A Pinch of Hope

This weekend I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone for something I knew in my heart was important. 

I have been unapologetically vocal about my disgust with those in leadership roles and my disappointment with those who put them there. I share this on social media and in the shirts I wear when I leave the house.

But lately, that hasn't been enough.

Last Friday I decided to see if there was a No Kings gathering in our area and was pleasantly surprised to see one in our little community. I told my Beloved I needed to be there. I texted my like-minded Bestie and her response was an immediate "I'm down." That night we bought markers and made signs. 

I was going outside......

Before we left the house, it was important to me that Alice understood why this was necessary.

We talked about our Freedom of Speech and how the current administration would like to silence those who disagree with them. We talked about how they are trying to manage what stories the Press are allowed to tell. We talked about how they are attempting to erase parts of history that might make us uncomfortable; but these are things that to be learned so we don't accept the terrible treatment of others as being okay. 

Lastly, we talked about the importance of showing up for our friends that do not look like us who are having to worry about being unlawfully detained for the color of their skin. That is not something we have to worry about and it's important to use our voices for them. By showing our outrage at the blatant injustice - we are showing them they are safe with us.

On Saturday, with our signs in hand, we headed to City Hall and joined around 300 people from our community in solidarity that NONE of this okay. The lies. The shutdowns. The disgusting internet trolling done by the freaking leader of the United States - NONE OF IT IS OKAY.

We held signs, waved, blew bubbles, sang, chanted - even when it rained.  

And for the first time in a long time, we all didn't feel so alone.

We stood next to a woman from our neighboring community who was thankful to be able to stand with people who felt the same way she did. 

It's easy to feel like we're crazy. But over 7 million people peacefully gathered to express their anger at where we are heading. 

And for the first time in a long time, I had hope.

Hope that the hate won't continue to win.

Hope that eventually the lies will stop and consequences will happen. (I miss accountability and consequences and checks & balances...)

Hope that communities can live in peace again.

Just.....a pinch of hope.

I'm thankful we attended because now I know I'm not so alone in the immediate space I share with so many. 

Until next time....

Proverbs 31:8-9

*Direct quote from JD Vance before he traded his morals for power.
Look it up - Google is free.

I shared where I stand on the subject of the current president. Go here and here for a reminder.

I will remain vocal as things continue to go downhill. It's important to me that people in my life know where I stand - either to feel safe or to stay quiet.

The man and his people are atrocious and there is no defending them.

But that's not what this blog post is about...

I recently shared this picture on Facebook:

This post is about this comment - 

I have removed the name of the commenter from the above picture and also from my Facebook. The block function is something I use liberally these days.

This line "don't assume this isn't part of His will" is problematic.

Because THIS is what that sentence is saying - 

        Families being ripped apart...

        People being taken off the street and sent to other countries...

        People being persecuted for speaking up...

        People losing jobs...

        Criminals being pardoned...

        Bribes being flaunted...

        Lies being told daily...

        Foreign leaders being insulted in front of the press...

        People losing much needed support - is the will of God.

Hard. Nope.

None of this will EVER glorify Him. There is absolutely no way any of this can be spun in a way to show them on the right side of humanity. 

And as Christians - if we are not actively speaking out AGAINST it - we are actively participating IN it. 

It is a privilege to go about your daily life not worrying about how decisions made by terrible people will directly affect you.

Staying silent tells the people around you who do not have that privilege that they are not safe with you.

This is the time to flip tables.

And saying "this is God's will" with all the Christian audacity you can muster is a slap in the face to all of those suffering.

None of the Bible stories I learned growing up ended with "go forth and separate the poor and banish the foreigner in my name." 

The current regime is not the will of God. It's the will of people who fell head over heels for a very golden idol.

I read a quote the other day that said "Trump was their test against false idols and they failed."

I believe that 100%.

Again, some of y'all didn't pay attention to Veggie Tales and it shows.

Until next time....

My, my, my, my Corona

This post comes from an angry place. This is your warning.

We were careful. We were mindful. We were diligent. 

We have not seen the inside of a restaurant since March. We have been to extremely limited, intimate gatherings in controlled environments with the same circle of people.

We have been paranoid. We have been told we are silly for being so paranoid. We watched as people went about their lives, business as usual. 

A few weeks ago we hugged a family member who has not been as diligent or closed off as we prefer. And they gave us Covid-19. 

4 hours with someone within our circle and it took us out for 3 weeks. 

I pulled Alice from school and transitioned her back to virtual. My Beloved and I had all the lame symptoms associated with the Rona. We are LUCKY things were not worse. 

