Happy Halloween!

It was quite the Halloween weekend. On Friday night I was Robin....

On Saturday night Koto and I were Tyler Durden and Marla Singer from the movie "Fight Club"

Then on Sunday night-last night-one of my housemates, Eureka, was Fred Flintstone and I was Pebbles.

I kind of went all out. I can't decide if I should be proud or embarrassed.

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween!

Until Next Time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.

Confession Booth

It is time for me to confess a few things.

1. I confess that I want to be a writer. I don't know what kind exactly, but it would be so amazing to be a TV writer or just to write a novel. The catch? I don't want to write crap. Even if I had a great opportunity, I don't think I'd go through with it if my work was trash. I'd much rather have some dignity and respect.

2. I confess that my own governor pisses me off. Don't get me wrong, I agree with a lot of his views. I really do. BUT....he embarrasses me. He honestly truly embarrasses me. In philosophy class my professor- who is a complete socialist- always makes fun of Perry, and will always ask my input. I try to defend my governor on some levels, but it is becoming pretty difficult. I really think the man means well, he just becomes too extreme and scares people away with how he expresses his views.

3. I confess that every time a person doesn't hold the door open for me- when they clearly are supposed to-I think less of them. Maybe they were in a rush? Maybe they didn't see me? No. I don't even give them an excuse, I just get annoyed. Call this judgmental, because that's what I'm going to call it, I can't help it. These people always make me cringe.

4. I confess that I had a crush on Shia LaBeof....when he was on the Disney Channel playing in Even Stevens. All my friends made fun of me, but I stood firm. He was my childhood crush which I am not ashamed of. Well, okay maybe I could have chosen someone a little more "hunky" if you will, but I can't change who I thought was cute when I was eleven years old. So Shia it is.

5. I confess that when I'm in a car going by a cemetery, and people hold their breath, I only pretend to hold my breath. I don't actually participate. 

6. I confess that I think too much about the past. It's definitely an issue and something I gotta work on. I dwell on my past mistakes more than I focus on my future.

7. I confess that when I began writing this post, the thought that it may be slightly sac religious went through my head, but I went on writin' it.

Maybe I will actually go to a confession booth soon.

Alright, alright...I confess that I'm not Catholic.

This confession will just have to suffice.


Until Next Time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.

A Day in a Life of Big Doodle

Big Doodle has a basic schedule.

He wakes up, paces, eats, paces, pets the dogs, paces, reads, paces, writes, paces, thinks, paces, and repeat.

There are only a small few times that this routine will be interrupted. When Papa Doodle or another family member will intertwine their plans with Big Doodle. For example, when Mama Doodle wants to go grocery shopping and needs someone to lift the dog food into the basket, Big Doodle will come along, and he will be happy to be of help.

Another time is when Big Doodle has a medical appointment of some kind.

The last way is the most interesting. It is when those really random and unpredictable events occur.

Last Wednesday is a perfect example.

Big Doodle was supposed to turn in a volunteer form to a rehabilitation center around the corner from our home down south. I had called him around noon to make sure he was going to turn it in, and give him a few words of encouragement. After a few minutes of walking him through what he should wear and how he should present himself, we hung up.

About an hour later I get a phone call from him, so I was expecting it to be about the volunteer situation.

Me: "Hello?"

Big Doodle:  "I'm very concerned."

Me: "About what? Did you turn that form in? I swear if you didn't..."

Big Doodle: "No, no. I'm feeling anxious about something else. The cats were attacking a bird in the back yard."

This was not exactly uncommon seeing as we have about six cats in our household- yes, we are crazy- so I didn't see the problem.

Me: "Okay...so what happened to the bird?"

Big Doodle: "I saved it."

Me: "You what? What do you mean you saved it? It survived?"

Big Doodle: "Well, it's injured. I ran out and saved it."

Me: "Wait, wait, whatever you do, don't touch the bird!"

Big Doodle: "S#*t! Oh God! Am I going to die!?"

Me: "Calm down, everything is fine. Where is the bird now?"

Big Doodle: "It's in my hat...in my room"

I couldn't help but laugh. The situation was so typical for the Doodle family, and so ridiculous. After clear instructions to Big Doodle to take the bird in his hat to the garage- without touching the bird itself- to go and thoroughly wash his hands, arms, and face I told him to just sit tight until Mama Doodle came home.

It is so funny to picture my brother, so innocent and kind, running in our backyard, and charging at his own cats to save a bird that he's never seen before. His intentions are always so pure. I love Big Doodle so much, more than he even knows.

