The Cat Lap...

I never grew up with cats.  I was a dog lover.  I had numerous dogs when I was growing up, but cats never struck me as a pet I wish I had.  Like most boys I was fascinated with all things crawling - turtles, frogs, toads, lizards, etc.  In fact, I even had a pet frog for about 10 minutes until I dropped a brick on him while I was “building” a home for him in the backyard.  Poor frog never had a chance with me as his owner!

Another reason why cats didn’t do much for me was my allergies to them - BIG time allergies!  I would sneeze, my eyes would water, and my throat would swell up….not a pretty sight!  I took allergy medicine when I was younger, but not to combat cats.  Cats just weren’t my thing.

Fast forward 40 years…I am now the proud owner of four, very different but unique cats.  So what happened?  Did I all of a sudden become a cat fan, or did my allergies mysteriously disappear??  On the contrary, I married into them!  My wife has always loved cats.  She grew up with them and couldn’t imagine living without them.  She had two when we got married.  Since then we’ve brought two more into our home.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still very much a dog guy…but cats have become a part of my pet owner mantra late in life.

Let me tell you about each of these obsessive, but loveable creatures of ours.  The first one is named Squirrel.  Squirrel is the only male, and struts around like he owns the place.  He has little to do with the other three cats.  He’s bigger, and he’s the only outdoor cat we allow to come and go as he pleases.  He always comes back - a bit beat up at times, but lays he head at our home each day and night.  Squirrel has a drooling problem as well.  He’ll come up to you, stick out one of his front paws  like he wants to shake your hand, then proceeds to drool all over as you pet him. 

Cat number two is Skyla.  We adopted Skyla a few years ago for our daughter.  Skyla is very skittish and doesn’t tolerate people, but for some reason has recently adopted my wife and me.  It probably has something to do with the fact that our daughter was adopted by a Puggle we brought home a couple of years ago, but that’s another blog for another day.  The stories I could tell you about that dog…….but I regress, this is about our cats.  Back to Skyla - she refuses to drink water from any other place than my bathroom sink.  Not my wife’s mind you, but mine!  She follows us into the bathroom, jumps up on the counter, and then expects us to turn the faucet on for her.  It doesn’t stop there either; Skyla wants to be petted, but only in our walk-in closet.  If you try and pet her anywhere else in the house besides the closet she runs away and looks at you as if to say, “What the heck are you thinking??”

Molly is our third cat.  My daughter and I adopted her for my wife a couple of years back to replace a cat she lost awhile back.  Molly’s name at the humane society was Lasagna, but who wants to be named that??  We changed it to Molly and it sticks with her.  Molly is fairly independent, but does love sitting in a lap.  She likes to be around where the action is, and if she had it her way she’d be hanging outside with Squirrel all day.  She sits at the back door and stares at what her life would be like outside the house.  Poor girl!

Kevyn is cat numero four.  How Kevyn got her name is somewhat unique.  When my wife brought her home about a year ago she immediately named “him” Kevin.  We all thought it was a cute name, so it stuck.  A few weeks later I took “Kevin” to the vet for “his” first checkup and shots.  It’s there that we discovered that “Kevin” was a “her.”  The vet said, “So what are you going to call her now?”  I said, “That’s easy, it’s now Kevyn with a Y!”  Everyone got a good laugh out of that, so it’s been Kevyn with a Y ever since.  Kevyn is most certainly a lap cat.  She will seek a lap of anyone sitting down.  She seems to be especially fond of my lap, for some reason, but she walks around the house just waiting for someone to sit down so she can take her rightful place in the lap.  Of course, when she’s not in a lap petting is completely off limits.  Like Skyla, you can only pet Kevyn on her terms!

So, about the cat lap…it belongs to me.  Being that I was never been a fan of cats or had a reason to own one, I now find that each of the four seem to prefer me over the others in the household.  At various times throughout the evening one or two of them will seek me out and promptly make themselves at home in my lap.  It doesn’t matter to them if I’m on the computer, reading a book or playing a video game, my lap is where they end up.

They say that dog owners don’t pick their dogs, dog pick their owners.  I’m beginning to believe that’s certainly the case with cats as well… J

A Common Man

It's the Little Things...

Through social media I learned that a former student of mine was going to be appearing on national television.  She had written an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal that caught the attention of the major news networks.  I found out the date and time she would be on and tuned in to watch.  I literally had chills when I saw her on my screen!  There she was, speaking with a prominent news anchor about a major social issue.  She carried herself very well, appeared confident and ready to take on all comers.  She wasn’t on for more than a couple of minutes; a segment of a half hour program, but she shined in those two minutes and made me proud to know her.  Her 15 minutes of fame will carry on.  She is corresponding with well-known political anchors and her story is gathering momentum as I write this.

This particular student was somewhat of a challenge to me when I had her as a high school student, but in a good way.  She carried herself a little different than the rest of her classmates, but this was purposeful.  She dressed a bit differently, she was a bit too loud at time, she laughed at most things that no one else seemed to find humor in, but she was unique – one of a kind.  There was something about her that told me she was going to be a success in life.  She went on to Princeton University after graduating from high school.  Not bad for someone who graduated with a class of no bigger than 50 seniors!  She moved on, found her purpose and is staying true to the course.

