Poor mouse!

We had a very sad event occur at the Pratt house this morning. We were out of food (and that isn't even the sad part!) and needed to go to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. When we got home, Mia (still on her sugar high from the munkins) found a live mouse in the drive way. She thought this was a fabulous new toy/ friend for her to play with, but I was horrified. What would a mouse be doing near our house?? It must have been completely crazy and deaf to have decided that chez Pratt was a happy home for a mouse. With an autistic cat (Anna) who enjoys swimming, our white tiger hunter who's sole hobby is eating (Zoey) and our two vicious (hahahaha) guard dogs (Mia and Abby), what would ever possess a mouse to take up residence here?? As I tried to get Mia away from the poor little guy, I really tried to explain to him that sticking around just wasn't a good idea. But, sadly, he did not listen. A short time later, I looked out the bathroom window to find Zoey looking up at me with that, I'm busy don't bug me look, on her face and the very tip of her tail slowly waving back and forth. This is our little white tiger's hunting stance. I knew something was about to have a very bad day. I closed the shade and hoped for the best for whatever she was after, but Zoey won. When me and the girls got back from Shaws, Mia and Abby found.... well, lets just say little mickey learned a painful lesson at the Pratt house.

What?!? I'm not ready for sea vegetables and knitting in the round??

Or, what I did (or rather didn't) do on my summer vacation.

I was suppose to go home to Springfield for at least a few of my vacation days, but my car had other plans. I guess you don't always get what you want, but you usually get what you need. And, all things considered, a relaxing stay-cation was just what I needed. My car is fine (thanks to the warranty) and they even fixed my side air bags that Jeff discounted when he put in my radio. It was truly fabulous to just take time off for me- no school (for the first time in about 2 1/2 years!), no work and no alarm clock! FABULOUS!

So, I decided to take some time to try to further my health kick and improve my knitting skills with my lovely, unplanned time away from society. I picked some funky new recipes and we headed to the health food store. I should have know I was being a little overly ambitious when half of what we bought was sea vegetables, but I'm kind of a "go big or go home" kind of a girls so back to our kitchen I went. Now, I know that sea vegetables are totally fabulous for me and both vegan cookbooks I have recommended soup for breakfast as "a great way to start your day off right," but.... soup with seaweed? ... for breakfast?? I must admit, I wasn't entirely sold on the idea. But, being the good health nut girl I want to become, I gave it a go. It was HORRIBLE!!! All I could think about staring into that bowl was the hours I'd spent playing in the ocean. UGH! Experiment failed.

Then, I decided that I MUST be ready after 2 scarfs to knit in the round and make socks... Right? That must make sense... right? Well, I've cast on about 10x with no avail. With only 2 hands how can anybody be expected to knit with 4 needles? Madness!! Maybe I need to find a knitting Yoda to show me the way of the needles.

What did I learn on my summer vacation? Baby steps!

Now, I must prepare for a great night of knitting and football... GO PATS!

Bridget Jones

I'm sure we've all read this fabulously funny book and thought, gee, she really gets herself into some crazy situations.... that could never really happen. Well, I'm living proof that, yes as a matter of fact, those situations really can happen.

After my last post, it's no surprise that I'm job hunting. This week, I sent my resume to a promising financial company in Portland and got a call back to schedule an interview. GO ME, I thought..... Then, I re listened to the message to take down the name and number of the guy scheduling the interview. And that is where it all came crashing down. Upon re listening to the message, I realized that the name and voice sounded familiar. Turns out, that this company is run by my ex boyfriend, Kevin, and his father and brother. Oh, but wait... it gets better. This particular ex boyfriend cheated on me ... while I had mono... and got the girl pregnant... oh yeah, and they ended up getting married after he broke up with me. (FYI, they are now divorced- surprise, surprise) After thinking it over all day, I decided to just let it go and not call back. BUT, he called again wanting to schedule an interview. Go figure, the ONE company fight to get me in for an interview... What are the odds?? So, I realized that I was going to need to call him to let him know that I would NOT be interviewing with the company. So, I mustered up all the courage and patients I could and called. Before he could say to much, I said my maiden name is King... umm, don't you, err, umm, remember me? *awkward pause* Umm, we dated? OHHHHHH he says... After even more awkward small talk, I say..Umm, yeah I don't think I'll be interviewing with you, but thanks anyway.

The really kicker here is that he wants me to think about it. Yeah, I'll pass.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Well, I am finally starting up my very own blog, so watch out world you are now privy to all of my random thoughts and ramblings. You are warned. So, a bit about me... I'm highly sporatic and original (thanks to my fabulous ADHD!) and my interests really depend on my day of the week. I'm a vegetarian who loves the smell of BBQ and I watch football while knitting. Go figure.

So, I was inspired today by the Dylan Thomas poem "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night." I've really been struggling with work and my company lately. When I finished my classes for my MBA, I applied to be a financial advisor only to meet massive resistance from the home office. Supposedly, I didn't preform well on their personality test or phone interview. Clearly, this is because I HAVE a personality and think for myself. Personally, I think the stuffed shirts can handle me. This week, another office administrator in our region became a financial advisor in about half the time it is suppose to take. Talk about a huge slap in the face. I have the education and the experience to be a financial advisor but the home office labeled me as average at best. Today, the words of Dylan Thomas popped into my head and I began to think about "raging against the dying of the light." My company is trying to kill my spirit and break me down but I refuse to conform to their standards! If I sit back and really, truly think about what their standards or what their ideal for a person should be- I don't want that. Look at what Wall St has done to this country! Do I really want to be like them? Do I really want to conform to that?? I will RAGE against the dying of the light in all of us!! Companies, bosses, teachers, parents, the media- all of them are trying to tell us how to be, what we should want, and what we should do. It's like who we are and what we do isn't good enough. Our self esteem and self worth suffers because of unrealistic expectations. Well, not any more. I am going to rage against the dying of self and I will not gently follow the crowd or do what is expected of me. So, my message to all of you is-

Rage, rage against the dying of the light