December 15 – National Cat Herding Day

Today is an interesting day; at first I took it straight up as Herding Cats…there are, however, two meanings for this day. One is actually herding cats and the other is strategically placed on this day because about this time of the year you feel like you are being pulling in so many directions with the holidays that it might be easier to herd cats! (I agree)

Meaning #1

I only know 2 people with cats in Washington and they are married so really it’s like one. I called my friend Erica up and asked her if I could come over and herd her two cats. Without even asking a question she said “Sure!” as if that was a normal request. I arrived at her house not sure what I was going to do, she has 2 cats, one that could really care less what you are doing and one that was scared of me. I decided I would try to corner the cats in an area of the house. Erica thought the best way to herd them was to just offer them treats. This worked, but I wanted a bit more of a challenge. I decided to herd them to the end of the hall. One cat, Roxy, simply moseyed on down the hall and sat down, Moose however, gave me a little bit more of a challenge. I chased him around the through the kitchen and hallway, he escaped by me a couple times, but for a brief moment I was able to corner both cats under the computer desk. By this time I was positive I was causing stress and not making friends with the cats so I stopped. It was quite fun, I would like to try with a bunch of cats, knowing I would never probably succeed, I still think it would be fun.

Meaning #2

This day, again, fell perfectly on the right day for me. Today I just felt completely stressed out about the holidays. I usually am not a very stressful person, I may seem stressed at times on the outside, but I can usually just step back and work my way through things. Today, however, I was completely overwhelmed and led to me realize again how stressful and not fun it is to live far away from home. Jared and I are going home for Christmas for the first time in about 3 years. We love to see people at home, but it is never a real vacation for us since we have to see all different groups of people, everyone wants a certain amount of time and so forth. Every family has traditions and certain days…it is all just completely overwhelming. Today it just got to me and I just wanted to go to Michigan sit in a chair and say, “whoever picks up my chair and takes me somewhere…that is where I will go…I am making no decisions…and I just don’t care!” WHEW! Anyways, I have calmed down a bit and am beginning to get a grip on the situation. I just need to realize ahead of time, we are going to be driving all over, we will never see everyone, and the people we do see it will never be for long enough, but I just need to enjoy the moments we do have with the people we do get to see.

Happy Holidays!