Far from a crisis of any kind, my 20's have been, on the whole, marvelous. Chase asked me yesterday, or maybe it was this morning, what was left to do on my 20's bucket list. I couldn't think of a single thing.
I got married at 20.
I graduated from college.
I got a fantastic job after graduation.
I went to grad school and got my M.A. in American Government.
We lived in Washington, DC.
We moved home to Nebraska.
We have our Lily and Connor.
We have the blessing of a strong network of support from our friends and family.
We are learning more all the time about who God is and how He draws us closer to Him all the time.
I've read some fabulous books.
I've read some books I didn't think were fabulous, but I got them checked off my list.
I have had jobs in the past and have a job now where I get to do different things all the time, where I'm constantly stretching and growing, and where I can make a contribution to my family and my community by working.
I have met and even spent time with a few famous people.
And most recently, we got a kitty!
You know, it's a silly little thing, the kitty. When I was little, like 3, I had a kitten named Whitney. A yellow tabby who adored me. I would stuff Whitney in my pillowcase (with my pillow) and Whitney would stay there until I got him out to play with again. Mom remembers that all of my shirts from the summer of Whitney were snagged, because the I would carry around my kitty and he would cling for dear life to the front of my shirt. And when I was done carrying him, I'd rip him off my shirt and put him down.
Whitney died after maybe a year. The victim of a car incident as I recall. So there came a long stream of Whitneys to follow. All yellow tabbys, all named Whitney, all meeting unfortunate ends early in the relationship. I remember coming home one day and there was a shoebox on our front porch and on it was a note of apology from our neighbor. Whitney the 4th (or maybe 5th... I can't really remember). After about 7 Whitneys, my brother brought home a gray kitten for me one fall evening. She was a 'fraidy cat for sure! She hid anywhere she could find, but you know, I had her clear until I was in college.
Misty Minerva Rotten Ralph Deichmann was her full name that sort of grew up organically over the years. But we just called her Ralphie most of the time. She was our family's cat, but she was really my cat. She wasn't brave really at all, but she was so good. She'd hide if there were strange or scary noises (like the iron hissing with steam, or the toilet flushing, or any number of other daily noises). But she loved to snuggle, especially at night while I read.
One of my favorite Ralphie stories was when there was a ninja mouse in my room. You think I'm making it up, but I saw, and vividly remember, hearing the faint scratching noise that only a mouse can make when it walks. It was directly to my right as I sat in bed, coming from somewhere on or near my nightstand. I tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend it didn't exist. Until I couldn't ignore it any more, and I looked to my right. Ninja mouse hurled himself from the edge of my lamp shade toward me on the bed!
I don't remember how I got out of my room, but my 14 year old self managed a speedy escape. I closed the door behind me and told Mom we had to put Ralphie in my room to catch Ninja mouse. She said we could do that, but she also recommended putting a mouse trap in there. I put Raphie in, she put the trap in, and I slept on the couch that night.
The next morning I cautiously opened the door a crack and peeked in. There stood Ralphie, proudly holding Ninja mouse in her mouth... Ninja mouse who was dead trapped in the mouse trap. She was so brave! (PS Good call on the mousetrap, Mom. I'm not sure I've ever thanked you for doing that. Genius. Though I'm sure if the trap hadn't been there, Ralphie would have pulled through. Nice not to have to put the pressure on her, though.)
I didn't really intend for this to become a blog about cats, but I guess that's what I want to write about now that I'm almost
Today we got a kitty. It sort of just happened to us and we weren't expecting it at all, which is really the best kind of situation sometimes. It started about 2 1/2 weeks ago when my sister's cat, Puff (Princess Persia Pufftail to be precise) who lives with my mom, went missing. Now, Puff is something of a
She'd been missing over a week when Mom found out about a stray kitten who had been rescued by some friends. The kitten needed a home, and the kitten passed the "Lily test." Lily stays one day a week with Mom, and any kitten Mom got had to do well with a 3-year old who loves kittens. Stray kitty passed the test. So Mom kept the kitty for about 4 days when, lo and behold, after over 2 weeks, Puff returned! We were SOOOOO excited! But now...
Now my mom had not only the new kitten, and Puff, but also my brother's cat, Kuzco. She didn't really like the thought of being a 3 cat household, especially when Kuz and Puff "roared" at the kitten all the time. (At least, that's what Lily calls it.) So we did a little talking about it, evaluated the options, and viola! We now have a kitten!
Honestly, I can't think of a better present for my 30th than a kitten. It's probably going to be more Lily's cat, but it's sleeping on my shoulder as I type. We've played and played today since we got it. (We don't know yet whether it's a boy or girl. It's black and so fluffy you simply can't tell!) But Lily picked out its name: Whitaker. Funny she picked that from the list of about 8 that we gave her. My first kitty's name was Whitney. Her's is Whitaker.
Beyond an unexpected and incredibly pleasant kitten, I have also gotten a night away with my husband, a jumping-out-of-Grandma's-arms-welcome-home from my son, a day of shared kitty delight with my daughter, and a million other blessings. I'm actually a bit overwhelmed at how very blessed I am at only 30! What a marvelous life I have.
In 3 minutes, my 20's will be over. Here's to hoping my 30's are even more amazing!
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