Reason #45,6780,478...

...to hate New England winters.  Last week we were riding bikes and I was out running with no coat on.

Today?  We woke up to this:

Now, while I won't deny that it is pretty

you know these poor things are thinking,

Excuse me, what the f*ck just happened here!?!!?

 

Hell, even this guy is like,

 Really? Was this absolutely necessary?

 

So...ya know....What's been happening?

Wow. That was quite a break.  Not really sure why I'm writing today, and can't promise I won't go away for a long time again.  But hey, I'm here now.  Technically, I'm at work now.  And ten minutes ago there was a full-on Mariachi band playing the cocktail reception of the wedding that's happening in the hotel right now.  It was like Three Amigos - except there were four of them.  It was hilariously awesome.

Here's some things that have been on my mind as of late.

1.  I have now officially been alive longer then my Mother ever was.  It alternately breaks my heart and makes me more determined then ever to keep moving forward with my life.

2.  Last night Pixie feel asleep curled next to me in her little bed, her two little hands holding mine. It was truly a moment I hope never to forget.  She is so sweet and loving and I can't stand the thought of her growing up.

3.  Therapy is one of the best things I have ever done for myself.  Hands down. Best.Ever.  It helps that I love my therapist.  I can't believe the things she has made me realize and feel.  If you've ever thought about doing it, I'm telling you - do it.

4.  The Beiber obsession continues in our household.  Wonderboy was practicing for a "Sing-Off" that was going to happen at recess today.  He had the printed lyrics to Never say Never and has been driving us all mental walking around and singing it.  Plus, Pixie tells us about four times a day that she is going to marry Justin Beiber.  And I may have - MAY have - put one of his songs on my running playlist. cough*ok, I did*cough.

5.  By running playlist, I do not mean a list that keeps running continuously.  I mean, I have started running.  Been doing it for about a month and I have registered for a 5K in May to keep me going.  I don't love it all the time, but I was getting bored with my 30 day shred.  I had also spent some time talking about it with my Aunt and she convinced me to give it a try.  I don't love it every time, and had a particularly hard go yesterday, but I'm up to 2 and 1/4 miles which makes me feel pretty damn great.

6.  Going off of those thoughts - I feel really great that I have finally taken control of my dissatisfaction with my body by doing something about it.  It took me long enough to get from the whining stage to the actual doing stage, but I'm there now and it's been very positive. (Again, thanks to the therapist for kicking me off my butt.) (Which is hopefully getting smaller!)

Not like everything is all roses and sunshine.  For example, our dog had six kidney stones removed two weeks ago.  They actually gave them to us in a little jar. Blech.

In three months I will be 40.  I wanted, and needed, to get things in a better place before I reached that milestone and I feel like I have begun that process.  Here's hoping I can stick to my guns and keep the progress going.

Keeping my streak of one post a month alive!

When I was about three I would wake up when I heard one of my parents get up and go start their shower in the bathroom.  Then, I'd proceed to get out of bed with my blanket and pillow and lay on the hallway floor right in front of the bathroom door.  In retrospect, I can't believe they never stepped on me.

I say this not because either of my children are emulating this habit  - no, no.  It's the dog.  He splays himself right.in.front. of the door.  On more then one occasion I have either almost crushed his ribcage or sent myself flying in my effort to avoid crushing his ribcage.  If he wasn't so freaking obsessed with me I'd say he was trying to kill me.  That poor dog.  All he wants is for me, specifically, to love him.  And most of the time all I want is for him to take his fish-breath and shed-tastic self elsewhere.  Sigh.  Maybe that's why he's trying to do me in.


On another note.  It's almost Christmas!  Wonderboy went to his Holiday Store at school yesterday and got us all presents.  I have to say, it's one of the cutest things.  He gets SO excited about what he has picked out for everyone.  We MUST open these things as soon as we get home.  I think if I ever suggested we wait his little head would just pop off.  This year I got a giant Christmas pen.  Seriously, it's like a foot long, and it's covered in Christmas trees.  I brought it to work.  Everyone is very jealous.

Every time I tell Pixie we are doing something Christmas related - seeing Santa, getting a tree, decorating the tree, etc. - she asks, "Is it Christmas?"  Every.Single.Time.  Someone asked her what she wanted for presents this year and she said, "Everything, of course!"  Hey, go big or go home, right?


