Ooops! I Missed It

Apparently, yesterday at some point TIBM reached 6000 visits. I had been watching so I could commemorate it but missed it by 11. Anyway, TIBM has had over 6000 visits (over 4000 if you don't count me)!

Puppy Class

So, last week, we taught Howie to come and sit at our feet when we call his name (we're about 94% on this and still practicing), and this week we learned "touch" and "leave it," both very useful commands for us to master. We can use "touch" to call him away from Lulu, and we can use "leave it" when he's sneaking up on our shoes/dolls/books/laundry/toys/mushrooms-in-the-yard/etc. We need lots of practice on both, but Howie did really well with the little bit of time we had in class to practice.

And next week? Next week we're learning walking-nicely-on-a-leash!! WOO-HOO!!!! Howie and I sooooooo need this training. We've done a little on our own, but since he rarely walks nicely, we haven't had much opportunity for rewarding and so aren't quite getting it yet. Also, it'll be good because Howie really needs to learn walking-nicely-at-PetSmart. He's a people person dog, and a dog dog and so gets to the end of his leash a lot.

Also, I have been hunting for the perfect collar and I think I found it. It's black (so you can't really see it) and nylon (I might get leather eventually) and good for tie-out, which is essential since we don't have a fence. So Pete and I used the engraving machine while Howie got his nails clipped ($9! but worth it) and got him an ID tag (it was cool to watch). When we got home we put it and his rabies tag on his collar and strapped the collar around his neck and then sat and laughed at him flopping around trying to bite the jingling things on his neck for the next 10 minutes. He seems used to them now, though, so no more funny. Also, at the moment, he is wearing his collar and his harness, simply because the harness is hard to get off but important when walking so he doesn't hurt his neck. Hopefully we'll be able to take it off for good soon (see above)...

So far puppy classes seem like a good investment. Thank goodness for 3 calorie dog treats!

Things We Never Thought We'd Have to Say

First eat your lunch. Then you can go save the day. (HG to Lulu, who had just declared the she needed to "get down so [she could] go save the day")

Another Open House

Part 1: I had this conversation twice with Husbandguy in 2 days. Word for word.

HG, sounding annoyed: What time is this open house?
MN: It's at 11.
HG, still annoyed: Wait, who is it for?
MN: Lulu. You don't have to be there.

You'd think that just the 1 time would have been sufficient, but he apparently needed to run through it 2 times. In 2 days.

Part 2: The open house was yesterday morning (so thankfully I won't have to have that conversation again). When I was on the phone with Moomie before we left, Lulu was all full of sparkle and song. The cheerful singing and squealing in the background gave Moomie the impression that maybe Lulu was excited. She may have been right...

It went well. Lulu is clearly comfortable in her new class. She likes her teachers and they already know her from us borrowing the tiny potty from time to time. All of her friends from last year except for 1 are in this class with her. Most of them were there yesterday, but she was too busy playing to talk to any of them. We're looking forward to next week.

And, I am seriously considering trying drop off this year...

Things We Never Thought We'd Have to Say

Please don't throw boats at me. (MN to Lulu)

The Name-Giver

The Name-Giver has dubbed her:

Cheerio

Pet Peeve

I have a bunch of pet peeves, but just recently I was reminded of one, and I need to express it to you.

Why do people use Word to build a file that entirely consists of tables? Like a school directory. It is so much easier to build the silly thing in Excel! Tables in Word are for if you have a text document and need to insert a table in the midst somewhere (and even then it's easier to build it in Excel and paste it into Word, but I don't really care about that - I'm just stating a fact).

Like I said, just one of many pet peeves.

The New President

(Not of the USA - of the PTA)

Last year, I didn't work well with the PTA president. He was a good leader, but he was the wrong personality type for me and I was intimidated by him and I would never had made a joke in front of him like the one I just made to the new president via email, who totally got it. Listen:

MN: Hi! I noticed that the flyer about the PTA meeting in our packets from school said that we'll be giving away t-shirts to new members. Will there be enough t-shirts to give away on the 4th? If not, are we going to offer an apology and a bumper sticker or something instead?

Pres: Hey [MN]! I know we are printing t-shirts to sell at that meeting, and we have a designer working on a new t-shirt to sell in the fall. I think the consensus is that we'll offer our apologies and a "we ran out of shirts" and hope that everyone understands. Quite frankly, no one expected you to kick quite as much membership booty at the Open House! What a great problem to have, right?

