I'm surely not a Saint when it comes to using foul language. I do, however, make an effort to speak in a courteous fashion. I think that being aware of your company is important to carrying on an enjoyable conversation. Sadly, this is not a universally accepted standard.
Chivalry is dead and social etiquette is being tortured in a dark basement. Modern times have placed a huge amount of value in being edgy and IN-YOUR-FACE, making people go to extremes to get attention.
This truly makes me sad. When I hear a person using words or phrases that are blatantly offensive to their audience I place an imaginary red check next to their spot in my memory, among other things. This red mark is completely involuntary, like a reflex, but absolutely necessary. It helps me remember whose opinion or idea to hold more value to, or not. In other words, if you use careless language and don't correct your mistake, I won't like you quite as much as I did when the conversation started. I may not say anything about it at the time because I don't feel like it's my job to be the grammar police, slapping your hands with a ruler when you piss me off. It can also be scary to stand up to someone who uses those words in the first place; they obviously can't take the time to be respectful in a regular conversation, so there is little to no hope of resolution if you try confronting them when you feel they are in the wrong. I might smile and nod during the remainder of the conversation, but I stop listening to everything they say, crawling inside my own head to imagine myself inflicting paper cuts under their tongue.
The most disheartening experience is finding a repeat offender, especially with those who I am close to. I don't know where to go with that, because those situations cut the deepest. Using words like "retard", "gay", "homo", "nigger", etc, to describe something unlikable is extremely offensive, even if the audience may not embody any of those words. A person using these words appears immature and narrow minded. Everyone has family members and close friends who are different, and may be gay or black or Jewish or disabled, so your ignorance and carelessness is painful because you're mocking the people they love for your own amusement. Joking around while using foul words is no joke whatsoever, just like saying "I don't mean to be offensive/rude" before you say something offensive or rude is supposed to cancel out being an asshole. Making fun of people when they can't hear or understand what you're saying is so lowly, amazingly unattractive. Making fun of people when they CAN hear you lands you a spot on my imaginary tongue cutting list.
I found an article that may seem picky, but it elaborates my general views on this matter.
What is Ableist language and why should you care?
I am positive I will still hear nasty words fall out of the mouths of others, but I just wanted to say that when you do speak carelessly it affects me, and our relationship, negatively. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, especially if you are around me. I am not really listening to you anyways.
Thoughtful words and peaceful thoughts
XoX
Momma Lace thinks her little bug is SO cool, she wants to tell the world about it! Penelope has a rare genetic disorder, Weaver Syndrome, which makes life a bit different for her family...here's our story!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Living the life.
Every day is an adventure!
Seriously...EVERY day is an adventure. We always do new things even if I am not posting on this blog or Facebook. We might just be having too much fun for me to have the time or energy to make the tiny effort of writing anything down. I keep a record in mah lil' noggin! I might also be sort of a romantic, and prefer to keep things private and special. I love to have memories that only my family will share.
I decided to make the sacrifice of excluding ridiculous amounts of therapy for a notable amount of summer time. Until this year, we have never been able to fully experience a summer without intense therapy. It's about damn time that PP and the Fam enjoy some summer time, she's almost three after all. Most normal kids have experienced a summer to remember, but that's not quite the case for PP. There hasn't been any long trips or vacations, mostly just therapy after therapy, but we have been enjoying long stretches of days without having to worry about therapy. It is really nice...and a step in the right direction. Our summer therapy is more frequent trips down to South Harriet Beach than to Children's Hospital, and various parks or whatever else we feel like doing. It's turning out to be my most favorite summer to date! We will hit the books hard in the Fall. Summer is for loving and living, and that's what we have been doing.
Lemme blow you some dern bubbles. You know, to celebrate summah-summah time!
Keeping track of all these adventures is a task and a half. Who knew that writing on a website felt like writing to every single person reading the stuff you write. It's such a personal endeavor, especially when you write about personal endeavors. Blah dee dah! I just wanted to make sure the people who check my blog regularly don't get bored! It's an unforeseen obligation to starting a blog; I feel like I need to update it as often as possible! Weird.
If there's any hope of me waking up on time, I should hit the hay.
Bonne nuit mes amis!!!
Gooey s'mores and giggle fights
XoX
I decided to make the sacrifice of excluding ridiculous amounts of therapy for a notable amount of summer time. Until this year, we have never been able to fully experience a summer without intense therapy. It's about damn time that PP and the Fam enjoy some summer time, she's almost three after all. Most normal kids have experienced a summer to remember, but that's not quite the case for PP. There hasn't been any long trips or vacations, mostly just therapy after therapy, but we have been enjoying long stretches of days without having to worry about therapy. It is really nice...and a step in the right direction. Our summer therapy is more frequent trips down to South Harriet Beach than to Children's Hospital, and various parks or whatever else we feel like doing. It's turning out to be my most favorite summer to date! We will hit the books hard in the Fall. Summer is for loving and living, and that's what we have been doing.
Keeping track of all these adventures is a task and a half. Who knew that writing on a website felt like writing to every single person reading the stuff you write. It's such a personal endeavor, especially when you write about personal endeavors. Blah dee dah! I just wanted to make sure the people who check my blog regularly don't get bored! It's an unforeseen obligation to starting a blog; I feel like I need to update it as often as possible! Weird.