I honestly can't believe this year is almost over.  I don't know who is messing with the space-time continuum, but I wish they'd cut it out.  I didn't accomplish everything I set out to when this year began.  But I think in the past few months (thank you, therapy) I'm starting to work some shite out.  It's a welcome feeling. 

Whenever The Mr. makes a wish - star, bday, what have you - his wish is always the same.  He wishes for Good Things.  That is my wish for all of us, and all of you - my bloggy friends, as this year comes to a close and a new one begins. 

Good Things. 

Whoot! Fall!

I love Fall.  (Although I didn't love waking up to the dusting of SNOW this morning. WTH, Mother Nature!?!)

But, Fall, yes.  Crisp days with rustling leaves.  Beautiful colors that blaze in the light of November sunsets.  The wisp of fragrance from chimney smoke drifting on the wind.  The joyful shout of childrens' voices jumping in leaf piles.

Yeah, it eventually leads to the most dreaded of times - winter in New England. But for now? I'll take it.

 

 

Lies, Lies, Lies, yeah

Wonderboy had a bit of a breakdown the other night.  It was one of those nights where everything was jammed into a small space of time so after dinner it was pretty much right into bedtime.  This inevitably leads to both kids getting out of bed several times for the usual potty, need water, potty again, etc, etc.  We had about reached out limit when WB comes downstairs and said he peed in his bed, "while he was dreaming."  (Mind you, this was about five minutes after his last foray downstairs.)  I'm so fed up at this point that I tell him to get a towel (since I'm sure it's a only a little spot.)  Well he's up there saying it's coming through the towel, yada, yada, whine, whine.

So I go upstairs to find a HUGE wet spot in the middle of his bed.  Immediately I am suspicious.  I reach out and feel his pajama shorts which are bone dry.  Then I notice his empty sippy cup on the floor.
The second I question him on this he starts crying and carrying on, swearing up and down that it was really pee.  By this time I am ripping his sheets off the bed, completely furious.  He's in the bathroom crying away.  I go in and look at him and say, "Tell me the truth.  Right now.  Did you spill that water?"  To which he answers, "Yes."

Of course, by this time, he's so emotional it's pointless to get angrier with him.  And mostly what I wanted was him to tell me the truth.  I get his bed remade and we go back in and lay down together.  I tell him how incredibly important it is for him to tell us the truth.  That we will always love him, no matter what.  I ask him why he did it.  He says he really missed us and wanted to spend more time with us.  (Ugh. Let me remove that dagger from my heart.)  We talked about this for awhile and decided we will try harder to get dinner earlier so we will have time to hang out before bed.  We decided to get a Family Calendar so that we can mark days where we will be able to do something special together - or just be together as that is sometimes challenging with our schedules.

Then he starts to talk about school.  Mostly about how he misses us and wishes he didn't have to go.  But then he mentions that his friends don't play with him at recess.  Which sounds weird because after school he always has a bunch of kids he plays with at the playground.  Next he says this other "big" kid makes fun of him.  At this point, I am of two minds: One being concern that there is some kind of bullying going on - and Two, that I'm being played.  I question him some more and it's all very vague.  He doesn't know the kid's name (Fishy clue #1, WB knows everybody's name)  I asked if he's told a teacher. "They think I'm not telling the truth because I don't know his name." Hmm.  I say he should try to find out his name so we can address the problem.  We talk about it for a few minutes more and then he says, "Nevermind about what I was saying before.  That was just in my IMAGINARY school."

WTF? 

"Okay," I say (deep breath), "let's talk about your real school.  And let's remember how important it is to tell the truth.  Do you play with your friends at recess?" 
"Yes."
"Are there any kids that are giving you a hard time or being mean to you?"
"No."

GAH!  Is this all just attention-getting behavior?!?!  Obviously I want to take him seriously - especially about stuff that happens at school - but his history in the honesty department is a little shaky.  I'm not one to want to squelch his imagination, however I have to draw the line somewhere. 

Sigh.  Just another one of those nights that prove to you that parenting is a lot of guess-work.  Right now, we are focusing on seeing that WB gets some more "hang with Daddy and Mommy" time.  And daily reminders of how much we love the truth. 

Some days I really think we should have just stuck with the dogs.