MN: Okey doke! I'm set for apologies and smiles. I'll try to remember not to say, "Nyahnyahnyah-ah. Yooo missed ou-out."

Pres: yeah - that wouldn't be very Montessori of you. ;)

She's so cool!

The Name-Giver

The Name-Giver has dubbed him:

Marshmallow

A Good Soaking

The weatherpeople have been saying for a week that Fay was going to bring us rain, they just didn't know when. Well, today it happened. It has been raining, with short breaks here and there, since sometime last night. Actually, since about 7 this morning, it's been raining constantly.

This is good because we need the rain so people will stop using the word drought in every other sentence.

It is bad because Howie doesn't like to get wet and so won't go outside when it's raining. At all. Unless I go with him. Which I don't want to have to do. I, um... helped him go out back by himself a little while ago so he could pee, but he just scrunched up against the house and fussed at me until the neighbor dogs started fussing too so I went out and stood in the grass until he peed. I'm setting a bad precedent, I know, but I'd rather stand in the rain for 2 minutes than have to clean up a puddle.

Actually, no, I wouldn't. That's it. I'm not sending him outside if he doesn't want to go anymore. But I will be closing all the bedroom doors...

The Name-Giver

The Name-Giver has dubbed him:

Yankee Doodle



(That's Howie's squirrel.)

The Name-Giver

The Name-Giver has dubbed him:

Little Chester

A Little Sadness and a Lot of Pride

My baby, my original baby, is a first grader today. I am waiting anxiously to hear all about it.

The bus came and picked her up this morning (way better than last year). Except it wasn't the bus number we were told she would be riding. The driver said "[Pete's School]?" and there were other kids from Pete's school on the bus so I let her get on...

I forgot to put a note in her lunch about how proud of her I am so I wrote her a letter and put it with the mail for when she gets home.

I'm going to miss that kid...

Things We Never Thought We'd Have to Say

You can't have cake unless you put on your pants. (HG to Lulu)

Puppy Class

So yesterday, at Howie's first day of puppy class, he was the biggest "puppy" and the most excited. I am hoping that he is one of those dogs about whom it is said, "What a big difference there is between how he was the first day and now, 8 weeks later, at the end of puppy classes." That will depend on me, though...

Mommy's Nintendo Rocks PTA Membership

So our state PTA organization challenged all PTAs to increase membership by 7% this year over last year. Since nobody actually did anything much about membership last year, when I set my goals, they were pretty low, I admit. A 7% increase over last year would only be 86 members. My goal was 90 members.

So our first membership push was yesterday at Open House. I made 50 copies of the membership form and a couple of signs (Husbandguy helped with the signs - I made them in Word and he printed them on the plotter at work and they were amazing - everyone exclaimed about them a lot) and tootled off to Open House 1/2 hour early to set up. OH was supposed to go from 11-1 and I was hoping to get 50 people to pay their dues while there. OH actually went from 10:45 - 1:30, at least the part I was doing did, and our tiny organization has 95* members now! And school hasn't even started. And we'll probably get a few more at the first PTA meeting in September.

I guarantee that the Board is not regretting voting "aye" to creating a Membership Committee for MN to chair. I'm on fire! This is going to be a way better PTA experience than last year.

*unofficial count

A Beer to Remember

So, Husbandguy and I went on a date last night. Our first in... um... forever? The place we went to dinner had $3.oo draughts, and they had a list of about 20 (or exactly 20) draught beers. So I told the guy, who might be the owner or maybe the very dedicated manager and who reminded HG of the Grandpa (in a good way), that I don't usually drink beer, and he suggested I try Bell's Oberon. It's a Michigan brewery. See, since I'm not a beer drinker, I don't know anything about beer except that I don't like Bud and all it's brothers. A long time ago, when I was first learning about alcohol (but after the wine-coolers-are-yummy phase), I thought maybe I liked one of those ice beers and also maybe Killian's, but ew! Seriously.

