It finally happened!
Scrappy decided to run away!
Yes....but not from home!
From Work!!
My Work!
I was off today and decided to take her for a ride and to see Doris.
We were sitting in the back of the restaurant, chatting (the place wasnt opened yet) and I looked away for one second and she had dissapeared! The entire staff got up to look for her (as there was only 5 minutes before the place opened) and she was just nowhere to be found! After crawling on hands and knees and looking under counters and in cracks and under tables, still no luck. This went on for about 20 minutes and one of our chefs started saying shit like "I hope the health dept doesnt find out" and "Why would u bring a cat into work in the first place" and "I take it you wont be bringing her in here again." and other banter that I just didnt need at that point. (Oh well..some people just dont know how to be sensitive I guess....what an ass!)
I decided to just sit at the table where she had wondered away from and all of a sudden I heard a faint "meow" and then another. Two seconds later she came wondering down the aisle towards me. I cant tell you how releived I was!! That was the first time I have lost my "little girl"...and it was kind of scary. I Scolded her and then gave her a big honkin kiss on her nose. And then took her home.
I sure hope she enjoyed her "adventure"!! It will be a long time before she has another, that is for sure!
Monday, July 19, 2004
Monday, July 12, 2004
A summer night outside, my laptop, a very tasty iced tea, and a slice of Lime Pie
A day off at last! It has been a very long week and Monday (today) could just not come soon enough. The weekend was a busy one at work and very exhausting.
I found a little gem of a restaurant just now. I am sitting outside in Downtown Milwaukee at a little place called "Zyng". It is an Asian Cafe on the park (Cathedral Sqaure) and they have tables on the sidewalk. It is a perfect summer night and the free WI-fi internet access that the city has down here reaches the cafe, so here I sit browsing the web, drinking an iced "Chai Tea" that is very tasty and I also ordered a slice of "Sublime Key Lime Pie". Couldn't be better. It is things like this that make me think of wanting to move back to Milwaukee. I have always been a "big city" type of person. Though I like Racine, there just isn't enough of things like this place yet.
Hopefully in time. Hell...If I had the money, I would open a place of my own like this in Racine, right on the lake. But alas, I am just a poor waif and have no means to accomplish that financial miracle.
Add to this, I also picked up two real cool books at the "Half Price Book Store" earlier today out in Brookfield.
It was a nice day and one of the nicer ones of summer so far.
And I had the whole day to enjoy it.....
The church bell across the park just started ringing...Kind of cool. It is 10pm and this city on the Lake is one of the happier places I have spent a lot of my recent life. I have no regrets right now. Not many days one can call perfect.....
I found a little gem of a restaurant just now. I am sitting outside in Downtown Milwaukee at a little place called "Zyng". It is an Asian Cafe on the park (Cathedral Sqaure) and they have tables on the sidewalk. It is a perfect summer night and the free WI-fi internet access that the city has down here reaches the cafe, so here I sit browsing the web, drinking an iced "Chai Tea" that is very tasty and I also ordered a slice of "Sublime Key Lime Pie". Couldn't be better. It is things like this that make me think of wanting to move back to Milwaukee. I have always been a "big city" type of person. Though I like Racine, there just isn't enough of things like this place yet.
Hopefully in time. Hell...If I had the money, I would open a place of my own like this in Racine, right on the lake. But alas, I am just a poor waif and have no means to accomplish that financial miracle.
Add to this, I also picked up two real cool books at the "Half Price Book Store" earlier today out in Brookfield.
It was a nice day and one of the nicer ones of summer so far.
And I had the whole day to enjoy it.....
The church bell across the park just started ringing...Kind of cool. It is 10pm and this city on the Lake is one of the happier places I have spent a lot of my recent life. I have no regrets right now. Not many days one can call perfect.....
Thursday, July 8, 2004
Bitten by the "Travel Bug Again"?- A happy birthday to my Mom
Here I am thinking of taking my last week of vacation...... By taking an Amtrak trip out west.
A six day "round trip" to either Washington or California, is 398.00 which is affordable I guess. And it includes a sleeper car and dinners in a dining car.
I am imagining being able to sit back and read a book or two, write in my journal and watch the views rolling by. No worry about weather and travel and no need to concentrate on anything but relaxing.
