Curious George

These knobs can be found here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/127560836/custom-order-6-curious-george-ceramic?ref=listings_manager_grid

Food Combos

Tuna salad and chocolate covered raisins.  Not a great combination.  Just sayin'.

Question of the Day ~ Gas

How can a person who is actually a pretty light sleeper sleep through the passing of two rounds of extremely loud gas?  I can understand if the gas was of the quiet, hissing nature.  Similar to air escaping slowly from a balloon.  But this gas was violent!  A combination of machine gun fire and the backfiring of an engine.  Two distinct rounds of anal artillery, each lasting several seconds.

Wouldn't such sounds wake you up?  Or at least cause you to reposition your body in the bed?  And people think couples who sleep in separate bedrooms are missing out.  Ummm, no, they are not.

Miss You

Hubby got a new (and better) job and has spent this week in Dallas at the company headquarters.  He'll be home in about four hours.  Yep, I'm actually counting the hours.

I know it's healthy for relationships to have some time apart.  Makes you appreciate each other, and renews feelings which can often become buried under the stresses of every day life.  That has been the case with us this week.  He told me on Wednesday, "I'm bored.  I guess I miss you."  Coming from him, that's actually high praise.

I had lots of plans to get things sorted and organized, and start working on yet another reincarnation of my craft room.  No distractions I thought, no needing to be quiet during the wee hours when energy and my creative muse often visit.  The best laid plans of mice and men...and me.....

A day and a half before Geoff left, the dog was walking around in a field and stepped on something sharp, slicing open one of the pads on his rear foot.  We took him to the doctor, got antibiotics and it was bandaged.  Then I had another vet trip on my own.  A 95 pound dog, born and bred to pull a heavy sled is not easy to coax into the vet's office.  He pulls lots of things with ease, including me.  But a dog who was advised to stay off his foot as much as possible (he only has three legs so that foot must be used) still should not have derailed all my plans.

I was surprised at myself.  I wandered around, in a semi-frozen state.  Not able to concentrate, not feeling motivated, and often without much energy.  Several times I slept for 12 hours, and still no energy.  So at that point you know you're crossing over into depression territory.  I felt like my rock was gone.  My security, my beacon.  I spent a fair amount of time lecturing myself and reminding myself the Lord is my rock, my security and my beacon.  The logical me could not snap the emotional me out of the funk.  I had no appetite and was literally having to make myself eat.  Eventually I gave up and concentrated on keeping myself and my dog nourished, making sure he got his medicine and I got mine, and letting the world continue to turn without input from me.

I miss you Geoff.  Your short military haircut, your worn and soft leather jacket, your patient and caring blue eyes.  And the way you can hug me and make everything okay again.  Fly safe my love, your wife and dog will waiting at the airport.

A Better Person

Motherhood has made me a better person.  A MUCH better person.  I think this is the case for the majority of people who venture to board the unfamiliar, unpredictable train called Parenthood.  I know not everyone is meant to be a parent.  And if you don't want to be one, you shouldn't become one.  Some are sadly denied the choice.  I have a dear friend who wanted kids more than anything, but it didn't work out for her.  So she immerses herself into being an advocate for children, and also a caring aunt and niece to those in her large family.

Having a child took the focus off me.  It was no longer what was best for me, or what I wanted to do.  It was what was best for my child.  I learned to love in a completely new way.  And many will tell you they had no idea what love really was until they held their child in their arms for the first time.  There is nothing stronger than the mother/child bond.  I'm grateful I boarded that train over 20 years ago.

I see childless people my age, and I marvel at their complete and total preoccupation with themselves.  They pour into their careers, carefully plan their next exotic vacation, and view trying new restaurants in their city to be the height of evolved living.  They pen detailed Yelp reviews on the assortment of sausages available at a nearby eatery.  At the end of the day they are content with their lives because after all, you don't miss what you never had.

Maybe some of these people would be self-centered even with children.  I don't know.  But they do amaze and confuse me.

Reconnections

Have you ever reconnected with a person from your past, only to find they are nothing like the person you remember?  Maybe it isn't a memory issue.  Maybe life just changed the person into someone totally different.  Either way it's extremely disappointing.  A let down.  A major bummer.  You wish you could get a refund on all the time you spent thinking about that person and wondering what became of them.