So I tried the Oberon, and it was really good! I was surprised. It wasn't all grainy-flavored and watery. It had kind of a nice sweetish (but not sweet) finish. I finished it and it wasn't even warm at the end, like my beers usually are. HG ordered a different beer with a definite allspice taste, and I liked that too (it was from Quebec - I'll try to remember the name - something French starting with M*)! The guy (server/owner/manager) recommended two more beers for us, and I liked those too. HG's second was better than mine; it was Rogue Dead Guy, and I thought it tasted like roses (not hot house roses, either - the kind your grandma grew in her yard). My second was something with pomegranate in it. It was okay. It had a 9.0% ABV. I finished it. HG drove home.

So you know, the restaurant we went to has all kinds of food, but they have this long list of cheese steaks and I was totally in the mood for an original with Cheez Whiz, and none of the beers add anything to the taste (not flavor!) of Cheez Whiz. But it was all good.

*Maudite

That's Cool!

This year, since Pete is in 1st grade*, she has a new teacher. Her teacher just called her! To say welcome and that she is looking forward to being Pete's teacher. I'm liking her already.


*For the past 2 years, Pete has been in a Primary class (Pre-K & K together). Now she is in Lower Elementary (1st, 2nd, & 3rd together) and so has a new teacher.

Pete Says:

Pete just yelled at Lulu. She said this:

"I WANT QUIET!"

I asked her if she saw the humor in that. She did not.

LL Says:

If we're not careful, Lulu is going to sound like she belongs here. She already says "nayo" sometimes instead of "no" and the other day I made her say "milk" over and over until she stopped saying "meeulk" (I'd already given her the meeulk milk).

Darn It!

In my dream last night I wrote this really cool poem, but I didn't remember until just now and now all I remember is that I wrote a poem and not even what it was about! Phooey!!

When We Dead Awaken

The Grandpa has been encouraging me to read Adrienne Rich's essay "When We Dead Awaken." I finished it a while back, and I'm not ready to talk about the essay at length, yet - I'd like to read it again, but something struck me and I've been thinking about it ever since.

Writing about her life as a mother and a writer, Ms. Rich says this, “I was writing very little, partly from fatigue, that female fatigue of suppressed anger and loss of contact with my own being…” [emphasis added]. This “loss” was a particularly powerful image for me. As a mother, I find that I neglect parts of myself that, 10 or 15 years ago, I would have considered big parts of who I am: my creativity, my silly side, the part of me that sought out romance and fairy tales. I still do those things, but rarely, and since I define myself now as a mother, I do them in the context of mothering and not nearly as often as I should. For example, I created the Frog and Fox stories to keep Pete busy on long car trips, but I haven’t written them down and don’t always tell Pete yes when she asks for a Frog and Fox story. I read fairy tales and nursery rhymes to the girls and take Pete to the ballet, but I don’t write fairy tales or nursery rhymes (April doesn’t count) and you’ll rarely see me doing more than the pee-pee-in-the-potty dance after a successful visit with Lulu.

Fifteen years ago I wrote this poem for a friend. A couple of weeks ago she sent it back to me (not because she didn’t want it, I don’t think), and I’m glad she did because I had forgotten that I even wrote it, and reading it again reminded me that I used to have my head in a much different place all the time. Admittedly, the company I kept then was way more creative and laid back than the adult I spend most of my time with now, but that’s something to address later. I just miss that place where my head was, where my heart was. Now my head is in bedtimes and join-the-PTA! and TP-at-Target and my heart is in piano recitals and bubble baths (not the soothing kind) and braids.

I love being a mom. I wouldn’t give up my girls for anything. In fact, my biggest joys and fears are all about them. But that’s just it: it’s all about them. I said above that I define myself as a mother. That is my primary role in life. It’s my job, 24-7, for which I receive goodnight kisses and sticky-fingered hand-holding and other similarly magical things (and room and board). It’s the best job I’ve ever had and the most rewarding pay I’ve ever received. And, when I don’t think about it, it’s enough. It’s my whole life and it’s okay. Because I’m not thinking about it.

But when I think about it? It makes me lonely. Honestly.