Anywho...
I'm so excited for tomorrow. We will be meeting my sweet friend, Kate, at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market in the morning. If there's one thing I love, it's a Farmer's Market with good company. The MPLS one is by far one of my favorites, so I am ECSTATIC! Impromptu meetings with lovely friends at spiffy places are my most favorite meetings. Thanks a MILLION Kate! Until 10PM the only thing I had planned for our Sunday was a whole lot of walking around Lake Harriet. Thanks again, lovely friend.If there's any hope of me waking up on time, I should hit the hay.
Bonne nuit mes amis!!!
Gooey s'mores and giggle fights
XoX
Friday, July 6, 2012
Mean Momma
PP is always interested in anything I am doing, especially eating. Even if she doesn't want to eat what I have, she will sit with her face inches away from mine, making me think she wants the nummies. I have been thinking of ways to get her to stop wanting my food. Until yesterday I had come up with nothing.
Yesterday the light bulb turned on...
Eat Bibim Mem. This delicious snack is like Korean style ramen noodles, but there are a few striking differences. Delicious differences. Bibim Mem noodles look like ramen, but they are covered in a red sauce instead of powder seasoning and you serve them cold. This red sauce is HOT. Like, really spicy hot. This is the only spicy food I enjoy eating. There are also little chunks of what I assume is some type of hot pepper mixed in the sauce as well, so if you bite one of those you get a lil extra sumtin-sumtin. I don't know how to read Korean, so I don't know exactly what it is I am eating. All that I know is that it's like a spiffy party in my mouth and everyone is really super hot and red and loving it. I LOVE BIBIM MEM.
I assumed there was no way that PP would find these appetizing, whatsoever. What baby likes hot and spicy food? Well, I guess it's true that when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. Hah! She took a lil bite o' noodles and LOVED it. Whaaaat?! It was obvious she didn't get a big enough bite to make her mouth burst into flames. She wanted more so I gave her more, increasing the amount by a tiny bit each time. PP got fed up with my stinginess pretty quickly and screamed at me when I put a big chopstick-full in my mouth. This is when I had a Mean Momma moment. PP, you want to scream at me for my Bibim Mem? Fine. I got a big chopstick-full ready and popped it right into PP's mouth, which was wide open. She chewed for one second, things were OK, then started screaming and crying. As far as I know, it was the spiciest food she has ever eaten, so she didn't exactly know what to do. She clenched her jaw shut and I thought she was going to explode! I tried to get her mouth open to get the giant gob of burning noodles out of her mouth but she was also hitting and kicking me in the process, so I just yanked on some noodles that were hanging out of her mouth. I didn't get them all out, but I got most of them out. She swallowed a considerable amount of those cold and spicy noodles! The burn traveled from her mouth to her throat and she was not happy! I tried to get her to drink water, but I think I shattered any shred of trust when I shoved the chopstick-full in her little birdy mouth. PP cried for a solid 10 minutes, then whimpered for 15 minutes afterwards. Poor baby, I played my tiny violin for her.
Do I think she will still try to eat all my food? Yes, she has been doing it all day, seeming to forget the mean Momma incident. The real test is if she asks for my Bibim Mem again.
Mean Momma comes out when baby bird wants my favorite nummies!
Well, it's nap time!
Cozy blankets and snuggly pillows
XoX
Yesterday the light bulb turned on...
Eat Bibim Mem. This delicious snack is like Korean style ramen noodles, but there are a few striking differences. Delicious differences. Bibim Mem noodles look like ramen, but they are covered in a red sauce instead of powder seasoning and you serve them cold. This red sauce is HOT. Like, really spicy hot. This is the only spicy food I enjoy eating. There are also little chunks of what I assume is some type of hot pepper mixed in the sauce as well, so if you bite one of those you get a lil extra sumtin-sumtin. I don't know how to read Korean, so I don't know exactly what it is I am eating. All that I know is that it's like a spiffy party in my mouth and everyone is really super hot and red and loving it. I LOVE BIBIM MEM.
I assumed there was no way that PP would find these appetizing, whatsoever. What baby likes hot and spicy food? Well, I guess it's true that when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. Hah! She took a lil bite o' noodles and LOVED it. Whaaaat?! It was obvious she didn't get a big enough bite to make her mouth burst into flames. She wanted more so I gave her more, increasing the amount by a tiny bit each time. PP got fed up with my stinginess pretty quickly and screamed at me when I put a big chopstick-full in my mouth. This is when I had a Mean Momma moment. PP, you want to scream at me for my Bibim Mem? Fine. I got a big chopstick-full ready and popped it right into PP's mouth, which was wide open. She chewed for one second, things were OK, then started screaming and crying. As far as I know, it was the spiciest food she has ever eaten, so she didn't exactly know what to do. She clenched her jaw shut and I thought she was going to explode! I tried to get her mouth open to get the giant gob of burning noodles out of her mouth but she was also hitting and kicking me in the process, so I just yanked on some noodles that were hanging out of her mouth. I didn't get them all out, but I got most of them out. She swallowed a considerable amount of those cold and spicy noodles! The burn traveled from her mouth to her throat and she was not happy! I tried to get her to drink water, but I think I shattered any shred of trust when I shoved the chopstick-full in her little birdy mouth. PP cried for a solid 10 minutes, then whimpered for 15 minutes afterwards. Poor baby, I played my tiny violin for her.
