The ring is found!

When my husband arrived home last night, my daughter asked him if he was mad at me. He reassured her that no, he was sure he'd find it.

Sure enough, he did. He was about to go through my car, which he refers to as the Bookmobile due to Lil's & my addiction to library books.

Is this my car?

He saw it hidden in a little cranny of the stairs. I have no idea how it got there. Beckham, our rotten 7 year old kitten, is usually involved in ponytail elastic thievery. He's a multiple offender, especially given his shared residence with a ballerina. If I can't find a ponytail holder on Lil's dresser, I just need to look down at the carpet & there's bound to be one. Derby, our lovebug, has multiple assault arrests from constantly headbutting us for attention & unlawful restraint as demonstrated below. (She's a minor, so I don't think she can consent?)

Jewelry heists are not as common from my boys. Beckham has been known to test gravity, but only in the kitchen from the breakfast bar to the floor. And again, that's commonly ponytail holders. Poor Beckham, remedial physics FTW.

When Luke found it, he proposed again. I said yes, in tears of happiness. My friends on Facebook have been VERY funny. A bridesmaid not sure about wearing the dress again, will I change my FB status from Married to Engaged, etc.

Since I'm now engaged, I'm thinking destination wedding...or on a cruise!! Quantum of the Seas is launching in November, so that would be lovely! Who's coming with us???

It's a Snow Day But Claire Gave Me Homework

Given this LOVELY snow day, Claire at www.ukdesperatehousewifeusa.com has tasked 11 of her fellow blogging friends with 11 questions. I would grumble but this is kinda fun & a good way to get to know each other. And let's face it, Iron Bridge is closed. :( Bloggers often stick to their comfort zones in their subject matters, so this is a little injection of variety!

1. What advice would you give your brand new blogging self now?


This one is EASY. I said it to my husband recently. Not every post has to be long & in depth. Keep it simple, stupid! The KISS methodology of life!

2. What four words would you say to your 18 year old self?
I have 2 - Ask people about themselves & Choose your words carefully.

3. What three things do you think define you as either a Brit or American?
1- As an American, I am a cultural mutt & my family doesn't really have any traditions. Like at Christmas, we get a tree & put presents under it. But it's pretty plain vanilla.
2- I am loud. I am definitely that girl at the bar whose laugh rings out.
3- I used to think this country was the greatest - our freedoms are so great. But lately, I don't believe that anymore and I hate the arrogance of Americans.

4. Which TV show character are you and why?


Bernadette from the Big Bang Theory

Luke picked her. According to him, she's smart, she says what she believes, she's chesty and she's a good yeller. 

5. Apocalypse Now or Mary Poppins?
BOTH! Really! Here's why: On our first date, Luke & I discovered that BOTH of us had written papers on Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.


The story is that Francis Ford Coppola did not credit Joseph Conrad's book about the Congo for the inspiration for Apocalypse Now. The journey of Martin Sheen is so lifted from Conrad's story and the original didn't give any homage to the book. What were the chances of Luke & me writing about this? Spooky coincidence.

But totally Mary Poppins too! Julie Andrews was my idol as a child with her reddish hair and her singing chops. I had dreams of being her when I grew up! And Mary Poppins was the FIRST musical I saw on Broadway. The Little Mermaid was supposed to be the first, but as we were on the train to New York Penn, I called my parents. They said, Aren't you going to be late for the show? I said, No, the show's tonight. They went back & looked at their email - I had bought matinee tickets! CRISIS!

Did you know that kids under 5 years old cannot go to Broadway shows with a few exceptions? Luckily, Mary Poppins had recently opened and being a Disney show, Lil was able to attend. Wow, that was a nerve-wracking phone call from a train!

6. Are white lies okay to tell? Please elaborate!
I have to admit, yessss sometimes. Telling a person they look OK when they don't...like when you know they're having a bad day. Or when someone asks you if you think they're fat...the answer is ALWAYS NO!

7. Whether you are a parent or not, what are the three most important things about raising a child?
1- Encourage children to take risks by giving them tools to assess the level of risk.
2- Knowing their "tell" - like when they're lying to you.
3- Being open & honest with them. I don't hide news from my daughter. I showed her the 9/11 videos of the planes in the WTC when she was 7 although I did tell her not to talk about it with her friends. She asked some questions and the only way to answer was to show her. I don't turn off the news when she comes in, except in abjectly horrible cases of sexual violence. When the shooting at the mall happened, we told her the truth. (Also, the nonstop hovering of helicopters & police presence around our house required it.) We don't dwell on it, but we don't hide it.

8. Favourite swear word and why?

I say s*it a lot. The F-word gets dropped a lot too. I swear a lot actually. But the F word is more crass IMHO so I try to limit that one. Oddly enough, the kiddo actually thinks "jerk" and "stupid" are bad words, so I'm obviously not influencing her that way.

9. If you could have one super power what would it be?



I'm torn. Matching socks would be awesome. But flying would be great so that I don't get jet lag when I travel across the pond.

10. Worst holiday experience ever.


I can't be completely honest about this...so I'll pick something else. Luke promised me snow at his childhood home in Hallstead, Pennsylvania for Christmas in 1998. Turned out that it was snowing here. And Christmas Eve is really important to me...I have a huge family so we've always celebrated both Xmas Eve & Day. Luke's family is tiny & they don't really do anything on Xmas Eve. I was really sad. Obviously, that was the LAST Christmas we ever traveled to Hallstead. We do sometimes go to Pennsylvania to my cousin's house on the Gettysburg Battlefield.






