There's No Place Like Home

Whew! I am so glad to be home, especially considering what it took to get us here -- packed trains, frighteningly long security lines at airports, and a cancelled flight in Newark that left us stranded an extra 4 1/2 hours for the final leg home.

What kept me going was the cats. I was single-minded in my pursuit to return home to them.  "My babies, hang on, I'm coming," I telapathied to them. I was so tired I was almost sick with it--we'd been up close to 24 hours. "Must get home to the cats, must get home to the cats, I chanted.

Finally, we pull in front of our house. Leaving Blair to struggle with the luggage I race up the steps, fling open the door, drop my purse as I stretch my arms wide and announce  to Lucy--my baby, my darling--sitting on top of the credenza, "Mommy's home!"

She took one look at me and fled.  Not quite the homecoming I had envisioned.

She quickly came around, as did Olivia.  I am THRILLED to announce that Olivia--the cat who no one even believes we own because she has never been see by anyone except us--made friends with Melody, our housesitter. She sat on Melody's lap and allowed herself to be combed. Melody left me a note that noted what a "friendly little kitty," I had.

Hello, what? Friendly? My cat? But I'm SO relieved. It puts my heart at rest to know Olivia got some kitty love while we were gone. Unlike Lucy who apparently did nothing but hiss in Melody's general direction the entire time.

BTW, I'm going to recommend my friend Melody look into a new career as a housesitter. We came home to a SPOTLESS home, mail neatly stacked up, newspapers in chronological order on the dining room table, happy cats, towels folded and put away, clean sinks and fresh linens.  She was a God-send.

Okay, I have many amusing (or what I hope are amusing) stories to tell from our trip that I'll summarize in future posts. For now, I am dealing with what I think is a massive caffeine-withdrawal hangover. Apparently the word "decaf" does not exist in the UK. I'll spend the rest of this week detoxing, I'm sure.

But for now, I'm headed outside to enjoy that big yellow globe thing we here in America refer to as "the sun." I'm not sure Britons are familiar with the concept. 

Cheers!

On Our Way Home

We should be on our way home now. If you're heard about any fires or disasters in the UK in the past 2 weeks, yeah, that was probably our fault. Can't wait to get home, cuddle with the cats, do laundry (laugh if you must, but it makes me happy) and sleep in my own bed. Exciting/Entertaining posts of our trip to come soon!

More Best of Dena's Blog...

Remember when Dena bought stilettos? Oh, how we laughed. If you really are that bored in life that you have nothing better to do than to read about it again, I feel sad for you. But hey, been in that place myself. So click HERE to read about Dena and her first pair of bad-ass shoes...

Will Work For Food

How do you handle it when you see homeless people on the corner, holding cardboard signs and staring with eyes devoid of hope at approaching traffic? I never know what to feel or what to do.

On the one hand, I'm hesitant to give them money, mainly because I think my money is better spent giving to an organization that helps people in these situations. There's also the logic of "What is my $10 going to change for them? Tomorrow they'll be right back out here, having to beg for money again." So by giving I've just delayed the inevitable.

And yet...I can't help but feel that if I were in their shoes, I would be most grateful if someone would delay the inevitable for me.  My $10 doesn't solve anything long-term but it does stay away the hunger or alcohol withdrawal pains for a short time.

Usually what I do is to offer a smile and lower my head in embarrassment. I don't know why I feel embarrassed each time, but I do. I'm in my car with a full belly and clothes and money jingling in my change drawer. I have hope and love in my life. I offer a small prayer of love and protection for them and drive away. And--if we're being brutally honest--usually forget about them within 8 minutes time.

The only reason for this post is I saw a homeless person the other day and felt the guilt flood through me and thought, "This might make for an interesting blog discussion." I saw another person the next day and just yesterday passed a couple on the side of the road. They had a cute black and white mutt with them on a leash and a red bandana tied around his neck. That got to me. Homeless and trying to take care of an animal. If they'd been on my side of the street, I would have given them money.

I read a story years ago by some wealthy man--I can't remember who off the top of my head. But he was extremely well-known and wealthy and he came out of a speaking engagement one day and a young woman rushed up to him, crying. "My little girl is dying and an operation may save her but I don't have insurance and I don't know what to do. Please, can you help me?"

The man asked about the surgery and the woman gave him the details and the cost was something like $5,000-$10,000 dollars. The man gave her the money on the spot.

Later, he was telling his colleagues about the women. Their radar went up and they asked what she looked like. Turns out a woman matching the description of this woman had been running money scams in the area. His staff did some investigating and came back to him.

"She conned you," they said.

"You mean there's no little girl dying because she needs an operation?" asked the man.

"Nope. Sorry, but it looks like you were had."

The wealthy man breathed a sigh of relief and beamed at the group. "There's no little girl dying," he repeated. "That's the best news I've heard all day."

It's all in how you look at things, isn't it?