I know, you’re thinking, “Doesn’t she have any girlfriends?” and the answer is, “Not really. Not like that.” I have women in my life whom I adore and admire and respect, Meme, S’s mom, Moomie, J in VT, PSP, A in ME, but most of them are Super Far Away from me. And the ones who are close by are, well, my mom, who’s totally fun to hang out with but who works full time and isn’t right next door or anything, or sort of on the new-friend side (so there is potential there…). And I’ve never been really good at making new friends. Not really. And Husbandguy doesn’t have any friends for me to glom onto their wives, really. Not close by… Or at all…

Remember when you used to hang out in somebody’s bedroom or den or yard and just talk or listen to or play music or do nothing? And sometimes things would get silly and a little out-of-control and sometimes you’d regress and pull out the crayons or something, and it was Super Fun when that happened? And maybe someone would stop and buy Doritos or Twizzlers on their way there or you’d be at the cool house that had Little Debbies in the pantry and you’d just eat them and not care? But what about now? My friends like that are 4-20 hours away. And I’d never let my kids spend the afternoon eating chips and candy now so I can’t exactly do it myself.

But why not? I say NO too much.

Worry With Me

Husbandguy just called. He said that the Big Boss in his office just invited everyone out to the wing place across the street for wings and drinks. HG was thinking that was a good way to get a free dinner, and I was grumping because now I have to eat dinner alone with the girls, which in itself isn't a problem, but it's unexpected. You know? So I decided to just eat leftover whatever with the girls because they won't care and when I was reheating Lulu's pizza, I had a terrible thought. I learned 6 years ago that it's sometimes not good when the Big Boss calls everyone together. Sometimes it means that you should be dusting off your resume. HG said he'll be home around 7, so when he gets here at 11:30 or 2 AM or whatever, I guess I'll find out then. But in the meantime, it would take some of the pressure off me if you guys would go ahead and worry with me. You know, share the work...

---------

Update - 6:45: I called him because it seemed like he should have been told by now, and it turns out that the Big Boss was just taking everyone out because they'd scheduled the company picnic at a ballgame on Sunday in SC and apparently you can't get beer at the ballgame on Sunday in SC. The Big Boss has gone home to his wife and children. HG, however, and a few of "the guys" are on their way to some other bar (he didn't say where - I don't care). He swore up and down that he wouldn't be late (uh-huh), but rather than take him at his word and to avoid the discomfort of last time, I told him that if he is still there at last call, he needs to call me.

Pete Walks

Sometimes, Pete walks in her sleep. Not very often - it seems to happen most when there is something coming up, like the Guild Audition or the first day of school. She walked every night since she got back from Nana's on Wednesday except for last night. She got up at least twice each night. Poor kid! Yesterday, we got the letter from her school telling us who her teacher will be, and since she didn't walk last night, I wonder if maybe the thing she had been anxious about was that. I know I was thinking about it. And she and I talked about it, but not that much. I'm not real good at not talking about what I'm thinking about, but this week, her last week of summer vacation, I'm going to try to focus on vacation not school starting next week. Because that's next week.

LL Says:

Last night I was reading Buenas Noches Luna (Good Night Moon in Spanish) to Lulu. I asked her if I should read it in Spanish or English and she chose English first. When we finished it, she asked me to read it in Spanish so I said, "Buenas Noches Luna," and she said, "No! It's not called Ochos Nachos Luchos!" and I said, "No, it's not. It's called Buenas Noches Luna," and she started to argue but I pressed on. "En la gran habitacion verde hay un telefono, y un globo rojo, y un cuadro..." and she said, "No that's not right. That doesn't sound right." I kept going and almost got to the page with the gatitos (kittens), with her insisting the whole time that I was reading it wrong (I wasn't). Finally she gave up and slammed the book shut and took it away from me. "That's not how it sounds," she said. Stupid Mommy - can't even read a book right. Jeez!

One More Week

I am really looking forward to school starting...

Howie's Big Adventure

Howie doesn't like riding in the car. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that every time he's gotten in the car, we've gone to the vet, a place where he remembers being abandoned. Until today. Today the lucky dog got to go through the pharmacy drive thru, where he got a "doggie cookie," and then to PetSmart where he got to go shopping! Woohoo. Now he's sleeping like the exhausted little doggy he is.

Jailbreak!! (WARNING: not as interesting as it sounds)

So yesterday, we put Howie in his room during his mealtimes twice and left (we left his food with him). He seemed to do okay the first time, but when we got home after the second time, which was much longer than we've ever left him before, he had knocked down the gate "holding" him in his room and made a mess in our bedroom. I don't blame him. The poor puppy had to poo and didn't want to do that in his room. Probably we should have taken him for a walk before we left, but we didn't - live and learn, right? So we've repositioned the gate and hopefully he won't be able to knock it down anymore, and I'm not going anywhere until late afternoon today and plan on walking him before we leave, although Lulu will be napping probably right up until we go so... Darn crazy stressful dog!