See the white house in the back? And that's my cousin's husband second from the right. They live there on Seminary Ridge. When it's snowy, it is quite haunting to behold the desolate battlefield where so many lost their lives. One can't help but feeling the presence of ghosts.

11. Elevator pitch to the Huffington Post, no more than 30 words, for your blog….. 

Well, I'd start with my title! Kirstycat's Meow and sometimes Growl! Insights into the quirks of life in the richest county in the US, helping to build the Howard County blogging community and spreading the word about local happenings with an eye to the greater Mid-Atlantic area.

Now for my 11 questions & my 11 blogs:

1. What famous person would you be thrilled to find out reads your blog?
2. What famous person would you be flabbergasted/furious to find out reads your blog?
3. What scares you the most about getting old?
4. What physical infirmity or deformity makes you most uncomfortable and why? (I think mine is the smoker in the anti-smoking commercial I just saw.)
5. What lie from your childhood that your parents told you is the most memorable and/or scarring?
6. If you could make one law for your state/city/country, what would it be and why?
7. What was your best job ever?
8. Who is your longest friend? What has kept you together?
9. What relative that died before you got to know them would you most want to know?
10. What is your guilty pleasure? (Please keep it G-rated!)
11. If money were no object, where would you travel?

http://selfishmom.com/

http://53beersontap.typepad.com/53beers/

http://lisabmrss.blogspot.com/

http://www.growingupdisney.com/

http://mickeygomez.com/

http://househoney.blogspot.com/

http://evinok.net/

http://fromhiptohousewife.com/

http://www.busylibrarian.com/

http://columbiacompass.weebly.com/

http://www.erikarobuck.com/

Dear Yelp Reviewer from a fellow diner

I believe we were the family that was planning our vacation to Europe recently that caused you to leave for “Chinese down the road.”

Yes, we had our iPads out & our guidebooks out. We were getting together with my parents & discussing what they’d like to do. And we were investigating side trips.

Have you never gone to a business lunch or dinner? When you discussed strategy for an acquisition? When you discussed goals for the year? Have you gone out for dinner or drinks with a friend who just became single? Or had a friend thinking about divorce after her hubby cheated on her? Or celebrated a promotion for a friend who worked so hard? Have you ever

sat next to a birthday party?

Vacation planning is not allowed? I’m sorry that we did not confine ourselves to the library to do so. (Actually I’m not sorry.) Instead, we met up at our favorite wine bar and the talk turned to our upcoming trip that is still open-ended. And yes, we’re so excited that we checked our phone/tablets to answer questions & plan our routes.

Maybe you should type up a list of topics that are acceptable to you and hand them out to your nearby seatmates.

But this begs the question – why were you caught up in our conversation? Could you not converse on topics you found interesting with your party?

From my recollection, though, you were upset to be sat at the common table and you hadn’t reserved in advance enough to get a regular table.

We were glad you left, because another party came. And they embraced the friendliness of the common table.

Crazy things that happened today

While putting away the laundry today, I got distracted by my old jewelry box. I lost a ring a few years ago and still believe it must be lovingly stored. While I didn't find the ring, I did smell that lovely scent of my jewelry box. The musty, old velvet (fake), maple (?) odor arose and I remembered going through my mom's jewelry box. I would try on her necklaces, bracelets and look at the broken pieces that she kept in hopes of later repair. I found my grandmother's emerald bracelet today. I hadn't looked there for a couple of years & finding this was like the lost treasure. My heart raced - because I hadn't shared it with Lil. This is her namesake, Annunciata's, bracelet. It's at least 70 years old. Annunciata wore it. My mom wore it. I wear it. Lil will too. And when she realized who it belonged to, her eyes widened and understood that connection. My heart broke and repaired simultaneously.

The other amazing thing was that my cat Chippa curled up next to me. She was originally a feral rescue although the woman said she was part of a litter from an inside gal who escaped one night & met a nice tomcat. She started out as a fun-loving cat - she'd reach out for anything moving on a TV or monitor and watched the printer the second it started prepping the print job. But something happened to scare her 10 or so years ago & only in the last year has she been slightly ready to be close to us. And tonight, she curled up.

I have always found my cats to be more cuddly when it gets cold. It was 28 when I parked my car at Iron Bridge and that doesn't include wind chill. When I put Annunciata's bracelet on today, it was so cold. But I looked at it & said, emeralds get warm. And it has.

May those who seem cool become warm.

hocoblogs@@@

Legacies

My uncle David was a wonderful, kind, giving, intelligent man. I spent many summers reading books on his houseboat in Pt. Pleasant, NJ, pretending I was a beautiful young girl meeting a handsome boy at the beach.

David died a few weeks ago - not unexpectedly, but regrettably. He always cared about people - remembered, knew, understood. I always took a rebuke seriously from him because I respected him and I knew that his judgment wasn't a personal dislike of something. It was, rather, a reminder of humility. He never displayed any arrogance & disliked that in others.

He also took time - he didn't rush things although he wasn't tardy, but he set aside time to discover. When I took Luke up to the houseboat for a weekend, we sat at the galley table for a while discussing things. And when I spent a few days up there after college, I remember talking about financial responsibility at that table. I may have felt like I wanted to rush away under that gentle, yet demanding gaze, because he was a good man and I felt sad that I might disappoint him.

Something nice happened tonight and I was talking to my mom. Since Lily is with my mom, she didn't want to be overly emotional about the discussion about David. So, she said Look at Mr. Moon. What she means is - Uncle David is still with us, loves us & shines brightly.