Saturday, May 26, 2001

Today didn't go quite as planned but it was good nonetheless. There was no ball practice because of rain. Guess they don't have the younger ones stand in the rain. I have a huge problem with that... goes something like this: I'd get in trouble if I allowed my son to walk 20 blocks in the cold rain but it's perfectly acceptable for him to play ball in it. Anyway, we didn't have to go through that again this morning with Em's tee ball so that was good.

Todd's sister, brother-in-law, neice and great neices stopped by this afternoon to visit and look at our house. While they were here admiring the back yard, Em was doing some crazy monkey acrobatics, fell off the swing and bit her tongue. She cried just a little then went to sit on the step. When she gets hurt, she'd rather not be the center of attention because of it so she tries to quietly disappear into the background while she recovers. Ben is just the sweetest thing sometimes. He was worried about her and sat down next to her with his arm around her. He kept asking "Em? You okay Em? You okay? Emmm???" and she wouldn't answer. He looked at everyone real serious and said "Em can't talk!!" like it scared him to think she may have injured her tongue permanently. Of course that made her bust out giggling. They are so funny.

When we came inside later, Ben wanted held and was bound and determined I was not going to finish my laundry. I said "Benjamin, I'll get you in a minute. Gotta do this laundry Bud". He practically screamed at me "No you do not!! Hold me!" so I picked him up. He said he was cold so I laid him down and covered him up. Very odd behavior for him that early in the evening so I took his temp. Immediately after that he got sick all over him, Todd, the couch, everything nearby... poor little guy. His mom said he was cutting teeth in the back so I am hoping that's all it is. He's back with her now and hopefully not giving her too much trouble.

I am always lost as to what to do when a kid is sick. Ya know, if an adult is sick, they can pretty much tell you exactly what's wrong and what they need to fix it. Kids can't do that. Their whole disposition changes and you can tell something is wrong but it's a guessing game to figure it out from there. It's really bad with Benjamin because he's normally such an outgoing little guy. Bossy as all get out since he's turned two so when he wants held and babied, something is wrong. I hope it is just his teeth and not a big pukefest setting in. For those of you who don't have kids... sometimes they are fine one minute and then Bam!! Puke for days. Everytime you think they're about over it, here comes another round. Ack!

Geesh.. I can't believe I just blogged that much about puke. That should bring in some interesting search engine referrals! Todd had one in his referrals tonight where someone had searched on "Lisa needs a man" and ended up at his site. This Lisa's got a man and I think I'll just go ahead and keep him. Ten months of peaceful cohabitation and he still picks up after himself. Definitely a keeper : )

posted by Lisa 5/26/2001 09:36:00 PM | link it |

Redgie (who I mentioned a couple of days ago) is back. She has been very nice and supportive of me this past week. She writes about waiting tables and puppy dogs. Normal, every day life kind of stuff. Normal is so refreshing : )

posted by Lisa 5/26/2001 02:42:00 PM | link it |

Friday, May 25, 2001

Redesign time around here I think. I'm visualizing all kinds of new layouts but there won't be time to do much. I am behind at work because of the events of the past week.

This is 3 kid weekend which I really need. Nothing like kids to make you forget the suckiness that can invade adult life. Tonight I made a collage out of various pictures of the kids and us. I bought someone a gift that required a frame. Every frame I tried was wrong so I stuck the gift in the mail without one. Rather than return the frame to the store, I decided to try the collage idea. It turned out really well I think. I'd show you but I don't feel comfortable showing pics of the kids anymore. I'm sure you'll all understand that. Anyway, it turned out super so thanks Dan. I would've never done that project if you hadn't needed a frame - which you didn't even know you needed, for the thing you know nothing about. ha! I'm guessing you'll have it all figured out by this time next week. (although this is the post office we're talking about and they didn't do so good for Pam).

