I have to go shopping for a wedding shower gift today. We are going to our first co-ed wedding shower next week. It is for the son and fiancé of my dearest friend in life. I don’t remember when I haven’t known her. I think we have been in each other’s lives since I was about 3, and she 4. She lived up the street from us at the shore. She and her family were one of the few year-round residents on our block.

We have been separated by distance and circumstances over the 40-some years we have known one another, but we have never been separated by spirit. It was quite evident early on that Kate and I are soulmates….we are alike in so many ways. We have shared all the important stuff, like getting boobs and bras, first periods, make-up, trying cigarettes, BOYS. We were masters at strolling the boardwalk looking for guys and always upping our ages by at least one year when we talked to them!

Kate’s family was so different from mine. I loved going to her house and was there as much as possible. Her brothers still make fun of me for sticking my nose on the screen door…”Can Kathy come out?” She is the third of six children, a large Irish Catholic family with very strict parents. Her parents would probably be accused of abuse in this day and age, but then it was considered keeping the kids in line.

Her mother was particularly intimidating…..still is, but as I have gotten older it doesn’t bother me like it did when I was younger. Her father, though strict, could also have so much fun! Her mother worked nights as a waitress, so we often had time with just her father. He would take us to the beach in the evening, pile his 6 kids and me in the car and take us to the drive-in theatre, play games with us….he was wicked at card games, he would do ‘irresponsible’ (but fun) things …I remember him setting off cherry bombs in a trash can under concrete steps ( my ears are still reverberating from that!), and even get down on the floor and wrestle with us. I broke my arm playing ‘horsey’ with him and just to prove we were soulmates, Kate broke her arm as my cast was about to come off!

Kate’s father just celebrated his 76th birthday. He now lives with Kate as he suffers from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. It is heartbreaking to see the man he is today….a once vibrant, full of laughs man scared to take a shower because he doesn’t remember how it works. I can tell he just hates what these diseases have done to him, but he and the doctors are powerless against them. It saddens me to see that Kate’s life virtually revolves around the care of her father, but I know she is doing it out of love.

Kate’s family was the big, albeit dysfunctional, family I never had and my family was a slice of normalcy for Kate. She loved being with my family….my mother in her shirtwaist dresses, jewelry and make-up and my father in his suits and wing-tipped shoes…..like they had stepped out of the TV. My mother would bake my father’s favorite desserts and get dressed up on Friday evenings awaiting my father's arrival for the weekend. (He stayed at our other house during to week to be closer to work) We both found in each other’s families what lacked in our own. She needed calm from my family and I craved the action of 6 kids in a small house and the ‘edge’ of strict parents from her family.

As of last month, Kate’s parents no longer live up the street from us at the shore. Her parents were no longer able to live there on their own as neither can drive. I will miss that tie to my childhood and the wonderful memories I share with Kate and her family. I know that it will not be the end of my relationship with them. Our pasts are too intertwined to be forgotten or severed. For that reason I very much look forward to occasions such as the wedding shower at Kate’s next week. I love being with Kate, we fall into synch immediately. I love being with her parents, brothers and sisters who have always made me feel as if I am a part of their never-dull family.

I know that many people are not as fortunate as I to have such a terrific life-long friend as Kate. We are, of course, no longer part of each other’s daily life……but it doesn’t seem to matter. When we are together we still finish one another’s sentences and laugh and cry in the same breath as we did when we were kids. I sometimes think she knows what I am thinking before I do! I am very blessed to have Kate in my life!!

A boring day in the life of a boring homemaker. I did take Newt to the vet today. I was surprised he weighs 2.6 pounds....I didn't think he even weighed 1 pound! He got his first round of shots. I asked when he can be neutered (never had a male cat before) and declawed.....yeah, we're cruel people who 'cut off cat's fingertips'.......he can be neutered at 6 months and can be declawed in two weeks!? I know he has an unfair advantage over the girl cats since they have no claws, but I don't know about putting him under at 8 weeks. But I do trust our vet.

I am missing Marna....she is sleeping over at her friend Danielle's house.....4 houses down. Danielle's grandpop is going to take them to a marionette show at the community college tomorrow morning. She will have a blast....she always does when she sleeps over with friends.

Stole the idea for taking this test from Jim's Blog. Thank you Jim! It's a Personality Test. I have to say it's pretty right on for me.

Like just 6% of the population you are a MENTOR (SEAT). Some would call you the most powerful and influential of all people. Those people are wrong.

