Do not pass 'Go'. Do not collect $200. If you haven't seen the unassuming Susan Boyle sing "I Dreamed A Dream" (from Les Miserables) on Britain's Got Talent, then go find a hankie and click here. Do it now, kidlets; this shouldn't be missed.
I highly recommend those reusable grocery bags. They're exactly as useful and functional for transporting groceries as they're advertised to be, and they offer the additional benefit, at my house, of providing Olivia's favorite new resting spot when empty. I'd provide you with photographic evidence if only she would actually rest on one of the bags when I come close. It seems that she is so sure she's going to be in trouble for lying on them that she bolts when I take a step in her direction. Or maybe she just wants to start a game of "Tag." Anyway, trust me, even in the absence of photos: Reusable grocery bags are the next hot cat toys. You heard it here first.
And if that's not dull exciting enough for you, here's another new development: My neighbor has been calling, pretending to be one of her own cats and asking for mine. Is there etiquette about how to respond to this sort of silliness?
Cousin B. Ju's sister, Cousin Bea Ju, passed away yesterday, shortly after entering a hospice facility in Florida. She is survived by her stepson, his wife and their children. She was approximately 92 years old. The funeral will be held tomorrow near her former home in Manchester, NH. She will be missed by many in the extended Ju clan.
There is one surviving sister, Cousin Sylvia Ju of Chestnut Hill, MA. Sylvia was the oldest of the three, and now she is the only one left. A whole era is slipping away.
Last Friday, I returned a call to the father of a student but got his voicemail. I left a message and the dad called me back just as I hung up. He told me that he was on his lunch break from work and had gone to the company gym to work out, and was planning to take his cell phone along on his run in case I called. And then he told me that he hadn't yet left for his run when I called; the reception was terrible in the locker room and he couldn't step out to take my call because -- get this -- he didn't have any pants on at that moment.
Yes, a man I have never met and who is the father of a college student with whom I *have* met actually told me he couldn't take my call because he was pantsless. Which led to the inevitable question that I couldn't ask because, again, he's a man I've never met and the father of a student who is in crisis. Fortunately (I think), he offered up the information that he was now, indeed, wearing pants (or maybe shorts; he wasn't specific) to call me back. For which I was extremely thankful. And relieved. I would've told him I was relieved if I knew him better, but did I mention that he is a total stranger except for the fact that I've met his son -- who, by the way, was just released from McLean Hospital, so you might forgive my wondering at the inappropriate behavior of a family member*.
*Heh, I said member.