I made a Facebook post about how I felt Covid has been the worst of all the medical issues I've had to face. I caught some static for it. 

"I'm pretty sure when you were in the ICU was worse, Timberley."

Do you know what I remember about my first several days in the ICU after Alice was born? Nothing. Not a darn thing.

"What about when you were dealing with your boob stuff?" 

While that stuff SUCKED - I could completely function while I was going through it. It didn't knock me on my butt. I could manage my day to day responsibilities.

What was worse about having the Rona was the fact that my number 1 responsibility could not be to heal. I still had to mom and teach and work and take care of a house - while sick.

The post I made to Facebook was done wrapped in a blanket with a fever and watery eyes wearing a mask, sitting on the floor of Alice's room playing raft. Her world didn't stop because we were too sick to manage it. She was understanding but she's also a kid who is TIRED of being locked down. She is a kid who had JUST managed to go back to school with her friends but found herself locked down.....again, missing crucial classroom time.

I also got to deal with the nurse from Alice's doctor's office who spoke to me like I was so irresponsible to allow her to be exposed to the Rona. She made me feel worse on top of worse. "What are you going to do to protect her?!" What would you suggest?! Put my 8 year old up in a hotel for a few weeks?! 

We did THE BEST we could to keep her safe and we are THANKFUL she seems to have missed it. 

I didn't kiss or hug my kid for almost two weeks. That SUCKS. 

The fear was also REAL fun, y'all. 

What if we get sick enough to need to go to the hospital? What happens to Alice?

What happens if Alice gets sick enough to go to the hospital? Who would be there to sit with her?

What happens if this is something that messes with my wonky DNA and it causes me to clot? Do I just get to stroke out with my husband sick in the bed and my kid avoiding math? 

On repeat in my head every day while I was still working. 

My Beloved had a harder time and was down for most of it. We both cannot afford to be down at the same time with a kid in the house. That leaves me.

So yes, this was harder than all the other times I was able to prioritize healing over anything else. 

I have been so angry. 

I am angry we got sick. I am angry Alice missed time in the classroom. I am angry that this seems to not have made a difference in anyone's attitude about being safe during a friggin Pandemic.

I watch people post pictures from restaurants and pumpkin patches and parties and I get so very angry.

I am not willing to risk my health or my family's health again so we will remain cut off from family and friends until this is done unless I know for sure those people have been nothing but careful and masks will probably be involved. 

We've had heavy discussions about what the holidays will look like this year. They will probably look a lot like lockdown but with holiday decorations.

I've heard "don't you trust God to protect you from getting sick?" I trust God to give me common sense during a pandemic and the means and dedication to not knowingly put my family at risk. 

We are happy to be feeling better. We are thankful we did not require a trip to the hospital. It was touch and go with my Beloved's fever! We are even more paranoid about being around people. 

I do not see the end to this any time soon because not enough people are willing to do what it takes to make it stop. 

I also selfishly feel like only the naysayers should end up with it. 

God and I are working on my attitude. Mostly He feels I'm a bit justified in my anger so that's where we currently are.

Until next time.....

March Sadness, the Remix Edition

Y'all, I just don't know what it is about me and the month of March. We just cannot seem to be friends. 

It has been a heavy, heavy month and I am hoping April is lighter.

7 days: That's how many days Alice went to school in the month of March and one of those days was our Zoo trip. She missed the first full week due to the flu, the next week was Spring Break and then the following week she only got to go to school once due to a nasty plant fire in Deer Park.

To say I was spent is an understatement. I am not sure how I am going to survive summer. 

God Bless Fraud Alert: The middle of Spring Break I get a text from my credit card company asking if I just charged more than $900 to GoDaddy. That would be a hard no. So I'm standing in Target with the card people making sure the card gets cancelled. And of course it's the one that all my monthly charges go to because that's how the world works. It takes about a week to get a new card and then I had to go through all the changing over. I *think* I have everything moved over. Time will tell......