I really enjoyed the drive out west that I took a few months ago, but the one thing I kept thinking of was how nice it would be (at times) to have someone else do the driving.
I am thinking it would be nice to see some more of the west that I missed on my trip this spring, and to be able to see the wonderful mountain and dessert views on a train.
I have always thought about taking a train trip like this.
And being that my trip to Europe that didn't work out was supposed to include riding the "rails", I figure this might be a good substitute for now (plus a primer for when I do manage to get to Europe..Which will be within the next year or two at most.)
The two routes I am thinking of are both nice and would probably have amazing views.
The one takes me through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming,and into Washington and Oregon and then returns.
The other goes through ILL, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and into California.
The last one sounds very scenic and includes parts of the Rockies I have never seen, the Grand Canyon, the mountains and dessert of Arizona, the sierra Nevada mountains (The Donner pass) and into California and ending in San Francisco. A lot of areas I have always wanted to see. I have never been to the pacific ocean and that would be a fitting finale to either of these trips.
Both trips are 6 days total with various stops on the way. The one to California would include almost a whole day in California before having to board another train for the return journey. The trip itself is the point (riding on the train), so not having time to stay in any one area doesn't bother me at all.
I have been on a train before but that was years ago when I was a kid. My mom took me and my brothers and sisters from Wisconsin Rapids to Milwaukee to visit her cousin Anita, a few times on the "train". I remember the trips being "Great Adventures".
To a 10 year old boy almost anything other than being at home probably was an adventure.
This was back in the 70s. I do remember when the "train service" stopped in the Rapids and the end of those trips that I always looked forward to. It was like the end of an Era. (and it really was in a way)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
What else have I been up to? Work has been busy and my boss has been on vacation the last week. The Fourth of July was nice. I took in the Parade here in Racine, which is said to be one of the biggest in the Midwest. It was over two hours long and was very nice. Being up so early in the morning wasn't the best thing for me (I am a night owl) but it was nice to be able to spend a holiday doing something other than work, which in my profession, doesn't happen too often.
Other than that, things have been very quiet. Summer still hasn't arrived in Wisconsin. It feels more like an enhanced Spring. Today it is barely breaking the 70 degree mark, and it already the 8th of July.
______________________________________________________________________________________
And....Tomorrow (July 9th) is my mom's birthday. It is hard to believe that it has been just over five years since she has died.
I still think of her quite often and even though time has tempered the feeling of loss, I still cry at times when I think of her. She was an "amazing woman" by all counts.
One of the things I think of often is how selfless she was. I don't think anyone could disagree that she gave her children everything she could and gave herself nothing in order for that to happen. I still cant figure out how she did it. I never really went without anything that I needed, nor did my siblings...And.....Her love was unconditional and always there for all of us. She had one of the biggest hearts and kindest souls of anyone I have ever known. (I am sure all kids think of their mother in this way though).
And I know that everyone who knew her, if they were lucky enough, probably felt the same.
Another thing I remember is how many friends she had. Every day, she was talking to one of her "girlfriends" or another aunt or uncle or relative on the phone. Or one of her friends was over at the house, having coffee and chatting. Or she would be at one of her friend's houses visiting them (via walking or riding her bike...She never did drive). She always had so much energy. One of the hardest things to see was when she started getting sick and she couldn't do so much of all of that. But you know what? Even after her cancer had pretty much taken its toll (before she became wheelchair bound), she would still walk the 3 blocks to the grocery store.
As I was on my trip out west a few months ago, I thought of her often. When I saw an amazing site or awesome view, I would think of how she would have looked at it. As I was browsing through one of the many shops out in Co., I came across a plaque that had been carved out of a rocky mountain pine tree and it had "Mom I love you" on it. I bought it and am planning on putting it at her gravesite the next time I make it up to the Rapids.
My amazing mother...... What memories, (so many...I may write about some of them on this blog eventually) and how Lucky I was to have had her in my life.
I just wish she could have remained in it just a bit longer.
I would give anything to just be able to see her and talk to her just one more time.
She is in my dreams still though and someday I know I will see her again. Until then, I have a lifetime of memories of her.
Happy Birthday mom. I love you....
A six day "round trip" to either Washington or California, is 398.00 which is affordable I guess. And it includes a sleeper car and dinners in a dining car.
