Meet Dusty Rose…

…my sister’s four-month-old kitten I am babycat-sitting this Labor Day weekend. While my sister, her boyfriend, and friends enjoy the beautiful Maine countryside, camping, and whitewater rafting, I get to scoop Dusty’s litter box. Yipee! When choosing prospective cat-sitters I imagine my sister said to herself, “What schmuck do I know with a go-nowhere job with no benefits or holidays and no life, can watch my kitten over the weekend? *light bulb* ANGELA!” That’s OK, sis. Watching this kitten has been truly wonderful. I mean that. If it’s any consolation, my sister will probably have to bathe Dusty three or four times to get rid of the wretched odor of cigarette smoke.

Also, since my landlord has a very strict “no pet” policy (fish bowl prohibition is actually worded in the lease), I assure you that Dusty will only be staying until tomorrow afternoon. Sadly.

Anyway, some of the highlights of our weekend together include me watching Dusty watch a squirrel, me watching Dusty play with a tennis ball, and me watching Dusty attack a ball of yarn. Dusty also learned how to walk up a flight of stairs which she did repeatedly after mastering the technique.

She is a weird kitten because I’ve noticed she prefers to drink water from the toilet instead of her bowl and she will spend hours clawing the wall for no apparent reason.

But, I’ve also fallen for her pretty hard so I have only one day to find a good hiding spot for her for when my sister comes to take her away.

Last Saturday, my awesome sister and her awesome boyfriend invited me to use their awesome spare ticket to the awesome Red Sox game. Ain’t that awesome? (I just noticed “ain’t” doesn’t trigger my Firefox spell check).

During a Jacoby Ellsbury at-bat, my sister and I jokingly discussed running out onto the field and kissing him. “I know, from here, I could make it before being tackled by security,” she said. Kristina’s boyfriend wasn’t amused.

Then our conversation got serious. What type of punishment would a 27-year-old scientist face for running out on the field? Surely, she’d be arrested for disorderly conduct and most likely face a trespassing charge. We wondered how much her bail would be and the possibility of her being released on her own recognizance. She does have a squeaky-clean record.

Would she be sentenced to community service or probation? Could the Red Sox ban her from Fenway Park and if so, how would they enforce it if she isn’t a season ticket holder?

Maybe she could get sponsors who would donate $1 to the Jimmy Fund for every yard she managed to run before encountering security. Maybe Jacoby would be so overcome by the kiss, he’d refuse to let her be arrested. Maybe…

At that point, we ran out of beer and it had been 10 minutes since Jacoby struck out.

Don’t ask me why but all of a sudden I actually care about the Olympics. Not since I was a kid have I watched, let alone cared, (with the sole exception being women’s figure skating in the Winter Olympics because, for real, figure skating is awesome) but so far, I can’t get enough. I’ve been watching all of the commercials events (hmm, I oddly have an overwhelming craving for a Coca-Cola and a strong desire to buy a GM car) but no event comes close to the Men’s Swimming Relay that EVERYONE is talking about today.

A-MAZ-ING!

First, you have your opponents, the French, talking crap. Second, you are a major underdog. Third, one-fourth of your team is going for an Olympic record for gold medals and NEEDED to win gold in order to keep that record-breaking attempt alive. Bear in mind, I never watch swimming. With that said, I was on the edge of my seat. My boyfriend and I were screaming at the TV, “GO! GO! GO! GO! He’s gaining!” The relay team garnered the type of cheering out of me that I usually reserve for the Patriots. Yes, I found it THAT exciting!

Anyway, does anyone else remember “Big Bird in China”? When Big Bird was riding a bike around Beijing? Yeah, the Olympics have reminded me of that. When I was watching last night, all I could think of was Big Bird on that damn bike.

Hmm, now I’m craving some Peking Dumplings to go along with that Coke.

I’m a little worried about the quality of cheese in the next few months as last night, giving the final kill shot to Packers fans nationwide, Brett Favre was traded to the Jets. Meanwhile, in homes all across New Jersey, Jets fans rejoice.

And then New England woke up… and I think coffee shot out of the noses of quite a few. Because this shakes things up, makes things more interesting, but as any reasonable football fan will tell you (aside from nostalgic Packers fans and desperate Jets fans) this move will serve no other purpose than selling tickets to Giants Stadium.

If anything, I think this is a good day for Chad Pennington. Finally, he’ll flee a team whose fans cheered his injuries. He’ll flee a coach that rode Asante Samuel’s coattails to a head coaching job. My guess is he’ll end up in Miami with Bill Parcells, the man who initially drafted him. We all know Parcells loves to bring players he knows with him *cough Terry Glenn cough* and I can’t think of a team that needs a QB as much as Miami. PLUS, he’s coming from a division rival (plus), he’s already familiar with the AFC and its teams (double plus), and hell, Noodle Arm still beats the Lemon/Green/What’s-His-Name combo that cost Cam Cameron his job last season. AND he’ll be in Florida. Who doesn’t love Florida?! Florida rules!

Andre Tippett was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday and I really, really wanted to be there. I would have been there, too, if it hadn’t been for that little firing incident back in June that prompted me to spend my vacation money on school tuition. No matter, in 10 to 15 years, my dad and I expect to see a few Patriots enshrined… at the very least Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Richard Seymour.

Back to Andre… when he played I was just a little kid, playing with Barbie Dolls and Legos instead of watching football. But, despite my lack of knowledge on anything regarding football, I knew certain players who were my dad’s favorites. Those players included Steve Grogan, Mosi Tatupu, Russ Francis, Steve Nelson, and, of course, Andre Tippett.

Watching Robert Kraft present Andre made me proud to be a Patriots fan. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that Kraft was just a hapless fan in those days. In fact, as my dad likes to point out, his season tickets at Schaeffer Stadium were much better than Kraft’s. No metal benches for my dad.

Now, I just have to plan another trip to the Hall.