New Casting: I've reached the breaking point with 90% of my medical professionals so I am starting all over. ALL OVER!!!!!! 
1. I haven't heard from my breast surgeon since November. This does not thrill me.
2. The company that monitors my INR machine has turned off my account again because I have only tested once a month for a few months and my order is for 2. This is also the company that had me throw away 4 boxes of test strips due to a recall and only sent 1 box as a replacement. I mentioned I don't have enough strips and she asked why I haven't mentioned this before. "I have, EVERY TIME I call!" This all means I have to get a new order from my Hematologist before I can speak to them again.
3. I have been trying to get an appointment to see my Hematologist since January only they can't find the referral my PCP sent over. In fact, the 4 times I have spoken to them they have let me know that I haven't had an active referral since 2016. This is not AT ALL the truth since I am diligent and dedicated and put alarms in my phone to request updated referrals because I attempt to be on top of my ish. I have resorted to snapping and impatience EVERY TIME I have spoken to the office. They can't spell my name right and then ask if I'm a new patient. Nope, I've seen him the last 6 years. (Side rant: I called to have my referral for my Hematologist renewed in January and the girl in the PCP office said it expired the day before. I told her I know, that's why I need a new one. She says, "well, it won't be renewal then because it's expired, it will just be a new referral." I might have replied with something testy. JUST DO IT!!!!!
4. My Urologist has retired and my Rheumatologist left the practice unexpectedly. I have seen her twice. That's it. And my prescription is up in about 60 days so I need a new one. Finding a Rheumatologist is lame but it's okay because I didn't like her anyway. 
5. I hate my PCP's office. They never have appointments when I need them.
Me "I think I have an infection." Them "the doctor can see you next Thursday at 2pm or you can come in as a walk-in today." Then I sit in the office for about 2 hours to see a PA who inevitably will call me before I make it to the pharmacy with a change because "you are on Coumadin." Yep, I have been for the last 6 years so I'm pretty confident it is in my chart.

Back when I was collecting specialists, my then Rheumatologist (who I loved but stopped taking my insurance) recommended I see an Internal Medicine doctor and not a General Practitioner. She thinks I need someone to look at the big picture and not just the immediate. She is not wrong. I stuck with who I had because it was easy and change is dumb. But I'm at my point of enough so I'm starting over. I've decided to go back to the Kelsey-Seybold system. I am hoping it will make my meeting with specialists and all the testing I have to have done so much easier. I need easier. We will see how it works out. 

20 Years: It was 20 years since we lost Dad this past week. 20. I was worried about my state of mind all month. My Beloved brought home some Corona for me and I got through the day with no issues. Sometimes 20 years just feels like a Wednesday. And then on Saturday as I was driving to Book Club, I had to pass the cemetery so I thought I would stop. I cried most of the way there. I hate cemeteries. I never feel closer to Dad when I'm there. I spend more time talking to him in my car when it's just us then I ever would standing over a stone. So much so that I have only been out to his grave a handful of times and I can't remember the last time I stopped in. It has been so long that I had to call Mom and ask her where he was. What kind of daughter can't find her dead dad?! 

Sometimes 20 years feels like a Wednesday. And sometimes 20 years, plus a few days feels like the bottom has fallen out again.

This year I've been a bit more angry than I usually have been. Usually when the dam breaks, I am just broken but lately I've been mad at him and his choices. I was dwelling too much a few months ago and in sadness said that if only he had loved me enough to come to my play that night, he might would still be alive. My Beloved said that's a heavy weight I don't need to be carrying.

My Beloved loves me through the breaks. Every time. (As of today, the dam has been fortified and I am in a good place.)

So I'm hoping for a lighter April. One with more school, less medical professional stress and no more random naked men. Although, he did add a break for humor.

Until next time.......

College - The Return

I've seen the future and the future is bleak. 

I've been in school a few weeks now and I'm worried about our future. Seriously. If these are the people who will rise up and lead - we are screwed. So very screwed. 

I finally started my biology class so I go three days a week now.

Let me just tell you how the first day of class goes. We wait for forever for a teacher who finally shows up but doesn't know the key code to get into the class. We get all that settled and we start learning. (To his defense, I'm gathering he was thrown into the position rather late in the game and is still adjusting to teaching again. He's a retired ER MD and I find him endearing.) 

But let's back up a bit. As we're gathered outside of the class waiting, I people watch. I look around and there is a guy who has shown up with nothing but a phone. No writing utensil. No paper. No book. Just a phone. For reals. 

Let's continue.

We start by going over the syllabus and the required books - of which I've already purchased but I'm apparently the only student in the world of college life now that buys the book before class. (Yet another side rant - this was not a cheap book and it didn't even come with a spine! I had to buy a binder to put it in! What is the world coming to?!) So we go over the books and there's a lab manual that wasn't included on the required books before class started. No problem, we have a break before lab and we can run on over the bookstore then. Only they don't have the manual and it will take a week to get it in. So no lab last week. Fun times. We all have our lab manuals now so it's all good. 