Do I think she will still try to eat all my food? Yes, she has been doing it all day, seeming to forget the mean Momma incident. The real test is if she asks for my Bibim Mem again.
Mean Momma comes out when baby bird wants my favorite nummies!
Well, it's nap time!
Cozy blankets and snuggly pillows
XoX
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Being BIG!
PP is a big girl in so many ways.
One very obvious way is her sheer mass. PP is a big, sturdy, clumsy girl. I love it, I'm always on my toes! She has a 4 year old body with the coordination of a 1 1/2 year old, but she's almost 3 so I think it evens out. Did I say she's almost 3? Well, her birthday isn't until November, but it's only 4 months away. Bonkers! Her age doesn't mean much to me anyways. I buy toys in the 1 1/2-2 year old age range, and I just bought PP her first shirt from the little girls section. She's a size 4-5 in girls clothes and getting close to size 7 shoes! She's my big baby.
She is delayed developmentally speaking, but her personality is quite fitting for an almost 3 year old. She doesn't like to share, she throws tantrums (more than I can handle) and she doesn't eat the crust of a sandwich. She is a shy-flirt and LOVES to be outside. PP sneaks snacks from her diaper bag and tries to hide when Momma finds her with Papa's toothbrush.
For someone who can't talk, she has lots of opinions! This is becoming an issue; I don't understand her completely so I just keep trying and trying to figure out what she wants. The process can take a while and the duration can quickly reduce PP to a screaming heap on the floor, forgetting whatever it was that she wanted in the first place. I'm always getting beat up in the process because when PP is mad, she is MAD! Her shoes turn into flailing, pink and white hammers that inflict fat lips and clicking jaws upon those who dare to try and stop the madness. I'm told this problem will come to a resolution the further we get into therapy because she will begin to understand things a little better. I'm waiting for those days like a kid for Christmas; if they taught me anything it's to have patience and good things will come...I hope!
PP loves everything that Momma is doing! She always wants my jewelry and clothes and food and spot on the couch and undivided attention. I suppose it's just bound to happen that way if we spend more time with each other than anyone else. I act like her sometimes, too. When she gets mad for no reason and starts to just cry and throw herself around, I pretend (or not) to cry and throw myself around. It usually confuses, amuses, and exaggerates the problem, so I don't get to pretend to be PP very often! Sometimes you gotta let it all out. Most of the time we are just ourselves and we end up having a good time regardless of each others bad-itudes. Love is all you need.
Growing up is a hard thing to do, so I try to keep that in mind when dealing with a difficult PP. I'm so happy to be able to watch her grow up! When I was pregnant and when she was very little I was actually scared for her life and it was a terrible feeling. I would imagine her big, like a toddler, like she is now, to help me get through the tough times. So I can't complain too much. I got what I wanted!
I really just wanted to let everyone know that I bought PP her first little girl clothing item, it's obviously a big deal! No more shopping in the baby section for PP, little girl clothes fit her persona so much better anyways...sassy little things.
Stay cool
XoX
One very obvious way is her sheer mass. PP is a big, sturdy, clumsy girl. I love it, I'm always on my toes! She has a 4 year old body with the coordination of a 1 1/2 year old, but she's almost 3 so I think it evens out. Did I say she's almost 3? Well, her birthday isn't until November, but it's only 4 months away. Bonkers! Her age doesn't mean much to me anyways. I buy toys in the 1 1/2-2 year old age range, and I just bought PP her first shirt from the little girls section. She's a size 4-5 in girls clothes and getting close to size 7 shoes! She's my big baby.
She is delayed developmentally speaking, but her personality is quite fitting for an almost 3 year old. She doesn't like to share, she throws tantrums (more than I can handle) and she doesn't eat the crust of a sandwich. She is a shy-flirt and LOVES to be outside. PP sneaks snacks from her diaper bag and tries to hide when Momma finds her with Papa's toothbrush.
For someone who can't talk, she has lots of opinions! This is becoming an issue; I don't understand her completely so I just keep trying and trying to figure out what she wants. The process can take a while and the duration can quickly reduce PP to a screaming heap on the floor, forgetting whatever it was that she wanted in the first place. I'm always getting beat up in the process because when PP is mad, she is MAD! Her shoes turn into flailing, pink and white hammers that inflict fat lips and clicking jaws upon those who dare to try and stop the madness. I'm told this problem will come to a resolution the further we get into therapy because she will begin to understand things a little better. I'm waiting for those days like a kid for Christmas; if they taught me anything it's to have patience and good things will come...I hope!
PP loves everything that Momma is doing! She always wants my jewelry and clothes and food and spot on the couch and undivided attention. I suppose it's just bound to happen that way if we spend more time with each other than anyone else. I act like her sometimes, too. When she gets mad for no reason and starts to just cry and throw herself around, I pretend (or not) to cry and throw myself around. It usually confuses, amuses, and exaggerates the problem, so I don't get to pretend to be PP very often! Sometimes you gotta let it all out. Most of the time we are just ourselves and we end up having a good time regardless of each others bad-itudes. Love is all you need.