Beware of Dog

The reasons I, I mean, we got a dog are numerous and varied. I'll have to walk him everyday and so will be walking myself everyday, he can clean the floor under Lulu's chair for me, dogs are cool, Pete wanted one, Husbandguy didn't say no... You get the picture. One thing I hadn't considered, though, is that dogs provide protection. I didn't think about that at all until last week when I got home late from our first PTA meeting and he barked when I came in because it wasn't what he was used to (he quit when he saw it was me). He let HG know there was something unexpected happening. And then yesterday he proved that he'll be a great guard dog again. This man rang the doorbell (Howie doesn't bark at the doorbell, thankfully) and was asking me all sorts of questions about our security system: how long had we had it? did it have this feature or that? Being a product of my parents, I just shrugged at him noncommittally for the first few questions and then finally said, "I'm not comfortable talking to you about this. Is there something I can do for you?" And he said something about putting signs in our yard for his company (??) and I said that we didn't want his signs in our yard and he acted all whatever-y and stalked off. But here's the thing. Howie was right there at my feet the whole time, and rather than dancing and panting and acting all friendly like he usually does with strangers, he sat very still, watching the man, and making warning noises - not big ones, but noises that clearly said, "Watch it, buddy..." to anyone paying attention. THIS IS MY DOG! HE IS MY DOG! My guard - G.U.A.R.D. - dog. He knew I was uncomfortable and was ready to defend me if he needed to. Thank goodness he's going to be bigger than I wanted him to be.

Potty

So I put the little potty in the closet and was planning on reintroducing it in a month, but my friend A-ME suggested that I let Lulu tell me when she was ready, which sounded way less stressful than my plan, so instead I told Lulu that she just needed to let me know if she wanted to sit on her potty and was going to put it back but not talk about it, really, after she had been in school for a couple of weeks, but she asked for it (and used it) yesterday after her nap and has told me twice since then that she needs to sit on the potty so putting it away was the wrong move, but I'm still not going to tell her when I think she should go because A-ME's way is so much easier and Lulu will figure it out. Also, Husbandguy seems more relaxed too.

It's the Dog

Sometimes, when Lulu and Howie and I are together, there is a stinky smell, and if I'm certain I didn't cause it, I'll ask Lulu if she did it, and she always says, "The dog did it," or something along that line. I think sometimes she's right, but I also think it's funny that she always blames him.

Now What?

I took everyone's advice and put Lulu in panties a week ago. I had to dig out the bag of Pete's little panties that I had put aside for this day because Lulu went through panties like... well, like they were diapers. It has been a whole week and I just had to wash poop out of the ones with the cute little turtles on them and I'M DONE! I am so frustrated that I cried. She's wearing a Pull-Up right now because I'm tired of having to run and get towels and the carpet spray to mop up and deodorize her little accident spots before the dog finds them. And the worst part of it is that she doesn't tell me when she's had an accident. I have to notice that her clothes are wet (or that she smells bad) and then I have to go on an all-out hunt for the wet place because she never remembers where it is. Or at least she pretends she doesn't remember. Maybe I should let the dog find them...

So Lulu will not be potty trained because I quit. She can go to kindergarten in Pull-Ups for all I care right now. By then she should be able to change them herself.

The dog, however, is housetrained.

-----------

30 minutes later: Okay. I feel better now. I did a little reading and have put the potty away (out of sight, out of mind) for a little while and am planning on not even mentioning it for at least a month. We'll just change Pull-Ups when necessary (because she won't wear diapers) and send them to school with her and maybe try again in October or something. It's not worth the stress. She's not even 2½ yet.

Walking the Dog; New Sidebar Item

I thought it would be harder to walk the dog if I also had to push the stroller, but I was wrong. It's even actually easier to push Lulu in the stroller than to let her walk with us. And Howie is better behaved.

Also, the silly dog weighs almost 20 lbs now. But if he was going to be as big as a rottweiler when he is all grown (a thing I worried briefly about recently) he would be closer to 40 lbs now so whew!

