Wishing someone close to my heart a Happy Birthday!

Happy 10th birthday, to my baby girl, Arwen!

Arwen has been with me, since she was 5 weeks old. Her mom decided she was done with the kittens and placed them in the dog's food dish. I went in to work and found a small, mewing, precious kitten that needed me almost as much as I needed her. I was in a low place in life, my relationship at the time and really needed to feel needed. I fed her kitten formula for a month, manually wiped her with baby wipes for a couple weeks and guarded her from our other cat, Alley.

I didn't name her, but I knew she was going to be my baby. I was convinced I wanted a Bengal cat and had been looking for a kitten, when a co-worker informed my then-fiance (who was going to be paying for the kitten I ultimately chose) that his mom's bangal was expecting a litter of kittens. I agreed to hold off my search until I saw the kittens. Arwen was the most bengal looking of the kittens born and as soon as I saw her I was smitten!

Arwen has been my constant companion. Even when it was just the 2 of us, she was always there for me when I needed to be pulled out of a dark place.

When it was time to bring her into my home with Mac, she was shy and withdrawn. It took her 6 months to adjust to him. Now, she sleeps in bed with us almost every night. She even snuggled with Mac while I was caring for Peanut! She's come a long way.

She's not jealous of Nixon but she's not overly fond of him either. Indifferent, I'd best describe her relationship with Nixon as indifferent. Recently, as Nixon calms down from the crazy, tornado ball of energy he is to a momentarily caring and affectionate animal lover I know he can be, Arwen will nuzzle him and purr when he pets her. It's the closest thing to a sibling relationship Nixon will have and they are learning to love each other.

So happy 10th birthday, baby girl! Thank you for being the cuddly, anti-social, overly loud purring, bundle of fur you are! You've been my baby before I knew I wanted a baby and are as important to me as Nixon is.

It's easily the most popular question being asked this week....here's my answer

Where were you? 
It's a question being asked all over the world this week, as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches. This is my generation's Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor and end of the World Wars. This formed our country, built George W Bush's administration's legacy and altered national security as we know it. It also gave us an enemy, a misplaced angry and misconception of an entire religion. The actions of a few extremists came to represent the beliefs of millions....to the ignorant and misguided. Islam and Muslim became the new Nazi and Communist, if you will. Osama Bin Ladan was the new Adolf Hitler. Except, unlike Hitler and his followers, Bin Ladan  and his followers hid and alluded capture for nearly a decade, working from caves, bunkers and using high-tech methods of planning to orchestrate attacks.

The question again? Where were you? 
Where was I?

On 9/11/2001, I was living in Lockport, New York,  a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 roommates (Janine and Adriane) after "taking a break" from living with my boyfriend of 5 years Micheal. I had just started going back to community college and was in classes that morning. As I was walking the hall from my philosophy class to my psychology class, I heard the news that the first Tower had been hit. I quickly called Micheal to see if he'd heard the news (he was still asleep and assumed I was joking) and glanced at the tv set in the hall as I entered my classroom. 

During the class, my professor did his best to keep us on topic. However, when the 2nd Tower was hit, (I'll never forget him in the middle of a sentence turn to the doorway, look at the television screen and say "Holy shit! It's another plane!" ) this man, who reminded me of my grandfather soft spoken most of the time, got angry and demanded we all leave his classroom and go be with loved ones! His exact words I can't remember, but we were let go early, as were most of the other classes that day. I tried calling home but at this point, the cell towers signals were all jammed and I just drove home, listening to the radio, every station doing a news type broadcast instead of regular programming. 


I finally made it to my apartment and found not only my roommates there, but also my boyfriend, my roommates boyfriend Kevin (it was his birthday) and our friend Gina, all glued to the television. Janine's mom lived in Manhattan and she hadn't heard from her at this point. Micheal's uncle traveled a lot between DC and other large cities and no one had heard from him at this point either. We all sat, supporting each other, in awe, shock, disgust and disbelief as news of the Pentagon strike and the overthrow of the other flight came in. It seemed the whole world had gone topsy turvy and we were just along for the ride.


I remember Kevin saying "I'm changing my birthday. It's not September 11th anymore." No one blamed him.


We finally did hear from Janine's mom and Micheal's uncle. Both were safe and accounted for. Slowly, life in Lockport went on. Life continued but it was never the same.


Michael and I moved back in together. I lost touch with Janine and Adriane.
Kevin and Adriane broke up. 
Micheal and I broke up, I lost touch with everyone! 
In 2004 I moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
Sometime around 2008 I tried talking to Gina again, it didn't work out because she's involved with Micheal and when he started playing his mind games with her, she called me crying about it. I didn't want or need that bullshit in my life anymore. Turns out the 2 of them hadn't changed, but I did.
I reconnected with Kevin and Adriane recently on facebook. It's not awkward, but in my heart, they will forever be part of the memory I have when I think of: "Where were you (on 9/11)?"





In other news.....
How many people really give a flying fuck that Pepsi printed the Pledge on their cans minus "in God" or "under God" or whatever the fuck those 2 fucking words are??? Why can't we just say "Thanks for being so fucking Patriotic and move the fuck along???Why must everything be about religion??
Pop Quiz:
When was that phrase added to the Pledge?? Was it in the original Pledge of Allegiance??
Answer: it was added in 1954...NOT a part of the original Pledge.   
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an oath of loyalty to the federal flag and the Republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942. The Pledge has been modified four times since its composition, with the most recent change adding the words "under God" in 1954.

Moral of the story....I am not Christian, or Catholic or any other religion that acknowledges a God of biblical learnings. So that must mean I'm not American, right? I must not belong here because I don't think "under God" actual belong in our Pledge. 

Bravo, Pepsi, Bravo!!!!