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My cats don't like each other. Well, they don't hate each other, either. Frisbee always licks Maya, usually right before they chase each other and fight. And we even saw Maya licking Frisbee once. But they never occupy the same recreational spaces. If we're on the bed watching TV, and Frisbee is with us and Maya jumps up, Frisbee jumps down. If Frisbee is in my window, Maya will wait until she's gone, then take her place. They won't sit look out the front door at the same time. In fact, the only time they're close and not fighting (or preparing to fight) is when we're feeding them.
So imagine my shock when I went to bed Monday night and found this:
They were there again last night! And I didn't have the heart to send them out. I contorted myself around them until Jim came to bed.
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I'm a mess.
I hate age-related generalization as much as I hate gender-related generalization. Forgetting stuff is more because of an overload of things to remember (or a lack of use of the brain) than age by itself. I've met 80-year-olds in better shape than I am. But it is really hard to dispute that recovery is slower the older I get, and wear and tear is taking its toll.
This week I've had:
Stapler Palm (from stapling 50 or so booklets for Number Two's reading program)
Folding Thumb (from folding those booklets before stapling)
Bowling Arm (and back and ribs)
Walking Legs (tight muscles from walking twice as long as I usually do)
Walking Foot (pain in the ball of my left foot from 4+ miles of asphalt)
Anger Fist (from slamming the side of my my fist--repeatedly--against the bedroom door after walking into it in the dark when it is never ever closed at that time of day)
But by far the stupidest was Pavilion Head. It was accompanied by a nice case of sideways whiplash and a bruised butt cheek from the card case in my back pocket. I'd been inline skating with Number Two, who was impressed with my skill. I told her I'd been skating for 30 years, and experience counts, even though I don't do it that much anymore. She wanted to see how fast I could go. I showed her.
Now, inline skates are nearly impossible for me to stop with. So I ran, deliberately, into the wall around the ladies room. No problem. Except the wall didn't meet the ground. So, yeah, my skates kept going, and there was nothing to grab. I didn't go down that hard, but did hit at an angle, which meant my head bounced off the side of the building.
Yes, I am stupid and prone to such when challenged.
What's that? Where was my helmet. Oh, um...in the trunk of the car. Number Two was all geared up with pads, but her helmet was soaking wet. I couldn't make her wear it. So I didn't wear mine. Which was fine, she never fell, and of course neither did I until...you know.
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I know most of my blog readers--the ones I know personally, anyway--are not that interested in football. But I can't help it, I have to talk about it.
The New England Patriots are 8-0, and have slaughtered all their competition so far, including the top-rated defense in the NFC, the Washington Redskins. Everyone thought Dallas would be tough...final score was 48-27. So then it was that Dallas was overrated, but Washington, well, we hadn't played anyone yet. They'd give us a run for our money. Yep. Final score, 52-7. Indianapolis, who is 7-0 and has beaten some teams who are arguably tougher than those New England has beaten, is our opponent on Sunday. It will be a great game, and is being hyped as such. (Two undefeated teams have not faced each other this late in the season since 1921.)
The problem is, everyone is turning on the Patriots. They're bullies. They have no class. They're evil to Indianapolis's goodness, mainly because they keep running up the score (I guess Indie doesn't do that, despite their 60-14 score differential the last two weeks).
I've found myself indignant about the whole thing, trying to argue why it's a good thing they don't take Tom Brady off the field earlier (he can't be expected to be in playoff form if he only plays half a game every week), that we go for it on 4th and 1 when we're up 38-0 (they could stop us and get the ball back and keep us from scoring again), that we don't take a knee (giving the ball to our fifth-string running back allows the other team to force a fumble and gives them a fighting chance--and it also gives that fifth-string running back some film for when a trade or free agency come into play).
The truth is...maybe it is wrong. Maybe we should rest Tom and let Matt Cassel play some football. Maybe we should sit down in the middle of the field in the third quarter and let the other team play without us (probably we'd still win). Maybe Bill (our coach) has an unreasonable chip on his shoulder and he's trying to punish everyone he thinks has some role in putting it there.
But I don't care. I want to watch my team play. I want to see the magic that is Tom Brady 83 yards to Randy Moss in double coverage. I especially want to see Wes Welker and his soccer-player body make sweet moves that cause defensive backs to fall over their own feet. I want Laurence Maroney--or, hey, Kyle Eckel--to run through a porous defensive line. I want Chris Hanson (punter) to stay on the sidelines. Give me record-setting touchdown numbers, gigantic offensive yardage, more points. And more. And more than that.
Because it's fun. And geez, isn't that what football's all about?
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I'm all set for NaNoWriMo! I finished redoing my website. I have my spreadsheets all set up to track my progress and chart my story info. I have little bits and pieces of the story and the world and the characters--mainly the latter two--jotted down and rubbing against each other in my head. So tomorrow I embark on a 30-day adventure.
NaNo's goal is 50,000 words. That's all I need to do to win. About 1668 per day. But last year I did just over 85,000 in 29 days, so I want to beat that. My last book was closer to 88,000, so I probably will. The word count, anyway. We'll see about the days.
What are some keys to success in NaNo?
Clearing your schedule is a big one. Which is why I signed up for four two-hour shifts at the kids' book fairs over the next two weeks. *sigh* I also have two proofreading/editing jobs coming soon. Jim will be home for six days over Thanksgiving, and we plan to redo the dining room. He wants a medieval castle, so I said we should use joint compound, carve the stones into it, paint it light gray, and then sponge dark gray over that. Yeah, that's a lot of work. there's only one real wall, though. The rest of the walls (one with a large bay window, the others just arches into other rooms) we can just paint.
Anyway. I shall have to go gangbusters on the days I am totally free to make up for the days I only get a couple of pages done. Last year I didn't miss a day. I have to do the same this year, and that means the Neo will get its first real strong workout.
I can't wait!
Oh, if you're also doing NaNo, let me know your user name so I can Buddy you. I'm Nuj. Good luck!
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