So today, I arrived to class early and while we were waiting for class to start, a student approached the instructor and asked if he could not take the test next Tuesday because he JUST bought the book and he's behind on the reading. This is a student that has been in the class since day one. And he's NOT the guy that came to class with nothing but a phone!

I almost fell off my stool. Seriously, with his mouth, he asked the teacher this. And he was serious. The teacher of course said no because that's the most ridiculous request ever. These are grown people, folks. And this is reason #456 of why I'm not in education. There would be NO WAY I could control my "are you crazy?!" eyebrows - they have a mind of their own. 

After class today, my 'study group' had to meet up. They give me heartburn. There are 4 of us. Two of us do the work, one of us does about 30% of the assignment and the fourth didn't even know what chapter we were on. Y'all. She asked if the flashcards I was studying were for the entire semester so far. No. They are JUST for the quiz TOMORROW. And my grade is dependent on these people. Oiy vey. I had already typed the assignment because I'm a control freak and I want to KNOW it's getting done. And tomorrow I will turn it in with all 4 names even though I know it was only 2ish of us that did it. And this will happen every week until the others drop the class. 

Lord, give me strength. 

My side-rant is just how lazy people are. If you're paying for a class, why not attempt to do your best? Why on earth would someone think a teacher would let you reschedule a test because you're not ready?! 

The greatest example of the laziness is the electronic handicap doors. People with working legs and arms will hit the button and wait the extra 20 seconds it takes for the door to slowly open rather than walk the two extra steps and pull....the....handle....

This drives me bananas. Every time. 

So while I have my concerns with the state of our future, I am comforted in the knowledge that these souls might be too lazy to rise up and attempt to lead. So there's the silver lining! 

My mom is concerned the before mentioned people will see this on Facebook. I reassure her that I'm not friends with these people. Nope. Not happening. I'm pretty sure they BARELY know my name. One of the girls asked if Christie was my middle name today. I mean, come on. And last week, LMB typed the assignment and instead of ASKING our names at the review, she just had us scribble our names on the top of the page right before she turned it in. I'm willing to bet 4 quarters she doesn't know my last name either. My grade + these people. Yep. 

I did get to buy Scantrons for the first time in a LONG time today. That was fun! And it's totally fun to be back on a college campus with my Beloved. It makes me all smiley and giggly when I see him between classes. He's such a cutie. ;)

Until next time.....

DISH Don't

A few months ago we started receiving bills from DISH network for someone who obviously doesn't live here. It's our address plus an apartment number. We've returned the bills with "not at this address". We've even called customer service to tell them only DISH customer service is RIDICULOUSLY unhelpful.

First, there are only two options. 
1 - Do you have service?
2 - Do you want service?

And when you dial 0 - it just sends you back to the original choices. None of which will help our problem.

When I try 1 or 2 (which we've tried NUMEROUS times) and I DO get a person, after telling them my issue they SAY they're going to transfer me to an agent who can help me. Only they transfer me right back to 1 or 2. 

Ridiculously unhelpful. 

The past few bills we've received have been red with "this is the last notice- your service will end!" bills. If only they would try CALLING Brenda and getting her REAL address. 

We've had such issues attempting to tell DISH they have the wrong address that we've given up. Now we just throw them away. 

And then today this arrived.

@%$ $@**&^!!

Since we don't know Brenda & she isn't living in our attic, they will get a very well worded note clearly stating the issue and how much we've gone through in an attempt to help DISH with this issue. But no dish. 

This is an awfully expensive way to send a letter but it isn't costing us anything. Silly, Dish. 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Have you seen that booking.com commercial with the exhausted family walking towards their hotel room? The voice over is saying how the flight went and ends with saying "he left his shoes on the plane. His SHOES." 

I'm pretty sure that's how we looked at the end of our trip. Exhausted. Spent. Relieved. 

I'm going to blog about each day but I'm doing one overall blog about the entire experience. 

I'm going to start with the negatives.

The Ugly. 

We've been to Disney World several times. We LOVE Disney. It's always been a fantastic time with little crowds. And then we thought it would be so magical at Christmas. The problem is so did 8 MILLION other people. I'm sure it is lovely at Christmas - we couldn't tell because we couldn't see through the people but I'm sure it's lovely. Seriously - if you're thinking about going at Christmas time - don't. Just don't. TRUST us. The lines were so bad, the only ride we rode was It's a Small World. And we rode it once.

The people. Everywhere. 

