GoD and DoG by WJ Francisco

Thanks for the link, Ray.

It is not all or nothing....

I need to remember that. So often I put a plan into place, then when I make a mistake, I throw the whole plan out the window. I do it every time I'm trying to form a new habit, like daily exercise, not eating sugar, daily laundry, etc. So here I am trying to blog everyday for a month... and I missed yesterday!

I am going to go against all that I am and keep blogging every day for the month. It is a lesson in forgiveness for myself.

Here are a few of my random thoughts for today:

• I found out today that fireman do NOT wear jammies at the firestation. Yes, I had to ask.



• Maddie is only noisy in church if everyone else is quiet.



• I can now run fabulously without any pain in my pelvis.



• Kaia cannot run anymore, it makes her too limpy.



• My mom has become a rockstar.



• Fischer and BFF must wear boots and snow pants if there is even the slightest chance of encountering snow.



• Maddison looks so stinkin' cute in babylegs... I just want to eat her up.



• Fischer just told me to write : "February 27th we should go to Hawaii, for my present and my birthday party."


• That's his birthday, I think he is right! That would be a great present! Ummm, I'd like to go there for my birthday too! Hmmm... someday.


• We're on round two of the fall cold... only a few days of wellness in between. How does this happen when I am so careful to keep our hands washed and sanitized? Maybe because my son licked the doors at JCPenney's.

Ummm.... What to say?

It is 8:20 in the morning, I'm sitting in my nice warm bed listening to Fischer play and sing in the other room. I am desperately trying to think of some fantastic and interesting thing to blog about. You may have noticed that I've lost my blogging momentum. Andy was home for two weeks over the holidays and we enjoyed being lazy and hanging out as a family. I am off routine and am trying to get back together. Somehow, though, after all of that rest and relaxation, I am feeling uninspired to write.

Hmmm...

I could tell you about a few new philanthropic organizations that have recently caught my interest, but it feels like after a long stint of no blogging, I should write about something more personal.

I could tell you about how Kaia is emitting the most horrific smell on a fairly regularly basis and it makes me want to throw up. I've lost all patience with her and am constantly trying to get her to stop following me around... so now she seems depressed and I feel guilty... But talking about dog gas isn't very classy and why would anyone want to read about it?

I could tell you about how the other night when I was giving Fischer a bath, he said "You have good energy, Mom!" But then you'd probably start wondering about what we talk about at our house... Seriously I don't know where he got that.

If I wrote about that then I would start to get on a roll talking about of all of the Fischisms of late. Such as, before Christmas when we were talking about Christmas being Jesus' birthday, and Fischer wanted to bake Him a birthday cake. I said that'd be a good idea, but then he wanted to TAKE it to Him. I tried to explain that Jesus is in our hearts and if we celebrate His birthday and eat His cake, that will make Him happy. Then, after a really long pause.... he gets this worried look and asks me, "How did Jesus get in my tummy?"

But if I told you all of that then I'd have to tell you about the bumbling answer I gave about God creating us and putting a piece of himself into us and while I was talking I realized that to Fischer this might sound like God put His toe inside of him and an His elbow in me and and his eyeball inside Daddy... which sounded scary and then I just kept talking and talking until I felt that I'd been totally clear and insightful... and he had no comment.

OR I could tell you after this long saga of home repairs the work men should be done today. Hopefully the bill will come close to the original quote.

I could tell you that we are in the final stages of potty training, and Fischer has given up the night time pull-up for underwear at night. Which means we made it through with only having to buy one case. It also means that he wakes up twice a night to go potty...and so do we.

I could make a little announcement about being pregnant. That is kind of an exciting thing to talk about but maybe not as exciting of a thing to read about. Plus maybe you already knew. AND I have had the realization that I may not be able to sleep through the night without interruptions for FOUR more years!

So as you can see, I'm at a loss for words today. So I think I won't write about anything, and I'll just get ready for the day and go pick up BFF for a playdate.

