october

hello fall !

/ mycatisafrenchspy / Leave a comment

i feel that my ordering online (kitty food, makeup, groceries) is out of control as they come in boxes and our recycling (and trash) is on monday morning, and god help me, as it also rains the same time without failing, and i don’t like to leave the boxes out for the recycling collectors because they will get wet and turn mushy. so my downstairs is now full of boxes and we (my kitties and i) are hopping over them like they are obstacle course and i thought of cleaning up the downstairs and collapse the boxes so i can stack them up, but the lazy side of me proclaimed fuck it, we die like men !

i write “my husband” on here all the damn time like it’s nothing, but the minute i say that phrase aloud to another human being i feel as if i’ve aged fifty years. i’ve yet to say “my boyfriend” to another human being or even write it as i’m still not sure about that relationship and what am i, ten year old, and i feel silly and also, i don’t want to be in a relationship. the boy assures me that we don’t “have to be” in a relationship; but he always talks about marriage and yes dudes & dudettes, i want to get married (and not sin) to him but he is an atheist (also a meat-eater), and i don’t like to force people to convert or go to church just because of me. god knows we have enough of those who fill the pews at our churches… is this a test ? can i just stop being horny all the time and not think of sex for a couple of hours so i can become a nun and not deal with “i should marry this boy because i’m fucking him”. i can honestly say my brain thinks only three thinks on repeat; cats, sex, food and inserts other functions in between.

the past few days have been about reading and learning about diversifying my portfolio and researching on investing opportunities. i have learned so much and it actually makes me enjoy the process so thoroughly. i have also been working on my asthma aka getting off steroids; to this end, i have bought things to help me with breathing exercises. for the first time after all these years, i am hopeful that i will kick off asthma and be rid of the steroids. the boy and i giggle a lot when my face looks bloated on steroids, he says i look like a squirrel with nuts stuffed ! lol bastard !

i performed a procedure on my kitty boy, winter, last weekend. a couple of weeks ago, i have seen him limping around and is shying away from putting any weight on one of his front paws and i thought may be he sprained his leg or had a fracture when he was doing his victory lap around the first floor after he pooped (cats do that all the time) – so i gently checked his legs to see if he would squeal in pain but i got no reaction and i thought it might have been a sprain and so i gave him a couple of days to recover and if he was still limping then i would take him to the vet and in the meantime, i also got him started on antibiotics. but soon after winter stopped limping and i went about my business. but last weekend, i saw that one of his paws was puffier than the other. i was just about to go out to attend a real estate investors meeting, but of course, my kids are a priority for me, so i dropped everything and i grabbed him and checked his front paws and i found the problem. his claws have grown into the toe beans and like dug into the soft pads and it happened on both of the front legs. i called my vet to bring him but it being a sunday, the clinic was only for emergencies and usually she would make allowances for my kids, but she had an emergency and so i decided i would do the procedure (removing the ingrown claws) myself instead of waiting till monday; after all, i have dissected the fruit-fly brains and yep, winter was not pleased as one of the paws (the one he was not putting his weight on) had begun to get infected, but surgery i did and he almost bit me and was pissed with me for about two days. i got back into his graces by giving him catnip and other treats and i wanted to check his paw as he wouldn’t let me clean it with antibiotic cleanser after the procedure, and he was like “no, thank you !” but he was a good boi and he took his antibiotics when i gave him and he forgave his mama !

oh good news, we recently acquired another company and my boss tells me they do provide medications for pets and i am thrilled as it would be a bit less expensive (as we would get it for three month supply). also, i am planning to go to patriots v eagles game when patriots visit philadelphia and i want to have the seats as close to the patriots bench as possible, but alas, the tickets are currently at $900 + and i’m waiting for the ticket price to go down a bit but i may have to buy it almost at that price and unfortunately that would mean that yours truly will be going all by her lonesome self as the boy won’t buy his ticket at that price and that’s ok by me because i’m an adult and i can sit and shout all by myself. the american boy suggested that if i go to the stadium, i may be called names (as i am patriots fan) and i slightly enjoyed his concern (?) but fuck it, i am not missing out on this opportunity because eagles fans are a bunch of balls-less bullies. but i will be sporting pepper spray just in case !

