funniest and bestest

My sister-in-law Heather posted on her Facebook page not long ago that she has "gleaned from Facebook that having kids sucks more days than it doesn't."

This statement made me sad and all too aware that it is much easier to write about the bad than the good; too easy to note all the things that went wrong or didn't happen instead of reflecting on all the little moments that make me so happy to be a parent. 

Today was a good day. I have to start out stating this because as most who read my blog by now know that not every day is a good one for me. But Penny was less cranky, I was less cranky and she even got in two naps. Plus there were two noteworthy, nay, potent, moments that reminded me why I wanted to become a mother in the first place. 

The first was when Jason,  Penny and I were playing out back. She has discovered a new love for the outdoors since the weather has finally started to warm up above freezing and wants to be outside every chance she can get. She wants you to put on her shoes, find her jacket and then she's at the door trying to figure out how the handle works. Today she was mostly just exploring the back patio when she spotted a garden box that only has dirt in it. She was in the midst of bringing handful of the soil to Jason when he told her "thank you." And she replied "thank you" in sign language. Normally this wouldn't seem like such a big deal until you note that this is 'thank you' and you add in a palm-ful of dirt and an open slobbery mouth. The sad thing was Jason and I were laughing so hard we had a hard time trying to help her get the dirt off of her face. I was absolutely no help with tears streaming down my cheeks from laughter as Jason tried to wipe off as much dirt (which was quickly turning to mud) from her cheeks and chin. And the tough little thing that she is, she seemed undisturbed by what happened and just wanted to continue playing. 

Just a little while ago was bath time. This is by far still her favorite part of the day. Even if she's been extra cranky all day long, you can usually get some laughs out of her while she's in the tub. But today was a little exception. Today she was completely focused on me. She insisted on washing my face and arms with her wash cloth. Then to make sure I was truly clean, she wet her hands, slapping and rubbing my cheeks over and over again. This process repeated itself a half dozen times and was interrupted only by sweet baby kisses and the resting of her head on my arms.

I am so lucky to have such an incredible little sweet potato as a part of my life. I write this not so you will know how wonderfully lucky I am, but as a reminder to myself. I need to remember that the amazing times are even more numerous than the tough ones and forget that they're usually not spaced very far apart. 

another brick in the wall

Over the years Valentine's Day has been pretty hit or miss for me. Usually more misses than hits.


Like that time in kindergarten when the boy everyone avoided because of his tendency to wet his pants in class made me an extra special valentine and told everyone we were going to get married. 


Miss.


Or in junior high when the school put up paper hearts all around school with every student's name on them and you had to search yours out to see if anyone special took it. And I found mine with a maxi pad stuck to it. 


Miss.


But then there's the time when Jason sent me tulips at work and called me his girlfriend for the very first time. 


Definitely a hit. 


Or two years ago where I found out I was pregnant. On Valentine's Day. 


Again, a hit.


But this year was a little trickier to discern. Hit or miss? It definitely didn't involve a miss but I cringe to think of it as a hit. I'll let you decide. 


Jason had to work on Valentine's Day so I was going with a friend to the mall, trying to avoid that long stretch of time where Penny doesn't want to nap but also doesn't want to be not cranky. I had a few minutes before I was supposed to be at the meeting place so I thought I'd get the car washed. There was already someone ahead of me in the automatic wash lane so I was waiting patiently, thinking how apropos it was that a cop was in front of me since I would be spending the day without mine. Then my friend called to say she was already at the mall. OK, no big deal. I'd gone this long without a car wash. I'd do it another time. With someone already in front of me and a drive that opens right onto the open road, I decided to do a three-point turn so I wasn't backing out into traffic. Problem was, I didn't notice how close to the brick wall I was. And once I'd pulled into it, there was no other choice but to reverse. 

The cacophony of screeching and rattling as my right headlight hit the pavement brought me to the attention of the car wash owner, who just happened to be there, and the officer, who the owner flagged down. I'd already called Jason before I even got out of the car. I didn't think I could handle looking at the damage without him there. I checked on Penny, who was fine since we were only going about 3 mph when the wall jumped in front of me and I got out of the car to talk to the spectators. 


