Archive | September, 2009

Violation of innocence

by Mir on September 15, 2009 in It's not a regret, it's an "experience"

So I took Licorice to the new vet today. I wanted to get her checked out, establish care, and in general just make sure that my little snuzzy wuzzy snookums was doing okay.

Because Licorice came from a local rescue organization, she is “fully vetted” already, which means she’d been to their vet (who is fine, but is not the vet we chose) and dewormed and everything. Of course, AFTER I made her an appointment with the NEW vet, her foster mom mailed to say that, Oops! She needs another set of booster shots! And she can get those for free at the old vet, they will cover it!

After some consideration, I decided to just go ahead with the new vet appointment, even though I’d then be paying for something I could get for free. No on ever accused me of being the brightest bulb on the marquee.

But oh, poor Licorice. I had no idea what she was in for. (more…)

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Sweet as candy

by Mir on September 14, 2009 in Woohoo!

I’ll tell you the truth: This past week I really began to despair of us ever finding the right dog. I mean, I knew it would happen, intellectually, but emotionally I was feeling like an unfit mother. (Thank goodness I’m not melodramatic or anything, right?) If only things had gone better with Super! If only the right dog hadn’t already been promised to someone else! If only I was just a better person!

Have I mentioned about how I’m a joy to live with…?

I kept telling the kids that when we found the right dog, we would all know it. So when a little 3-year-old shih tzu mix popped up on the page of a local rescue, there was a little tug on my heartstrings, a little quickening of my pulse, and then an immediate feeling of doom and gloom. “We’ll want her but someone else will get her,” I thought. “Or we’ll want her and they won’t pick us.” I filled out the application, but I tried not to get my hopes up. And I didn’t even tell the kids. (more…)

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Baby’s first F

by Mir on September 12, 2009 in Offspring: ecstasy and agony

Have I mentioned how much Chickadee loves middle school? Because she does, so much. She loves her teachers, she’s made a bunch of new friends, she’s enjoying the challenges, etc. It’s all been great.

Or, it was, until first quarter progress reports came home.

97, 100, 98, 96, 100, 100, 65. Sixty-five. SIXTY FIVE. As in, a big fat F.

But sure that 65 would be in some class she hates or in band or something else non-academic, right, on account of she’s got that big beautiful brain and she’s brilliant and all?

Nope. Her 65 is in… English. Too bad she doesn’t have a parent who’s a writer or anything…. (more…)

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Love tells the story

by Mir on September 10, 2009 in Ottomatic For the People

One of the last boxes I unpacked this weekend was clearly one that had lived in my last basment, half-unpacked, and then had a generous measure of “I’m nearly done packing but I don’t know where to put this stuff” items dumped in on top of it. I’m glad I took the time to go through it, because it did hold several items of sentimental value (“MAMA YOU ARE THE BEST MAMA LUV MONKYE MONKEY”) and a couple of things I’d assumed were lost forever. It also held Otto’s wedding gift to me and my ex.

My first wedding was in 1994. I was 12. (I slay me. And no, I never tire of that joke.) Despite having grown up on the east coast, we were in grad school in California and it seemed to make the most sense to get married locally, rather than trying to coordinate a wedding long-distance. As a result, not very many of our friends came. Actually, I take that back; not very many of MY friends came. My ex is a few years older and more of his friends were finished with school and had actual jobs.

Otto had a job, but not a particularly lucrative one, and I was surprised when he told me he would find a way to get to my wedding. (more…)

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Still searching

by Mir on September 9, 2009 in It's not a regret, it's an "experience"

Me and Petfinder are BFFs right now. Except that we’re actually more like frenemies, because I spend hours with it, but really, Petfinder DRIVES ME INSANE. There don’t seem to be any sort of rules or regulations about what information people put out there about the animals. So while one listing will tell you that Riley is precisely two-and-three-quarters-years old and enjoys a nice chicken-smoked rawhide in the late afternoon after a cup of food at breakfast, a nice 47-minutes lunchtime walk (wherein he is a perfect gentleman on the leash) and an afternoon nap curled up in front of a television showing Spanish soap operas, another listing says that Sugar is a dog and she costs $200.

It’s maddening.

