Pity Party

So today was a Monday masquerading as a Tuesday, which is the problem with a three day weekend. It was a truly yucky day. First, it rained. And it has been raining here every day for over a week now. Not just popcorn thunderstorms in the afternoon, with the sun up until then. No, it has been cloudy and rainy all day, every day, for over a week. And since I am short and don't have any galoshes, my pants always wick the water up to my knees so I walk around with soggy, heavy pants all day. I really need some galoshes!

Another yuck thing about today was that I felt bad. I had a serious brain fart over this entire three day weekend, and did not take my thyroid meds all weekend. This left me feeling like I was coming down with the flu when I got up this morning. Body aches, cold/chills, headache, depressed and run-down. I took my meds this morning, and after tomorrow morning's dose I should start feeling better. This was my own stupidity.

I was also very tired today, not just because of forgetting my meds. Emmy, my four-year-old, all of a sudden decided last night that she is afraid of thunder. And it stormed a few times over night. So she slept in my bed most of the night, which meant that I did not sleep. Then Issy also had a bad night. Sometimes she cries really hard in her sleep, and no one can wake her up or comfort her. This happened last night.

To top it all off I just had a rotten day at work. Not that everything was bad, and there were actually a couple of good moments, but mostly it was drama that I did not feel up to dealing with since I already didn't feel good and had not slept. My coworkers were also really glum today, which didn't help. The computer system wasn't working properly, either. I really just felt like crying, but I kept it together.

So this has been my pity party, thanks for coming. Yes, I know plenty of others have it worse off than me. I know I am blessed to even have children, good medical care, and a job. Was this the worst day ever? Far from it. I've had worse days within the past two months alone. I have some yummy homemade apple crumble and vanilla ice cream in the freezer, which I think will help me bring my pity party to a close. I know I'll feel better after a good night's sleep, and I just hope that can actually happen tonight!

"Real" Money

I realized something funny today - I mean a real sign of the times. My four-year-old does not know what "real" money is! We were sitting on the side porch and she was riding her bike in circles in front of where I was sitting. As she passed in front of me, she stopped and asked for gas. I pretended to take a gas nozzle and pump gas into the side of her bike, then put the pretend pump back in its pretend holster. She started to ride off, and I stopped her and told her she hadn't paid for her gas. I held out my left hand for the pretend money she should give me. She immediately said, "Oh yeah! Okay!", and got off her bike. As I am holding out my left hand for the "money", she pretends to pull something out of her pocket and then swipes it along my right armpit, punches some imaginary keypad on my right upper arm, takes a pretend receipt out of my right shoulder, and gets back on her bike and leaves. All this time I am left still holding out my left hand....

My Three Dogs

So we watched the movie Marley & Me last night (I know, it's been out a while and I'm behind the times) and I bawled my eyes out at the end. But overall, it was a REALLY funny movie. It got me thinking about all the crazy stuff my dogs do, yet I still love them so much.

First there's Snowy, who is "Issy's dog" (we all know that it is really mom who takes care of her!), an Eskie. We've had Snowy for about five and a half years, and she is a funny little dog. When she gets nervous, she vomits. This goes for car rides, when people she doesn't know come around, or when our other dog, Sadie, gets snappy with her. She vomits... then she rolls in it. Oh yeah, she is one of those dogs that likes to roll in stinky stuff. So she often goes around smelling like vomit. Sometimes she smells like vomit mixed with whatever stinky thing she got into outside, like a dead bird that the cat left on the doorstep. Now that you are all feeling like you will vomit, I'll move on. Snowy also sometimes likes to forget that she is housebroken, and will poo on the floor. Luckily, she doesn't roll in that. She sheds more than any creature I have ever seen - huge clumps of white fluff everywhere. We joke that we could make another dog with the fur she sheds. Seriously, most of our friends probably think we never vacuum our house, even though we vacuum at least once a day. This is why I really want a Dyson! She also chews, and is particularly fond of items she finds in the bathroom trash (just use your imagination on this one). Despite all of this, we love her dearly. She adores Issy and is protective of both of the kids. She also likes to lick my feet, which for some reason I actually enjoy and let her do. I know - weird, gross, and too much information!