I had such an experience last summer and I'm still trying to "process" it.  Time has not been kind to this person.  They have become completely self-absorbed and wave a "I'm Bi-Polar" banner with pride.  Hey, congrats on that!

If I could do it over again, I'd leave this skeleton in my closet.  I've learned a lesson for the future, regarding the past.  I'll be letting sleeping skeletons lie because some questions are best left unanswered.

Bruce Jenner

I don't know about you, but I am about sick of hearing about Bruce Jenner.  And even sicker of seeing his/her face.  I try to be tolerant and remember it's not my job to judge.  And I know, it's not.  Yet I cannot help the fact my stomach just turns whenever I see hear about him.  Gross.

I Love My Simple Life

Friday night grocery shopping with the hubby.  A nice package of meaty dog bones crossed the scanner and the clerk said, 'That's going to make some puppy very happy."  I smiled and as the ice cream made it's way across the scanner I said, "the ice cream's for the dog too!"  The clerk looked amused and just a bit shocked.  As he scanned the two pound container of strawberries he looked at my husband and said, "I hope he at least gets some of the berries."  I told him yes, he did, and he and the dog shared the ice cream in bed at night.

Motherhood

Okay, just when I thought there were no more things left for me to get maternally emotional about.....I was wrong. My baby boy is in the bed, with a fever. I am doing what I've done since he was born. I am taking care of him. It occurred to me this may be the last time I'm the one providing this type of care. Soon I will pass the torch to Kenna. She is a bright, capable girl and I know she will do a good job. It is just so difficult to let go.

I posted the above on my Facebook status last night.  My future daughter-in-law commented that she will never be as good as his mother, as that is a special skill that is only mine.  I don't know if she was being honest here, or just trying to make me feel better as she knows I'm struggling with all the changes.  Either way, she said the best, most absolute perfect thing and I love her for it!

Wine

I don't "get" the whole wine "thing."  It's grapes, mashed up, mixed with other grapes, stored in various wood barrels until it ferments.  People devote their lives (well, at least their careers) to mashed up and fermented grapes.

My first exposure to wine came when I reached drinking age.  I would order white wine and got whatever that particular establishment served as their house wine.  I never really liked the taste and quite often would order half wine and half 7-Up.  Then, after the first few sips I would begin to feel tipsy.  A light weight.  A cheap date.  Definitely.  Maybe if I could hold my liquor better, I might have enjoyed it more.  But then there's the issue of the taste.

Perhaps a "fine" wine would be pleasing to my palate.  Perhaps I've cheated myself all these years, by never trying anything but cheap stuff.  That opens up a fresh can of worms though, because spending a lot of money on something you drink does not mesh with my logical side.  How much is a decent bottle of wine, served at home?  I'm going to guess and say $50.00.  Even if I acquired a taste for the better class of wine, I can think of so many more practical things to do with $50.00.  Even if  you drop the wine price to $25.00, that money could buy some cool craft supplies, plants for the yard or be put toward something for the house or a vacation.

Why do I want to spend good money on something that slides down my throat, only to make me want to go to sleep 30 minutes later.  Lastly, more often than not, alcohol does not bring out the best in people.  I was married to an alcoholic and the personality change was stunning.  I don't want to be around someone who has one too many and undergoes even the smallest of personality changes.  Like, they become argumentative, loud, demanding, or unreasonable.  Then there are the physical symptoms.  Drink too much and then throw it all up.  Charming.

I don't enjoy spending time with people who are under the influence.  Even if it's the happy, boisterous kind of under the influence, I think it's obnoxious.  And, inevitably, things are said and done which should not be said or done.

Let me close by saying I'm quite aware there are MANY people who can enjoy a glass or two of wine, either with a meal or alone, and not morph into some kind of monster.  And what people choose to spend their money on is their business.  For me, I don't see the value in fine wine.  I will occasionally spend the afternoon cooking up an authentic Italian meal where a touch of the grape sounds extremely appealing.  For those meals I'll toddle on over to the grocery store and pick up a bottle of sparkling grape cider.  $3.79 and I'm golden.