Growing up is a hard thing to do, so I try to keep that in mind when dealing with a difficult PP. I'm so happy to be able to watch her grow up! When I was pregnant and when she was very little I was actually scared for her life and it was a terrible feeling. I would imagine her big, like a toddler, like she is now, to help me get through the tough times. So I can't complain too much. I got what I wanted!
I really just wanted to let everyone know that I bought PP her first little girl clothing item, it's obviously a big deal! No more shopping in the baby section for PP, little girl clothes fit her persona so much better anyways...sassy little things.
Stay cool
XoX
Friday, June 29, 2012
The livin' is easy.
We have been having a super fun-filled week!
PP had OT at Children's on Monday which went well. Tuesday was a home visit with the OT from school and our summer school teacher, Vicki. I had a lot of fun! The OT hadn't been to our house in a while and it was the first time meeting our summer school teacher so they told me how cute my house is and were amazed at how big PP is getting! We have been working on alternate forms of communication with PP lately, focusing mostly on using pictures. There is a neat acronym for this process, but I'm too lazy to go look at it right now! Vicki took pictures of PP's favorite things to make some special cards for me to use. She is proficient in this type of teaching, and the OT recently took a class to refresh/renew her knowledge about using pictures as language. I am surely not as knowledgeable as these two amazing women, so they are teaching me and PP at the same time! I'm excited about using pictures, because although PP is good at using sign language, she doesn't have enough coordination to accurately tell anyone exactly what she wants. She can use certain signs if you show her how to do them first (like 'help' or 'open') sort of defeating the purpose of her saying what she wants, but she mostly uses 'more' and 'yes' without prompting. Things can get confusing when you can only say 'more' and 'yes'!
The pictures will help PP to literally show me what she wants. Seeing it in black and white makes me realize how easy this sounds! We have been trying to get PP to use pictures for a very, very, very, very long time. It is not as easy as it sounds. The summer teacher had some new ideas for us tho, like making the pictures a certain size and only using pictures of particular things. I already have a bunch of pictures for PP: small ones, big ones, medium ones, just a couple of computer generated images, a whole bunch of real object images, velcro ones that stick to a corresponding piece of laminated paper, and a bunch more that I can't remember. Hopefully, Vicki can finally help us out and get the right combination of the style of picture that PP will respond to.
My big job in this is to push PP, as usual. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it! The nice thing about my job is that I get to play with kids all day! Wednesday was my reward for the week! I took PP to a splash pad by Lake Hiawatha. We met some friends from our ECFE class! The kids don't really play together, but I got in a few nice conversations with the parents. We had a great time! Chris got a blow up pool for me and PP to play in as well, so we have been making good use of that thing every day this week!
Thursday was ST at Children's. It didn't go so well because we had a bit of a rough morning. ST is still an iffy therapy for PP anyways. I bet it's hard for her due to her lacking ability to use speech and the abundance of ants in her pants. She would rather just run around the room, throw the toys around and eat snacks, but the therapist makes her sit down and look at things and touches her face. PP has to ask for every toy when it is being dangled in front of her face and if she doesn't ask for it, the therapist won't give it to her. She gets mad very quickly! Thursday was a 60 minute session; 30 minutes of tantrum and 30 minutes of pre-tantrum. Ugh. The therapist touches her mouth while she touches her own mouth and making 'M' or 'B' sounds. It works, sometimes, but PP just isn't a huge fan of ST. It is getting better though! When we first started this therapy, we had to switch rooms all the time. We ended up doing a couple sessions in a gym so PP could burn off steam. She used to always need a snack to sit still, which isn't our goal for PP. Slowly but surely we have phased out the snack during ST, but I can tell when PP wants it. She gets mad about not getting snack also, making therapy really hard sometimes! We will get to a good place at ST someday, I hope.
Anyways, it's Friday. No more therapy til Monday, and no ST till next Thursday. Yay! We are gonna fully enjoy the weekend because we will get Papa Chris to partake in our adventures! Yay for family weekends! Yay yay yay!
Safe travels
XoX
PP had OT at Children's on Monday which went well. Tuesday was a home visit with the OT from school and our summer school teacher, Vicki. I had a lot of fun! The OT hadn't been to our house in a while and it was the first time meeting our summer school teacher so they told me how cute my house is and were amazed at how big PP is getting! We have been working on alternate forms of communication with PP lately, focusing mostly on using pictures. There is a neat acronym for this process, but I'm too lazy to go look at it right now! Vicki took pictures of PP's favorite things to make some special cards for me to use. She is proficient in this type of teaching, and the OT recently took a class to refresh/renew her knowledge about using pictures as language. I am surely not as knowledgeable as these two amazing women, so they are teaching me and PP at the same time! I'm excited about using pictures, because although PP is good at using sign language, she doesn't have enough coordination to accurately tell anyone exactly what she wants. She can use certain signs if you show her how to do them first (like 'help' or 'open') sort of defeating the purpose of her saying what she wants, but she mostly uses 'more' and 'yes' without prompting. Things can get confusing when you can only say 'more' and 'yes'!