Next there's Sadie. We've had her for about four years and we adopted her as an older dog. We really don't know how old she is, but she's pretty white (where she should be brown). She is a bassett hound that is white with large bovine-like spots, and she is incredibly fat and lazy. She is "Emmy's dog" (see first paragraph). Now, while Snowy usually smells like vomit, Sadie smells like feet. Constantly. Remember your middle school locker room? That's the smell. She also sometimes forgets she is housebroken, or rather is too lazy to go out. Once we heard a sound like running water in the living room, and looked in there in time to catch her hanging her hiney off the chair to pee onto the floor. I guess she didn't feel like even really getting up that time! And if you're sitting in "her chair" (yes, the one she peed off of), she will sit in front of you and make you so uncomfortable with her unblinking stare that you move. Sadie is also one of the sweetest, most loving dogs you'll ever meet. She loves to sing (howl), and has a beautiful, soulful voice. She is also very maternal, and tries to mother everything (the kids, the kitten, the chicks). She lets Emmy sit, lay, and jump on her.

Last but not least, there's Brodie. Now he's my baby. He is a boxer that we have now had for almost three years. When we got him, he had a weak immune system, so I was told by the vet not to take him out until he was about eight months old and seemed to have gained some strength. Therefore he did not get early socialization and is terrified of everyone and everything. He has literally jumped at his own shadow on the pavement before. He cringes away from other animals (big or small), other people, big trucks, lawnmowers, weedeaters, bicycles...... Sorry, got off track there. Sometimes when he is scared, he pees - very embarrassing when we have company. He has a severe flea allergy, and living in the South means we battle with his skin conditions for about nine months out of the year. His hair comes out, he chews raw spots into himself, and often stays on antibiotics and steroids for at least part of the summer. And this is with monthly prescription flea treatments. By the way, he is sensitive to the steroids and they make him unable to control his urine at times. Seriously. He'll just be sitting there and it starts to come out, at which time he makes a run for the door and looks all embarrassed (unlike the other two, he generally remembers that he is housebroken). Brodie is also the absolute gassiest creature I have ever encountered (even worse than my husband!). And you can hear it. About every ten minutes. And the smell follows. He'll even look at his hind end after doing it like it offended him and leave the room! Brodie snores. And drools. And thinks he's a sixty pound lap dog. I love him so much! He has the most adorable underbite you will ever see, and the most liquid brown eyes. He always knows when I don't feel well or have had a bad day and lays his head in my lap. Really, he stays by my side constantly - even following me into the bathroom. Out of all of my pets, he is the most well-behaved and follows almost any command I give him. He also makes a great pillow when I'm sitting on the couch watching a movie (he doesn't have the same odor issues the other two do!).

So these are my four-legged babies, or at least the ones that bark. Despite all of their issues, we really could not imagine life without them. Well, maybe we'd spend less on air fresheners....

Lightning Bugs and Other Things I Miss

I love the outdoors. When the weather starts to warm up in the spring I come out of hibernation along with all the other critters. I often find myself sitting outside in the evenings on the porch swing or around the firebowl on the back porch, just enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin, or feeling the cool night breezes on my neck. I sit and read, or watch squirrels and chipmunks in the back yard, or just listen to the birds in the trees. I daydream about things I want to do with my back yard - all of the gardens I want to create, the tree swing we hope to string from a tall branch later this summer, getting a new hammock between the two trees in the middle of the yard.

I even sit outside on rainy evenings, but then I stick to the swing on the covered side porch. The other night it was raining and as I sat on the swing reading my book a movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I stared hard at the dark, wet ground for a full minute before I saw it again. It was a small toad hopping across my little rock garden! At that moment I realized I had not seen any toads in the yard for a very long time. When we first moved into this home about five years ago there were tons of them, and you could watch them jumping around the front yard when it rained. They would hop all over the wet street, and even when it was not raining you could run water into a couple of holes in the front yard and they would come hopping out. In the past two to three years, I don't think I've seen any until this little guy crossed my path the other night. Maybe they just got tired of the kids chasing them out of their hidey holes with the water hose and moved to a more peaceful yard?

And just now my neighbor's daughter brought over a bottle full of maybe a hundred teeny tiny baby frogs that she had collected from the field where her older sister plays soccer. We just released them into the yard, so hopefully they'll thrive and I'll be able to enjoy even more of our amphibious friends!

Another thing I miss is lightning bugs. In previous years, the lightning bugs were so thick in the evenings that it looked angels had dumped glitter into our neighborhood. If we were returning from late errands the effect was truly magical as we rounded the curve onto our part of the street. We would show the kids how to catch them in their hands and peer in to watch them glow, and then let them go again. This year I have been looking every night, straining to see even one in our wooded back yard, but have been disappointed to find none. I hope that they will just be a little later than usual in coming this year.

Noticing the absence of these creatures only makes me more committed to doing what I can for the environment. I have been striving to live a little greener over the past couple of years, and I know my little bit helps but I wish I could do more. I wish every one were more conscious of how their actions affect our world. When God gave man dominion over the creatures of the world, I don't think he meant for man to dominate and do whatever we wanted. I think God intends for us to care for the rest of His creation - to understand it, to treasure it, and to respect it. I don't want my future grandchildren to grow up in a world without frogs and lightning bugs, never even knowing what they look like!

