Lifestyles of the Young and Renting

Tonight, I did a bad thing.

Walking to our apartment after work, I noticed that the vertical blinds covering our neighbor’s sliding glass window were fluttering back and forth. I walked past and realized that their 10 month old girl was sitting on the floor by the window, flapping the blinds and having a great time.

I back up, and decide to try for one of those "I’m the greatest person in the world because I made you smile" moments with the little girl by crouching on my haunches and peeking at her between the blinds as she flips them back and forth.

Mind you, it is dark outside.

She’s watching the shades flip and flop, when she catches a glimpse of me between the cracks.

I suddenly think this may not be a good idea, but I stick it out a little longer.

Flip, flop.

 

She sees me again.

And her bottom lip begins to curl,

her forehead wrinkles,

her two little teeth nubs stand out on her gum,

and she begins to wail.

 

And I quickly walk into my apartment and close the door.

I have never been so thankful for the cover of darkness.

 -l

Yesterday, I was spending time with some of my favorite people under the age of 10 (Morgan and Molly, you are of course, my favorites), and I was reminded why children are a fabulous part of this world: my friend Michael, with his limited vocabulary, spent 20 minutes directing his 6mo old yellow lab to get into her kennel. As he is still somewhat skeptical of this animal, he would follow the dog around the house, staying about 5 feet away. With one little finger pointed at the kennel, he would demand, "This way! THIS WAY!!!!" (only recently have these become two distinct words - it used to be "thissay")

When the dog refused to obey, but skirted away from him, staying close to the wall and the couch, Michael finally went for the tail and tried to get her in backwards, still calling, "This way!"

I had finally convinced him to engage the dog in a little game with a slimy ball, when his mother walked up to whisper something in my ear. She and her older daughter had been in the kitchen, working on homework, when Kate needed to sharpen her pencil. She went to the sharpener, whizzed her pencil to a fine point, and said proudly, "Ah, pencil, I love you. Nice and sharp. Sharp as a wheel."

 So there I am, on the floor with a dog I think may have fleas (or at the very least, leaves mysterious bumps on my skin), wearing a shirt with someone else’s boogers on it, in an absolute moment of joy.

 

-l 

I cannot explain it, but I have come to deeply depend upon www.cuteoverload.com.

I have tried to share my enthusiasm for the site with my friends, but once I tell them it is a website devoted to pictures of cute animals, they seem to lose their interest. And if I were in their shoes, I would have lost mine, too. 

However, in my defense, there is plenty of real and anectdotal evidence that pets make people live longer. They aid in the healing process, and they fight off depression…which is probably why every nursing home I have ever visited has some version of an obese orange cat wandering the halls, looking for oatmeal leftovers.

At any rate, if routinely looking at pictures of cute and amusing animals, whether they are doing "people things," wearing costumes, sleeping in contorted positions, or performing gymnastics, helps me to keep at least one foot in the realm of sanity, so help me Jesus I will do it.

I just might not tell you about it again.

-l

You’ve just got to watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0uEQZDHiaM

No words.