The pictures will help PP to literally show me what she wants. Seeing it in black and white makes me realize how easy this sounds! We have been trying to get PP to use pictures for a very, very, very, very long time. It is not as easy as it sounds. The summer teacher had some new ideas for us tho, like making the pictures a certain size and only using pictures of particular things. I already have a bunch of pictures for PP: small ones, big ones, medium ones, just a couple of computer generated images, a whole bunch of real object images, velcro ones that stick to a corresponding piece of laminated paper, and a bunch more that I can't remember. Hopefully, Vicki can finally help us out and get the right combination of the style of picture that PP will respond to.
My big job in this is to push PP, as usual. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it! The nice thing about my job is that I get to play with kids all day! Wednesday was my reward for the week! I took PP to a splash pad by Lake Hiawatha. We met some friends from our ECFE class! The kids don't really play together, but I got in a few nice conversations with the parents. We had a great time! Chris got a blow up pool for me and PP to play in as well, so we have been making good use of that thing every day this week!
Thursday was ST at Children's. It didn't go so well because we had a bit of a rough morning. ST is still an iffy therapy for PP anyways. I bet it's hard for her due to her lacking ability to use speech and the abundance of ants in her pants. She would rather just run around the room, throw the toys around and eat snacks, but the therapist makes her sit down and look at things and touches her face. PP has to ask for every toy when it is being dangled in front of her face and if she doesn't ask for it, the therapist won't give it to her. She gets mad very quickly! Thursday was a 60 minute session; 30 minutes of tantrum and 30 minutes of pre-tantrum. Ugh. The therapist touches her mouth while she touches her own mouth and making 'M' or 'B' sounds. It works, sometimes, but PP just isn't a huge fan of ST. It is getting better though! When we first started this therapy, we had to switch rooms all the time. We ended up doing a couple sessions in a gym so PP could burn off steam. She used to always need a snack to sit still, which isn't our goal for PP. Slowly but surely we have phased out the snack during ST, but I can tell when PP wants it. She gets mad about not getting snack also, making therapy really hard sometimes! We will get to a good place at ST someday, I hope.
Anyways, it's Friday. No more therapy til Monday, and no ST till next Thursday. Yay! We are gonna fully enjoy the weekend because we will get Papa Chris to partake in our adventures! Yay for family weekends! Yay yay yay!
Safe travels
XoX
Monday, June 18, 2012
Now, I'm even more badass.
I like to try to try a new thing every day. Some days it doesn't work out, so on a different day I might try two or even THREE new things to make up the difference. It helps me and PP stave off boredom! Today, I did two new things.
I started the day with a blunder. I woke up a bit late, and PP slept later than I did. I went downstairs to get some laundry. I was immediately reminded of an ongoing incident waiting for me in the dryer vent. Ominous scratches could be heard from tiny claws making a futile attempt to escape the abyss of my dryer. Oh crap. I really didn't want to deal with that at the time, or ever. So I left the basement, forgetting the clothes, but remembering what needed to be done to fix the problem the entire day. We were almost late for OT at Children's, but with my fancy driving we arrived exactly at 10AM. Little did I know, that at 9:20AM, I was supposed to be hearing a voicemail from Children's saying that our therapist was out of the office today. Our appointment was cancelled. As I picked the sleep from my eyes the front desk receptionist filled me in. I hardly look at my phone in the morning so it wasn't a surprise to me. I thought PP and I could go play at the park. Wrong.
When I got home I realized we were nearly out of wipes. Blah! So on our way to the store I decided to be all spontaneous and junk; I bought a giant sheet of plastic. I had some big plans in store for our day that were better than the park.
We got home and hung out for a bit. But, holy poop, it was hot out today and everything we did seemed to take much longer than I planned. My plastic sheet plans were foiled and had to wait for the afternoon. PP went down for her nap and I was all like, "Eff this...I'm taking a nap." So I did. It was lovely! Then we had to run some errands. When we got home I was super productive and got dinner ready a half hour early! I was really motivated to get this plastic sheet biz on the jump start.
Finally, it was plastic sheet time, my first new and exciting thing to try for the day. I laid it out on the lawn and then folded it in half. I duct taped the three sides together, like a plastic hot pocket. I kept a little space open for a hose to fit into one of the corners. I got the hose and some blue food dye and began to fill my plastic hot pocket with bright blue water. My intentions were to make a big, cool, water blob for PP and I to roll around on (thanks a million, Pinterest!). It was going to be like a big water bed and probably the coolest thing I have done in a while. The idea is fool-proof! This nonsense was going pretty smoothly until PP got bored. Yikes! This giant piece of plastic would take forever to fill up! The blob was only about half full when we ventured to the garage. We were gone for just a few minutes. The anticipation of having this giant squishy thing on the grass was becoming too much for me to handle. I picked PP up and ran back to the blob, only to see that it had rolled down the slight slope of the yard. There was my big, beautiful blob, reduced to nothing more than a wet and very dirty piece of plastic, dabbled in duct tape cuddled up next to the fence. I couldn't stop myself from saying, "You win again, gravity." and shaking my fist in the air. The hose was also spraying all over the yard, so to get everything under control I had to run into the shower of freezing cold water with PP so she wouldn't go running in the opposite direction. She was pissed. This giant blob was more difficult to handle than I thought it would be because there was still water inside. Tugging on it was like tugging on a sheet stuck under a boulder. During a brief fit of rage I ripped the dumb thing apart. Then it was done. Water was everywhere.