And when you get this many people together, it takes a magical place and turns it into a battlefield where your entire focus is hunting down the best parade watching spot and refusing to move until the parade is over....the parade that doesn't start for another 3 hours. Or it makes you cut in line (which we feel should be punishable by death. DEATH! so rude) or claim any available spot to sit and eat whether it be a curb or the middle of the walkway. Seriously. Don't ever go at Christmas. Ever.

I've never seen so many strollers in my life.

Strollers aren't allowed in lots of places so there were gobs and gobs of abandoned strollers everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And it's always so surprising to me how much stuff people leave in their abandoned strollers. We left nothing but our name tag. I don't trust people. At all. 

The Bad.

Traveling with an almost toddler is never ideal so we tried to be crazy prepared. And the things we thought would be hard were super easy! And the things we thought would be easy - were horrible.

Secutiry at the airport - a BREEZE!!

The flight - SO GREAT! She slept most of both flights.

Napping during the day - no problem! She napped for hours in her stroller! 

Time in the hotel room - nightmarish.

Feeding her her baby food - horrible.

Sleeping - never happened.

Alice likes to people watch so when we were away from people - she didn't appreciate it. Our sweet little happy girl turned into Rosemary's baby and SCREAMED. I'm sure our poor neighbors thought we were horrible parents. 

So every night we had to go for a walk for her to fall asleep.

And the hotel room had unprotected outlets and beds to climb and drawers to open! It was exhausting. They provided a Pack-n-play for her to sleep in which she did until about 4am when she woke up screaming. Every night. And our child is now a monkey so by the last night she was doing this....

Yeesh. 

See - we were ready to come home.

The Good.

Taking a baby to Disney World is super easy! They do everything they can to make sure you have everything you need - like only Disney can. This trip we got to use their Baby Centers. Thanks to our friend Lesley for telling me about them!

SUPER FABULOUS! A room of changing tables, lots of place to wash up, a room with highchairs, a kitchen where you can purchase anything you might need. BRILLIANT! And we LOVED IT. It's the first thing we located in each park. And it was great. The cast members were all SUPER accommodating and would talk to her and engage her. It was super sweet.

Even with all the no sleep and the eating fights, we had a good time! It was fun to watch her watch people. She could care less about characters or parades or lights - our girl likes people. And it was great to get to spend time with family. She got to see Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle David and Aunt Shelly every day! And that was lots of fun. I know they enjoyed getting to spend time with her too. 

And it was nice to be away! Not to have to clean or cook or deal with the dog. It was a lovely break. And we look forward to taking her back when she's older and can recognize characters and enjoy the magic. 

Now let's talk about the fun!

A Russian Bride I would approve of

Today's KIR photo is 'morning selfie'.

Fuzzy socks and coffee in my favorite cup. It was a happy morning! 

Now for the confession part of the program. 

I had a massage today. I have monthly massages; I carry my stress in my shoulders which eventually leads to severe headaches and no sleep. Sadness. It didn't used to be so bad but then I went to work for the crazies and it turned in to too much. The massages help. A lot.

However, it isn't always sunshine and smiles.

It's a chain so it's not always consistent with the service. My masseuse BFF's keep abandoning me. I find one, I get comfortable and then BAM! They leave. 

And I'm picky. I want a professional who treats it more of a physical therapy session than a relaxation treat. So when I find one I like, I stick with them. I put their names in my phone so I don't forget.

But you see, I've been cheating on one.

I was seeing this very sweet lady who does a good job but she talks THE ENTIRE TIME. I know EVERYTHING there is to know about her. EVERYTHING. This is probably my fault. She's a great Christian lady that loves Jesus. How am I supposed to tell her to be quiet?! 

One time during a very rare 2 hour session, the Holy Spirit told her to be quiet 45 minutes in to it. Had this been an hour - the Holy Spirit would have only given me 5 minutes of silence. I can't trust the Holy Spirit is always going to pay attention to the time.

So I started seeing someone else. 

And she's fabulous! 

But now every time I go in, I worry I'm going to run into the other lady and have to dodge her questions. 

A month ago, my new BFF had to go to Russia for a family emergency so I had to see my old BFF. I'm pretty sure she used extra pressure as punishment. I was sore for DAYS!

I did tell my Beloved that if he REALLY wanted a Russian bride - I would approve of her! ;)

Until next time.....

An Extra Hour, My EYE!

"Gain an hour!"

You know who gets an extra hour?!

Single people.

People who don't have pets or children or anything else they're responsible for. 

That's who!

This is the RAP photo 'I woke up to this....'