ever since my husband’s death, i have learnt to grab life by it’s balls, and enjoy every minute of it.  life is not the same for everyone, we have to find moments to make it worth living. sometime its just a smile, an innocent face, a moment from past. we see many people everyday with tired faces, tired of their current situations though they have everything in life. i don’t understand why they complain so much in spite having everything ! my mother used to say, it’s very important to be content with what you have ! otherwise you will always be unhappy ! i’m glad to say that in spite of everything, and all the sadness i have to trudge through i remember to cherish the things which i have and love to live ! the most beautiful thing i see when i drive through the impoverished areas of my city is to  see the smile on the faces of the poor children. they have no achievement, no money, nothing to cherish at all yet they have a beautiful smile on their face, not like the fake smiles i see being put on everyday…

my lover tells me that it’s okay to be emotional and soft, but there’s a time and a place for everything. sometimes you need to be stern, sometimes you need to be a pillar when everyone around you starts crumbling down— people that you love will need someone to hold on to when things get rough. be that person for them. kindness goes a long way, he tells me. my wild spirited flower is growing down the right side of his heart— he has the lightest beauty marks on the right side of his neck. you would have loved to meet him

to live an enchanted life, simply fall in love with the nature around you. idk how to describe it exactly but i really love how hearty fall is. like it’s all refreshing weather, strong earthy smells, sturdy boots and thick knit sweaters, bold colors and warm, filling meals like soup and mash potatoes and oatmeal with golden syrup on top. it’s the comfort season.

i think i am on verge of something wonderful !

2019/10/13

 

autumn

/ mycatisafrenchspy / Leave a comment

fall

last blog i kind of started off talking about changing my eating habits again but got distracted by browns tying-up the game (american football).

to start off, i lost another 0.5 lbs so after almost three months of working out i lost a total of 1 lb… yay ?!? also i not only made the gym board last month (for the month of august) but i actually topped it and i was goddamn pleased with it but alas this month my name is nowhere to be seen as i put in no time in september.

as i kept bleating over and over, asthma took (and is still taking) a toll on my health and weight management; also lack of motivation due to wanting to give up on life for a while also didn’t help (confession: i still want to give up but i don’t see a way out yet as my kitties will be orphans); and i finally gotten enlightenment where i realized that i can die a little every day and be miserable or just try and make changes and start dancing again and to get back into ballet and look like old self again, i changed my mindset and making all kinds of changes and giving my old funny self a chance to come out and be a dancer. working out is a good thing if you already don’t know it. it’s good because, endorphins. it makes you feel great about yourself and keeps you happy. working out is a good stress reliever because one is not allowed to kill that annoying coworker or a family member. i know it’s not easy as i made myself into a whale, but i am determined to dance, whale or not… getting fit (i am not talking about becoming thin) is not easy as my body learnt to become lazy and gotten into severe bad eating habits; again, i stress that one could be a vegetarian but still have bad eating habits… i started setting myself goals with very small changes.

i started eating at least one avocado religiously everyday because i want to work towards becoming a vegan and i usually rely on eggs for omega 3s and 6s fatty acids and avocados are a good substitute.

currently my nutritional intake is roughly about 85% carb, 10% protein and 5% fat and i need to adjust my ratios to somewhere like 68% carb, 18% protein and 14% fat which is easier said than done and aaaaaaaaaargh !

also i’m finding myself doing a big pot of meals with flesh for the “if it doesn’t have meat in it, i won’t eat it” member of my household aka sandalwood and a small pot of completely plant based meals for myself and this gotta change as it’s bad enough i’ve to debone, deskin and defat, roast chickens for my kitty babies and now i’ve cook as well with flesh and frankly, bleh ! yesterday when i was shopping for some meat, i found a butterflied lamb and i picked it up with the tips of my fingers and was carrying it at arms length while looking for a plastic bag to put it in, when a guy at the grocery store helped me with that, commenting that my hands looked full (i was carrying the lamb thing in one hand and my car keys in the other) – i always have adventures at the store. one time i was trying to get a bottle of lemon juice which was on the top shelf and towards back and i’m a tiny person. after standing on my toe tips, and stretching and almost climbing the grocery store shelf, i finally got hold of a bottle and for a second i was pleased with myself on this victory only to find that the bottle i blindly grabbed at was wrong type of lemon juice and i loudly went “fucking hell” and turned around and almost ran into this guy who was behind me and he coolly went “do you want me to grab your bottle” and he did.

