Two Hyper Teenagers

Nothing much has happened this week, but this summer is flying by so fast. It seems forever since I was in college, and I'm looking forward to going back. Lately, I've been close to college as I've been going four days a week to the gym on campus. I've been riding the bike machine, using the stairmaster, and walking on the treadmill. I think the exercise is helping, as my heart rate isn't as high as it was when I first started a few weeks ago and my legs are getting used to it. Still, I feel guilty afterwards when I am hungry and eat a candy bar or a bag of chips after I just lost a couple hundred calories from lunch. While I go to the gym, Mandy's still going to the pool almost daily, usually finding a friend to bring along. She's turning dark in the sun, and a few weeks ago she had to skip a day at the pool to give her skin a break.

I forgot to mention that Mandy was not home for the 4th of July. The Greer family was taking a trip to see their kin up in North Carolina, and they invited Mandy to go with them. They left the day before the 4th, and they got home Monday evening. Mandy had a fun time with the Greers, and she came back with several wacky pictures that clearly show she and Bethany are weird, hyper 14-year olds.

Speaking of Mandy and Bethany, Mandy had Bethany spend the night last night (Friday the 11th). I had wanted to go shopping at Kohls because I finally received my much-belated paycheck, so Mandy and Bethany decided to accompany me. Knowing those two, I was worried about how hyper and weird they would be, but I didn't know much of what they did until after the trip. The trip was successful, thanks to the girls' fashion sense. I found a cute shirt, but they only had it in one color (black), and the next size up didn't look good. The girls helped me find tank tops to go under the next size shirt, and it worked nicely. So I paid forty bucks for six shirts. Mandy and Bethany had fun trying on everything (they took several pictures of this, and I've only seen a few), and they both bought something simple like earrings and underwear. After the trip, we came home, and the girls decided to watch a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie that our neighbor Anna let them borrow. The movie was stupid, as was expected, and we chose to watch something else for our pizza dinner. We watched a Brian Regan performance then Mom and the girls went to Blockbuster to find a couple of movies. We ended up watching "The Village," a movie we already own, and saved "10000 BC" for tonight. After watching "The Village" and watching Bethany jump and scream during certain scenes (which was hilarious, and at one point she would have hit Dad if he hadn't held her hand still), Mom and Dad went to bed. The girls played The Sims Unleashed, continuing a game they had played that afternoon. The next morning, I woke up late, but there were chocolate muffins and cantalope for breakfast. The girls cleaned up the mess they made and then played more "The Sims." Bethany went home around 3:30 or so, and we enjoyed having her. Still, it's an interesting experience to put Mandy and Bethany together in a small house with sodas and a computer game; they can get hyper and crazy really quick.

Before I forget, something unexpected yet happy happened this week. Oatmeal, who disappeared in late May during our camping trip, showed up suddenly on our doorstep, yowling to come inside. When he entered, he was shaking and frightened, and Mom gave him some canned cat food. He was thinner than when we had last seen him, but he wasn't skinny, a sign he has been eating someone else's food. He's calmed down and is back to his normal, lovable self. However, not all our cats have been happy. For the past few weeks, Fuzz seems to have caught another bout of FUS and has been squatting and peeing everywhere. The blood in his urine is gone, but he still squats and makes a weird noise while squatting. Pooky has begun spraying and peeing outside the litterbox, which has made him subject to being chased around the house and thrown outside. We've also come up with a new nickname for our fattest cat Claws: Shai-Hulud (the name comes from the "Dune" book series and refers to a giant worm that roams a desert planet and creates the vital spice that keeps the universe in balance). I think she's becoming used to the name because she now reacts to it.