These are the students that stick in a teacher’s mind the most.  These are the ones that challenge us, but also make us proud when they’ve accomplished something extraordinary.  These are the little things in life that make me glad I had an opportunity to know her for a short while.  Thank you, Princeton grad!  Thank you for giving me a glimpse of who you’ve become and where you’re heading in the world!

A Common Man

The Holidays Cometh....Really?? So Soon??

I know I’m not the only one out there that notices holiday decorations begin showing up in stores immediately following Halloween this days. 

I walked into Costco not too long ago to pick up a couple of small items.  In the center of the warehouse were all the tree and yard decorations for Christmas.  Christmas music was playing in the background and I found myself wanting to tune it all out.  I entered a Walmart a short time later and discovered the same setup; decorations galore and Christmas carols echoing through the speakers around the store.

Now, I’m not a scrooge by any means.  Quite the opposite, I love the holidays!  I love decorating the house with lights inside and out, I love that my wife has a “baking weekend” with the girls in the December, I love creating Christmas music playlists on my iTunes account, I love listening to Christmas music 24/7 on my local radio station.  I love it all, but Christmas immediately following Halloween just doesn’t sit well with me.

I understand that all of the efforts for “Black Friday” events, and getting holiday goods in the hands of the consumers quicker are marketing efforts to get us to spend earlier and more often.  It doesn’t escape me that major holidays means big dollars for retail stores.  I suppose if I was the CEO of a major retail outlet like Costco or Walmart I’d be pushing the holiday product out to the consumers sooner rather than later as well, but come on…Christmas in October??  Really??

So how does a guy like me that loves the holidays but hates the hype deal with it all?  It’s pretty simple really, I creep into it!  Prior to December 1^st I do my best to avoid the Christmas aisles.  If my radio station starts up with the Christmas carols before Thanksgiving I find another station to listen to.  I refuse to pull the decorations down from the closets and garage rafters until Thanksgiving.  I restrain myself for creating my latest Christmas playlist until the spirit hits me to do so.  I glean through the store advertisements but not to buy, just get ideas.

I absolutely LOVE the holidays!  I’m a big kid in a grown man’s body on Christmas day!  I can’t wait to pass around gifts and open my own.  I love our Christmas breakfast where we’re still in our PJs and our hair is mussed up!  I love it all, but I truly find that the spirit of Christmas doesn’t quite hit me until we get closer to celebrating our Lord’s birth.  Don’t worry; I’ll get our Christmas cards out in time.  I’ll get my online purchases made with time to spare.  I’ll have that Christmas playlist blaring in the house at full blast before too long, but can I please wait until all the leafs have fallen, the skies get a bit darker earlier in the evening and the snow and fog start surrounding the mountain tops before I get too excited??  Please!!! J  

Happy Holidays to each of you!

A Common Man

And So it Begins....

I find it interesting that as I approach the later half of life I have this compulsion to start sharing more of myself, my thoughts, my faith, and my time by putting it into word.

It started a few months back when my step-son and his fiancé asked if I'd preside over their wedding vows.  I was honored, but not sure how to proceed.  I found out that becoming "ordained" to do such a thing is as simple as going online, paying a fee, and poof - now the power is vested in me.

My step-son shared with me that they wanted something quick and simple.  They didn't have anything planned, so it was up to me.  My future daughter-in-law did give me a basic format, but gave me the liberty to say something during the ceremony.  So it began....I wrote something that I thought would be personal enough to them, but understandable to everyone who attended.

The videographer who was filming the wedding really liked what I said.  She asked if I'd recite it again so she could dub it over the video she was putting together for the kids.  The videographer is extremely talented, and the video was amazing.  It still comes as a shock to me to hear my own voice dubbed over while watching the film of their wedding.

I thought about that experience and realized I'd never written anything like that for my wife.  I started to feel guilty and felt that I needed to write something for her that reflected my thoughts.  I was amazed at how quickly the words flowed out of me.  I envisioned her in every word that I put to paper.  The result was simply titled "You."

As like most of us, I have a Facebook account.  I use it to stay connected with family and friends, former students I've had the privilege of teaching and athletes I've coached over the years.  I posted "You" on my wife's Facebook timeline and was surprised at the positive comments she received from it.  From that point on I felt compelled to write two more (for lack of a better definition) poems and posted those as well.

Now, I really don't consider myself a poet by any stretch.  I never studied poetry, learned how to write it, or even cared much for it, to be perfectly honest.  What I did discover, however, was that I enjoyed putting pen to paper and writing about something that has touched me during my morning devotions, or thought that occurred to me, or a reflection in life that inspired me.

All of that has led me to this blog.  I consider myself a common man.  My family and I don't live extravagant lives.  We are a two income house with dogs and cats.  We live in a comfortable community with a mailbox down the road, schools close by and a park in our backyard.  We have a mortgage, car payments, and a little bit left over after every paycheck.  We dream of retiring in Maui some day and taking our daughter to Greece before she graduates from high school.  We have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with our large, extended family every holiday season.  I consider myself extremely blessed to have fathered two girls and become the step father of two others.

I'm a common man that has decided to create a blog.  As I progress down this new writing journey of mine, I looked to inspire and be inspired by those that wish to read it.

A Common Man