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This is love

by Mir on June 8, 2011 in Ottomatic For the People

I feel like I haven’t talked too much about darling Otto, recently, and this is not because my adoration for him has waned in any way. In fact, I would have to say that during my recent bout of The Crayzee he continued to be nothing less than a pillar of strength and support.

It’s funny; I was talking with a freshly-divorced friend the other day, and she asked me how I ever managed to get to a place where I could even consider trusting a relationship again, much less remarrying. And I had to confess that Otto and I have known each other for over half our lives; I’m not sure I ever could’ve done it, otherwise. I truly believe that history is the glue in our relationship. That’s not to say that our history is nothing but rainbows and sunshine, but that having known each other for so long—having seen each other make mistakes and be jerks and still somehow recover from those things—THAT is what allows us to look at each other every day and know that whatever it is, we’re going to be okay.

We’ve agreed to love each other for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, through endless fence debacles (NO THE FENCE IS STILL NOT FINISHED, THANKS FOR ASKING) and whatever else life throws at us. (World without end, amen.) (more…)

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Comments { 50 }

Traditional; modern; cerebral

by Mir on May 11, 2011 in Ottomatic For the People

We have arrived once again at the portion of our program where life needs to pause, briefly, so that Otto and I can contemplate our life together. The fact that I have been half-joking for weeks that thinking too hard about this past year can only lead to madness was not a deterrent to my handsome husband; today’s our anniversary/familyversary and that means CELEBRATION.

Regular readers may recall that last year on our anniversary, Otto looked up the traditional 3rd anniversary gift and found that it was leather. Not wanting to deal with a vegetarian-staged protest over his gifting attempt, he elected, instead, to buy us all crystal sun catchers for the kitchen (crystal being the “modern equivalent,” though I’m still wondering how leather turns into crystal, exactly).

I had a feeling that perhaps a tradition had just been started, but I didn’t know for sure until this morning. (more…)

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Comments { 58 }

Point happy, point to sad

by Mir on April 14, 2011 in It's not a regret, it's an "experience", Ottomatic For the People

I currently have this book sitting on my desk for review, and I hope the authors don’t mind me borrowing from their title. (The book is great; it gives kids on the spectrum practice with identifying emotions via facial expression. I can only assume that the correlating adult book would feature such directives as “point to socially acceptable” and “point to pretty,” instead, but I prefer this version.)

My folks headed back home, yesterday. In the middle of the afternoon I got a helpful automated phone call from their airline, letting me know that their flight had been canceled. As they were currently stranded in Philadelphia I’m not sure how useful that was, but it sounds like they eventually made their way back to the homestead. While I was sorry for their complicated, longer day, I was not sorry they didn’t take the call, as the voice on the other end was just so downright chipper in regretting to inform me that the flight had been canceled. That’s the sort of thing that can spark a good rage, you know.

I am somewhat prone to those sorts of rages. Sometimes I think I majored in righteous indignation in college. As we muddle through helping Monkey and the school deal with his meltdowns, every bewildered “He just gets so ANGRY” from someone who doesn’t quite get it is a little knife in my heart. Anger is a shielding emotion. It’s much easier to be angry than to be sad. Misery is vulnerable; outrage is invincible. I know why Monkey gets mad—being pissed at everyone still feels like being in control, while admitting that you feel lost and hopeless is a free-fall. (more…)

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Comments { 62 }

Special Guest Post: It’s Mir’s Dad!

by Otto on April 8, 2011 in Haven't been hit by lightning yet!, It's not a regret, it's an "experience", Ottomatic For the People, Woohoo!

You asked (over on Facebook) for the famous Mir’s Dad to come and write so, while my lovely bride (oh, hey – this is Otto tapping at you now) is off getting lovelier, he was ordered to hunt and peck his way through writer’s block (hard, when you’re an architect by trade and nature, to problem solve in your kid’s realm) and create the following missive.

So, some rules:

  • We love Mir’s dad. He’s awesome. You must agree to this before clicking through to his post.
  • No nasty comments or he’ll leave mean ones on your blog.
  • The chances of him registering “mirsdad.com” are pretty slim, but you can ask.
  • He has kids already and, while he’s sure you’re a perfectly nice person, probably won’t adopt you. Sorry.

That’s it, click on through to read …
(more…)

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Comments { 78 }

Welcome home, please shut up

by Mir on March 16, 2011 in Haven't been hit by lightning yet!, Offspring: ecstasy and agony, Ottomatic For the People

My nice quiet bubble of solitude has been popped. Chickadee came home filled with stories about her trip, all of the things they did and which kid said what and how she ordered a veggie burger one day that was GREEN on the inside, SO GROSS.

Me: Maybe that means it was made of real vegetables! Did you try it?
Her: No, it was just GROSS. Veggie burgers are not supposed to be GREEN.
Me: Plenty of vegetables are green. Maybe instead of soy and chemicals it was made of GREEN VEGETABLES?
Her: I don’t think so.
Me: So what did you end up eating?
Her: Oh, it’s okay! I had my french fries, and a Sprite, and some chocolate mousse thing for dessert.
Me: Truly, you are a beacon of health and an example to vegetarians everywhere.
Her: I KNOW, RIGHT? Hey, do you have any SUGAR??

