cats and secret pals and last minute mom's day art idea

by karen #1965 third grade teacher

so it is saturday morning and i have got a long side story for you...you know it is bad when you tell a side story before you even tell what you are telling...so you regular post readers know that i had some secret pal difficulties last week, but i finally finished the projects...and the projects had to be ready by last saturday because we had our "do good" club luncheon...so...i get all my stuff ready to go, and i head on out to a club member's home and when i get there, i find my secret pal is not there and she is not coming...now, i don't worry about it because i just figure she is stitching someone's arm up from some fight that happened on friday night since she is a doctor and all...and as i mix and mingle i notice this pretty black cat...i ask the club member what is the cat's name...and it is phoebe...well, me and phoebe, we hit it off...and i had been wanting a cat...so the club member says that she can't keep phoebe any longer because of allergies...so i said, i want her!...she said okay...so i ate my good food at the luncheon and got my new cat phoebe and headed out the door....well, i just happen to be riding in my daughter's kinda new car that she got for her 16th birthday...and phoebe is checking things out...i am cruising down the interstate and i feel phoebe start to climb under the brake...so i slow down to 35 on the interstate and take off my shoe and try to reach my toe under the brake to feel for phoebe...well dang it, if phoebe hasn't crawled up under the brake that i can't even touch her with my toes...so i am thinking...what the heck?...can she get to the motor from the inside of the car...finally i feel just a smidgen of her hair...i am scared to break because i think that i might squish her...i mean, really, we haven't had this car but a week...i really don't know all the particulars...and honestly, i guess i prolly would have never known the particulars if this would not have happened...so finally, i get to my mom's house...you see, i have volunteered to take my mom shopping...so i call her to come out because i can't leave phoebe...and i start to look under the brake...well, phoebe has somehow managed to get her head wrapped up in some wires...and i don't know how the heck i am going to get her untangled...so i start to work...and all i can think is this is all i need...mr. o husband is gonna kill me...i probably will have to cut the wires to the break to get this dang cat out...so i pull the head this way and that...and in the meantime my sweet mama is just standing there and thinking...(i read minds)...she is thinking why the heck do i have to go through this just to go shopping?...why can't i have a normal daughter?...so anyway...somehow, the cat slipped itself out...so here we go...mama holding the furry, black cat...and we are cruising to drop the cat off at my home...well, we get to my home, and we get phoebe out...and our dog, blue, well he doesn't particularly take a liking to phoebe...i leave my 16 year old daughter in charge for a potty break and come back out to find the dang cat 60 feet up a pine tree...yeah...so what do you do?....i put the dog in the pen and then...well, i just left and went shopping...i figured phoebe had a good view and she would come down when she got good and ready....so when i return from shopping...guess what?...phoebe is still enjoying the view...so i think...and i think...and i think to myself...cats like to chase things...so i got this lime green boa and tied it to a dowel (left over from an old art project) and i hold the cat food and start dancing around in the yard...now, i have taken my long, good-looking black jacket off, so don't get the impression that i just walk around like this in smalltown, georgia...but for the sake of humor...take a look...

well, the feather boa didn't work...phoebe stayed up there all night...so the next day...i am getting desperate...so what do you do?...i thought about calling my fireman friend to see if she could bring the fire truck, but you folks know mr. o would have been against that...so i went to google for answers...so i start reading and it says, "do not leave the cat in the tree all night."...oops...then, i find an article that says get some dog food and wipe it on the tree...so i go out with a fresh can of alpo and start wiping it on the tree...and i starting praying...cause the Lord always listens and helps you in times of need...and i figured this was certainly a time of need...so i got the alpo good and wiped all over the bottom of the tree and phoebe is a meowing...and she starts coming down...now...i tell you...i don't get too excited about much, but phoebe coming down that tree was just filling my heart up all sorts of love juice...and she finally made it down...into my arms...me and phoebe, united again...

:)

so...back to the dang secret pal thing...so at the end of year luncheon, you are supposed to reveal "who you are" to your secret pal and give them their end of year gift...well, to this day, i am still carrying around my secret pal gifts in my car...and since i am...i decided to go and take a picture because i figured you might could use this idea for a last minute mother's day gift...check it out...now folks, these feet are a size 10.5 men's shoe...my secret pal's son has big feet for a third grader...here it is...

guess what?...MY secret pal didn't leave me a gift...so i still don't know who she is either...i was happy, tho...cause i left that dang luncheon with a beautiful black cat named phoebe...

but...i kinda got a bad taste in my mouth with my secret pal...and it doesn't taste like cheeseburgers...

Cheeseburger in paradise (paradise)

Heaven on earth with an onion slice (paradise)

Not too particular not too precise (paradise)

I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise

(jimmy buffett, 1978)

and i found this interesting tidbit googling to find out the year this song was released that could be true or may not be true...

Buffett: "The myth of the cheeseburger in paradise goes back to a long trip on my first boat, the Euphoria. We had run into some very rough weather crossing the Mona Passage between Hispanola and Puerto Rico, and broke our new bowsprit. The ice in our box had melted, and we were doing the canned-food-and-peanut-butter diet. The vision of a piping hot cheeseburger kept popping into my mind. We limped up the Sir Francis Drake Channel and into Roadtown on the island of Tortola, where a brand new marina and bar sat on the end of the dock like a mirage. We secured the boat, kissed the ground, and headed for the restaurant. To our amazement, we were offered a menu that featured an American cheeseburger and pina coladas. Now, these were the days when supplies were scarce - when horsemeat was more plentiful than ground beef in the tiny stores of the Third World. Anyway, we gave particular instructions to the waiter on how we wanted them cooked, and what we wanted on them - to which very little attention was paid. It didn't matter. The overdone burgers on the burned, toast buns tasted like manna from Heaven, for, they were the realization of my fantasy burgers on the trip. That's the true story. I've heard other people and places claim that I stopped or cooked in their restaurants, but that is the way it happened."

You Tube-Jimmy Buffett-cheeseburgers in paradise

happy may 8, 2010!