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Location: Upstate, South Carolina, United States

I think that the Meredith Brooks' song, "Bitch," summarizes me rather nicely. Or, if you prefer, X. dell says I'm a life-smart literary scholar with a low BS tolerance...that also works!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Spoooookkkyyyy

...so, the children are safely tucked in bed. Alex is in the living room playing on a video game. I'm in our bedroom reading essays to help with my lit classes the next day.

Suddenly, in the dark of the night, I hear my daughter--who is never, ever scared of ANYTHING, being capable of doing the tower of terror and other scary rides plus watch horror flicks that make me cry--sound panicked. That is not a good sign. "Mommmmy?" I hear. "Mommy? Please? Please?"

Oh God, I think. Something horrible has happened. I'm not sure I can even identify the fear in her voice because the girl is never scared. What happened? I immediately fling out of bed, running to her door, opening it to see her sitting up straight in her bed.

"MOMMY! Oh, goodness, Mommy...something opened up the closet door all by itself," she tells me, the terror evident in her face despite the shadows being the only light to show it. I had no idea what to answer since I saw the closet door wide open when I know I had closed it earlier myself. My breath sucked inwards, my mind scrambling to try and reassure her of what might have happened so that she could go back to sleep....

...when suddenly I see a vaguely orange flash dart by my feet and out the room.

Man, did I laugh! And Ariana--who had not seen that orange ball of fur fly by in the dusky night--said, "What, what? What, Momma?"

When I explained to her that it was only Firepaw who had gotten stuck in the closet and freed himself, she bust out laughing. We both laughed. Firepaw, on the other hand, stood outside the door in a defiant manner, as if to say, "HEY! You did not trap me! I win!"

And then Ariana settled back down to sleep without an issue, and I heard occasional giggling from her bed as if that just amused the heck out of her.

***

So, we're doing great here although immigration issues are still up in the air (but progressing!). Classes are going very well, primarily because they are filled with students who have been told to take me as a teacher. That is, my sarcasm and sharp tongue measured with kindness and concern is what they expect AND WANT, so folks are not generally upset...instead, they're happy as this is what they wanted. Although I never thought of myself as a bad teacher, I realize that it is this year--my fifth teaching--that I've hit my stride. I now know what experience can bring. Sure, there are plenty better teachers out there here and there, but I'm doing a great job in my field where I am, and the happiness that brings me? Immense. It's a good life I lead!

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG - that is HILARIOUS! I cannot wait for Anna to get home from her game so I can tell her the story!

I did not get to go to this game because I started my French class tonight! It is going to be awesome! I have ALWAYS wanted to really study French music, and we're going to be do rhetorical analyses of contemporary French music from a variety of genres! That's perfect for me! I will blog about it later, but I think it's just what I need right now to get me thinking like a francophone again!

Glad your semester's going well!

5:32 PM  
Blogger mcgibfried said...

that's why you need to let the little ones keep a sword by the bedside! :)

6:06 PM  
Blogger Enemy of the Republic said...

My son is well armed with light sabers!

I got a visit from your cat today who seemed to be channelling Grant. Maybe it's just me.

6:45 PM  
Blogger X. Dell said...

To think. All this time the monsters under my bed were probably cats that I didn't know we own:-)

I hear cats account for about 15% of all UFO sightings too.

6:56 PM  
Blogger Chian said...

The orange devil cannot elude my wrath forever. So, he managed to escape Ari's closet. Let's see how much he enjoys a ride in the dryer.

6:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Got the pics - he's ADORABLE! He and Noelle look a lot alike, but he's a good bit bigger... and that tail - WOW! Noelle has a fluffy tail, but his puts hers to shame. Anna will love the pics!

8:06 AM  
Blogger Laurita said...

Have you ever watched "Ghosthunters" on SciFi? It is officially my favorite show, although going to sleep after an evening marathon of it is kind of difficult. Sometimes they find a haunted house, sometimes they find multiple code violations that cause the "haunting" (knocking pipes, leaky fuse boxes). That show is a lot of fun.

4:00 AM  
Blogger OldHorsetailSnake said...

Hooray for you, teaching-wise. Hooray for the giggler, too. It's nice to get over it.

5:24 PM  
Blogger Juanita said...

That is a GREAT story! You even had me spooked for a second.

4:42 AM  
Blogger Amanda said...

I thought my ghost had gone home with you! Ari needs a dog...you know, maybe a retriever!

I'm so happy your semester is going well. Things are still very busy and chaotic, but it's getting better. In fact, everything is better now.

9:36 AM  
Blogger Foilwoman said...

This is clearly proof of cross-species breeding, as Firepaw Mercutio and DestructoGirl are clearly siblings (although I admit I did not give birth to the cute kitty). And definitely spooky. DestructoGirl likes to hide in closet and surprise people (wearing your childrens' clothes, no less). Probably it's the cat hair that is making this happen. It's all your fault. I'm sure of it.

7:13 PM  
Blogger Kira said...

Angie--Glad you liked the pics! Firepaw is a cutie. We're glad we took him in, but it's been so long since we had a "young" cat that we've had a lot of adjustments to make. He's a nutty kitty, but we adore him. I've already learned: pull up all toys, beads, and small stuffed animals at night or else we'll hear him tossing them around at 3a.

McG--a sword is an excellent idea, except my daughter has my same intense temper, so I'm afraid what would be sliced in the AM.

Enemy--no, that's not you. My cat and Grant seem to be one at times. That's why my cat seems to be satan ;) Especially at 6a!

X.dell--you never know. Sometimes, cats can just get in to the house. Alex tells me his favorite cat of all times just lept into their house through an open window one night when it rained. And cats ARE aliens, so I can see where there'd be a UFO connection.

Chian--you sleep too much to close the dryer on him. Good luck with that.

Laurita--I'd probably enjoy that show, honestly...except we cut out cable a while back to put a clip on expenses. Oh well. I'll look it up later on when we can afford cable!

Hoss--it was simply hilarious to see my daughter's reaction to it all. You'd have loved it too.

Jen--man, my heart was thudding as I searched desperately for an explanation too. Haha! I was so relieved when I saw the orange furball pop on out of the room.

Amanda--I still need to pop in on you soon. A dog would be great, but gosh, I think we need a house before that...or at least a backyard!

Foilwoman--it's always my fault. I already figured that part out! We have to see DG leap out of the closet and surprise people one day. I bet that's a hell of a lot cuter than our cat doing it.

4:35 PM  

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