A Busy Weekend, Indeed.

AKA: Leslie's a Mommy!

I got up early on the 19th of January, a Saturday, and got dressed in business attire. No normal Saturday, this one - I was going to judge an English speech contest.

Having gone through the speech contest on the student's side, it was both interesting and hard to be on the other side of the fence. I knew the pain that these kids had (likely) gone through to write their speech and then practice it for weeks, but I also had no sentimental ties to cloud my view of their performance. It was also somewhat horrifying to be in the "judging room" afterwards and hear how we decided the winners: giving our numeric ratings, then deciding that the numeric results didn't "feel" right and changing them. While it makes sense (we had different rating tactics, at the very least) ... it was awfully subjective, and it was hard for me to think that my 3rd years had been treated like that, way back when.
Then, I was returned to my apartment, some 6 or 7 hours after I had left it, with 5 more hours of vacation time to my name and the feeling of a somewhat wasted day.

I have to mention it, because he was just so wonderful and we couldn't give him a placement: one boy, Dimo, had a wonderful and inspiring speech about his name ("Democracy" ... no joke), his home country of Myanmar and its current political climate, and even his cute girlfriend...but he was extremely nervous and botched the whole speech. Oh, oh Dimo. Forever, your name will remind me of valient efforts that nonetheless are not enough to get final prize.

I woke up early the next day, Sunday, as well, completely ruining my weekend of rest. I cleaned furiously and then left my apartment at 11, to return some 6 hours (and lots of angst-inducing public transportation uses) later with my new bundle of joy: Miyuu, the (then) 8 month old kitten.

Now, technically speaking, I'm not allowed to have a pet in my apartment. I justify Miyuu's presence to myself with ease, however: my two neighbors get to have small children around, and I consider them worse than most pets when it comes to potential damage to the apartment.

Miyuu's been with me now for a little over a month, and she's a dear. I've never owned a truly loving cat, and the experience is a pleasant one for me. Every time I take her to the vet, they remark on how well-behaved she is, and I beam like a proud parent. She's not always an angel, but as of late I've found myself treating her antics as one would the destructive nature of an energetic child. I sometimes note my patience with her with amusement, usually hearing my mother's response to my saying, a long time ago, that I didn't know if I'd be able to deal with children of my own, given my level of patience around the children of others: "It's different when they're yours."

In short, Leslie is a very indulging and proud mommy! :)