I sat in my lawn chair next to PP and we discussed what was to be done with the rest of our day. What other shenanigans could I get the two of us into?!
Going to the beach never fails, so I popped PP into the wagon with some snacks and our beach bag. Holy poop, it was hot out! We got to the beach and it was play time! I got some funny looks from people as I started to put wet sand all over PP as she shrieked in delight, but she liked it and it's good for her to get as much sensory feedback from her surroundings as possible. Yah, I buried her in some sand. No big deal.
We even kind of made a friend. She was a very curious 4 1/2 year old girl with a million questions. Her parents didn't even give a courtesy wave when I waved at them, but they seemed to be OK enough with me to entertain their daughter. I think she was so interested in us because we were the only ones in the water literally horsing around. She started horsing around as well, so we had a good time. I was spinning PP in circles, singing "Ring Around a Rosie" and taking a break closer to the shore now and then to bury PP in the sand. The little girl, Taylor, was right along with us. She also liked to show me the fancy things she could do in her life jacket. It was a really, really nice day at the beach! Our day seemed to be on the upswing!
We got home just in time for bath and bed. PP went down without a hitch, thank you beach! Chris finally got home and he made us some cheeseburgers. As the two of us sat on the porch eating and discussing our day I brought up the situation waiting for us in the dryer. We tossed ideas back and forth on how to free the animal, but it was obvious neither one of us wanted to do anything. It's so gross.
If this little bugger was still alive I would have to catch it and probably end up killing it in the process. If it was dead in the dryer, I would have to fish out a dead animal from the dryer. A complete lose-lose situation.
We went downstairs to take a hard look at what we were dealing with and decided a piece of cardboard and a garbage bag were the two best tools for the job. We rattled the tubing around a bit to see if it was still alive and there were no signs of life or death. There was nothing! Thanks? I wasn't sure. We took the tubing apart and found nothing. UGH! I knew there was something in that damn dryer, and not seeing anything in the tubing meant the stupid animal had probably chewed it's way somewhere deep inside the actual dryer. The only feasible option seemed to be to turn the dryer on, since the thing was obviously dead. We hoped it would get sucked back into the tubing. Sure enough, when we turned on our death machine we heard the banging of a little animal carcass. I was about to pull my hair out! After that, there were still no signs of an animal inside the tubing. We turned the dryer on it's face and decided that taking the back off was the best solution. As Chris went upstairs to get some tools, I thought it would be a lark if I shook the tubing once more. I wasn't expecting anything to happen, and this is the second new thing I did today. I acted on an impulse in a situation that could take a very terrifying turn. Immediately after I did, I wished I hadn't, because a freshly deceased chipmunk fell onto the ground and my eyeballs almost popped out of my head. I screamed and ran upstairs. At least we didn't have to take the dryer apart.
Mind you, I have seen horrendous things in my life. As a CNA in a nursing home I helped nurses dress subcutaneous ulcers on a coccyx so deep that you could hide a wine cork in them. I have seen nightmarish staph infections. Improperly healed knee replacements which grow superficial pustules that ooze green madness and need to be dressed every other hour. Poop, pee, vomit, injuries beyond your wildest dreams. I've handled dead bodies.
I'm certainly not a wiener, but I have limits.
This chipmunk was hardly even dead, but it scared the shit out of me. I don't dig on bugs or rodents or anything like that.
Chris knows this about me because he has seen it first hand. These things are not something I go parading around telling anyone about, except for right now. Hah! So, being a smart ass, he says that I am the one who has to pick it up. I made a good case as to why I couldn't, but seeing that stupid chipmunk laying dead on the floor was a bit too much for me. I could barely stand the sight of it; it was very fresh, and still squishy. Chris poked it. I swear it looked at me. I was scared that maybe it would turn into a zombie and attack me. I stayed as far away as I could from it while using a dust pan to scoop it up. The zombie theory flew out the window because it was most definitely dead. Of course, right as I get it into the dust pan Chris yells "BAAAHHHH!" and scares me half to death! In a flash I tossed that damn rodent into the plastic coffin and cursed it. Then I cursed Chris and ran upstairs. I might have acted like a baby but I still did the deed!
Today was like a TV show. Some crazy hilarious events took place, but at the end of the night everything is back to normal.
Now the house is calm and my dryer is humming along with the laundry that has been building up since Friday. I've got my work cut out for me as far as housework is concerned, but my work as a handy-lady/zombie chipmunk handler is over. Thank goodness. I am experiencing a fresh sense of self-empowerment. Lovely.
Eh...bedtime never sounded so sweet.
Strong stomachs and new experiences!