The baby & Barney at 5am. Yep folks - 5am. This is after she was already up for about an hour and it was obvious she wasn't going back to sleep. She finally decided her mid morning play time was up around 6:30ish. So from 4:30ish to 6:30ish, we got to watch Sprout. 

Side note - I found a new cartoon! It's Fireman Sam! He's a cute little fireman with an accent! So dreamy.

Other side note - I might need more sleep. 

Here is the KIR photo - junk drawer.

It holds everything from batteries to menus to paint colors to old prescription bottles. This is the drawer Alice tried to play in the other day. At least it wasn't the knife drawer.

Yeesh.

We tried shoes again. This time some cute little red boots!

Yep.

She's breaking my heart. 

However, she doesn't mind chewing on them. So there's that....

Seriously, she's killing me. 

All I wanted was a sweet little girl who liked girly things. 

And God laughed.

I have one that LOVES outside and HATES shoes.

Yeesh.

Until next time.....

A Week in Review

We had a short week!

Which meant we had a LONG week.

Let's break down the highlights.

Monday my Beloved got to stay home for Labor Day. But it was less than relaxing. It started out fine! And then things went wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. First, Atticus wanted out; then I hear him barking with intent. I go to check and sure enough, a cat is on the porch. A very skinny, sickly looking cat that apparently has a death wish. All I kept thinking was "of all the porches in all the neighborhood, you had to die on mine." Atticus and said cat proceed to tussle before we can get the dog in the house. In his defense, it was HIS porch and he IS a dog. Daniel checks out the cat and it doesn't look to be freshly hurt. Hurt yes, but not by our dog. So he calls animal control knowing they probably won't send anyone out on a holiday. Sure enough, the poor cat is just going to have to keep dying in our backyard. I spend the next hour bawling over a cat that isn't ours and what a horrible world we live in that people would discard a pet so flippantly. 

We pack up to run an errand. When we return, we have no water. Again. I only discover this after I go to wash my hands after giving Alice some snacks. Again, my Beloved calls the city. By the way, when you call the city on weekends or holidays, you call the police dispatcher. Fun times. She sends out the on call guy to check the water situation. He finally arrives and Daniel heads out to talk to him. It's taking forever so I head out to check. The on call guy is leaning on his water-turn-offer device chatting with my husband. You see, he's having a hard time getting off because his boss is out on paternity leave and his elbow hurts. So he asks Daniel to help him turn the water off. Seriously. Apparently we have a busted pipe somewhere and the water just isn't getting in to the house. Oiy. 

So we pack up our child who is now sporting a pinwheel beard we have no way of cleaning off and head to Nana's. Her TV is magic.

Tuesday,  Daniel heads to the house at the crack of dawn to meet his parents so he and his dad can fix the leak. (This is where I take a break to mention how thankful I am that he has his dad in his life to help with such things. It makes me happy.) They're able to locate and fix the problem pretty quick. Meanwhile, the cat was staggered out of the yard. After the water is fixed and turned back on, Daniel decides to rest before he cleans up. Side story - they're doing construction in our neighborhood. It's a mess. It sucks. It has caused a MASSIVE water leak at the end of our street since the beginning of the long weekend. My Beloved decides to clean up only to discover the water has been turned off again. This time by the city FINALLY fixing the MASSIVE leak. Seriously. 

He decides to call Animal Control to come get the injured cat so they can humanely take care of it. We hate to see things suffer. Well she shows up, takes a look at the cat and asks Daniel if he has a pet carrier she could borrow. Umm.....excuse me?! Apparently she forgot her pet carrier when she got the "go pick up an injured animal" call and had to go back to the office to get it and then come back to get the cat. Had I been present, I might would have caused a scene. I don't do animal control; however, I'm PRETTY SURE the FIRST thing you should pack in your 'Animal Control' marked vehicle is a pet carrier. 

I'm losing faith in our city employees.

I spent all of Wednesday removing items from our child's mouth. A magnet, pages to a book, the computer plug, a Post-it-note pad and a nail file. The nail file caused the biggest fit but luckily she immediately located the baby saline bottle and started chewing on that.

On the upside, Alice and the dog did play nice all day.

Thursday I had a doctors appointment which meant we got to visit with our L&D friends. They love seeing our girl and we love visiting them!