finally my boys patriots are warming up and winning games – still ways to go to win the super bowl but patience is a virtue – these sports are not good for my blood pressure; as i keep grinding my teeth, screaming and pulling my hair.. but watching sports is fun 😊

on work front, things are great as usual. tim recently lost his sister and i felt very sorry for him. he is one of those strong silent types, who hide their feelings. i tried my best to console him. and oh, at my work, there is a jewish person (whom i haven’t met) in another city and one day we were exchanging work related emails, and i wished him happy rosh hashanah (as it was that time) and he was pleasantly surprised and since then we have been sharing our faith. i am strictly “if you ask me i’ll share my faith” person and this is giving me an opportunity to share. i asked eric, the silent one, to teach me deadlifts at gym and oh well, since my last conversation, he was too busy with work and couldn’t get into gym. my gym time is also a bit less what with work (apparently i have to work as i need to get paid) and the whole farce with brett kavanaugh hearings. there are a few people at work who told me that they like chatting with me and one day this boy came up to talk to me and after he left, my colleague is like you were flirting with that boy. it’s a possibility as i am a big flirt and i do it without even thinking, but this boy is a child and as much as i date men who are far younger than i am, i don’t think i would date anyone who isn’t yet 30

september is done (why is time in such a hurry ?) – i embraced september’s dark and dreary and watched it’s beautiful decline into decay and nature preparing for it’s winter sleep. october came with a flourish and with remnants of august summer. i am terrified of my own happiness. i have been retracing steps and examining how things were going, and more importantly fixing what was broken. it rained hard last night, showers a little today, all courtesy of a storm who is making an appearance in my neighborhood, but the still cool temps helped me through a medium-long run of couple of miles.  it was a pretty sight, running through the mists in the dusk lights of the neighborhood. as a general rule, i don’t go running as i want to protect my knees but yesterday i couldn’t hit the gym and my body wants pain and this phase feels right, and looking like all the pain and sweat of these weeks is gonna pay off.

the best things of life are not things, but moments. somedays are just wonderful and i just want to tie them up into a little bouquet. i’m trying to create beautiful moments with my babies. every sunday i throw open my front door and my kids run around in the lawn while i try and straighten out the house. there’s a big difference between being centered and being self-centered.if you live your life as if everything is about you… you will be left with just that. just you. magic is inside you and it is all around. it’s in the twinkling wink of the stars and in the whispers of the wind in the trees; and it’s in the seductive scents of the flowers; and in my heart when it skips a beat every time i see american boy; it’s in the warm embrace of my kitties and it’s in the spark when sandalwood and i kiss. and all i need to do is pull off the darkness that shrouds my view and call up the magic which is buried deep inside me…

last day of october

/ mycatisafrenchspy / Leave a comment

10/31/2017

autumn moons make me wanna stay at home and take long baths and wear nothing but a bathrobe and stare at the moon drinking coffee and just dream…. tonight, while i was coming home from my doc appointment, i saw the moon still half but glowing with a promise of becoming a full and beautiful one… i love full moons and cold, crisp air, crunchy leaves, wearing hoodies, making sweater traps for my babies (they get stuck in my sweaters because of their claws), disillusionments, warm glow of fire places, hot chocolates and endless coffees, freshly made banana nut bread and cuddles with my kitties and lying on a warm pile of clothes freshly taken out of the dryer.. feel like taking a day off, cleaning the house, refusing to shower, eating junk food (i have none at home currently) and reading poems with no pants on.

i’m not sure how i lose my socks all the time…but i seem to be buying them every other week… so well now i have to wear new socks and for some reason these socks are slipping off into my boots and i’ve to stop and undo the laces of my boots and pull the goddamn socks up and lace up again and my whole story is something as silly and hysterical as that i read on tumblr and i keep giggling to myself – well, what else is new, eh ? “i walk around like everything is fine, but deep down, inside my shoe, my sock is sliding off.”

