So, Actually, Turns Out, She's a Blonde

before

Who Knew?

I took Abby to PetSmart yesterday for her first real haircut and asked them to cut off the black tips but to leave her fluffy, and this is what we got: A New Dog!

after

LL Says:

You know I have MS, right? And that I give myself a shot every other day for it, right? Well, while we were at the beach, Lulu wanted to watch me have my shot so I let her. I have this spring-loaded machine that actually does the injection for me so she watched me mix the solution and fill the syringe and load the machine and then followed me to the bathroom where I pushed the button and started the injection. Usually my shot hurts a little. Sometimes, not at all. This time, it hurt like crazy so I said, "Ow, ow," quietly so not to alarm her, and she said, with obvious concern, "What, Mommy?" and I said, "It hurts, kiddo." And she exclaimed, "TAKE IT OUT! TAKE IT OUT!" Aw! Poor kid. She's a sweetie sometimes.

Of course, I told her I had to finish my shot before I could take it out and we waited anxiously together and checked to see that I wasn't bleeding when I did finally take it out. Then she laughed at me and ran to tell Husbandguy that she had laughed at Mommy because Mommy was hurting, HAHA! Sometimes she's not so much a sweetie. But she's still pretty cool.

It All Depends on Your Point of View

Two Takes Yesterday (or the day before), I commented to Husbandguy how strange it seemed that exactly 1 week before that we were at the beach and had been for several days. He agreed that it did seem strange. "But also nice," he added. I didn't answer immediately with a vigorous, "HELL YEAH!!" (probably because I didn't feel like it) so he went on about how relaxing our vacation had been and how good the girls listened and blahblahblabbityblah. First of all, I'm not sure whose girls he was talking about and secondly, I think our definition of what is relaxing is more different than I previously realized.

All in the Family One explanation I've come up with for the difference in our experience is the fact that we were there with his parents. I know that I have a much more relaxing and enjoyable time at TG and Meme's than he does. Our families are different. There are times when I find watching television "relaxing" and diverting but not when the first thing you do when you get out of bed or come in the door is turn it on and then leave it on and drool in front of it until you go out again or until you pry your eyes open to stumble off to bed. When it's on constantly, it's just irritating! Also, I personally wouldn't choose to watch football and FoxNewsick all the time (although I didn't mind the Rose Bowl - I did mind that HG's mom wanted Oregon to win but couldn't tell me why she chose them over OSU, but she did change the channel from FoxNewsick when Mike Huckabee promised to talk about abortion and I said, "Can we turn this to something else?"). And I think HG's memory of the girls not fighting, etc. has a lot to do with the fact that they figured out they should ask him if they could turn the TV on in the other room instead of me because he always said yes, even after I'd said no. Of course they're quiet; THEY'RE CATATONIC! Bleh. I wish the condo had been bigger. Or the weather had been warmer.

Plus, Also HG had to go back to work when we got home. Me too, I guess (although technically I was still "doing my job" on vacation), but my work is more rewarding than his most of the time.

But no one got sick and they only made me go to 1 buffet. So while HG may have had a better vacation than me, I wasn't miserable.

Found This on my FB Profile

You do this too! Then tell me you did it so we can all share. Okay?

25 Things About ME!!

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.


1. I met my husband at Wal-Mart. We rarely shop there anymore.
2. We got married at the courthouse on a rainy Thursday and wouldn't trade that for a big wedding ever.
3. I will talk to you for hours about Multiple Sclerosis if I'm sure you're interested.
4. My girls are my whole world.
5. I love my little 2002 Accord, all 70,000+ miles of it. I wouldn't change anything (except if I had to I would have heated side mirrors and satellite radio).
6. I hate my tiny 2004 ranch and would change everything about it - location, size, stories, yard, kitchen... Especially the kitchen.
7. I like good draft beer, which is interesting only because until 2009 I didn't like beer at all.
8. Chewing noises and other squishy mouth sounds gross me out.
9. I was writing a novel and got to just over 10,000 words and stopped writing and can't seem to start again.
10. I have a tattoo of an elephant on my left shoulder. His name is Toby and he's holding a flower. I got him because Husbandguy said, "You're not the kind to get a tattoo."
11. I rarely follow a recipe when I cook. Recipes are for new or uncertain cooks.
12. I color my hair. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!
13. If I could live anywhere in the country it would be in a cottage on the coast of Maine. Literally on the coast. Year-round.
14. When my littlest was a baby I celebrated every poopy diaper because they only came every 3 days.
15. My current job is the best job I've ever had and the only one I haven't wanted to quit after 2 years.
16. I wish I spoke more Spanish.
17. I would love to take piano lessons again.
18. I've been to a strip club more than once and had a good time each time.
19. I love to read. And read. And read. And read.
20. I usually have the self esteem of a chunk of concrete.
21. I hate cleaning. I can't throw anything away and prefer only to dust when there's enough dust on everything that dusting makes a visable difference and then only if I have to.
22. I didn't nurse either of my girls, but it wasn't for a lack of desire or effort. It broke my heart to give that first real bottle, but they're both okay so far...
23. Most Tuesdays feel like Friday to me all day.
24. I love my family. The ones near and far away and wish that we all lived a lot closer together than we do.
25. I'm not going to tag anybody but would like you to consider yourself tagged if you want to do this (I'll add a tag for you if you want me to...).