Have a great day!

6 bits of randomness

1. I had forgotten to follow up on the almost Thanksgiving horror story. Luckily Fischer was so distracted by all of the family and hoopla he didn't even notice the turkey. In fact the ONLY things he ate were ranch dip and cool whip! He ate his weight in white creamy substances. Gross. He loved Thanksgiving and was a huge ham for all of the relatives. Seriously, what did we ever talk about before he came along? Anyway, he still seems to be a vegetarian except for the occasional bite of chicken at someone else's house.


2. I also forgot to tell you about the pet psychic, I WILL tell you about that this week sometime. (Thanks for the reminder Angela)


3. Have I mentioned that one of the major downfalls to getting rid of the binky is that Fisch now licks and sucks on his hands? Just FYI in case you are thinking of getting rid of your babe's pacifier. Say goodbye to naps and hello to hands in mouth! Still want to do it? Let em' keep that thing till college... or at least till cold and flu season is over.


4. You know that poem, "When I am Old I Will Wear Purple"? You know, it is the one that inspired the Red Hat Society (of which my mother is the 'queen mother' of her chapter)? Well, somebody lent it to Sophie and Kaia... and now they think that because they are 10 years old, or 70 years old rather, that they can sit and sleep on the furniture - seriously right in front of me, with a look like "yah, so, what are you gonna do?" AND they have begun to eat off the counter and the table and the stove!!!! What? They never did this before. If I find out who tried to liberate my old lady dogs... well... I'm giving them to YOU!


5. We've decked the halls and trimmed the tree and we are oh-so ready for Christmas... and Hannukkah (Andy's mom is Jewish). We've already started reading books about these holidays and singing carols with Fischer. The new thought on my mind is... do I go with the whole "Santa brings you presents" thing? Or do I say "some people believe Santa brings you presents" Or we like to "pretend that Santa comes down the chimney". I want Christmas to be most importantly about the birth of Christ, however I think all of the Santa and reindeer stuff has a place too. How do you do it?


6. Yay, I finally finished my NaBloPoMo! 30 posts in 30 days! Were they all stellar? Not in the slightest, but I did it. Now if only I could devote that kind of commitment to something that really matters in my life. Well maybe this will propel me forward to the next 30 days of something. OK, OK - I'm going to do it for all of you to see... here I go>>> 31 days of exercise in December! I'm doin' it. Wanna come along? I'll keep you posted.

Lazy Day

Her nose used to be all black when she was a puppy. I guess she licked it right off.

Happy Sunday

Wow... this blog everyday for a month thing is harder than I thought it would be. I'm drawing a blank tonight... any special requests?

Jedi Mind Trick

We've been having some problems lately with a Force power. Apparently Kaia has been using the Jedi Mind Trick on Fischer to get him to give her his breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
It started out with him giving in and doing it every time. But now that he has begun to resist, it appears to be getting more painful. Today he ran screaming toward me with toast in hand, saying "She keeps saying, (in a high pitched voice) 'I want some toast, give me some toast'".
It is getting so bad that he often will not allow her to be in the room or to look at him while he is eating.

All the while, she is just sitting there looking at him... like she is in the picture.

Seriously, he might be the next pet psychic. Ha ha, you laugh, but a few years ago, while I was pregnant with Fischer, Sophie and Kaia were having some problems... we invited an "animal communicator" to come to our house, just for fun... Let's just say I was totally blown away! She made me a believer in her skills. I think I'll tell you about her tomorrow.