There are many important things she has to tell me, is my point. I am actually enjoying it, in a horrified, bleeding-eardrum kind of way. (Apparently the Tower of Terror is REALLY SCARY. Who knew?) But there is the matter of her sunburn. (more…)

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Comments { 27 }

Little big victories, sugar, and hope

by Mir on February 14, 2011 in Aspi(e)rations, Offspring: ecstasy and agony, Oh look! Something furry!!, Ottomatic For the People

Haaaaaaaaappy Valentine’s Day! I hope that today brings you whatever form of either commercially-sanctioned or rail-against-the-MAN celebration you desire. I know that some women tell their significant others, “No, really, I don’t need to celebrate, we don’t need to do anything, honey,” and then they would go sulk when their words were heeded and the day was, indeed, nothing special.

Me, we’re closing in on four years of marriage, and it is still 100% true that I am grateful for Otto every single day. I mean, sure, I guess I could demand/expect flowers or chocolate on this particular day, but it would pale in comparison to, say, how he has never once strangled either of my children, despite what I’m sure has been the overwhelming and natural urge to do so at approximately five hundred different times since we wed. THAT is love, people.

Also, he spent most of Saturday tromping around our local outlet mall with me, which is way better than chocolate. And once you figure that we spent most of that time holding hands, well, that’s kind of the Mir version of a super-romantic day right there. (more…)

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Comments { 30 }

Sometimes love doesn’t come easy

by Mir on February 3, 2011 in Offspring: ecstasy and agony, Ottomatic For the People

Otto doesn’t like it when I brag about him. I love him dearly, but on this he can suck it up because I don’t think I’m ever going to stop being amazed at how he just never, ever phones it in with these kids of mine. And I am here to tell you that—while also beautiful, talented, funny, and amazing—my kids can be GIGANTIC pains in the butt. No one would BLAME Otto for occasionally throwing his hands in the air and walking away, is my point.

Chickadee is at a magical age. One minute she is hilarious and loving and perfect and the next… uhhhh… somewhat less so. (AHEM.) (“Mom, why do all of my teachers keep saying I would make a good lawyer?” Gosh, I have no idea!) Remember when your precious snookums was two and it was a constant barrage of “ME DO IT MYSELF!”? The teenage years, it turns out, are VERY SIMILAR. Except that instead of “ME DO IT MYSELF!” it’s “YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!” or “JUST A MINUTE!”

(Let’s save discussion of the irony of “YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!” as the battle cry of the child who is EXPRESSLY DISOBEYING for another day. Preferably one when I am very, very inebriated.) (more…)

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Comments { 80 }

No alcohol necessary

by Mir on January 12, 2011 in I'm dating the television, Ottomatic For the People

We have reached the part of our program—school is closed for the third day in a row, and we are more or less housebound, and the children are crabby and everybody is sick of everybody else—where I am back to my standard coping mechanisms. This means that by the time the kids go to bed at night, I am basically non-verbal and can only handle a bare minimum of human interaction, provided it occurs during the commercial breaks (or fast-forwarding through the recorded commercials) of mindless shows on the television.

In other words: The kids go to bed, I go to the couch. I grunt or mutter in response to whatever Otto says to me, but mostly, the extent of what I can process or react to ends with pointed snickering during CSI: Miami.

I tend to think of this evening couch time as deeply therapeutic. After all, I’m curled up with the dog, I often have a square of good chocolate, I’m decompressing from the day because who can think about anything important while partaking in what passes for entertainment in this country? Sure, I’m probably not very good company, but it beats the evenings when we decide to talk and I just cry all over Otto for an hour or two. (more…)

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Comments { 49 }

A fitting end to the week

by Mir on December 31, 2010 in It's not a regret, it's an "experience", Ottomatic For the People

The kids are coming home today, so yesterday Otto and I tried to cram in everything we might want to do before they’re back. The day ended with a trip to The High to see the Dali exhibit, and it was blissfully free of “this is boring”s, “what’s with his moustache”s, and “he’s touching me”s.

At one point, we overheard this:
Her: So you’re a writer?
Him: Yeah, that’s right. I’m a writer.
Her: So what sorts of things do you write?
Him: Well… right now I have a book in editing.
Her: Really? What’s it about?
Him: Oh… you know… just… fiction.
Her: Fiction, huh?
Him: Yep, fiction.
Her: So could you be more vague? About your book about… fiction?
Him: I don’t know, probably.
(They laughed, but I couldn’t help feeling like the woman wasn’t all that amused.) (more…)

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Comments { 28 }

Surprise!

by Mir on December 4, 2010 in Ottomatic For the People

So yesterday I ran around doing various pre-party prep things, and then I made Otto come home early so he could be here when Monkey got off the bus, because I had a therapy appointment go talk about MAH FEEEEEEEELINGS.

“We really need dog food,” I told him, before I left. “Do you think I could just run over to the pet store after, and get that? I mean, assuming I don’t spend the entire hour weeping?”

Otto looked a little bit alarmed at this. I assured him that I don’t ALWAYS spend the hour weeping. He relaxed a little and told me to take my time, but I reminded him that I am Bad At Directions (yes, even with my GPS) and that I wasn’t sure how to get to the pet store from my doctor’s office. He explained it to me and I sort of understand and said fine, I will go to my appointment and then go grab some kibble and be home.

I kissed him goodbye and I left. (more…)

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Comments { 52 }
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