Summer Break

At the beginning of each summer break, I often feel a little out of control. School is officially over, so I know I have no plans, at least for a couple of weeks. I end up ditching my routine almost entirely and tend to stay up til the wee hours, complaining later about how I feel horrible being tired. So here I am at 10:35pm, at a crossroads. I could continue on the same self destructive path, known in some circles as a state of SLOTH. Or, I could change my behavior. Hmm.

Here's the rub: I am trying to loosen up a little. I am so attached to a certain routine, particular foods, etc, that I feel like I ought to shake things up a bit. But instead, I turn to meaningless internet activities when I have free time. I isolate in my kitchen, googling things like Pastor Britt (on You Tube), who I used to know as plain ole Britt, or Burt. I went to high school with him, and the last time I saw him in person, he was walking across our stage at graduation yelling "Burt don't surf!". Now he gives sermons at Reality Church in Carpinteria that are reminiscent of Baptist fire and brimstone with some sales pitch mixed in.

Anyway...the point is that all of this free time drives me crazy. I am stuck between overplanning and becoming one of those people who play guitar hero for 5 hours straight (just making that up, as a good example of what I am doing).

My road trip is another fine example of trying to mix things up, Michelle style. I took nearly every item of clothing I own (and wore only 2-3 outfits), all my regular foods in a cooler, and my favorite utensils and dishes. I loaded my car to the brim, including a guitar I never played, and a beach chair I never sat in. I drove 7-9 hours a day (!) to the weirdest places. Some were quite breathtaking, others were downright nasty. I visited my friend Rozanna and her family. That was ok. But other than that, what was my motive for taking a trip anyway? Well, I had time to kill and money burning a hole in my checking account. Why not stay in a motel near a meth smoker who yelled at his girlfriend about peeing in the bed, among other things. BTW, I smelled meth in the bathroom after my shower, and still smelled it on my nightie the next night. I was so grossed out! Other than the obvious entertainment factor for writing an interesting book, why did I endure such ridiculousness?

Well, because I needed something to do.*sigh*

Here's my solution: I will sign up for a class of interest, like meditation, yoga, or hiking. I will plan on attending said activity once a week. I will go to more meetings, and do more writing. I also need a part time job, so that ought to keep me sorta busy. And...I could call my friends more often. Lunch dates at Daily Grind would be very pleasant. Butterfly Beach is awesome, as always. My bald friend returns from New York soon. Hmm. I should discuss the bald one in another blog. Yes, I could write about him all day long, and into the night. Ha ha.

See, I have plenty to do. Wish me luck with that. I am gonna need it.

Stream of Consciousness...

Don't know what to write about yet, so I am pulling the free association out of my head and will see what comes out. I have had a few zillion thoughts today, so I am sure it won't be difficult to find something interesting to say.

I just watched Juno last night. It is going to be or already is a cult "classic". I guess it is not classic yet, but it has some lines in it like Napoleon Dynamite that will linger and be repeated profusely, esp in the teen world. They say things like "wizard" (def: cool) and "I need to procure a hasty abortion". Juno is so freakin lovable, I want to adopt her myself. For those of you who haven't seen copious ads for this film, it's about a pregnant teen with precocious and brilliant, quirky and cute all over her face. Jason Reitman produced it, I believe? Can't remember the guy's name, but he rocks. Juno is one of the better movies I've watched in some time. A must see for people of all ages.

Today before I went to my work study at Body Therapy Institute, I took some time to relax in my lawn and write a gratitude list. I observed a standoff amongst the DLV Kitty Posse (that's De La Vina, what I have named our hood, since we live on that street) and a cat who lives behind us named Sadie. I may have mentioned before that we have a total of 9 cats in our little community. My neighbor Starr and I each have cats who are related to one another. They pretty much get along well, and claim the area as their own.

Anyway, Sadie comes to visit, as do some other neighboring cats. Sadie likes to hang out, whether our local crew likes it or not. She just settled down behind my worn out window screen in the dirt, with a definite plan to stay a while. Well, first I heard Delilah begin to grumble. Then her brother Moses came over. I noticed Lucho creeping over from the other side. Suddenly, Sophie showed up too. They were surrounding Sadie, but she did not budge. Lucho's sister Layla made an appearance a few minutes later. I swear I need a soundtrack for this. Finally, they all sort of closed in on her and she yowled and moved about half a foot. She eventually left for the day without any of them having to scuffle with her. Brave little bobtail, I'll tell ya, what with the 5:1 ratio. She was seriously outnumbered.

My littlest kittens are Moses and Delilah, at 11 months old. They keep catching mosquito hawks. Delilah will bring them in to show off her prize. She has orange stripes with a white face, and has black lips. It's too cute to see her head buried in this helpless insect, then slowly peek up to seek acknowledgment from me.

Moses has some strange habits. He enjoys any paper product, especially tissue and toilet paper. He has an inclination to unravel the TP roll every so often. I have had to take it off the handle when he gets out of hand with it. I also hide my tissue boxes. There have been times when I left it out, like when I've watched a movie that makes me cry. I'll get up in the morning to discover tissues all over the living room. He would be adorable if he wasn't destroying stuff. He massacres any paper. He could be my shredder. Ha ha. His other habit is totally gross. He tips over the trash can in my bathroom once a month, in search of personal hygiene products. I don't even want to share any further info on that one. Ew. Of course, he makes up for his destructive tendencies by purring really loud and long. He comes over for what I call a purr session several times a day. He sounds like he has some respiratory condition, but it's just him purring his heart out. So sweet, my motor mouth.