Too hot and too long, yet somehow mood lifting

Yesterday I was crabby. I realized this after Fischer's third trip to timeout when he'd only been awake for 30 minutes. Hmmm, the problem might be me!! We skipped soccer and loaded up the jogging stroller with snacks, hats, sunglasses, water bottles, plastic bags (for dog poop), overdue library books and the kitchen sink. Then Fischer, Sophie and Kaia, and I headed out for a long run/walk to the library. Round trip - it is a little less than 7 miles. Well, what I didn't realize - is that it was 150 degrees yesterday! Whatever, I thought we were trying to have autumn! Anyway, all was well, I was hot and sweaty by the time we got to the library, but after a bathroom break and the four of us chugged our water bottles (well, Sophie and Kaia did more slurping than chugging), we were on our way back home. By now, I'm realizing just how hot and tired Kaia truly is. She is mostly black and pretty chubby and 10 years old. She was slowing quite a bit. As Sophie and i jogged, Kaia trailed behind. So i started walking too and gave her the last of the water. I just kept hoping that she wouldn't collapse before we could make it home! Plus, I kept thinking about this story my mother-in-law told about her dog that was running around playing at a backyard party and then dropped dead mid-stride! That visual was beginning to really worry me as Kaia's tongue grew longer and longer.

And then, she DID collapse! We were about a mile from home on a busy road next to a very long retaining wall. There was no access to the neighboring houses to get more water for her or to hose her down. There was no way to drag her home and I couldn't get her to stand up, let alone walk another mile in the sun. Across 5 lanes of busy traffic there was a neighborhood, but we were nowhere near a cross walk and I couldn't drag my 100 pound dog across that road while pushing a stroller and wrangling Sophie. What to do?

Much to the amusement of the passing cars, I pulled Fisch out of the stroller and tried to lift Kaia into it!! I had laid down the seat to make more room, but she didn't fit and she looked like a giant seal in there. Her elbows were pressing into the tray and neither she nor I had the strength to maneuver her into a more comfortable position. I had to lift her out. the fire department was near by... they get cats out of trees, maybe they get dogs off of sidewalks? No, no... we'll wait a little longer. Well thankfully, after a few more minutes I was able to coax her to stand and encourage her to walk the last mile home. Then I promptly plopped her into a cold kiddie pool. Sweet relief, for her.

For some reason after all of that sun, sweat, worry, and eventual relief.... I wasn't crabby anymore.

Rescuing Robin

Last week, Fischer and I were out playing in the yard early in the morning, when we noticed a slew of birds in the garden... eating. I am convinced that they ate many of our seeds before they had a chance to sprout, and now they are eating our strawberries that are starting to turn red. I yelled at them, but they didn't budge, the dogs barked at them... didn't phase them. They have come to realize that the chain link fence around the garden protects them from being bothered while feasting at our salad bar. So... (now look away if you don't want to find out what kind of cruel, thoughtless and horrible thing I did next)... I opened the gate and sent Kaia in to chase them away. They were suppose to startle and fly away.

One baby robin was not so quick and instead hurled herself through the chain link fence and across the yard. But, Kaia is quick for a 92 pound slug... she chased the little bird all around until she finally heard me screaming "STOP!!!!!!" Kaia backed away and the bird didn't move. Oh no! I went to look at it and its wing was splayed funny and it was frozen there staring at me. Oh crap! Kaia broke it! So I put Kaia and Sophie in the house and Fisch and I went to get a box and call the vet. The vet is licenced to deal with it. They told me to call the aviary. We grab a box, paused for a moment to decide whether to grab the camera (as any good blogger would) and ran back out. It was gone! Fisch and I searched the yard... nothing. I brought the dogs back out to search... nothing.

One week later (today), Andy spotted the poor baby in the weeds by the basketball court (not far from the last place I saw it). I grabbed the box and some gloves and scooped it up (very easily) and brought it into the house. Called the Aviary, they told me to call a nature center over an hour away. The nature center has a wild bird rehab and asked me to bring it in as soon as possible.
Fisch and I jumped in the car with the scared little robin and 2 hours later (traffic and construction) found ourselves at the giant nature center. The rehab part was so small. I mean, closet sized. It was a tiny narrow room with three workers and oodles and oodles of cages covered partly with towels. (It was surprisingly quiet in there). They opened the box and checked out the babe, to find that she had puncture wounds (bite marks) in her chest muscle, which is why she couldn't fly. The wound was already infected. They gave her antibiotics while I stood there and spend some time cleaning her up. They said she'd rest there and heal, and then they'd set her free. She was almost old enough to be on her own.

