RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) My dog is going senile.  Last night he barked at the door constantly and I barely got any sleep.  Usually he only does this if he can hear the cat out there and I understand that.  Dogs are apparently supposed to remain completely paranoid about any cat that they can't immediately eat or make friends with, but he is just getting ridiculous.  I honestly think he barks at the door because there is a tiny chance that the cat might be out there.  He also barks at the door if my chair squeaks, or if one of my shoes bumps up against the kennel, or if I clear my throat.  Basically, I'm beginning to wonder if he thinks the door itself is evil.  Also, he doesn't just bark at it, he runs nose first into it and then barks at it.  I don't mind this when it happens occasionally, but when he does it for the majority of the time I'm trying to sleep, it gets old.  Last night I had to get up and sleep in the chair in the living room, because it seems if I'm in the room with the evil door, he doesn't have to bark at it as much.  If I'm in the room, I can clearly see the door (and whatever is on the other side of it) is evil and he doesn't have to tell me from across the house. 

I'd like to think he's just being protective, but I'm fairly sure he's losing his mind.

2) I had to be at work at 7:00 this morning, so the sleeping was important!  The youth kids were leaving on their summer trip, and I had to be here in case any last minute medical forms needed to be notarized. Oh, yeah, I finally got my stampy-punchy notary thing!  I'm official! :)

I got asked a couple of really uncomfortable questions by the kids, which I tried to answer honestly enough, but geez.  One girl asked why I hated them and wouldn't chaperone the trip.  Oy.  I told her I'd be a terrible chaperone because I'm not mature enough.  That was 100% true.  I don't know how to handle kids!  I always feel terrible if I have to get on to them for anything, and I'd be responsible for telling them to do stuff and wouldn't know how in the world to back up any sort of discipline! Also, (and I didn't say this because I didn't want to insult them) I don't enjoy kids/teenagers.  I mean, I like being around them for a little while, and even with just one or two at a time I'm o.k., but my patience is so short with them.  I don't want to say or do anything rude or hurtful to anyone, especially kids who are at a sensitive age where they take everything to heart so readily, and it's really more of my own idiosyncratic nature than anything that kids have ever done to me personally.  I have to be able to get away from them from time to time to be able to be around them at all, and in a chaperone situation, you can't get away from them.  I know I don't really have to explain myself to anyone, but I'm just making it clear I'm not being randomly hateful about kids. I just know myself well enough to know what I can and can't deal with, and if anyone wants to misinterpret that, then they are free to do so and then cram their indignation into whichever cram-hole they choose. Cram it deep.

Another kids asked if I drank.  Well...crap.  I don't anymore, or at least it's very rare if I do, and it caught me so off guard that I didn't know what to say!  Actually what I said was "Wha-wha-what? Nuh-nuh-no, no not anymore. I mean I have, but I was very bad at it." There was a perfect moment to probably make some sort of speech about being responsible or something, but I panicked.

I managed to get off of the bus before they asked me anything else. Thank goodness.

3) My arm still looks gross, but it's getting better.  I made the mistake of putting something called "Liquid Bandage" on it, so I wouldn't have to wear a Band-Aid on it anymore.  It's like a protecting varnish for the skin, and it flakes off, but only in patches.  It's very attractive.