The kid's mom just called and said Emily has tee ball practice in the morning. That will be fun if it's not raining. C. had ball practice the other night in the pouring rain. It was cold and miserable but he broke his first bat so that cancelled out the nasty weather. He was so excited about the bat breaking. He couldn't wait to tell someone and was disappointed that Todd wasn't home when we got here. He tried to call his grandma and his aunt and they were either in bed or not home. He tried to wait up for Todd to come in but didn't make it. Poor kid had to settle with sharing his excitement with just me. Apparently moms dont understand the significance or something. I thought I reacted with the right amount of "Wow!" I know I did because it was shocking. Maybe because I was there when it happened... he does like to exaggerate the facts just a teeny little bit and couldn't do that since I was an eyewitness?? Anyway, my kid broke a bat because yes, he is that good. We practice a whole lot in the back yard and he picked up on Todd's batting technique. In case you're wondering... that technique is to swing as hard as you can. If you connect, it will sail out of the park. If you miss, people still think "wow he swings hard!". Either way you look good I guess.

posted by Lisa 5/25/2001 10:16:00 PM | link it |

Thursday, May 24, 2001

Just to demonstrate how anti-wildlife in the house my mom used to be, I'd like to point out what happened to my salamander. When I was ten, I went with my friend to visit her family and was gone for a week. I came home and my salamander was dead. I had given explicit instructions about keeping it moist. She accidentally forgot those instructions. This post also guarantees me another email from my Aunt Rosetta because she'll remember that I brought that salamander home from their place.

posted by Lisa 5/24/2001 10:04:00 PM | link it |

Today Christopher learned his first really hard lesson about trying to help wild animals. In the same lesson, I learned that my mom has indeed been abducted by aliens and replaced by someone waaaay different.

This story starts with baby birds getting pushed out of nests. Tuesday, C. caught one of the baby robins at my mom's place and put it in a cage. As soon as I picked him up after work, she let the bird out of the cage. The next day after school he found it and caught it again. Through all of this catching and releasing, I told him that wild animals should be left alone, that their mother's were still caring for them and they needed that kind of care. He wouldn't listen and thought he had to help this poor abandoned bird. Last night mom agreed not to release the bird again and put it's cage in her garage. This was my first clue that this woman wasn't my mother. When I picked him up tonight, the bird was in the cage, in the house. Alright, who took my mom??? There's a wild bird in her house and she's not screaming and pointing wildly towards the door. Hmmm.. Once again I explain that the baby bird needs to be outside where it's mom can tend to it. They both tell me that they've been taking the bird and the cage to the patio and momma bird fed it through the bars. Todd and I joked that was much like Sunday visitation at the jail. Anyway, I finally convinced him that this bird was dying... which is was... so I took it out and set it on the ground. By this time it's had it. It was in really rough shape but I left it hoping it's mom would come down from the tree and take care of it. After several minutes it became obvious that she wasn't going to do anything with it anymore so I brought it back in. It was clearly dying but I thought I could maybe warm it between my hands and rejuvenate it a bit. I'm standing by the sink holding this dying baby bird when this voice shrieks "Lisa!! You're gonna get mites! Birds have mites or lice or something!" ahhh... they brought my mother back... I don't think I got mites or lice or anything other than a handful of bird poop. It did die and Christopher buried it which is a whole other story. I think he finally believes me when I tell him that babies of every kind need their mom.

Which brings me back to my mom. What is happening to her? Geeze Louise! I can remember being C's age and bringing home baby birds. There wasn't any cage provided. She'd rain down hellfire and damnation because I brought it in the house. They have bugs and mites and lice and something, remember?? I swear, Christopher may even be able to bring in a snake and get away with it. Oh God would I love to see that! I'm pretty sure she'd go ballistic initially but something tells me she'd get him a jar for it.

posted by Lisa 5/24/2001 09:56:00 PM | link it |

Wednesday, May 23, 2001

Aunt Rosetta, cover your ears. Strong language ahead : )