Happy ending? Sort of. Although the little bird will probably be just fine I couldn't help but worry about the rehab place itself. It runs solely on private donations. There were hundreds of birds in there being treated. The staff works tirelessly to give them the care that they need. The rehabilitation specialist had gone home the night before at 2am and was expecting to do the same today. This is the ONLY wild bird rehab in the North half of the state and possibly in the entire state. I had found an exotic pet hospital that would have taken the bird, but I would have had to pay for it. $40 for the exam, $60 for the x-ray, let alone the treatments to follow.
After we walked out the door of the rehab, a woman followed by a herd of kids walked in each carrying a very tiny sick duckling. A few minutes later, we passed a man heading that way carrying another robin in a box.
The rehab accepts monetary donations (of course) but also had a long list of donate-able supplies. I'll be getting the word out to put a package together for them. If you live by me, expect an email. If you don't, check into your local shelters and wild rehabilitation centers and see what they need. Seriously the list had paper towels, cotton balls, tweezers, towels, sheets, etc. I'm sure we all have something at home to help. I was just kicking myself for giving our kennel carriers to the thrift store recently. They can always use more cages to give the birds a place to get well.

This is one of those times when, no-you can't fix the problem, but every little bit helps.

Summer is in full swing

Aaaaahhhh, we are settling into summer quite nicely. Andy is on summer vacation and Fisch and I are following suit. Here is a little update on the summer so far.

Fisch had his last day of Little Gym, Daddy and Grandma came to see him show off his tricks. The pics all turned out a little blurry, but this one is of him finishing a forward roll on the beam. I'm pretty sure that Fisch was his teacher's favorite!!! (jk, Jenny).

Fisch went to his first amusement park and LOVED it! He loved the rides the churros, the Dippin' Dots... everything! His favorite was the helicopter ride, but he was so hight up that I couldn't get a good pic of him in there. These will have to do.

Daddy taught Fischer how to drink from the hose. I know it is bad... but I can't make all the rules! Everything is growing nicely in the garden. I love it! It is so fun to go in there everyday and look at the what is happening!! We've go tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, peas, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, green beans, herbs, artichokes, broccoli and spinach all growing and growing! Very cool!

Sophie and Kaia have been shaved for a more aerodynamic summer and to give me a break from dog hair in the house! Unfortunately for Kaia, her new do - has revealed a lot of gray!

And this last one is from a beautiful walk in the park with some of our playgroup buddies. (BFF said that she was unavailable to be photographed at this time- too bad too, because her outfit matched the flowers!).

Live it up this weekend!

Sophie and Kaia going for a dip

I bought Fisch a little swimming pool today, I'm thinking I should have bought more than one! I was just going to fill it with water while he napped so that the sun could warm it a bit, instead I'll have to refill it with clean water right before he gets in!

Haunted by a rubber duck

Poor Kaia has been tormented all day by a possessed, quacking duck in the bathtub. She was introduced to the duck this morning (an Easter gift from MamaBarb). I put it in the water and it flashed LED lights and quacked (very disturbing, according to Kaia), Fisch loved it. Well apparently, the duck wasn't meant for water, because now it has malfunctioned and hasn't stopped quacking all day (now it is a low watery drowning duck quack). Apparently, Kaia seems to be taking the whole thing personally and feels taunted by the duck. She has been wining and grumbling and checking on it every chance she gets. She seems quite frightened by it. Maybe it is possessed! You'd think as a good dog-mom, that I'd throw the thing away... but alas...no... I was hoping it'd dry out and work normally again. I'll let you know if she has nightmares about it.