The reality is that you DON'T really WANT to impose personal views or beliefs on others. Yet you are extroverted and intelligent, and you like to get involved. So you help others with the pursuit of knowledge.

You're the reason that people say "teachers are also students." You are as much a learner as a master, and this satisfies you.

You won't die a lonely death, but towards the end you'll grow introspective, wondering if your life meant anything. This will last for decades, and you'll die after your spouse.

The furniture store just called. Our new bedroom furniture is in. Mike is still not finished with the bedroom.....it's tough when you work every day and two nights a week, as well. We really don't want the furniture until Mike is finished. I explained that to them and they are nice enough to keep the furniture until we are ready. Mike says he will probably finish this weekend. The lady must think we are crazy. We ordered the furniture about 8 weeks ago and we are just now redoing the bedroom???? LOL

In keeping with the title of this blog.....I am going to bore you. Maybe it's the fact that my kids are no longer babies and there is NO WAY there are going to be more human babies living in this house.......perhaps that is why I have been enthralled watching Newt for the last 48 hours. Rooney and Casper were this tiny when we got them, but that was 20 years ago. I barely remember them being kittens. Duffy and Triggs were much older kittens when we got them, so I am having so much fun watching teeny tiny Newt discover his world (this house).

He has no fear whatsoever, no fear of the big girl sister cats.....they are much more afraid of him! He gets right in their faces and takes their swats with ease. He climbs all the furniture and surprised us by climbing up the basement stairs the first night. Duffy and Triggs didn't venture up the stairs for 4 days and they were 3 times his size. I am loving how Brody and Marna are delighting in Newt, too.....he is just so small, one can't help but immediately fall in love with him. This old lady is very happy to have a baby in the house.......even if it is a furry, four-legged baby.

We actually got in the orthodontist's today. He filed Marna's retainer to adjust for where she has lost some more teeth. We won't see purple glitter when she smiles any longer. He also said that her teeth are coming in so crooked that he wants to put brackets on her front upper teeth. This will amount to a first round of braces and when she hits puberty she will be getting a second round to 'finalize' her mouth. Her teeth look horrible.....so many missing and the ones that are in or are coming in are so terribly crooked.....I don't even want to think what her mouth would look like had we not gone to the orthodontist!! Marna is such a trooper through all of this. No adult could put up with all she has been through in the world of dentistry and orthodontics.

I am so sick of dealing with idiots!!!! We made an appointment at the orthodontist several weeks ago for Marna on 4/24/01 at 9:00. Marna and I arrive shortly before 9 and the place is dark and locked up tighter than a drum. We wait for 15 minutes....knowing full well they aren't going to open....they are always open early. I take Marna back to school and explain to her principal that we don't have a note, but show her the appointment card to prove I am not a loony!

I come home and call. "Oh they aren't going to be in Bridgeton until tomorrow." I explain to her my appointment card says the 24th......."Oh, I'm sorry, that's a wrong. We have her in the computer for tomorrow, the 25th." I will be taking that appointment card and shoving it under the bimbo receptionist's nose tomorrow!!!

The guy we got our kittens Duffy and Triggs from told Mike that mother cat's newest litter was able to leave the nest. They are 8 weeks old. We have been going back and forth about getting a third cat since we heard mother cat had another litter. Duffy and Triggs have turned out to be such lovable kittens. I loved Casper and Rooney with all my heart, but I have to say that Duffy and Triggs are much sweeter cats.

I am such a worrier.....I don't want to upset the balance between Duffy and Triggs.....but I wanted another kitten. What to do???? Mike gave me many illustrations of friends who have added cats with no problem....I still wasn't convinced. The kids started begging.....on their knees.....I caved. We went out to the farm....I knew as soon as I saw them I wouldn't be able to resist. I couldn't. We went out with the idea of taking the black striped kitten, but then I saw this blue-gray and white one. He is so handsome, I couldn't resist. So he came home with us today. We named him Newt and he is currently living in the basement. There is a couch and chair down there and he has already mastered climbing onto those. He can't quite make the steps yet, but I am sure it won't take him long to figure them out.

Duffy and Triggs don't know quite what to think about this new invader. There has been a bit of hissing and some licking...but luckily no roughness. They seem to sense he is a baby. I am worried about them getting along, but Mike, the kids and a few friends I have called have assured me they will get along after an adjustment period. I hope so.....

I am so pissed! Our DSL was down from 3 PM yesterday and wasn't working until I woke up this morning!!! This is the second day this week! Is there no provider that's reliable??????