I am imagining being able to sit back and read a book or two, write in my journal and watch the views rolling by. No worry about weather and travel and no need to concentrate on anything but relaxing.
I really enjoyed the drive out west that I took a few months ago, but the one thing I kept thinking of was how nice it would be (at times) to have someone else do the driving.
I am thinking it would be nice to see some more of the west that I missed on my trip this spring, and to be able to see the wonderful mountain and dessert views on a train.
I have always thought about taking a train trip like this.
And being that my trip to Europe that didn't work out was supposed to include riding the "rails", I figure this might be a good substitute for now (plus a primer for when I do manage to get to Europe..Which will be within the next year or two at most.)
The two routes I am thinking of are both nice and would probably have amazing views.
The one takes me through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming,and into Washington and Oregon and then returns.
The other goes through ILL, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and into California.
The last one sounds very scenic and includes parts of the Rockies I have never seen, the Grand Canyon, the mountains and dessert of Arizona, the sierra Nevada mountains (The Donner pass) and into California and ending in San Francisco. A lot of areas I have always wanted to see. I have never been to the pacific ocean and that would be a fitting finale to either of these trips.
Both trips are 6 days total with various stops on the way. The one to California would include almost a whole day in California before having to board another train for the return journey. The trip itself is the point (riding on the train), so not having time to stay in any one area doesn't bother me at all.
I have been on a train before but that was years ago when I was a kid. My mom took me and my brothers and sisters from Wisconsin Rapids to Milwaukee to visit her cousin Anita, a few times on the "train". I remember the trips being "Great Adventures".
To a 10 year old boy almost anything other than being at home probably was an adventure.
This was back in the 70s. I do remember when the "train service" stopped in the Rapids and the end of those trips that I always looked forward to. It was like the end of an Era. (and it really was in a way)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
What else have I been up to? Work has been busy and my boss has been on vacation the last week. The Fourth of July was nice. I took in the Parade here in Racine, which is said to be one of the biggest in the Midwest. It was over two hours long and was very nice. Being up so early in the morning wasn't the best thing for me (I am a night owl) but it was nice to be able to spend a holiday doing something other than work, which in my profession, doesn't happen too often.
Other than that, things have been very quiet. Summer still hasn't arrived in Wisconsin. It feels more like an enhanced Spring. Today it is barely breaking the 70 degree mark, and it already the 8th of July.
______________________________________________________________________________________
And....Tomorrow (July 9th) is my mom's birthday. It is hard to believe that it has been just over five years since she has died.
I still think of her quite often and even though time has tempered the feeling of loss, I still cry at times when I think of her. She was an "amazing woman" by all counts.
One of the things I think of often is how selfless she was. I don't think anyone could disagree that she gave her children everything she could and gave herself nothing in order for that to happen. I still cant figure out how she did it. I never really went without anything that I needed, nor did my siblings...And.....Her love was unconditional and always there for all of us. She had one of the biggest hearts and kindest souls of anyone I have ever known. (I am sure all kids think of their mother in this way though).
And I know that everyone who knew her, if they were lucky enough, probably felt the same.
Another thing I remember is how many friends she had. Every day, she was talking to one of her "girlfriends" or another aunt or uncle or relative on the phone. Or one of her friends was over at the house, having coffee and chatting. Or she would be at one of her friend's houses visiting them (via walking or riding her bike...She never did drive). She always had so much energy. One of the hardest things to see was when she started getting sick and she couldn't do so much of all of that. But you know what? Even after her cancer had pretty much taken its toll (before she became wheelchair bound), she would still walk the 3 blocks to the grocery store.
As I was on my trip out west a few months ago, I thought of her often. When I saw an amazing site or awesome view, I would think of how she would have looked at it. As I was browsing through one of the many shops out in Co., I came across a plaque that had been carved out of a rocky mountain pine tree and it had "Mom I love you" on it. I bought it and am planning on putting it at her gravesite the next time I make it up to the Rapids.
My amazing mother...... What memories, (so many...I may write about some of them on this blog eventually) and how Lucky I was to have had her in my life.
I just wish she could have remained in it just a bit longer.
I would give anything to just be able to see her and talk to her just one more time.
She is in my dreams still though and someday I know I will see her again. Until then, I have a lifetime of memories of her.
Happy Birthday mom. I love you....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)