Takeaways

1. What I Take Away From This Week 2.24.14

   
   

1. Entertainment may be unexpected

You never know when you might get some. Not Bruno Mars-style entertainment, but entertainment nonetheless. What would normally be an uneventful ride downtown the other morning turned into something a little out of the ordinary. Just a little bit. This was brought to the light rail riders by the proud pushers of street drugs. This young man boarded the train, talking to himself, occasionally air boxing,and apparently feeling no pain. Higher than a kite, he soon broke into song and dance, which I share with you. The only reason I took the video was to show my co-workers that I don’t make this stuff up.

Don’t worry… he was so high, he never noticed that I was capturing his performance.

2. Exercise is not overrated

As a family…well, at least the parents of said family… we’ll be getting fitter. Hubby assembled the new stationary bike delivered to our door by Target, and it now takes up residence in our living room. It’s easier to clock miles when you’re absorbed in a recorded episode of Walking Dead. Your heart rate is up anyway. I’ve put 60 miles on the bike, and burned up a total of 2,000 calories this week, but I haven’t lost a pound. Maybe because the exercise has kicked up my appetite! It’ll all balance itself out soon enough.

That's not me!  SHE was in the ad, and did not come with the bike, much to Hubby's disappointment.

3. Check out Target's discounts

Since we’re on the subject of the bike, I feel I have to mention that I got it through Target on my REDcard. I could have purchased it at Walmart and Sears for the same price, but I got 5% off with my REDcard, which includes free shipping. As the kids would say, “Holla!”

Love Target – its coupons, Cartwheel and REDcard. The first time I saw someone bring their grocery bill down, way down, I was hooked on their system. The young girl at the head of the line threw down her coupons to bring her $24 bill down to $12.  Then she even further reduced it with an electronic scan of her Cartwheel MICR right off of her smartphone. For the big finale, she swiped her RedCard, and got her total bill down to $5 something! Those in line behind her almost applauded, and both the guy in front of me and I vowed we’d never step foot into the store again without coming in prepared. She totally inspired the shoppers who didn’t want to pay full retail.

4. Introducing Sasha – the newest addition to the family

A gift to my daughter for her 17th.  Sasha is black, of course, and while very cute, she’s more a skittish, pooping, gnawing machine than a cuddly bunny.  Like any baby, all she wants to do is chew.  The tally:  two iPod chargers, cable wire, and one Ugg.  The list is short, but very expensive.  More Sasha filled stories to follow...

5. My dog had a better Valentine’s Day than we did!

Miss Molly had a date Friday evening, or as I like to refer to it a booty call, with her beau Tucker Deuce. The last time they saw each other was June 1 of last year, the day she conceived 13 perfect lab puppies with him. Hubby is obsessing over the pup he didn’t keep, so he's decided to breed her one more time, with the goal of getting the perfect male stud to add to our already animal-filled house.

Our V-Day didn't compare to her glorious night with Tucker, with whom she played and frolicked for a couple of hours.  Since the evening ended so late, our dinner out turned into a meal of takeout, and shortly after we called it a night. Not quite as romantic.

6.“Don’t stand, don’t stand... don’t stand so close to me...”

Or sit next to me.  Or shop near me.  I’m not a people hater, but if you’re going to converse on the phone, talking to your bud like I’m not next to you, we have a problem. 

 

I’m tempted to get a name badge that says “Don’t sit next to me if you’re going to carry on a full-blown, LOUD conversation on your cell phone.” I mean, I’m talented, but not so much that I can tune you out. How am I supposed to read through your litany of blah blah blah or have a complete thought when you’re chattering in our communal space? I don’t want to hear how you lost your paycheck at the casino or how the mole on your ass is bleeding!

 

There’s also the shopper who decides to multitask by slowly pushing their grocery cart down the aisle or blocking the section you need to get to while catching up with their long-lost friend! Or that same shopper who is at check-out ON THE PHONE, more interested in her conversation than the clerk trying to move the line along. I mean how fun it must be for the clerk to have to wait for the one chatting away on her phone to take a breath so the transaction can be wrapped up.  What happened to manners? 