XoX
I started the day with a blunder. I woke up a bit late, and PP slept later than I did. I went downstairs to get some laundry. I was immediately reminded of an ongoing incident waiting for me in the dryer vent. Ominous scratches could be heard from tiny claws making a futile attempt to escape the abyss of my dryer. Oh crap. I really didn't want to deal with that at the time, or ever. So I left the basement, forgetting the clothes, but remembering what needed to be done to fix the problem the entire day. We were almost late for OT at Children's, but with my fancy driving we arrived exactly at 10AM. Little did I know, that at 9:20AM, I was supposed to be hearing a voicemail from Children's saying that our therapist was out of the office today. Our appointment was cancelled. As I picked the sleep from my eyes the front desk receptionist filled me in. I hardly look at my phone in the morning so it wasn't a surprise to me. I thought PP and I could go play at the park. Wrong.
When I got home I realized we were nearly out of wipes. Blah! So on our way to the store I decided to be all spontaneous and junk; I bought a giant sheet of plastic. I had some big plans in store for our day that were better than the park.
We got home and hung out for a bit. But, holy poop, it was hot out today and everything we did seemed to take much longer than I planned. My plastic sheet plans were foiled and had to wait for the afternoon. PP went down for her nap and I was all like, "Eff this...I'm taking a nap." So I did. It was lovely! Then we had to run some errands. When we got home I was super productive and got dinner ready a half hour early! I was really motivated to get this plastic sheet biz on the jump start.
Finally, it was plastic sheet time, my first new and exciting thing to try for the day. I laid it out on the lawn and then folded it in half. I duct taped the three sides together, like a plastic hot pocket. I kept a little space open for a hose to fit into one of the corners. I got the hose and some blue food dye and began to fill my plastic hot pocket with bright blue water. My intentions were to make a big, cool, water blob for PP and I to roll around on (thanks a million, Pinterest!). It was going to be like a big water bed and probably the coolest thing I have done in a while. The idea is fool-proof! This nonsense was going pretty smoothly until PP got bored. Yikes! This giant piece of plastic would take forever to fill up! The blob was only about half full when we ventured to the garage. We were gone for just a few minutes. The anticipation of having this giant squishy thing on the grass was becoming too much for me to handle. I picked PP up and ran back to the blob, only to see that it had rolled down the slight slope of the yard. There was my big, beautiful blob, reduced to nothing more than a wet and very dirty piece of plastic, dabbled in duct tape cuddled up next to the fence. I couldn't stop myself from saying, "You win again, gravity." and shaking my fist in the air. The hose was also spraying all over the yard, so to get everything under control I had to run into the shower of freezing cold water with PP so she wouldn't go running in the opposite direction. She was pissed. This giant blob was more difficult to handle than I thought it would be because there was still water inside. Tugging on it was like tugging on a sheet stuck under a boulder. During a brief fit of rage I ripped the dumb thing apart. Then it was done. Water was everywhere.
I sat in my lawn chair next to PP and we discussed what was to be done with the rest of our day. What other shenanigans could I get the two of us into?!
Going to the beach never fails, so I popped PP into the wagon with some snacks and our beach bag. Holy poop, it was hot out! We got to the beach and it was play time! I got some funny looks from people as I started to put wet sand all over PP as she shrieked in delight, but she liked it and it's good for her to get as much sensory feedback from her surroundings as possible. Yah, I buried her in some sand. No big deal.
We even kind of made a friend. She was a very curious 4 1/2 year old girl with a million questions. Her parents didn't even give a courtesy wave when I waved at them, but they seemed to be OK enough with me to entertain their daughter. I think she was so interested in us because we were the only ones in the water literally horsing around. She started horsing around as well, so we had a good time. I was spinning PP in circles, singing "Ring Around a Rosie" and taking a break closer to the shore now and then to bury PP in the sand. The little girl, Taylor, was right along with us. She also liked to show me the fancy things she could do in her life jacket. It was a really, really nice day at the beach! Our day seemed to be on the upswing!
We got home just in time for bath and bed. PP went down without a hitch, thank you beach! Chris finally got home and he made us some cheeseburgers. As the two of us sat on the porch eating and discussing our day I brought up the situation waiting for us in the dryer. We tossed ideas back and forth on how to free the animal, but it was obvious neither one of us wanted to do anything. It's so gross.
If this little bugger was still alive I would have to catch it and probably end up killing it in the process. If it was dead in the dryer, I would have to fish out a dead animal from the dryer. A complete lose-lose situation.
We went downstairs to take a hard look at what we were dealing with and decided a piece of cardboard and a garbage bag were the two best tools for the job. We rattled the tubing around a bit to see if it was still alive and there were no signs of life or death. There was nothing! Thanks? I wasn't sure. We took the tubing apart and found nothing. UGH! I knew there was something in that damn dryer, and not seeing anything in the tubing meant the stupid animal had probably chewed it's way somewhere deep inside the actual dryer. The only feasible option seemed to be to turn the dryer on, since the thing was obviously dead. We hoped it would get sucked back into the tubing. Sure enough, when we turned on our death machine we heard the banging of a little animal carcass. I was about to pull my hair out! After that, there were still no signs of an animal inside the tubing. We turned the dryer on it's face and decided that taking the back off was the best solution. As Chris went upstairs to get some tools, I thought it would be a lark if I shook the tubing once more. I wasn't expecting anything to happen, and this is the second new thing I did today. I acted on an impulse in a situation that could take a very terrifying turn. Immediately after I did, I wished I hadn't, because a freshly deceased chipmunk fell onto the ground and my eyeballs almost popped out of my head. I screamed and ran upstairs. At least we didn't have to take the dryer apart.