Luckily the officer knew Jason well and the owner could see I hadn't damaged his wall. Jason got there and I just fell into his arms crying because that's what I do when I don't know what else to do. The owner was a little disconcerted by this until he realized who I'd meant when I said I'd called my husband. No accident reports were filed and I was sent on my way since the car was definitely still drivable. So off to the mall I went, still in tears because this was my very first accident. I made Jason come have a cupcake with me since it was the only way I was going to feel better about having run into a wall. 


I'm just glad it hadn't involved another car and that our insurance rates didn't go up. It's been a few weeks and the car has been mended beautifully. Except for how shiny the new headlight is, you wouldn't know there had been a problem. 


So as far Valentine's Days go, not the best but definitely not the worst. Is there a middle ground between hit and miss?

2 gold stars

Last week I took Wash to the vet for his annual check-up and semi-annual teeth cleaning. I've documented on here before that Wash, poor kitty, has Feline HIV and so has a likelihood for multiple health problems including the kind of gingivitis that could give you nightmares. So because of these potential problems we keep up on the doctor visits. And, boy, did they give us some good news. 


Wash is now a slimmer kitty, weighing in at a skinny 15.2 lbs! I know what you're thinking. That's one huge cat. But no, he's not. If you consider that just a little over 2 years ago he was 21 lbs it's a miracle he's this little already. When I first asked the nurse how much he currently weighed she had yet to look at his history. Her face turned pink and kind of bashful and she said she wasn't sure she should tell me. When I mentioned that it couldn't be worse than the 21 he used to weigh, her face lit up and she breathed a sigh of relief. I'm pretty sure she had been embarrassed to tell me what a fat cat I had! But once she knew the history she was very proud of our little man for losing so much weight. 


One gold star, please. Thank you!


Then the doctor came in to examine him and take a look at his half-mouthful of teeth. Because of all the extractions he's already had, Wash pretty much only has teeth on one side of his mouth and is already missing one canine. So the doctor prodded and poked and Wash tried to claw his way off the table and when it was over I asked when I should schedule his cleaning. And surprise, the doc said probably in another six months! Six! Months! Because of my obsessive compulsive brushing of his teeth, Wash wouldn't need a proper cleaning for six whole months! No anesthetic and no drunk kitty trying to jump up on things!


Another gold star, please. Thank you!


A clean bill of health, no extra bill for a teeth cleaning and two gold stars. And people thought I was crazy for trying to brush a cat's teeth.

you gotta put down the cupcake

Somewhere along the line I became an emotional eater. Those words seem to carry a bad connotation but it hasn't always been a bad thing for me. When I'm determined and focused I can do without. Without cravings and extras. But when boredom or anxiety creep up that's when the problems start.

Last night I had a milkshake that contained 104 gm of carbs. I'm currently on a low carb diet and that medium milkshake represents almost a weeks worth of carbs.

Was it worth it? I thought so at the time but now I want to undo the deed.

And that's how the cycle will start again. I will be strong and determined then life will break my focus and I'll break my diet with a vengeance.

But for now, I'll just start over today.

i've decided to make a decision

For weeks now I've been lamenting the fact that I can never find the time to do what I want to do. Every hour seems to be swallowed up by something more pressing than the "maybe if I have times" on my to do list. I've been putting off exercising, decorating, organizing, blogging and a hundred other little things because I can never find the time.

Then I gave myself a giant mental slap upside the head. What have I been thinking? Things I wanted to do weren't getting done because I've become too lazy to do them; content to keep doing the same things I'd been doing. I've been using the excuse that Penelope just wears me out during the day and that when she's finally down for bed all I have the energy to do is watch reruns of Psych until it's time for bed.

Well, I call Bullshit!

If I want to get something done, I should get up off my lazy butt and do it. The marked lack of motivation has been killing me but I'm not going to let it crawl inside my brain any longer. I have 4 nights a week where I'm free to do whatever I want to do. The daytime will be solely reserved for playing with Penny. Nap time will be for routine chores like laundry and dishes. When Jason's working, after 5pm will no longer be just a wasteland of couch-potatoing (yes, I just made that word up) and laziness. I have things I want to do and I'll be damned if I'm not going to do them!

This picture has nothing to do with my goal-oriented decision making. I just love the expression on her face.