To some, it may seem like Big Doodle needs me. Yeah, maybe he needs me to direct him in a fashion sense, and to be his support, but I need him more than he needs me. Sometimes I feel like I'm that bird that's being attacked, and just torn apart by what the world throws at me. Then there's Big Doodle to my rescue, knowing he may get a scratch himself in the process, but saves me anyway.

That's what big brothers are for. For those who don't have one of your own, I hope you have some sort of substitute. Because honestly, having a loving older brother is one of the greatest blessings anyone can ever have.

Even if he does call you in panic randomly because there's a bird that pooped in his hat after he saved it.


Until next time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr. 

New Discoveries

Today is Columbus Day- the anniversary of the day Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. 

This weekend I did some searching and discovering of my own. I went with Koto to his home to visit his family. He grew up in a state cheering for the Redskins and the Capitals, meanwhile only miles away from where America's President sleeps.

The past few days may not have been as eventful as the days that Columbus was sailing the ocean blue, but it was enough to leave me feeling as tired as any sailor would.

There are three significant discoveries I made within the past few days.

1.) I really like hockey. Koto and his long time friend Peru bought the three of us Capitals tickets. This was essentially my first time to ever watch a hockey game, and between the fans and the watching the intense game unfold, I was hooked.  The Capitals came out with a nice win (although a little shaky at first) and it was a nice way to top off my first official hockey game.

2.) Arguments are only worth it if they are productive. Yeah, maybe I already understood that this is how arguments should be, but the thing is, most of the time fights are usually not like that. Koto and I had a few arguments this weekend, and even though they weren't necessarily our first fights, there was something significant about them. I can be pretty feisty or aggressive when I argue, and I do this awful thing where I say anything I can just to make the other person feel bad about themselves. Just from the experiences with past relationships, I have gotten away with this, but all it took was for Koto to calmly tell me I was being mean. Something so simple, but so effective somehow. After that, we worked through our little pickle and I felt better than I had before.

3.) I'm smitten. Yeah, I have loved Koto for quite some time now, but after three days with him non-stop and no break, I'm not sick of him in the least. In fact, I miss and love him more. We drove a total of 612 miles this weekend and the entire time we talked, sat in comfortable silence, or just listened to the music playing. He is so brilliant, special, and kind, I am amazed how he is satisfied with me.

All in all, I discovered a new sport that I enjoy, I accepted a fault of mine and look forward to improving my arguing methods, and most importantly, I discovered that I am just as smitten with a guy who claims to be smitten with me.

As far as I'm concerned, Columbus can keep his credit on the Americas. Pshh, what Columbus, you think you are so important because you discovered land that years later became an amazing country, and eventually developed into a nation full of powerful and important people? Take it. I got something better. I found myself a keeper.

Until Next Time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.

Mr. Don

A few days ago I received some distressing news. Mr. Don, a good family friend from home has stage 4 colon cancer.

Mr. Don lived down the street from my family in our old neighborhood, before we moved a few miles away into a different home. I have knows him since I was seven or eight and his granddaughter and I use to play with each other every weekend that she came down to visit.

The three of us would go out to his parent's pier and fish every weekend, but sometimes it was just the two of us. We use to always ride our bikes around the neighborhood or to the park, and I have so many memories that I can still see today. I wrote him a poem that I am sending down south. It's pretty amateur and sounds kind of childish, but I just want him to know how much he means to me.

Teachin’ Baby Girl to Fish

Saturday night out on the pier

Me with my coke, you with your beer.

Here we go with our poles and our bait

“Cast the line out Baby Girl, then just sit back and wait.”

You catch a Flounder on your very first try

Not one bite for me- the fish swim on by.

We relax in silence and stare at the silver moon

“Night time fishin’s the best Baby Girl, don’t worry, you’ll catch one soon.”

A tug on my line makes me jump up and scream

I reel that thing in like it’s my biggest dream.

But the line becomes lighter; I hang my head in shame and dismay

“I’m sorry Baby Girl, it seems that one got away.”

There’s another tug on your line- this one seems big!

But my empty hook needs more bait, so I open the bag of shrimp and dig

I pick the best one I can find,

“I’ll put it on the hook Baby Girl, hold on if you don’t mind”

But, oh no, miss prissy me

I can do it myself, you just wait and see.

Your huge fish plops down on the deck, but you stop dead once you see all that red

“Dag nabbitt, Baby Girl did you hear a word that I said?!”

My thumb was bleeding, it got pierced by the hook

You rush to my side as the big fish is floppin’, and gah lee that deck sure shook

You wrap up my pain in an old dirty rag

“Sorry Baby Girl, it’s either this or that smelly shrimp bag.”

I feel better already with Mr. Don there

But then I’m scared once I see that fish flop right off that dang pier.