Another favorite is the person who doesn’t take a breath. She/he talks, and talks, and talks, as if to ensure the person on the other end can’t break her chain of thought by interjecting. That, or maybe they’re not on the phone with anyone at all! You know what I’m talking about. It happens!  Some people love to hear the sound of their own voice.

I'd Be on Her TEAM

I have never planned to blog about a song or movie, so I feel like I'm making an exception.  I write about this because everyone in my house loves this song.  And as songs sometimes do, I think her music breaks through the generation barrier.  

It's hard not to thoroughly enjoy Lorde's music.  At a whopping 17 years of age (same age as my girl), it's obvious from her lyrics that she's mature beyond her years and incredibly talented.  And while I like her Royals song, I feel completely drawn in by her latest, Team.

I will not be so bold as to say I l know what Lorde was trying to say when she stringed her words together to make this song, but this piece screams adolescence to me. No one has avoided the challenges of growing up. The cliques, the differences, the physical awkwardness, trying desperately to fit in with a group you think you identify with.  In Team, she sings of kids with braces (or grills) and pimples existing in a place and manner different from mainstream reality.

TEAM

Wait ‘til you’re announced

We’ve not yet lost all our graces

The hounds will stay in chains

Look upon your greatness

That you’ll send the call out

(Send the call out [15x])

Call all the ladies out

They’re in their finery

A hundred jewels on throats

A hundred jewels between teeth

Now bring my boys in

Their skin in craters like the moon

The moon we love like a brother, while he glows through the room

Dancin’ around the lies we tell

Dancin’ around big eyes as well

Even the comatose they don't dance and tell

[Chorus]

We live in cities you'll never see on screen

Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things

Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams

And you know, we’re on each other’s team

I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air

So there

So all the cups got broke
Shards beneath our feet
But it wasn't my fault
And everyone's competing
For a love they won't receive
'Cause what this palace wants is release

[Chorus]

We live in cities you'll never see on screen

Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things

Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams

And you know, we’re on each other’s team

 

I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air

So there

I’m kinda older than I was when I reveled without a care

So there

[Chorus]

We live in cities you'll never see on screen

Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things

Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams

And you know, we’re on each other’s team

 

 We’re on each other’s team

And you know, and you know, and you know

We’re on each other’s team

And you know, and you know, and you know

 

 

 

 

Lorde's FaceBook post when the song came out: 

"This video was borne from a dream i had a few months ago about teenagers in their own world, a world with hierarchies and initiations, where the boy who was second in command had acne on his face, and so did the girl who was queen. i dreamt about this world being so different to anything anyone had ever seen, a dark world full of tropical plants and ruins and sweat. and of this world, i dreamt about tests that didn’t need to be passed in order to be allowed in: sometimes the person who loses is stronger."

If the mood strikes, check out this website:

http://rock.rapgenius.com/Lorde-team-lyrics#note-2742640 

Wild Kingdom

A Rat Tail Tale

I was on the phone, on hold with the cable company, sitting at my husband’s desk which faces the backyard, when out of the window I saw something bounding along the far side of the yard along the fence.  I thought it was a squirrel or rabbit from the way it scampered, but as it hopped past the chickens (nothing like fresh eggs), not only could I see what it was, I also got perspective on it size.  It was the rat hubby had been hunting, the huge mama digging large holes under our fence line, stealing bird food and dining on our tomatoes.  The one that escaped the rat trap because of her immense size.

But I was on hold, and could only sit there and watch her disappear into the bushes at the far end of the yard.  

As I sat tied to the phone, I took mental inventory of what I could grab to send her to heaven.  The hand gun (not even a consideration); the rifle (not a good idea either and I couldn’t remember hold to load it); pellet gun (no, the scope is broken and I don’t know where the ammo is kept); the shovel (do I really want to break my bush to get to her?)  The first opportunity I had to end my call, I slammed the receiver down and sprinted to the bedroom.  Rummaging through the closet, I saw it.  The quiver!  I grabbed two arrows from it and the bow standing next to it, and ran through the house, and out the back door into the yard.