for the second day in a row, i haven’t been to the gym and i am slightly cringing that i will get slapped on my bum by my ballet teacher and aargh ! yesterday it was doing food shopping for my baby bastet as i ran out of her favorite food and of course when i went to petsmart there was this guy who was buying  $100 worth of wet food for a charity and well i was happy that he is buying food for the animals but it took a long time. from there, i, um… i am not sure what i did because when i got home it was late…..   tonight i have made an appointment to get my eyes checked because i haven’t been to the eye doctor since 2012 and things are getting blurry again and i thought i should. i got all the exams taken care of and my eyes are fine and my vision changed a bit and i am getting new glasses and the lady who was helping me and i laughed and giggled the whole way through but it was another late night.

there is this boy who creeps into our floor and uses one of the conf. rooms which is right in front of me, as his own and at first i thought, he is visiting from some other office and so he was put in there but then i found out that he just was squatting and it honestly is aggravating me… to top it off, now because of him, other colleagues of his started coming up to escape their floor and i chased them off and i haven’t resolved this problem yet but by god, i will. in the meantime, one of my colleagues. pete, went into that room and closed the door to make a phone call and he did that when i wasn’t at my desk and so when i came back, i naturally assumed that it was jake, the squatter and so i called the facilities people on him and well… it was pete ! pete is like i forgive you and i told him the whole story and well, now tommy and pete are teasing me and of course we all burst into giggle fits…i can’t even tell you how i get into such situations….

my boy is very protective of his team and more often than not, i have to explain certain things to him why something is this way or that way and i have to be very careful how i present my points because you see, i can easily get on his nerves and so i try and explain correctly and carefully. i actually like one of his team members. genevieve. i always have trouble pronouncing names because when i see a name, my brain automatically pronounces it in french and well, i have to make a conscious effort to pronounce it in english. i think she is genuine, you know pure in spirit. i think she is from a small town or village and not quite contaminated by big city. and more importantly, i think she figured me out… i put up a very bitchy exterior and hide behind makeup and red lipstick to protect myself and she figured this out. i’m not expecting much from her anyway as humans have this awful habit of hurting me very badly and i survived and i learnt my lessons and i am cautiously friendly. all in all, i like her more than anyone else in the office well, obviously my boy comes first as he has my heart and of course this other director who i really admire and have lots of respect for him and i hold him in high esteem.

today my boy crept in quietly and i didn’t realize he was in the office till he went past my cubicle and i almost jumped off of my skin…. and i was momentously angry at him for not announcing his arrival… how dare he ? but i was giddy with happiness to see him and i also talked to him briefly and i grow very small in his presence and i of course, kick myself for feeling this way…… what am i ? a teenager ?

it’s been a handful of quiet blissful days, pressing emotions into the lines of my palm to remember to share with you later. we will share all of these, aren’t we ? all of this feels so big, so on the goddamn cusp, so right on the edge of this uncomfortable place i have returned to, surrounded by people i’ve no common threads with, but for you & me, our knots that tether us are tied in different places; my love stems from collecting & not creating, so this is me stumbling blindly into this autumn, this silent preparation for what is to come s & i’m once again giving myself to something that once felt terrifying but now provides a comfort, a gentle murmur in the silences between us, here we go, here we go, here we go.

Bises !

 

ps: remember submissions close 12/31 and email your submissions to heavyheavyboots0317@gmail.com

 

candy corn

/ mycatisafrenchspy / Leave a comment

10/28/2017

do you ever set your watch ahead so you won’t be late ? i know some people do, as stupid as that is because you know that the watch or clock is set ahead by 10 or 15 mins. once upon a time, green bay packers (american football) had a coach named vince lombardi… now he was famous for two super bowl victories and also for something called lombardi time. so what’s lombardi time ? i googled (because my boy mentioned it on thursday and when i asked what is it, he told me to look it up. so i did.) lombardi apparently insisted that his players and staff arrive 15 mins early for any meeting or appointments and if anyone is on time, then he considered them to be late. he thought by arriving early, one can prepare and collect their thoughts, etc. and apparently in 2012, packers unveiled a new clock outside of lambeau field which is set 15 mins early as an ode to his “arriving pre-appointment time” rule… so there you all can now thank terry (or me) for this piece of (useful or rubbish) information. as per me, unless it’s very important, i shall never be on time and i’m always fashionably late like a parisian as i think that being on time is for mediocre people…

there was also some discussion about candy corn (don’t ask) and i honestly thought it’s akin to candied apple or something like that and i was wondering how one eats it and so i asked and found out it’s not a corn cob dipped in sugar syrup or caramel but some candy for realz and my boy generously supplied me with a photo.

