Terrapin Station

About that coatimundi...

Yes, inquiring minds are wondering what ever happened with that coatimundi named Gnarly that was hoping to move into my house?  along with my boomerang-ing son, 20 Years Old? 

 

Well, if you read that post you will remember the line:  "I Have Spoken."  As in, a definitive NO to certain things.  The coatimundi was one. 

And 20YO did not want to live without the coatimundi, and (this is key) his mom was willing to house them both, so they are living with her.  Along with her other son, her two dogs, her two parrots, and 20YO's ferret. 

Really. 

As a former boss said once, "if you want the cookie, ask for the cookie."  And if you don't want the coatimundi, just say no. 

We puts this one in the "won" column, precious.

Nothing happens by accident. They say.

Just yesterday afternoon I was telling my Teacher, Eva, how nice it has been for the last year and a half, having it be just me and Ken in the house.  Of course, this may partly be because we have NEVER been alone together; we started out with a ready-made family as 20 Years Old was 9 when we married and he lived with his dad most of the time.  

(pause for an aside)

(I know that there are many folks who are sending beloved kiddos off to college right now and really hurting over it.  Rest assured I feel for and with you - but this particular kiddo, in our house, was not a peaceful presence.  More like a portable war zone.  It was a good thing for us all.)

He's been living across town and working for his dad. 

Aaaaaaaaaand............(wait for it)

When I got home last night, Ken asked me if it would be okay if 20YO moved back in.  He's having trouble making ends meet. 

Of course, is the answer.  Of course it would be okay.  Of course we will work it out and maybe by now we can have some fun together again. 

But:  no smoking in the house (he is trying to quit...didn't I tell him it'd be bad if he started that!?)

          no dog (which he has one, but a friend is willing to take it)

          and NO COATIMUNDI (yes, he has one of those too)

  

The coatimundi - which I advised against, and which has proven (per my research) to be very much like a two-year-old human in its destructive potential - must stay at his mom's. 

I - have  - spoken.

**********************

Lest you all think I am a meanie about the coatimundi, who is definitely very cute:  Ask me about the flying squirrels.  Ask me about the rabbit.  Ask me about the maniac dog.  Ask me about the lizards.  Ask me about the guinea pig.  Ask me about the ferret....ah, the ferret, the crowning blow; that pet that I said he COULD NOT have because of its smell, and that his mother bought him anyway.  Ask me, ask me, about the upstairs bedroom, that still smells greatly of FERRET. 

Ask his mother about how the coatimundi, recently incarcerated in her bathroom, tore all the wallpaper border off. 

That's where I'm coming from.

I used to believe...

When I was little I used to believe that if you got shot, you automatically died.  You just did. 

Also that if you broke an arm, leg, finger, etc.  - it broke off of your body. 

Go read what a lot of other people "used to believe."

Holley Graduates!

  

Oh RATS I need to find my camera and stop taking blurry pictures with my cell phone!  At any rate you can see how beautiful Holley is, and how happy and proud.  She is AS now, and will continue on for her RN bachelor's degree. 

I always knew you would do it, sweetie! 

The Great Mystery

Eighteen Years Old has been interviewing for jobs that are something NOT working for his dad.  I think this is a good and important step!

Here's the interesting part:  He told his dad, "I can't tell you what job I'm interviewing for, because you wouldn't approve."  We are at a loss to think of any and I do mean ANY job he could take of which we would not approve.  He says it is legal (Ken said, "Drug runner?"  EYO said, "No!  And you don't interview for THAT!") and that it makes $7 per hour. 

Dishwasher?  Commercial truck driver?  McDonald's?  Garbageman?  All good with me...I think he is enjoying the thought that we will not approve, but I truly can't think of a single legal thing in that category. 

Any guesses?  Hopefully he will get it and at some point we will be informed, so I will be able to do a reveal...

Eighteen Years Old

and acting like 8.

I am insanely frustrated right now.  But I ain't sayin' nothin'.  This is between him and his dad. 

Pray for me, please.  To Keep My Mouth Shut. 

Back to School

It's back to school for the kids of my friends, both in real life and all over the blogosphere. 

And for me, not any more.  After 9 years, my son is out of school (no, he's not a prodigy...I married DH when Kid was 9 years old.)

It's a little sad.  I loved going to Meet the Teacher night.  I loved buying school supplies.  I hated buying school clothes (this mirrors my own obsessive love for office supplies and my hatred and dread of buying clothing). 

Enjoy it, folks.  :)  And thanks for letting me enjoy your experiences vicariously. 

Pachelbel's Canon Redux

Watch all the way to the end.  Props to Presbyterian Gal for this one. 

Knit Camp - Part II, The Thinking

I knit pretty infrequently and wish I did it more. 

The thing I loved most about camp was the opportunity to sit and knit, with like-minded people, and just BE.  We talked, of course; but there were quiet times too (Mallory has become less incessantly chatty since last year).  In the quiet moments, I found myself praying for various people...if you read this blog, you are probably included in the list.  So each of you is knit in some way into the work I did. 

The power at the lake was off Sunday morning, from the time we arrived at 9 until about 11:00 (? - I wasn't paying attention to time!)  Instead of sitting in the air-conditioned lodge, we sat outside on the porch.  It was very pleasant...occasional breezes, good company, children running 'round to increase the breezes.  Nice to be in nature doing what we came to do. 

I got to talk with a perfectly delightful woman who had been at the camp last year, wearing a scarf and clearly having just been through chemo.  This year...she has gorgeous curly hair and a clean bill of health!  what a joy and answer to prayer.

She says she is part of a knitting group that meets in the Barnes and Noble in her home town.  I got to thinking, wouldn't that be cool, to have a knitting group here?  All the knitters there were so very different, but all had this thing in common. 

So, I came home and looked it up on www.Meetup.com - the closest one to me is in Plano, which is NOT close - a good 40 miles.  Meetup.com also informed me that 360 people had inquired about a knitting group in my home town!  Wow!  So I'm thinking about that. 

My new friend Angela was working on mittens, which were the "advanced" project for the camp.  I had intended to do them, but the pattern they were using was for "Family Mittens" knitted from 2 wools at a time and "thick and durable for Maine winters."  Texas winters do NOT generally cause us to need such items, and I doubt that my one and only friend in Maine needs me to knit her mittens...she is a much better knitter than I am!  One of these days I will get to that sort of project. 

So I stayed with my final project, a "trellis scarf."  Here it is in progress:

you can't tell from the picture, but on the fifth row in, I did a pattern of *YO K2tog K2* which left holes in that row.  The rest is straight knitting.  When I get to the 5th to last row, I just drop those same stitches and the whole column (as opposed to row) of stitches will unravel down the length of the scarf.  Like a run in a stocking. 

Like so much of knitting, I don't see how this is really going to work, but I am proceeding on faith.  That's actually like a lot of life, isn't it?

STUFFIES!

St. Cass, the lovely and clever, makes the most marvellous STUFFIES.  I have actually seen her do it!  Right out of her head, without a patttern or anything!

Josie and Boudreaux wanted to send a donation to the South Mississippi Humane Society, and so they did.  (Paypal is hard on Paws.)  However, then St. Cass sent them some Stuffies to cheer them!  Here they are playing:

Boudreaux:  "Stop flashing that light in my face!  I can't see the Stuffie!"

Josie comes to take away the Stuffie (much snarling and growling):

Boudreaux:  "Okay, fine, I like this other one better anyway!  And we're going to sit way over here, my Stuffie and me!"

There is a darling owl one with more detail work that...um...shall live on my desk so they can see it better.

Yeah right.

Thanks, Cass! from all of us!