----------------

Did you notice the Wordle to the right of your screen?

Photo of the Dog Sleeping

He likes to sleep on the lower shelf of the coffee table. We suspect he'll be too big to do that someday. Wanna bet if he'll still try? Husbandguy says we should be prepared to have to pull him out of there eventually.

Once Upon a Time I Was Cool and Creative

My friend J, who I haven't seen in a bazillion years because she lives in VT and I don't, sent me a package yesterday. I couldn't imagine what would be in it, and when I opened it, this is what I found:


You're like, "Your friend J sent your girls a Supercute doll? She's so cool!" And you're right (J's always been cool). But here's the thing. It's not just that she sent this doll to us - it's because she kept this doll. For 15 years! The doll that I made and, AND the little poem I wrote to go with it, which I think is actually some of my best work (click on the little picture and read it - seriously), and then she sent it back to me. I miss J! She always made me feel cool. Apparently she still can.

(This post kind of goes with this other post. I promise that I intend to tell you how really soon. I need time to just sit and write, which I should get this weekend and will try to take advantage...)

Riri and Howie

Riri and Howie were sitting down with their friend. And they sat. And sat. And sat. Until Riri cried. And Howie cried. Because all the people were lost.


Lulu made up this story at breakfast. I've transcribed it word for word. Riri is a tiny puppy the girls, HG, and Howie met yesterday on their walk.

Pete Says:

This morning, Pete and Pete's mom were talking about walking the dog and Pete said that doing that would make her "all svelte, if I could just cut off the carbs." Then she said, "What are carbs?"

Another Tooth

Number 3

Two days of "Nobody touch The Tooth!"
and holding her mouth just right
And when The Tooth finally gave out
It was the middle of the night!*


*3:30 AM

Goin' for a Walk

The other day, the family and I were riding in the car and I was looking out the window and noticed something small trotting along on the side of the road and as we went past I realized that it was a chicken! Just going for a walk, apparently...

LL Says:

Lulu likes to ride the "eskimovater" at the mall. You know, the moving stairs...

A Hunger Strike (of sorts)

Pete won't eat. Her tooth on the top in the front on the left is really, really loose. Dangling-by-a-thread loose. It happened last night near the end of dinner. She shrieked like someone had put worms in her underpants. She screamed, "What are you going to do?! Are you going to take it out?!" and I said, "I'm not going to do anything until you calm down," and she said, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Then she calmed down and admitted that she wanted it to come out because "it feels weird," but Husbandguy tried and she squealed and they both gave up before it came out. I was hoping she'd wake up with a hole in her smile and we'd never see that tooth again, but it's still there. So this morning we tried soft foods for breakfast, but she says she can't even swallow yogurt because "it feels weird." I know she's not going to starve or anything, but I'd really like her to have something to eat because she's like me and Moomie and gets very grumpy when she's hungry. Moomie suggested that we try something body-temperature rather than cold - maybe that won't feel as weird on her snaggle loose tooth. We haven't yet, but we're going to... Just as soon as I figure out what...

LL Says:

At the mall yesterday, Pete and I were walking in front of Husbandguy and Lulu and I heard Lulu say, "Look at that!" Then HG, sounding very embarrassed, said "Sorry!" and chuckled. I looked to see who he was apologizing to - it was a couple of young (pretty) women who were also laughing and giving Lulu that isn't-she-cute look. When I asked what had happened, HG said that Lulu had grabbed one of the women's butt and said, "Look at that!" Silly kid! Too bad HG wasn't looking to meet a pretty woman. That'd be a great opener...

Missing

There is a definite lack of romance in my life. I'm not just talking about dates and flowers and love notes. I mean that frivolity and fantasy and, you know, romance are absent. It is my intention to post more about this at another time, but right now I need to change a wet pull-up and feed the dog so my family can go to Lowe's and buy a putty knife.

Who Knew?

Well, maybe you did. I mean, it makes sense. He's only got a year to get there, but seriously! Five pounds in 1 week! How are we supposed to keep up with that?! Poor puppy has been drastically underfed because he's growing like a weed and I didn't realize he'd gotten as big as he is! No wonder he eats everything. We've fixed it now. And we bought a bathroom scale so we can keep up with him.