Friday meant the Exterminator was coming so Atticus (who HATES him) and the baby (who is indifferent) got to go to the Post Office with me.  I asked how it went and my Beloved tells me we have Roof Rats. Come again? You might remember our rat dilemma. Well, they went away! We were happy! A few weeks ago we started noticing acorns on the porch. This is odd considering it's screened in. So Daniel points this out to the exterminator who examines the poop and announces we now have Roof Rats. I mean, come on!!!! (Apparently ground rats have round poo and roof rats have pointy poo - now you know.) So the acorns are their snack. Our back porch looks like the floor of a steakhouse meant for rats. 

All this nature is messing with my blood pressure. 

That brings us to today. We got up very early to meet our friend, Libby with Captured Moments to take some family/1st birthday pics. I can't wait to see them! She did SO GOOD!.

Here's a sneak peek from my phone. This picture is mine, don't judge. ;)

Such a cute little mess she is.

And tonight we got to attend a NICU reunion at the Children's Museum. She loved the bubbles!

And now we're going to bed. 

Until next time......

Hopefully things will simmer down.....

Favorite thing about August

It's closer to the "colder" months.

Seriously, y'all. I'm over it. I'm inside most of the time but I'm still over it.

I can see it through the window.

The heat.

Lame.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Post Office. They like trips to Post Office. 

He gets to ride in the car and she gets him all to herself. 

:) 

Until next time....

Red

Hello summer!!

Strawberries weren't the only 'red' I was seeing today.

Tami and her friend Kacy came in last night for a concert and stayed with us. So today we were going to have a nice lunch because they weren't in any hurry. We get up and visit and drink coffee. After a while I decide it's time to get ready so I head back for a shower. I shower in the mornings, it's how I start my day. Without a morning(ish) shower - I'm cranky. I turn the water on and nothing.

This gives me pause.

I do it again. Still nothing. Now the panic sets in.

I try the faucet. Yep. This is going to be a dark day.

I call my Beloved to make sure he didn't see any note regarding this catastrophe only he's at work and can't answer his phone. I find the number to the city and give them a call.

I VERY calmly ask, "yes, our water is out and I just wanted to know about what time it will be back on?"
She asks my address and then says 4pm. 4PM!!! I sweetly hang up and then fall apart. Shouldn't they be required to tell you BEFORE they leave you water-less?! What if I survived on running water?! HUH?!?! What then?!

I'm not cut out for this. I wasn't born to handle no running water. This is a 'Know Thyself' situation and I know thyself can't leave the house without a shower! But the natives are hungry and getting restless. Kacy suggests I channel my inner Amish. No ma'am! I AM NOT A SURVIVOR!! This is why my Beloved's first task in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse is to kill me. This was MY request. It'll be better this way.

So I brush my teeth and wash my face with nursery water and my own tears and in a daze I leave the house. Dirty. 

On the way my Beloved calls me back. He laughs at my horrors because he knows his wife and understands I'm very clearly NOT okay. I'm having a full on fit over the phone telling him I don't do camping. My idea of camping is a full bathroom and a bed and AC. He says "that's a hotel." EXACTLY! THAT'S the camping I'm cut out for! He hangs up and proceeds to reenact my meltdown for the girls he works with. 

We eat lunch and I'm CLEARLY uncomfortable and cranky and I'm pretty sure my body is slowly shutting down. ;)

We get home and there's water. Hallelujah! 

This evening we find this on the door - 

So Tuesday I will be getting up at 6am to make sure I get my shower. 

Oiy vey.

You! (as in me)

I'm pretty sure our child thinks I look like this....

I do take a lot of pictures of her. She's the cutest thing ever so it's totally okay! 

In the interest of sharing - I thought I'd cover two very frequently asked questions.

1: "When are you going to have another one?!" Seriously??! We JUST had a kid! I thought the questions would stop - apparently not. Well the short answer is - we aren't. With my medical issues, the fact I was able to carry her as long as I did was a miracle. We were EXTREMELY blessed she handled everything she had to handle as well as she did. And we do not see us knowingly subjecting a child to that again. Now we know. And the doctors are sure it would happen again, probably sooner in the pregnancy and that's not a risk we're willing to take. For my life or the life of a child. So for now, we're content with our one little cutie! And one day we might look in to adoption. But for now, she's enough. 

2: "When are you going to pierce her ears?" When she's old enough to ask for them. I barely take care of my own earrings - I don't want to have to take care of hers. And I hate sleeping in earrings, why on earth would I subject her to that? "How will people know she's a girl" Because she IS a girl. Duh. "But it'll hurt more!" Nonsense. She'll just get to remember it. However, she will get the chance to make that decision on her own. She will ask, she will pick out her earrings and she will learn how to care for them. She will enter a jewelry store and come out a little more grown up. Because she WANTED to. Period. 