Whoops!

I almost missed it. I'll get better. It was a busy day today...

I'm Not Really Here

I'm actually at the beach. Or on my way home from the beach. Every year Husbandguy's mom and dad rent a condo on the top floor of a high-rise on the beach and we spend the week there (click here to read about last year). Keep your fingers crossed that no one visited the hospital this year. It's sad when your main goal for vacation is that nobody is so sick they have to go to the ER. Unfortunately, the last 2 years we've gone, someone has been miserably sick. I'll tell you all about everyone being well this year when I get back. I hope...

Big Year Ahead

Can they be almost
Eight and four?
Thankfully it's not more!

You're Gonna Get Tired of Me

Sorry. But I've decided to try to post every day again this year.

You don't have to come read every day, I mean, if you have time to spend getting caught up every once in a while.

But please leave a comment from time to time so I don't feel lonely. I like to say that I do this blog-thing for me, but really I love the audience.

You scratch my back read my blog, I'll read yours. Okay?

LL Says:

Lulu counted to 12 the other day:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, (we held our breath because she usually gets hung up right here) 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19... um... TWELVE!!!

We are so proud of her!

Second Assignment

I was about 12 or 13 when J ran away. It wasn’t unusual for him to disappear, but one day he was really gone and we didn’t know to where. I admit that I did worry for a moment, until he called from Colorado and told us that he and D had left to get away from the crowd they had been hanging around with and that he was okay. Mom and Dad told him they would send him a bus ticket whenever he was ready to come home and reminded him to keep calling and checking in. That was that for me. I was in junior high had other things to worry about than my middle brother, who may have been infinitely cooler than me but was in no way smarter than me. He would come home. Mom and Dad would handle the worrying. I wasn’t going to miss him teasing me or being obviously embarrassed by me or telling me to go away. I wouldn’t miss the police cars dropping him off in the morning or the green ink stains on the bathroom rug from where he’d tried to dye his hair again. And honestly, it was nice the way the kids at school reacted when I told them my brother and D had run away. Concern, amazement, awe. Finally I had something interesting to talk about.

Eventually he and D ended up in California. They got clean and learned to surf and make bagels. Then when he did come home, he had changed. He was still way cooler than me but now in a way that I actually wanted to be. He was clean and healthy and confident. He got a smart, pretty steady girlfriend and ran for student office and won. What a loser…

Things changed at home, too. Mom and Dad started fighting more. They went to counseling. And when Dad’s contract at the college expired and he got another teaching job in a different state, he moved and we stayed behind. We stayed so J could finish high school and Mom, who had just gotten a promotion, could get a little experience in her new position. The plan was to move to be with Dad after J graduated.

Dad came home for the weekend sometimes. I would come in the front door after school and hear the vacuum running and know that he was there. And I would feel disappointed because that meant I couldn’t watch “Santa Barbara” and that there would be fighting that weekend. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my father or miss him; it was just easier, less tense, when he wasn’t there.

One evening, somehow, Mom, Dad, J, and I were all sitting at the table eating dinner together. My oldest brother wasn’t there, but he had moved out and rarely ate dinner with us. We were eating and talking and the tension was building, like it usually did when we were all in the same place together, and then my dad broke his tooth. He exploded. He swore and then shouted, “YOUR MOTHER WANTS A DIVORCE!”

That kind of ended dinner.

My mom came into my room later to check on me. She had already talked to J; I’d heard her go into his room and knew she’d come to me next. I was doing something random, reading on my bed or lying on the floor or something. She said, “I’m sorry, sweetie. That wasn’t how we wanted to do that.”

“That’s okay,” I said. And it really was.

“Why aren’t you crying? Everyone else is crying?” she asked.

“Everyone?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Even J.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess I’m just not surprised.”