i dropped by my mechanic’s that evening because my bmw’s breaks are shot and it’s been there for a month now as i wanted to see if it would be cheaper to fix them (it’s costing me $1000) if i took it to an authorized aaa repair but i wasn’t finding time to call them. anyway, i was walking into the office to tell them to go ahead with the repairs and matt the mechanic saw me and called out my name in a very happy way and i should consider dating him just for that (he asked me out a while ago) the only other person who calls me like that is my friend annie and it’s hard to explain that little happy note in their voices but it thrills me to bits…

lately i have been humming under my breath, this stupid little song which i learnt in india…. i went to an all girls school (till i did my masters) when i was growing up and it kind of makes us a bit rowdy as we also teased and taunted boys who were hanging out by our gates… lol. but anyways, we had lots of stupid songs which we would sing and one of them i particularly recall for this occasion goes like this and this song relies on a particular quality of a particular person and for example, if xyz is noted for reading books or abc is noted for singing , then the song goes something like this….

in the morning, in morning,

in the morning, by the sea

if i were a handsome boy and if i were to marry….

i would marry xyz more than anybody

for she could read and i could read

and we could read together

getting up in the middle of night reading to each other…

i know it’s a silly song but i was humming it lately trying to find a common thread between terry and me… i will explain the anatomy of my love for terry in another post…

friday, i told my boss i have to leave early, and she panicked and said you are not leaving (as in quitting) are you ? i am a bit happy that she thinks that way but i did promise her i will stay as long she is there (she is thinking of retiring soon) and this suits me fine as i have this chapter as a comma to build myself up and my friends scream at me saying why aren’t you in research ? my ex-boss also discouraged me to take ths as she wanted me to go back and pursue my doctorate (i dropped out of that program when my father passed away) and it’s been a long and hard handful of years of my life where everything seemed to go wrong and everyone i loved dropped dead…. and now i feel, for sure, i am in control and i am truly liberated from all obligations, and responsibilities… and i honestly think that’s one of the reasons why i am not in a hurry to get into a relationship…

my boy ruined my weekend as he is like i won’t be in on monday… so now instead of two days of wait, i have three days and i’m holding my breath in and sighing…oh dear, his words left me with silence and this is my way of clutching at him in his absence.

amidst all the chaos that fills my days, i feel as if the moon lives inside my skin and all that brilliance is struggling to get out and my skin is splitting at the seams with all these swollen emotions and i want to grab my boy and kiss him on his mouth till we are both numb and just stare into his soul….

i wonder if he sees into my soul… the other day he was smiling a bit impishly and a bit wickedly at me as if to say, i know your secret and i’m thinking, does he ? here i go again…..  i keep mistaking my boy’s kindness for an interest in me. i’m lying here, listening to moonlight sonata (piano), realizing that i’m fucking stupid. and somehow i’ve to deal with the aftermath. i thought i could defeat the plague of loneliness that i’ve been battling for some time. hi terry & i’m sorry !

this evening (saturday) i consolidated all my photos and for the first time i looked at my father’s photos from his viewing and burial… i haven’t been home to see him buried (i was made to stay back for a family obligation) and i was looking at his photos, my mum’s photos, my husband’s photos and i kept saying i am sorry, i am sorry, i am sorry.

being human can blow sometimes. the word goodbye is really giving me the feels tonight…  did you see the sunset the other night ? it disappeared as i drove home and then the house was suddenly too quiet. julien once told me that he wanted my life to be ‘full of crying and laughing and everything that is part of people,’ and that i taught him so much about me, about him, and about how to trust people. no one will ever be able to fathom how much he meant to me or his words still means to me. anyways, it’s getting cold out tonight. obviously so because we are in fall… and this is life, right ? i’m thinking of letting my hair grow back (i cut it off after jace’s passing) and teach myself how to play moonlight sonata on the piano. everything i write feels like a voicemail nowadays. sometimes i write things and think that you can all hear my voice, without all the pauses, without the anguish, without the stutter – with the calm that i could speak with you. only the calm… and oh, it’s late and i’ve been up since 5 am for a saturday. i should go for a drive and never come home. peace, internet !