My very good excuse

I actually have a fairly good reason for not _osting. My letter-that-comes-between-o-and-q key on my keyboard is broken. Actually, it WAS broken, now it's just GONE. For a few weeks, it was just loose, and therefore working s_oradically, if I whacked it hard enough. But my _sycho cat went and ri_ _ed the darn thing off com_letely, and now, no _'s. And I have to admit, it is driving me CRAAAAZY. More than it should, I'm sure. But I've kind of been avoiding any long emails/_osts/etc because, well, do you know how many words have the letter _ in them?!

A lot. A whole lot.

On the very bright side, though, my com_uter is still under warranty, so the lovely _eo_le at Dell covered the cost of a new keyboard. Thank you, lovely _eo_le at Dell. You've made me very ha_ _ y. Anyway, that should be here in a few days. Sweetness.

Poetry Series: Week 7

(Yes, I know, I skipped a week of the poetry series while I was gone. Oh, well.)

I have always loved this poem. Something about the sound and the flow of the words just appealed to me; I like how it moves quickly and...bouncily, or something. I don't know enough about rhythm or meter or any of that fun stuff to try and explain how or why this poem works, but if someone who does know more about it would like to share, go for it!
All I know is I like the sound :)

We are playing host to four kittens for the next few weeks, just temporarily. Trying to name four kittens was an interesting job; eventually we settled on Heckle, Jekyll (the boys), Molly, and Ophelia (the girls). It's kind of an amusing concept, this naming of cats, because it's not as though any one of them will ever answer to their name, like a dog. They've got too much pride, independence and attitude for that! And yet we crazy humans do it anyway......!

The Naming of Cats
by T.S. Eliot

The naming of cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm mad as a hatter
When I tell you a cat must have three
different names.

First of all, there's the name
that the family use daily,
Such as Victor, or Jonathan,
George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names
if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen,
some for the dames;
Such as Plato, Admetus,
Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you,
a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that is peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he
keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers,
or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind,
I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quazo or Coripat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellyrum--
Names that never belong
to more than one cat.

But above and beyond
there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you will never guess;
The name
that no human research can discover--
But The Cat Himself Knows,
and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought,
of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular
Name.

The Flies of Life

Well.

I've learned a very important lesson. Do not, under ANY circumstance, assume that your kitten can ignore a fly. I'm sure you're all going, "huh??". It's a valuable lesson, though, mark my words.

Take last night, for instance. My dear probably-about-4-months-old kitten was "sleeping" (theoretically) in my room. It was dark, I was tired, we were both curled up in bed and I was positively thrilled at the fact that it was finally time for sleep. Sleep is good :)

But, lo and behold, a fly made its entrance. How? Couldn't tell ya. Seeing as we've had a three inch layer of ice on the ground and every other imaginable surface for the last few weeks, I had naively assumed that meant most living creatures were either hibernating or..well...not so living. Apparently I was wrong. How did the fly get in to MY room? Also no clue. In the summer, they're everywhere, but that's because I have my window open all the time...but I assure you, my window hasn't been open for months now.

The point, though, is that somehow, this tiny little fly got in. Keep in mind the size of a fly, OK? Tiny little beasts, really. In the grand scheme of things, they really don't take up that much room or space or thoughts.And yet, I found out that this one, tiny fly had unimaginable power. It's all because of this insect that I didn't get any sleep last night. My kitten, Littlest, apparently decided it was her new life's goal (aside from killing all the house plants and eating all the candles, that is) to catch this fly. Kitty on a mission, I'm tellin' ya. So, she spent THE ENTIRE NIGHT (no exaggeration. Really.) leaping, clawing, meowing, pouncing, jumping, hissing, and desperatly trying to catch this thing.

Not sleeping, which is, believe it or not, what you're supposed to do at night. No -- she was too distracted by this fly to do anything important like, say, sleep.

Needless to say, NONE of us got ANY sleep. The fly was busy buzzing around, finding new hiding places, and taunting the cat (I'm sure I heard it giggling at one point, saying, "Nah nah nah nah naaaah! I'm way up here and you're stuck down the-ere!"). The cat, of course, was consumed by her obsessive desire to catch this pest, and I was stuck listening to them both and praying that all the crashing sounds were nothing breakable. (As it is, I don't think anything major broke, but my room is rather messy at present, and it's kind of hard to tell what was knocked on the floor and what was already there...)

My point? From all of this, we can learn a lesson:

Sometimes the tiniest, most trivial things can distract us from what's really important. Just like Littlest, who allowed this tiny, inconsequential bug to so completely distract her that she missed out on something vital to her health -- sleep -- we, too, are guilty of this.

Ever allowed yourself to worry about something to the point where you tune out what a friend is saying? How about procrastinating? (THAT'S ME!!! But that's really a topic for another post)
Ever forget to pray because you were too busy?Ever skip church because something else felt more important?

See what I mean? It's a dangerous thing -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually -- to let things distract you so much. You will miss out on SO MUCH in life!

Especially around Christmas, there are SO MANY distractions that can get in the way of celebrating our Savior's birth. In the mad rush to buy presents, host parties, pack suitcases, send Christmas cards and hang lights, it's so easy to forget WHY we are celebrating.