The guilt is overwhelming once I hear your big heavy sigh

“Shh it’s okay Baby Girl, no need to cry.”

Through my tears, I’m surprised to see you smile

A fish like that won’t come by for quite a while.

You kiss my forehead and pat down my hair

“Baby Girl, always remember that life just ain’t fair.”

You want me to try again, at least one more time

I pick out the shrimp, and you put it on my line

I bring the pole back, and then fling it forward, determined for a fish to be caught.

“There you go Baby Girl, that’s the perfect spot.”

We wait and wait- gee this sure is hard

I’m secretly jealous when you catch your third

I stare at the water, wishing for that bite

“Be patient Baby Girl, hand on tight.”

Then there it was! I pulled hard, but boy was it rough

Good thing this little girl was tough

I reel that sucker in with all that I have left.

“Great job Baby Girl, be sure to catch your breath!”

You unhook it and almost gut it, but I want to set it free

I don’t know why, but the fish reminds me of me.

It’s small and it’s feisty, with so much spirit

“Whatever you want Baby Girl, if you wish, we can spare it.”

Off it goes back into that bay

Maybe someone else will catch it one day.

The little girl was sleepy, it was getting pretty late

“Let’s head home Baby girl, besides, we done out of our bait.”

Dozin’ off in your truck not aware how much this memory will one day stick,

Many years later when you become so very sick.

When you dropped me off, I can hear the words to this day,

“Goodnight  Baby Girl, I love you. Good job fishing today"

I go inside and curl into bed

Dritin’ to sleep, I think of your soft kiss on my forehead.

Quite some years later, I promise to keep in touch as I head off to school

“It’s no big deal Baby Girl, you’ll be too busy, I’m not some fool.”

Please know that memories of us are so very vivid

You are the person who taught me to be strong, and to never be timid.

We may not fish together again like I so badly wish,

But I will sure always remember, who taught Baby Girl how to fish.

There are so many moments I will always keep close to heart. The time that I fell on my bike when riding by myself and Mr. Don was pulling on the street in his truck and came to my rescue. Or the time he got the splinter out of my foot and I wouldn't let anyone else touch it but him. And the time I wanted to run away from home, and when I was walking past his house in my ratty pink nightgown with my small bag, he stopped me and convinced me to stay and chat for a bit before I decided to run off forever. We sat on the back of his pick up talking away and ,before I knew it, I chose to just go back home because I was hungry anyway.

The memories like those are the ones that just make me want to curl into a ball and try to relive them in my head. When he told me the news on the phone, and I told him I was coming home for Thanksgiving, my heart just about broke when he said, "Alright Baby Girl, I'll try to hang around until then." 

Well Mr. Don, I pray to God that you do. 

Until next time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.

The Nudist on the Stairwell

Tonight was quite the night for the Nee Nees.

As you may know, I babysit for the Nee Nees- three kids that can be a handful, but always an entertainment. There was an event held at the house with caterers, a large amount of important adults, and a nice sound system.  The kids were even more energetic than usual because of all the excitement.

When they were eating dinner in the kitchen, I gave the three of them orange cream soda to keep them occupied while I went scavenging for anything they may eat from the large amounts of food in the other rooms. As I was piling on little pigs-in-a-blanket, and large amounts of cheese (there was no way the kids would eat any of the other foods) I got curious glances at the dressed up adults who were digging into the shrimp. Who was this random girl dressed like a sweaty hobo stacking her plate with a bunch of covered sausages and cheese cubes?

While eating, several of the guests came into the kitchen to get a good look at the house. The Nee Nees are blessed with a beautiful home and it is hard not to roam around and explore. The Nee Nee children, being the social squirts that they are, made sure to tell each and every person who came in that they were drinking orange cream soda, and insisted to demonstrate how loud they can burp from it. Most of the spectators laughed or said something lame like, "Wow, excuse you!" with a joking tone. There was one snooty woman in particular though, that after a unhelpful comment from her part, scowled at me before she left the room. I turn to Smarty and instead of getting mad or embarrassed, I kiss him right on the top of his head.

Me: "Great burp Smarty! I think that was your best one yet." He gives me a big open smile and I can see the orange fizz in his mouth.

Once it was time for bed the kids were going bonkers. Sissy was in the family room upstairs away from everyone trying to do her math homework while I was trying to get her little brothers tucked in for the night. Smiley rips off his diaper immediately and swings it in big circles before throwing it high into the air. Thank the Lord I have good reflexes and dodged that thing before it landed right in front of me.

Here was my situation. Smiley was running around their room without any clothes on and I noticed he grabbed a large beaded necklace that the family got in summer vacation over seas. He puts it on his neck and the necklace goes past his belly button. As he was racing in circles, I was trying to get Smarty's shirt off over his head so we can put his PJ's on.