Add to that the fact that entering your zip code seems to have very little influence on how close to you any given listing is (Petfinder is POSITIVE I want to drive to South Carolina for a dog; I have no idea why), and you’ve got a situation where I spend a lot of time on their site, but also a lot of time muttering things that are less than complimentary. (more…)

Comments { 35 }

The tell-tale beep

by Mir on September 8, 2009 in It's not a regret, it's an "experience"

I don’t recall when it started, or who noticed it first, but the fact remains that our house is currently possessed. Oh, I guess I’m exaggerating. Not our entire house. Just our kitchen. Or maybe my office. Possibly the garage. OKAY, the entire first floor is suspect. But really, that’s only half the house. So yes, half our house is currently possessed.

Or just kind of… beepy.

It’s a sneaky beep. It doesn’t happen at regular intervals, it doesn’t seem. You’ll just be puttering around in the kitchen, packing lunches or sneaking some of your kid’s jelly beans (what?) and there’s this faint, muffled *beep* that comes from… somewhere.

I think it’s in the kitchen. Or under the kitchen.

Or in the garage. Or my office. Really, it’s a wonder we haven’t found it yet. (more…)

Comments { 81 }

Full circle (or maybe oval)

by Mir on September 7, 2009 in Haven't been hit by lightning yet!

It’s been approximately two years and two months since we moved into this house, and there has been a methodical progression of organization and renovation ever since then. Before we moved in our stuff, we repainted in the living room, hallways, and the kids’ rooms. The children’s rooms were the first parts completely finished and habitable, followed by the kitchen and then the living room. We redid walls and flooring, and then the dining room was perfect. We found the perfect kitchen table, and then I vowed to stop complaining so much about the kitchen. (Ahem.)

My point is that it’s not that we haven’t been working on the house and fixing it up. We totally have! But even as we’ve worked on every other room, one thing has remained unchanged: Our bedroom.

I know there are people who make the argument that your bedroom should be your beautiful haven of relaxation and the place where you can retreat at the end of the day and feel completely at ease, but I am apparently missing that gene. I believe the bedroom is… where you keep your bed. And, um, everything else. (more…)

Comments { 31 }

The Dog Emailer

by Mir on September 5, 2009 in It's not a regret, it's an "experience"

So I’ve been meaning to tell you that Otto and I met a Real Live Dog Whisperer here in town, but after umpty-hundred emails back and forth I’ve decided that she is not, in fact, done justice with the moniker Dog Whisperer.

She is the Dog Emailer.

(Though I do not think she actually emails WITH dogs.) (On the other hand, knowing what I know now about her, it would not entirely surprise me if she did.) (But that’s not the dog I want, because I get grumpy when I have to share my computer.)

ANYWAY. There was some sort of dog festival thing here a few weeks ago, back before we all got sick and we contemplated putting one or both of the children on Xanax just to get through each day. Back when we were still under the illusion that everything was fine and dandy, we spent part of an afternoon petting dogs and talking to people, and then, being rescued. (more…)

Comments { 54 }

Love finds the right currency

by Mir on September 3, 2009 in Offspring: ecstasy and agony

The post I wrote for BlogHer yesterday about writing unsavory things about your children was a hard one for me. The subject of my post has, in my mind, crossed the line. Hell, she can’t even SEE the line anymore. It seems pretty black and white, to me.

But I write about my kids. Many writers I admire write about their kids. I think it can be done respectfully, and I cringe when I hear the baby-with-the-bathwater arguments for parents to never say a single word that’s less than glowing about their offspring. It’s dangerous territory, but I refuse to believe a few people making poor choices should mean that everyone else has to just shut up.

So this has been on my mind. And I’ve been taking stock of what I say and what I don’t. I don’t think I always get it right (though I hope I do most of the time, of course), but it’s part of what I deal with when it comes to sharing, here. (more…)

Comments { 59 }

On notice:

by Mir on September 1, 2009 in My name is Grumplestiltskin

[Alternate title: You Damn Kids Get Off Of My Lawn.]

[Alternate alternate title: No, Seriously, Knock It Off.]

[Alternate alternate alternate title: You Really Might Not Want To Tick Me Off Right Now.]

I’m willing to cop to being fairly irritable. I’m easily riled. It’s true. I try to take it in stride. I also try to recognize when I’m overreacting, even if only to justify having more chocolate (“It’s my MEDICINE!”) or whatever. But sometimes too many annoying things happen in too short a span of time for me to digest them in a calm and rational way.

So here are a few things I feel the need to vomit back at the world this week. You’re welcome for that appetizing metaphor. You are now in the perfect frame of mind for this! (more…)

Comments { 56 }
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