Extra special bonus
So you know how I mentioned Otto having a bad case of poison ivy?
Several of you suggested various remedies (thank you!), and Otto dutifully went and bought the Mystical Scrub and prepared for relief. Except that it kept getting worse. And worse. So I made him go to Urgent Care today, and GUESS WHAT!
In addition to confirming that his poison ivy has gone systemic, the doctor also suspects he has a patch of MRSA. Awesome.
And how is YOUR weekend going?
Two different legacies
Two weeks ago today, Otto and I brought home the big black dog with the pretty eyes who proceeded to slip out of our yard hours later. He hung around our neighborhood, evading capture, for about a week.
It has now been another week since I’ve seen him, and about five days since anyone else told me they saw him, either. The live trap we borrowed from Animal Control is languishing outside, full of every possible goody a normal dog could want—dry food, wet food, rib bones, pork cutlets, and chicken breast. (Technically we rotated through most of those. It’s not like there’s just a giant cage of MEAT out there, or anything.)
The rescue where we got him has ignored my messages and I have contacted every animal expert in the area, most of whom agree that he’s probably not going to be caught at this point. And so tomorrow we will take the trap back to Animal Control and admit defeat.
But you see, Super is gone but not forgotten. He’s still very much with us. read more…
Love isn’t about what you want
Last week the kids and I read a charming little book for our Scholastic review, and the upshot of the story is that—much like the old song—you don’t always get what you want, but you do get what you need.
Both children found my distillation of the book down to this message somewhat annoying. For Chickadee, it was a case of, “Mooooom, why does it always have to be some kind of LESSON?” And for Monkey, well, he actually had an interesting bit of circular logic wherein he had convinced himself that in the end, something different had happened than what had actually happened. (Sorry, it’s kind of hard to explain if you haven’t read the book.) We talked about it for a while and I realized that he was just completely loathe to believe that what the protagonist DIDN’T WANT turned out to be what he NEEDED.
Okay; he’s nine, and he also tends to be a very rigid thinker, so this wasn’t surprising, I suppose. What surprised me is how much this has been on my mind for the last week. read more…
Braggity
Excuse me for a moment, but I feel the need to share this because I’m just so darn excited about it.
With all of the moaning and groaning in the blogosphere about ethics and integrity and “blogola,” I feel like it’s an old refrain that everyone is in charge of their own choices and knowing what allows them to sleep at night, etc. I get offered a lot of stuff I don’t take. Last time I checked, there was no law stating you were obligated to accept everything offered to you.
On the other hand, sometimes amazing opportunities come along. And I just finished up doing some (paid, yes—and fully disclosed as such) work that resulted in me winning a big donation for my local library. I’m pretty jazzed about it. No; I’m ECSTATIC about it. Don’t tell me the blogworld is selfish and corrupt. There’s power here that gets harnessed for awesome things.
Know your boundaries. Be clear on what matters to you. Conduct yourself professionally. And then do a little dance when the Good Stuff happens.
It works for me.
Meeeeeemories
I grew up in a pretty small town, and the good thing about small towns is that you pretty much know everyone.
Of course, the bad thing about small towns is that… you pretty much know everyone.
I was not what you might refer to as a well-adjusted child. I mean, it wasn’t anything that ten or twenty years and thousands of dollars of therapy couldn’t fix, but still. Most of my childhood memories are not happy ones. Most of my school day memories are filled with cringe-worthy recollections of not being pretty enough, cool enough, confident enough, ENOUGH enough. I ended up graduating early and heading off to college because I figured a fresh start with people who’d never known me in my no-name jeans and rainbow suspenders was the way to go.
It presents an interesting conundrum when it comes to high school reunions, though, because the class I graduated with is not the class I went all through school with. read more…
Psychosomatic
So, um, today is my birthday. I think I’m having a midlife crisis, except that instead of running out to buy a sports car I cried all over Otto a couple of nights ago about how it’s just SO STUPID to be upset over all of these little things which I am really quite upset over. The cry was good; I sort of got it out of my system, and in then the next day I scrubbed some bathtubs and did five loads of laundry and everything seemed better.
So far today my Facebook friends gave me lots of lovely wall comments.
My parents sent me funny cards.
Kira mailed me gluten-free blondies that are out of this world (and no, I AM NOT SHARING) in addition to a lovely purple tiara which I have maybe been wearing since 6:00 this morning when I opened the box.
Monkey serenaded me.
Otto gave me a big smooch and promises to come home earlyish.
And Chickadee came down with swine flu. read more…
Something in my eye (pt 2)
I have been so busy dealing with school and kids and STUFF that I completely forgot to tell you that I’m now on my third type of contact lenses. Because I’m a slow learner.
No, actually, I think these current lenses might be working out okay. We’ll see. But I am still completely mystified as to why it’s so important to me that I figure out a way to stick something on my eyeballs rather than just wear my damn glasses. I mean, I do enjoy an unfettered face and clear vision, but really, at this point I sort of feel like cold fusion is more likely than a corrective lens I can wear for longer than six hours.
Also, apparently while I was wearing the same pair of prescription sunglasses for the last six years, current sunglass styles trended towards “cover your entire face.” My quest for cute non-prescription sun protection now leaves me wondering if my eye protection is supposed to double as lip cover, as well.
My life is complicated, y’all.
Something in my eye (pt 1)
This morning I was on the phone with someone at the middle school about an issue with Chickadee’s schedule, and said person was very kind and patient but basically let me know that it was time to, you know, cut the cord already because my child is fine and I need to relax.
Then this afternoon I went looking for some things to complete her assortment of uniform items for school, and the only place I was able to find the plain black leggings she NEEDS, MOM, was in the Juniors section, so I bought them, and brought them home, and gave her a long speech about how they will probably be too big and she can grow into them and—they fit fine. You know, on her legs that DON’T NEED MY INTERFERENCE.
I think I need a moment. Also, she is SO GROUNDED.
Love echoes
Despite our continued efforts, Super remains at large. He continues to lounge around the neighborhood, and apparently slept on our lawn last night, though he was gone when I went out this morning around 6:00.
He is taunting us.
The combination of the kids being back to school, this dog being on the loose, Otto being back to work, and the various responsibilities on my plate of late has had a less-than-healthy effect on me. I’m exhausted. I’m lucky to keep my eyes open until 10:00 each night, and the rest of the time I seem to be late for everything. Late starting dinner so that we can eat at a reasonable time. Late turning work in. Late getting lunches packed and children out the door on time.
I’m starting to get that familiar overwhelmed feeling, and it’s overshadowing everything else. read more…
Nature, nurture, neurosis
Allow me to take a break from the maddening aspects of this entire Dog Debacle (case in point: Guess who walked right into the live trap outside my window this morning, helped himself to the grilled chicken I’d baited it with, and then RAN OUT as it snapped shut!) to note that having completely screwed up with what was supposed to be our newest family member during the first week of school has proven unexpectedly difficult for me.
I mean, it’s difficult, anyway. But here I am—having completely failed to care for what is supposed to be a fairly low-maintenance creature—also trying to appropriately tend to my children as they navigate new territory. It is nerve-wracking. For ME. Not for THEM. They’re FINE. More than fine; both of them are delighted to be back in school (although why they would choose that over scrubbing the bathroom with a toothbrush and peeling grapes for me, as per our usual summer schedule, I cannot imagine) and by all accounts are doing fine.
But I am supposed to be letting go and I’m having trouble unclenching my fingers. read more…