Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Kiddo, Little Bit & Baby Nalla

Kiddo has had a pretty good week...so far. I have yet to hear what his day was like today, but according to him, he's gotten "none checks" for his behavior this week. This is a very, very good thing. Looks like we might just have figured out the trick to convincing him that good behavior, especially at school and when out in public, is vital. Especially if he wants to stay alive! (JOKE! That was a JOKE!)

Little Bit is doing well, too. She LOVES her school and talks constantly about this friend or that friend. She's such a sweet and loving little thing. On Sunday, NM came by with a bag of clothes for Little Bit that had been NM's daughter's. You know, the whole "don't-fit-my-child-anymore-so-pass-them-to-someone-who-needs-them" thing... I LOVE hand-me-downs for my kids. I mean that. And when we're done with them, unless the person who gave them to us needs them back, we pass them along to someone else who needs them. Pay it forward! Anyway - she and I were going through the cute and colorful girl clothes from NM and Little Bit kept hugging everything and proclaiming, "I love it so much! It's so pretty!" or "Oooohhh! Thank you! It's my favorite shirt ever!" And so on. She was so enthusiastic, it was almost funny...in a sweet and endearing way.

My kids are the greatest! They make me laugh daily. And there's nothing better than coming home to "MOMMY'S HOME!" and great big hugs and kisses. Baby Nalla - the dog - had surgery on Monday. Sunday Hubby noticed that her right ear looked kind of strange. For a dog who's ears normally stick straight up, to have one flopping over was strange. He touched it and then made me touch it, too! It was all puffy and felt like someone had pumped the ear flap full of air; like a balloon. It was awful! I squealed and jumped away, knowing I'd have nightmares. But poor Baby Nalla! It turns out, after a visit to the vet on Monday, that it was an Aural Hematoma, which required surgery to relieve the swelling and prevent infection. For a dog who is already dealing with a hyper-allergic reaction to flea bites (an ongoing, and might-I-say, supremely irritating battle) and doesn't have any hair from the waist down and is already suffering, to have to send her back to the "hospital" for surgery was just more than I could bear. I worried and worried about her all day Monday, hoping that she'd come through the surgery OK. She's an old dog, and and I was worried she might have issues with the anesthesia.

Anyway - she's home now, and she's pathetic. The enormous E-Collar, to prevent her from scratching at her ear is ridiculously funny, but necessary. We're supposed to keep it on her for 14 days post-surgery, until we go back to have the stitches removed. She's going to have a quilted looking, puckered ear from now on, from all the stitching they had to do. She's on 2 antibiotics, a pain killer (how, pray tell, do you tell if a dog is in pain?), and a bazillion other things. She HATES the collar. She shakes and shakes - but how do you tell a dog that 1) shaking isn't going to help either get the collar off OR help her hear and 2) that the more she shakes, the more irritating it's going to be? She's funny, though - trying to get around the house without bumping into stuff and getting stuck. We'd take it off of her while she was trying to eat, except for the fact that we'd NEVER get it back on her. Do you know how complicated those things are? Anyway - say a few prayers for our puppy dog. She's in seriously bad shape and in need of some lovin'.

TTFN
JMS

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Quick Update

I'm feeling kind of burned out right now. There's SO much to do and I barely have time to breathe anymore much less write in my beloved blog regularly. Oh, it's so neglected. I feel like such a bad mommy. Quick Update - before I have to run again...
  • Kiddo is learning to read. His teacher sent home a pack of little flash cards with "sight" words on them. ("a" "can" "the" "to" "like" "I") She made them herself and there are only 6 right now, but she's supposed to add a couple each week throughout the year. I'm supposed to quiz him every night on the words to make sure he's got them - and he's does, most definitely, have them. Kiddo and I also made little posters of the words and stuck them to his wall so he can see them every day. We'll add more when the teacher adds more.
  • Little Bit is potty training and doing very well. She's got a bit of a head-cold right now, but otherwise doing fine.
  • Hubby and I just celebrated or 9th Wedding Anniversary on September 16th. He sent me flowers at work, the sweet man.
  • We're in the market for another car...again. My Toyota is being crotchety so we're looking to replace it. No real rush, but I'll feel much better when we make a decision.

That's really about it right now. Hope everybody is well!

TTFN JMS

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Kiddo and Divine Intervention

OK - so it's been A LONG time since I posted anything of significance. I'm making no guarantees that this post will be significant...so proceed with caution. If you know me, this post could go either way - be a long rambling nothing about everything or a short snippet of something about something...whatever that "something" may be. Confused yet? LOL! **** Kiddo is still playing soccer and loving every second of it. He had a substitute coach last night who told me, "[Kiddo] is a real go-getter; he does a great job!" He's the smallest one on the team and everyone seems shocked when they find out that he's 5 1/2. "He's so small!" they exclaim. It really pisses me off. Yes - he is a little on the small side, but I know he's growing because he cannot wear the pants he wore just last winter! 2 inches of his ankle stick out the bottom and he looks goofy! I know he's growing because he's as tall now as our friend's almost-4-year-old daughter. Of course, she is quite tall for her age - but he's definitely caught up to her height. I measured (visually) on Sunday when we all had lunch together after church. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with him aside from being a little bit on the short side. And you know what? My little brother was a bit on the short side, too - and now he's 6' 2"!!! I have always been rail thin (until I got a secretarial job, got married, and had a couple-a-kids, that is) but Kiddo is a carbon-copy of me at that age. He looks like his daddy - but he's A LOT like me. So why does it tick me off so much when people who don't know us from Adam comment on how small he is? Because who cares how small he is!!! He's extremely smart, his vocabulary surpasses many high-schooler's these days, and he can run, jump and play with the best of them. These people should not have the power to anger me so badly - but they do. I want to whip around to face them and say, "Yeah? So what? He may be a bit on the small side, but I'll bet he could out think your child! You know - you have absolutely NO idea why he is the way he is and I'd also bet you have no idea how RUDE it is to comment on other's children. Oh yeah, and by the way - stop feeding your child junk food! She's too fat!" Ok - I've vented. That is directed to no one in particular, honestly - but those are some things I would so very much like to say to the next parent who comments on my son's smallness. Go ahead. I dare you! **** On another subject - I really, really like my new job! I heard a report on the radio the other day about the 15 million folks who are unemployed right now, some of whom have been unemployed since late last year, and I am considering myself extremely lucky, extremely blessed, to have not only found a job in about 3.5 weeks (how awesome is that?), but a job I like a lot. I was talking to someone the other day who credited me for that, saying that my skills and abilities must really have shone true in my interview. I will not take credit for it. Ok, maybe just a tiny bit - but really I credit God for this. I believe with all my heart that my finding this particular job, when I did, and as quickly as I did, was nothing less that Divine Intervention. I also believe - now that I'm passed being shocked and upset and angry - that losing my previous job was all part of His plan. The basic time line, as I understand it is something like this:
  • I lost my job on July 15th
  • I started looking in earnest the same day, not willing to sit back and wait - I needed to DO something and, after all, God helps those who help themselves.
  • A day later (according to very reliable sources) the Office Manager at the company I now work for was let go for multiple reasons, not the least of which being the fact that she had whittled her days down to 2 a week and this is definitely not a 2-day-a-week job!
  • The day after that, a friend at church emailed me and asked me to send her my resume stating that her husband wanted to give it to a friend. That friend turned out to be my new boss.
  • So about 3 weeks after emailing my resume to this friend, I get a call from my new boss asking me to come in for an interview.
  • I interviewed on a Wednesday and was called on Friday with a job offer.

Divine?

Absolutely!

What do you think?

TTFN JMS