So...why do we have distractions, then?Well, here's some food for thought -- what if God gives us distractions so we can learn to be more focused? Think about it -- every time you're faced with a distraction, you're also blessed with the opportunity to become a more focused, determined person. That's pretty cool! We humans have the amazing ability to learn and define our skils. It's pretty exciting! And when we are blessed with opportunities to do so, well, the possibilties are endless! (Cats are apparently the exception to this rule -- they don't seem particularly interested in becoming more focused. Phooey.)

Ok..well...how do we become more focused?

First, figure out what is most distracting you right now...allow your mind to wander for a moment. What does it settle on? A worry? Something you're excited about? An upcoming event? Something you're afraid of? That funny joke your best friend told you? That mean insult you accidentally overheard? Recognizing your distraction is the first step!

Next -- let it go. Scary thought, I know, but let go of all your distractions. Give it all up to God -- whether it is praise or frustration, worry or joy, pain or excitement -- He can handle it. Better yet, He can help you through it.

Then -- once you've cleared your mind and heart, focus on what IS really important. Maybe that's reading the Bible. Maybe it's spending more time in prayer. Maybe it's volunteering somewhere. Maybe it's telling your friends and family how much you care about them.

Whatever it is, make a conscious effort to focus on that.It's not easy to stay focused, and from time to time, everyone loses sight of the important things in life. It's essential, though, to step back every so often and think -- am I distracted? What's distracting me? How can I be more focused?

Hopefully you will be able to let go of all your little "flies" and focus more on the important stuff :)

Lessons from Littlest

My cat, Littlest, is pretty creative. She sleeps with me most nights, and finds a new way to wake me up each morning. Now, you'd think I'd be thrilled to have such a cute, sweet, fuzzy, cuddly, creative personal alarm clock, right? Theoretically, I would. Except that she doesn't wake me up when I want to be awoken...she wakes me up whenever she feels I should feed her her breakfast, which can be anytime after 3am. One night, she accomplished this by knocking over my guitar case...the resulting CRASH was enough to wake me up, even in the total darkness which only comes at, well, 3am! Another night she sat at my (closed) bedroom door, meowing, repeatedly, waiting for me to open the door. Had it been a little later...or a little bit lighter...I might have opened the door a lot sooner. As it was, it was about 4:30, and I was rather slow getting out of bed. Then there was the first morning she slept with me, when I awoke to her hissing at her reflection in my mirror...Today she let me sleep in until almost 6am, which was nice! But today's method of waking involved her attacking my toes...clawing, pouncing, chewing....ouch. I'm going to have THOSE scars for awhile...She can be sweet, though, when she wants to be. One day she woke me up by licking my nose!

But honestly, the thing I really love about Littlest is that she is so happy and excited about EVERYTHING! She loves to play, and it's so great to watch her apparent joy and excitement when she plays...even when she plays with the same toys, over and over, she's still totally thrilled. The exact same ball of red yarn...she plays with it every day, sometimes for hours at a time! Or something as simple as a little ping-pong ball...she loves batting it around and chasing after it. Littlest doesn't need brand new, exciting toys to play with to make her happy -- she is completely content with what she's got. She doesn't lose interest in things after a day or so; instead, every morning she wakes up and plays with her toys with the same enthusiasm as the day before. I guess you could even say she's thankful for what she's got!

Littlest teaches us an excellent lesson about materialism. Especially around this time of year, we as a society are consumed with the need to make wishlists -- I want this, I want that, more more more more more more!!!!!! Every store does their very best to convince you you just can't live without this item...same with TV commericials -- "Think how easy your life will be if you just buy this product!" We've become people obsessed with owning things and stuff and gadgets and gizmos, because we are, in a sense, convinced that will make us happy. Does it?

Did you ever get exactly what you wanted for Christmas, that one thing that you knew you just had to have? Sure, it was probably exciting for a day or two; maybe a little longer. But was that it? Did that one thing make you so happy that you were totally content with your life, or did you still want more, more more, bigger and better things, etc, etc, etc? Years later, did that original item, the one you thought would mean the world to you, still make you happy?

Check out what the Bible says about materialism:
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." -- 1 Tim. 6:6-11

Nothing destroys the attitude of thankfulness like materialism. If we are always consumed by a need for more, how can we be grateful for what we've got? Indeed, by convincing ourselves that we need this new item or that new toy, it's almost like saying that everything we have already isn't good enough.

A ping-pong ball and a ball of red yarn -- Littlest is, in her own way, thankful for these two simple toys. They make her happy; they bring her joy, over and over again! She doesn't need new, improved, special, amazing toys -- she's thrilled with what she's got.

So, as we all celebrate Thankgiving this year, just keep in mind all the little things to be thankful for. Sure, we're all grateful for our family and friends and food and our houses, and that's important, obviously! But find little things to be grateful for, too -- clean socks, tissues, an umbrella when it's pouring down rain....

And as we go into Christmas, keep it up -- keep looking for the little things to be thankful for. If we can find joy in the little things that we've already got, we won't be consumed by the need for more. If we're content with what we already have, we won't ruin the Christmas season with materialism and "stuff". And when you're not obsessed with getting, it really frees up your mind to concentrate on what Christmas is really about -- Jesus. The ultimate gift of love. Now THERE'S something that can make you truly happy!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!