So, as I was saying, I thought it would be cool to ask a Lesbian Demon some questions. Is that o.k. with you?

LD: Sure, as long as they don’t get too personal. I do have a rep to protect, you know.

MD: Really? Like what kind of rep?

LD: You know, cool and hip and with the times. Please don’t make me confess that I actually loved “Little House on the Prairie” when it was on.

MD: Um, too late. You just did. You did know I was doing this for my blog, right?

LD: Uh, yeah. Can we scratch that?

MD: No, sorry. I need to fill up space and that takes up like 10 spaces right there.

LD: Sigh…..o.k. If you must, leave it in.

MD: Thanks! Anyway, I wanted to know why you choose some women to be lesbians and not others.

LD: Depends. I mostly look at their personality and determination and ability to weather harsh words and bigotry.

MD: Huh? That makes sense. How come you didn’t choose me to be one? I think I’d make an excellent lesbian. I love boobs, I have short hair, I like sports (somewhat), etc…

LD: My dear, those things a lesbian does not make. And not all lesbians like sports and have short hair. Those are just surface qualities…wait, you like boobs?

MD: Yeah, who doesn’t? They’re fun!

LD: You mean you like some other than your own?

MD: Again, who doesn’t admire a nice rack?

LD: Oh, you’re talking about admiring….that’s different than liking them. Anyway, my child, it was not your destiny to be a lesbian in this life.

MD: Why not?

LD: Don’t you know? You were destined to be the mother of the most wonderful girl who will grow up to change the world one day.

MD: Really? LOML is going to change the world? Boo-Yah! I knew she was destined for greatness.

LD: Yes she is.

MD: So, is she like gonna be the President or discover the cure for cancer or some sort of humanitarian?

LD: That’s for me to know and you to find out, my dear.

MD: Are you like in 3rd grade or something?

LD: No. Why?

MD: Never mind. Continuing my questioning…

LD: Sorry to interrupt dear, but a new soul just came into this earth that has the exact qualities I’m looking for so I must run for now.

MD: Oh, hey, no problem. Talk later?

LD: Most definitely.

To be continued……

Oh, and for the record, there really was a conversation at my place of business about lesbian demons. It's what prompted this little incomplete Q & A. There are truly times when I actually say "WTF" in my head at the conversations I hear around here. *shaking head in dismay*

Later,

Mama Dawg

Super Fun Sunday!

Screw the Super Bowl!

LOML and I had a blast on Sunday.

After lunch, we went out to visit my grandmother and decided to take Max down to the creek since he hadn't been there before.

For those of you who have been here for a while, this is the same creek that LOML and I catch fish at.

On the way down, we saw this neato deer track.

Of course, the further we walked, the more we saw!



Here's the creek while I'm standing on the bridge. The water's actually high right now.

Sigh......I could stare in her eyes all day long.

Look how HUGE Max has gotten. He certainly doesn't look like the same bedraggled puppy I took in months ago, does he?

I took this pic while laying down on the bridge. And no, Captain Dumbass, I did not get a splinter in my ass.

I went and got over in near the bank and took this pic of her sitting on the bridge eating her snack.

I'm the Queen of the Hay Bales and you better not forget it!

I also love this pic of her. All rosy cheeked and flush with energy and excitement

Here's LOML up on the hay bale. She had a blast.

Here she is sliding down it.

I have no clue, but it's a cute pic!

She had no clue I was taking this while my tongue was stuck out! She laughed about it later, though.

A girl and her dog. 'Nuff said.

She was so proud of herself for jumping over this "creek". LOL!

And I saved the best for last.

Bear Grylls, eat your heart out!

How was your weekend?

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

Good Monday morning to you all!

First of all, I want to thank the SITSa's for the lovely prize that I found out I won via a comment in my last post. What an awesome way to start my Monday morning! I actually won that coffee machine that makes coffee, tea, chai, hot chocolate, bagels, money and whatever else it makes. It rocks! So do the SITS'as.

In honor of this auspicious day, I'm doing a special "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest).

Who would you like to snuggle with the night before while camping out to catch Mr. Punxsutawney Phil first thing on Groundhog Day? Bill Murray as Phil Connors (Groundhog Day), as Dr. Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters), as Bob Wiley (What About Bob) or as John Winger (Stripes)? Click on the characters names for pics.

And, as usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

Later,

Mama Dawg