I need to clarify here that I don’t dislike nor am I afraid of rats.  At one time, we had rats as pets, three Russian Rex which were not only beautiful, but were intelligent and gentle.  Never once were we bitten or even nipped.  One even learned to sit on our shoulders. 

This did not resemble MY pet.  The rats I have issue with are the ones that come uninvited into my yard, digging holes under the fence and feasting in my garden.  Every time we found an tripped trap or half-eaten tomato or cucumbers, I’m pretty sure we were being mocked.  So it’s on!

I had to wake Molly, our lab, who’d been sleeping in the doorway to order her into the house. Thankfully she never saw the pesky intruder.  By now, my adrenaline is soaring, and I’m seeing red.  The nerve of this hairy beast, hanging out in my yard, in broad daylight!  I want this vermin in the worst way. 

From the width of the yard, I take my first shot at the bushes to make sure my nemesis is still in there.  The shake of the thick, low bush (I don’t know what kind of bush it is!) tells me she is, so I move in at a different angle to get the most of my next shot.  I’m probably five feet away when I load up.  I don’t really expect to find my mark in the denseness as I draw back, but I let it go.  The arrow penetrates through the bush, and it begins to shudder.  I hit her!

Can’t say I didn’t feel like Katnis.

I can only see shaft protruding from the shrub, but it’s enough evidence that I got her!  She doesn’t make a sound, not a squeak, squeal or shriek, which I find odd, but the arrow is still quivering (I just punned).  I ran back into the house for more ammo.  Why I thought I’d only need two arrows in the first place, I don’t know?  I hadn’t held a bow since I was a kid.  

Back in position, I evaluate the situation.  The arrow is still moving, so I know I’m committed – I have to finish what I started.  I prepare to take a third shot, but my adrenaline has me running so high  I don’t even expect to even hit the bush.  The excitement of the hunt and all!  I drew back and anchored the arrow at the corner of my mouth, then let it fly.  I hit in the same spot.  The movement stops.  It’s done.

Yeah baby!  Bulls eye!

I waited until the hubby got home before confirming my kill, which was only a formality.  I rested the bow back in its place, and impatiently waited for his return.  I had done my part to protect our domain from rodential (is that a word?) invasion.  His part would be to clean up the bloody mess.  I never had to see the end result, and had no desire to.  I had done the dirty work, I wasn’t about to clean it up too!  I was temporarily a huntress, and would not be the “cleaner” too.

Yep, that’s me. Except it's more accurate to say I was wearing sweat pants &
a wife beater. But even so, I exuded sex and feminism.

When he pulled her out of the bushes, all seven inches of the pest not including her almost equally long tail, we saw the one arrow through her nose and another through her head.  Two words came to mind for us both:  Divine Intervention!  To hit less than a two inch target, blindly, was next to impossible.  The odds were not in my favor, yet my arrows found its target, exactly in her snout and between her beady little eyes.  How was that possible?  Remember I was aiming blindly at the bush, without being able to see my intended target.

The arrows were gingerly removed, and the now deceased rat was placed in the trash.  So apparently, I’m still a good shot with a bow.  Who knew?  

Hold on, you dirty rat!  I'M the hero in this story!

And who knew I’d enjoy it so much!  It was the very first animal I’ve ever killed, and at the risk of offending someone out there, I’ve got to confess it was exhilarating!  For that short time, I felt in control and a bit primitive.  The thrill of the hunt, though not much of a chase.  For a heartbeat, I flashed back to a time when we did have to hunt and kill to put dinner on the table, (although flashing back is impossible, since I’ve NEVER had to kill to put food on the table).

Hubby said he wasn’t planning on getting me mad at him anytime soon.

The kids think I’m a little nuts.  I think I’d have to agree.