Then, I heard the crowd of people downstairs much more clear than I had a moment ago. I had shut the door when the boys and I first came into their bedroom, and it was definitely not this loud sounding. I glanced over quickly to the boy's bedroom door and to my despair, see that the door is wide open and Smiley is no longer in the room.

This means that Smiley is butt naked somewhere in the large house and there are guests downstairs that can potentially see him. I will tolerate orange cream soda burps on occasion...but I will not tolerate naked three year olds posing for a Morocco necklace to a group of important adults.

I sprint out the room and ahead I see Smiley on the top of the ornate stairwell that leads down to the front door of the entire house. The guests by now had gathered in the foyer downstairs by this very door and the dining room nearby. Basically, if anyone does anything as to glance up, they will see Smiley, stark naked on the Stairwell. I cautiously move toward him as if he were a ticking time bomb.


Scene of the crime...

Me: "Smiley, please come over here. Let's go pick out a book to read."

It doesn't work though.Smiley just gives me a mischievous smile and looks down below at all the guests downstairs. By this time Smarty is right behind me on the floor laughing at how funny his brother looks, and this only encourages Smiley further ,who had unfortunately begun to dance. I saw him inching down the first step.

I knew there was no way I could get Smiley by persuasion before he would run down the stairs and greet the crowd. I had to act fast.  I literally charged at Smiley, scooped him up, and ran back to the safety of his room. Smarty followed and closed the door like the smart little guy he is. Inside, we all tumbled to the floor-me mainly because I was out of breath- Smarty and Smiley were laughing hysterically.

I couldn't help it. I just laughed right along with them. The absurdity of the entire situation was so funny, and the fact that little naked baby caused all of this, made it that much more ridiculous to me.

After the boys were tucked in, read a story, and given their kisses goodnight, I spent a good deal of time with Sissy on her math homework. She was "slap happy" as we call it, so it was a tedious process for her to do all 24 of her problems, but she eventually got through it all.

Although it may seem ironic, the Nee Nee children help keep me sane. Even those nights that there is a nudist on the stairwell.

Until Next Time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.

The Big Ol' Heart of Football

I grew up in a state where football is up on the scale next to God and the Republican Party. Papa Doodle was a high school football and baseball coach when I was a little girl, so I have vivid memories of being dragged to a practice or games occasionally.Up until the age of about 12 we only had one TV in the entire house, and it was just a well known fact in the Doodle household that Papa had the TV on Sundays, Monday Nights, and sometimes Thursdays.

You would think that being surrounded by football, I would love the sport and be knowledgeable in it.. The honest truth is that I'm really not at all. Now, I probably know more than the average American female, but coming from the state that I am, and the Papa who raised me, I don't know diddly squat. The thing is, those days when Papa Doodle had the TV I was bitter we had to listen to the obnoxious commentators and the roar of the fans, instead of my precious cartoons. Football was inevitably around me always. When we would visit Meme and Papaw Doodle, you can guarantee you'd hear a "How bout them Cowboys?" coming from one of my uncles. If anything, being surrounded so much by the sport made me want to avoid it all together.

Fortunately for my football IQ, it was almost a social expectation to attend the high school football games that were at my town's stadium- our prized possession. Through middle school and high school I would have been spotted on a Friday night among the crowd of the town, and I grew to enjoy the sport more during these times because I understood the game more and I was hanging out with all my friends. There even came a few instances where I would watch college games with Papa Doodle on our TV, and when I would make a comment or even mention a name, Papa Doodle unglued his eyes from the screen for a moment to give me a small surprised looked.

So these days I've had Koto on my hands, and he is on top of NFL, and apart of a fantasy football league with his friends like many other guys this time of year. One thing I like about Koto is he is the type of person that wants you to learn and know as much as possible. He doesn't even realize it but he loves to express his knowledge (and not in a boastful way whatsoever) just for the fact that everyone around him will know it as well. That being said, Koto has been giving me a crash course on the National Football League, and I am proud to say I am doing pretty well in it so far. I find myself looking forward to the outcome of games, or following the teams I like.

This upcoming weekend I'm excited for my Texans against the Saints, and I am interested to see how Romo plays against those Redskins. For the first time, I feel apart of this League and I can really appreciate all the work and energy that goes into it from all sides. From the players, to the coaches, the media, and the adoring fans, there is such love and devotion to this sport. I kind of wish that I came to this realization when I was living back home, where there is such support system for it.

There is something so beautiful about an enormous amount of people who have this devotion to a sport. And, yeah, they may not think it is as pretty as I do, but maybe deep down, all of the football lovers know how special this community really is.

Until Next Time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.