Guess what?! .... Chicken butt!!

You read that right - seven chicken butts to be exact! The chicks we adopted from the school are two weeks old today and appear to be going through some sort of gawky teenage stage. They still have fluff, but have a good bit of adult feathers sticking out, and they are all looking longer and more awkward.

From what I've been able to glean from the internet, I'm thinking we have four girls and three boys, though one of the boys is only here temporarily until his other family is ready for him. Really, I guess you could say the other two roosters are here temporarily, too, since we won't be keeping them. I love the sound of a rooster crowing, but I really don't think my neighbors share in that appreciation! We have named the girls Ginger, Purdy, Silvermist, and Fawn (the last two are courtesy of Emmy, who watches way too much Tinkerbell!); and the boys are TicToc, Luigi, and Omelet.

Right now we are keeping them inside in a big plastic bin lined with newspaper and paper towels - VERY STINKY!! But as soon as they are big enough that a snake won't have them for breakfast we plan on moving them outside to the chicken shanty we built in the backyard. Ginger has developed a new talent just today - she is the first one that can fly out of the bin! I came in from work this evening and, lo and behold, she was strutting around the room like she owned the place. Her siblings were all watching her through the clear plastic side of the bin. I think she's going to be the bad influence of the group!

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to wish all of my mommy friends a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Mother's Day always makes me reflect on what being a mom has meant for me, and so I thought I'd share a few things from the past year. Over the past year, being a mom has meant a lot of hugs/kisses/snuggles with my 4 year old, but not so many any more from my 11 year old. It has been embarrassing my 11 year old in carpool line by yelling out "I said 'I love you'" when she doesn't say it back as she gets out of the car. Being a mom this year has been driving back all the way across town to fetch the $400 retainer that was left under a friend's trampoline. It's also been trying to get over the fact that my oldest has hit puberty, wears my clothes and shoes, and reminds me daily that she is as tall as me (which really is not that big an accomplishment considering how incredibly short I am!). Mommyhood this year has been major bedtime battles, some of which I am ashamed to say I lost. Bubble baths (for the kids, not me!), sleepovers, lots of ketchup (what is up with kids and ketchup?!), about 4,000 loads of laundry (and that's just one week!), morning meltdowns when time is already crunched, bedtime stories, "alligator cereal", report cards, playing outside, adopting baby chicks from school, lots of Tinkerbell (I can quote the movie as well as my 4 year old can!), growth spurts and having to buy both children whole new wardrobes at the same time as a result (of course, right after I had already bought their winter clothes!). Being a mommy this year has been eating a lot of cold meals in restaurants because Emmy just has to go to the bathroom right before the food comes to the table - without fail, every time! It has also been sidewalk chalk, planting flowers, ice cream and cake for breakfast, princess parties, field trips where horses tried to steal my camera, Sparky and Peanut, bedroom makeovers, giggles, Tech Fair, Science Fair, Media Festival, and Issy's new kitten scratching my ankles from under the couch.

I'm also a mommy to several other creatures, including three dogs, two cats, and seven chicks. Sadly, over the past year we had to say goodbye to a pet rat (RIP Brisby) and a beloved cat, Memphis. As a mommy to all of these babies I have cleaned up a lot of pet accidents (puke, poop, pee, you know, all the 'p' words), built a chicken coop with my husband, scooped cat boxes, made a few vet trips, laughed at the chicks, laid on the dogs, taken some walks, lost a fish (literally, lost it, never found it), vacuumed (a lot!), battled a few fleas (and unlike the bedtime battles, I was victorious!), thanked the cats for the presents left on the doorstep (fellow kitty owners - you know what I'm talking about), and endless looks of love and admiration (at least from the dogs, the cats only care that I feed them!).

Really, I could go on and on.....

Being a mom is GREAT!

Here Goes....

Thanks for stopping by! This blog is something I have thought about doing for a while now, and reading some of my friends' blogs convinced me to take the plunge. So, here goes....

The blog title is courtesy of my oldest daughter (as is the picture), who for the sake of this blog we'll call Issy. When she was in first or second grade she made me a picture for Mother's Day at school, and as part of the assignment she had to describe me. She wrote that her mommy has purple hair (I really did - kind of reddish-purple), her mommy's favorite thing to do is laundry (probably because I do it all of the friggin' time!), and that her mommy likes puppies and salads.

I don't really have a plan for this blog - just random musings from me about family life, pets, friends, work, anything and everything. So enjoy!