Monkey would like for you to know that there are cats in my house. He would also like the cats to know that they are cats. (The boys: “We know.”) And will you come over here, because he would like to show you the cats.

TRgirl and I took him to the pool on Sunday. He loves swimming, but gets frustrated that we hold him the entire time. We do this to prevent him from drowning, as he cannot yet swim.

Sunday I also went out and bought bowling shoes. For I have joined a bowling league. (It’s just a fun league- I am a completely non-competitive bowler.)

As another part of my quest to meet as many people in the Richmond area as possible, I went sailing on Saturday. I have not been sailing since I moved South. I forgot how much I loved it- I was on a HobieCat for the first time. They totally talked me into joining the club.

phone rings

WG: Hello.
Mom: Hi! Are you babysitting?
WG: No. TRgirl does have a soccer game, but Randy is off from work today.
Mom. OK, I'll call Randy! Bye.
pause
Mom: So how have you been?

So, through my Facebook account people from high school have been contacting me. Some of them I’m glad to hear from, some of them I don’t care either way, and one of them? I don’t actually have any recollection of her whatsoever.

Anyway, it’s all good. Except that every single one of them is married. Most of them have kids. This has been quite the shock to me, because very few of my real life friends are married. Even fewer have kids. It’s just not a circle I run in. And yet somehow I feel like I missed the train.

The odd thing about this? I don’t really want to get married. I don’t really want to have kids. I’m looking for more of a heterosexual life partner. Live together, split costs, nothing more legally binding than maybe a mortgage. (Note I said legally. It’s entirely possible to have a long-term relationship without being married.) In this day and age, I’m not sure that marriage means all that much. There are other reasons according to my therapist. Let’s not get into that.
Of course, all of this comes at a time when I feel ready to date again. So, if you happen to know someone who isn’t going to be all, “Let’s have babies right away!” isn’t that into religion, and likes the outdoor activities, send him my way.

Yea, I didn’t think so.

• Last Friday I threw an Opening Ceremonies Party. It was my first official party in Richmond. I ‘ve been here 4 months and have enough friends to throw a party. That was so not the case in Raleigh.
• This Friday I’m going to a housewarming party for a guy I don’t know. A friend of mine is throwing the party, and he wouldn’t give her a guest list, so she just invited all of her friends.
• (I’m very excited about having friends. Not that I don’t have friends, or that I am some sort of unfriendworthy person, but it took me a lot longer to make friends in Raleigh. I learned from that experience and immediately joined a Jaycee chapter up here and said yes to every invitation I got.)
• On Saturday I have a cookout and then I’m going to the Richmond Braves game. (Tickets are a spendy $7.) It’s also bring your dog night.
• I’ve now relaxed the “every invitation” rule. I turned down playing for a football team this fall because the games are Sunday mornings. I cherish my Sunday mornings of drinking coffee and reading the paper.
• Thanks to some very lovely photos a friend posted on Facebook, I am recommitting myself to working out and eating semi-healthily. Ugh.
• Started out yesterday with a bike ride. Through the woods along the river. I love my bike. Really good purchase on my part. I’m heading out again today.

If someone ever asks you to sign up for a bowling league that starts bowling at 9PM on Wednesday nights, say no. That is a bad idea.

Also a bad idea? Trying to hit on me while wearing plaid shorts, especially if your opening line has something to do with my low score. I know I’m not a good bowler and I’m OK with that, but I am in no mood to be teased about it at 11:30 at night. On a Wednesday. When I have to work the next day.

Although, it turns out that if you have a really high handicap, you can totally beat the best team in the league.

• Bob called me last night (Bob is, in fact, my uncle) to tell me that they'd had to put Bear down. Bear was my grandfather's dog, and also the best dog ever. He was great with kids, great with my granddad (who had a lot of trouble getting around due to his RA), and always happy to be with his people. And his people? All people. Bear also had arthritis which until recently was responding well to medication. Recently it had gotten so bad that he couldn't make it down the steps to the yard and Bob or Steph would have to carry him outside to do his business. Bear wasn't a complainer, but he was in pain. I have not doubt that Bob and Steph did the very best for him and I'm going to miss that funny-looking dog. (He was a german shepherd/basset hound.)
• On a lighter note, msnbc had a headline on their site that said, "Aborigine wants boomerang back." I thought that was the point of a boomerang.
• Tomorrow I am going to see Sara Evans. I can't wait! I love Sara Evans.
• My bike was one of the best purchases I have ever made. Even when I don't feel like going (and seriously, I need to get back in shape, so I am making myself) once I'm out there, I love it. I mostly ride trails (there is a really good system here in Richmond) and while I'm doing so, I feel like I'm ten again. Also, yesterday I may or may not have crashed into a tree.

This weekend, the only day of note was Saturday. I went for a ride out at Pocahontas State Park . This would be a fine example of biting off more than one can chew. There were a lot of hills. Major hills. Also, the trail is not well marked so I got lost a few times. And, it turns out that there is some sort of problem with my front derailluer, so I would downshift and my pedals would stop moving. Which is bad.

Saturday night I went with my friend Kathy to the Sara Evans concert. This was the second time I seen her (Sara Evans, not Kathy) in the past year. Stace and I went to see her at the NC State Fair. This was at a better venue with better acoustics and there was no tractor pull to be heard. Also, I did not have to return to the Turkey Shoot afterwards.

There was also beer at this concert. Which Kathy ended up buying since some guy gave her a free ticket just as I bought mine. (I think he only had one.)

We also started planning for my birthday. (Yes, I do know it’s in December. Time is running out!) We decided that it should include alcohol and multiple bars.

Sunday I cleaned and then painted my toenails while watching Ice Road Truckers. That’s how I roll, yo.