Mind you, I have seen horrendous things in my life. As a CNA in a nursing home I helped nurses dress subcutaneous ulcers on a coccyx so deep that you could hide a wine cork in them. I have seen nightmarish staph infections. Improperly healed knee replacements which grow superficial pustules that ooze green madness and need to be dressed every other hour. Poop, pee, vomit, injuries beyond your wildest dreams. I've handled dead bodies.
I'm certainly not a wiener, but I have limits.
This chipmunk was hardly even dead, but it scared the shit out of me. I don't dig on bugs or rodents or anything like that.
Chris knows this about me because he has seen it first hand. These things are not something I go parading around telling anyone about, except for right now. Hah! So, being a smart ass, he says that I am the one who has to pick it up. I made a good case as to why I couldn't, but seeing that stupid chipmunk laying dead on the floor was a bit too much for me. I could barely stand the sight of it; it was very fresh, and still squishy. Chris poked it. I swear it looked at me. I was scared that maybe it would turn into a zombie and attack me. I stayed as far away as I could from it while using a dust pan to scoop it up. The zombie theory flew out the window because it was most definitely dead. Of course, right as I get it into the dust pan Chris yells "BAAAHHHH!" and scares me half to death! In a flash I tossed that damn rodent into the plastic coffin and cursed it. Then I cursed Chris and ran upstairs. I might have acted like a baby but I still did the deed!
Today was like a TV show. Some crazy hilarious events took place, but at the end of the night everything is back to normal.
Now the house is calm and my dryer is humming along with the laundry that has been building up since Friday. I've got my work cut out for me as far as housework is concerned, but my work as a handy-lady/zombie chipmunk handler is over. Thank goodness. I am experiencing a fresh sense of self-empowerment. Lovely.
Eh...bedtime never sounded so sweet.
Strong stomachs and new experiences!
XoX
Friday, June 15, 2012
FREEDOM!
We had a visit from a PHN yesterday for PP's PCA assessment, and it turned out better than I could have imagined.
My lil PP qualifies for 31 hours of PCA time every week. WHOA! Can you say, "AWESOME SAUCE?!" The kind that is the thousand island kind...yes!
This is such amazing news because I expected only about 20 hours, but now I have more time to do wonderful things for my family and not feel guilty about it. I always feel bad leaving PP with a sitter, even though it's always her grandparents. I can't even explain why I feel guilty, but I think that any mommy would know what I am talking about. Maybe it's because PP cries when I leave and it makes me feel bad.
Thankfully, this emotion is fleeting. I keep reminding myself that PP needs to be around other people and get to know her family and friends. She can't always do that with me holding her hand, and I need to let her explore the world with other people so she can build trust with them. It's all fine and dandy!
With that said, I am excited for this weekend! Tonight, I get to spend time in good company for the evening; running amok through a beautifully landscaped yard and watching tight-rope shenanigans, sans PP. Tomorrow, I get to watch a long-time friend tie the knot! My sister, Lee, is the Maid of Honor! My most immediate family will be there so I will get to dress up and hang out with some of my favorite people! Yay! Sunday is Father's Day. As of right now, a BBQ is in order with some lovely friends and their sweet baby. I won't be with PP the entire weekend, but it's ok to put a clamp in the umbilical cord now and again. I've heard before that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but a break for mommy makes the world a little brighter.
Thank goodness for positive energy, even if it takes a little while for it to run it's circle.
Tasty s'mores and no chores
XoX
My lil PP qualifies for 31 hours of PCA time every week. WHOA! Can you say, "AWESOME SAUCE?!" The kind that is the thousand island kind...yes!
This is such amazing news because I expected only about 20 hours, but now I have more time to do wonderful things for my family and not feel guilty about it. I always feel bad leaving PP with a sitter, even though it's always her grandparents. I can't even explain why I feel guilty, but I think that any mommy would know what I am talking about. Maybe it's because PP cries when I leave and it makes me feel bad.
Thankfully, this emotion is fleeting. I keep reminding myself that PP needs to be around other people and get to know her family and friends. She can't always do that with me holding her hand, and I need to let her explore the world with other people so she can build trust with them. It's all fine and dandy!
With that said, I am excited for this weekend! Tonight, I get to spend time in good company for the evening; running amok through a beautifully landscaped yard and watching tight-rope shenanigans, sans PP. Tomorrow, I get to watch a long-time friend tie the knot! My sister, Lee, is the Maid of Honor! My most immediate family will be there so I will get to dress up and hang out with some of my favorite people! Yay! Sunday is Father's Day. As of right now, a BBQ is in order with some lovely friends and their sweet baby. I won't be with PP the entire weekend, but it's ok to put a clamp in the umbilical cord now and again. I've heard before that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but a break for mommy makes the world a little brighter.
Thank goodness for positive energy, even if it takes a little while for it to run it's circle.
Tasty s'mores and no chores
XoX
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