So there. ;)

Now for a smile. I had an eye appointment this morning so Aunt Tami got to sit with her. This is what I came home to.

The cuteness. Oh my.

Until next time....

Such a Mean Momma

We love our dog. Even though I threaten to sell him to the gypsies every day - we still love him. 

He spends a majority of his time on the futon in the front room protecting his people from threats like the mail person (EVERY. DAY.) or the garbage men or the across the street neighbor when he's getting in to HIS OWN VEHICLE.

He is a good dog and doesn't bark all the time however when he does bark - it's a scene. I'd managed to just get Alice to sleep and she was sleeping on her own on the bed. VICTORY!

Until someone walked down the street. 

Then the dog decided to protect us the only way he knows how - by barking like a crazy dog and throwing himself on the front window. 

And woke the baby who wouldn't go back to sleep and cried for another hour. 

Momma wasn't happy. 

This is what happens when you bark and wake the baby. You lose your front room privileges.

Now he's lost. He just sits by the front door like "how will I see the intruder?" 

Yeesh.

Until next time...

Stupid Blocks

Since she's a bit more mobile, I thought it would be a good idea to get something for our living room floor to keep her from hitting her head. Walmart had a few different options - Dora, Princess games, Cars and ABC's. We decided to get ABC's and be educational. 

So far they've just upset my OCDness. 

First off - they don't package them in alphabetical order. I mean, come on! 

So I just put them together ignoring the order in order to get them to her faster. 

Only there's 26 and there is no way to connect them and make it even unless you do two rows of two. I don't need an aisle runner. I need a play surface. 

None of this seems to bother her.

When my Beloved got home I told him my issues. He already knows I'm crazy so this didn't really come as a surprise. We laid them out in alphabetical order so the placement isn't even. Seriously - they couldn't include 4 shapes blocks maybe?! Triangle, circle, square, star - BAM!! EVEN!! But no. They needed to make the crazies crazier. 

I'm PRETENDING they did it on purpose to account for my ottoman. Yeah, yeah - let's go with that.

When in alphabetical order the color pattern is soothing.....except for R. The R is off. Seriously!? 

Lord help me. 

We should have bought the princess one.

Inspiring Person

I know, I know. "JK Rowling?! Seriously?!"

Let me explain.

I think she's a great writer. Period. 

She had a story to tell and told it no matter who told her no. She created a world we all want to be a part of and characters we want to be friends with. Her story invokes such strong feelings for characters that you cry when bad things happen and cry when good things happen. (Maybe I just cry a lot.) You long for a letter to Hogwarts and dream of having a pet owl. No matter how old you are. 

She is also inspiring because she knew what story she wanted to tell and she knew when to end it. Even though the books are HUGE money makers, she didn't feel the need to continue just to continue. And THAT is what makes her a great writer. Letting go. I have several series I read and some of them are getting extremely tedious and need to be wrapped up however I know they won't be because the books are still selling. Sadness. My friends deserve a rest. ;)

While I do think she's a great a writer, she's not perfect. I do think she made a few mistakes....

1: The death of Hedwig. Seriously?! The bird?! Now I understand her death. Rowling needed to establish early on that no one was safe. Anyone could die. I get it. But it's the way she died that bothered me. If she had died the way she died in the movie - I'd be okay! (This is the ONLY time I've felt like the movie got it right when the book didn't.) I can even pretend to see that she wanted to establish that innocent lives were going to get caught in the crossfire. Whatever. I still don't have to like it. 

2: The deaths of Tonks, Lupin and Fred. Uncool. Again, I see her reasoning but again, I don't have to like it! Tonks and Lupin deserved to be happy. And killing a twin?! That's EXTRA cruel! I'd be okay with losing a Weasley but a twin?! No ma'am. That's just plain MEAN.

3: The fact that Umbridge lives. I think she is the vilest character ever written and she deserves the worst. She's worse than Tom Riddle (Dumbledore called him that - I can too!)! I promise! My rational side can also see how it's important to show that sometimes the bad guys don't always get what they deserve. But still! Stupid life lessons. 

Bottom line, as someone who enjoys writing I find Rowling inspiring. I don't think I'll ever write a Harry Potter type book however writing a book doesn't seem that far fetched. I bet she never dreamed Harry would take her to where she is today. She was just writing about characters she loved. 

Today I'm thankful for a magical world and a boy with a lightening bolt scar. 

I'd be even more thankful if House Elves were real. Word.

Until next time.....