June 17, 2002 - 6:40 a.m.

Let me start off by explaining the following format a bit. This entry is all about my Father's Day experience. However, the events of this day are such that they would warrent multiple entries. I am lazy, though, so I will just make one entry that consists of a few little subentries.

Subentry 1: "Day of rest, my @$$!"

So, how was my Father's Day to be spent? Perhaps, lounging in the recliner, reading the paper and watching TV? Nope. My Father's Day was to be spent working odd jobs to get a little supplemental income. After church, Mary, Zoe, and I went to clean my wife's preschool for some extra kizash. That takes about 3 hours. Then, we are supposed to babysit one of the preschoolers for 5 or 6 hours. Also, I am housesitting for a friend this week, so I periodically throughout the day have to go to her house, let out her dogs, and feed and water them. Happy Father's Day to me ...

Subentry B: "The Family Curse"

My family has a weird tradition of spending holidays in the emergency room. On my mama's 28th or 29th birthday, I had to be rushed to the emergency room for stitches in my ankle. On Mother's Day weekend a couple of years ago, my sister had to carry her son to get stitches in his head. On her son's first birthday, my sister had to be hospitalized. So, guess what I get to do on Father's Day? Remember when I said me and Mary went to her school to clean? Well, somewhere in that school, someone lost an earring. Luckily, Mary found it. Unluckily, she found it in Zoe's mouth. We didn't know if it was one lone earring or if Zoe had swallowed the other one. So, I dropped Mary off at her babysitting job on the way to the hospital. Zoe and I spent 4 hours at Duke Medical Center while the doctors x-rayed her and tried to determine if she had indeed ingested the earring. Thankfully, she had not. Happy Father's Day to me ...

Subentry III: "Why I Hate Cats"

(I guess technically that this didn't happen on Father's Day, but really, I don't care at this point.)

So, after the field trip to the hospital, I went back to sleep at Kate's place as part of my housesitting duties. After eating an oh-so-satisfying supper of Wendy's Late Night Drive-Thru, I got to bed about 2:00 in the AM. Around 3:45, I was gently roused by the sound of glass breaking in the kitchen. My first thought: "Frigging inconsiderate burgalers!" So, I got up and checked. Upon entering the kitchen, I saw a black cat bounding around the room, knocking commemorative plates and decorative bottles off shelves and trying desperately to exit through a closed window. You see, Kate and Gina have one of those little pet doors for their cat, Percy. However, I see now that Percy isn't the only cat who can work that thing. Apparently, this stupid cat had also found the door and gotten in. Unfortunately, it didn't realize it could get out the same way. Anyway, to abbreviate the next two and a half hours, I tried every way possible to coax and/or force that cat out the door until the stupid thing happened to dodge out. Happy Late-Night/Early-Morning-After-Father's Day to me ...

Man, can't wait until Thanksgiving. It should be a hoot.

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