This is another reason why I love Todd. I'm sitting here ranting and raving about the whole Kaycee/Debbie thing again. Like Jim said, it just makes my blood boil. Anyway, Todd has came home to my tirades on this subject every night this week. Tonight I'm telling him about a conversation I had today wherein a gentleman told me not to feel stupid. This guy reminded me that people get scammed every day all across America. Smart people. He said good people like me will eventually run into someone who will take advantage if we keep giving from our heart long enough. So I'm telling Todd this whole speil and he says "It's like Joe Pesci says in Lethal Weapon..'they'll fuck ya at the drivethru'." Of course I'm in rant mode so I missed his point. He had to explain that Joe Pesci's character says that - meaning that if you go thru the long drivethru line, they can fuck you by not giving you fries or something and they know that you won't come back through the line again so they fuck you and they laugh. Ain't nothing you can do about it. Thank you Todd for making me laugh.

Now back into rant mode for a moment... since I've gotten so good at this : ) I've read that some people are saying we're (meaning those of us who were suckered) getting what we deserve and that we should quit whining and accept the fact that we're stupid. I take issue with that.. big time! I'm not stupid. I've done things that might lead you to believe otherwise but really, I'm not. Let me tell you what I (and the others I know) really, truly are. We are people who look for the best in everyone. We believe in the overall goodness of people. We love and hate with equal passion. (BTW Debbie, you've been moved to the hate column) We make friends easily and defend them until death. (no pun intended) Those are strengths/good qualities and only become weaknesses when someone preys on them. And then you know what? It's still not our weakness. It's theirs... the people who take advantage. I was strong. I had extra room in my heart for one person (two people??) and I let her in. She came in under false pretenses and you see, that's her problem. Not mine. She's weak. I'm strong. I'm a even better person. Because of this I learned that for every one dishonest person, there's a hundred perfectly wonderful people who will stamp them out and take their place. I didn't close my heart to strangers. I opened it even further and was rewarded tenfold. So Debbie... I win. You lose. As Redgie said in a metafilter thread.. "You are the weakest link. Goodbye."

ahhhhh... I think I'm starting to feel better now : ) BTW, don't even email me and tell me that you disagree and that I'm really a sucker. I may be on the road to putting this behind me but I ain't there yet. Let's not push any buttons, 'k? hehehe

posted by Lisa 5/23/2001 10:48:00 PM | link it |

Tuesday, May 22, 2001

I have an incredible amount to say about the whole Kaycee fiasco but my emotions are too raw right now and the facts are still continuing to present themselves. This much I know for sure: I was played like a violin. The heartstrings that I've acquired only in recent years were tugged big time. My anger boils over on behalf of those close to me who were hurt. End of that story for now.

posted by Lisa 5/22/2001 06:51:00 PM | link it |

Sunday, May 20, 2001

This has been a very busy, productive weekend. Friday I came home from work, flung my stuff just inside the front door and starting mowing the lawn. I decided to get brave and jump on the John Deere to do the back yard. I hate riding lawn mowers - leftover childhood garbage - and have always said I'd push mow an acre before I got on a rider again. I wanted to have the yard all mowed for Todd and there was no way I could really push mow an acre in two hours. I really hate to admit it but the John Deere is very nice. In fact it's so nice that Todd was a little disappointed that he wouldn't need to mow : )

Saturday we cut down the dead pine tree and hauled it off. Today we cleaned the eave spouting, raked up the branches left from the tree, cleaned the garage and managed to make it to my friend's son's graduation reception. I wish I'd asked for tomorrow off to rest up. It'll be funny to see what's left of our garbage pile by morning. The city is doing city-wide cleanup so everyone is filling their curbs with things they no longer want or need. We had an old wheelbarrow with a bent rim and bad tire. It was rusted almost all of the way through and not worth a dime but someone picked it up from the trash heap in no time. I think they'll be disappointed.

I learned a lot this weekend too. I learned that I have a lot of great friends both online and off. I learned that I might be a little too friendly and trusting but I'm not changing that. I learned that there's a whole lot of cynicism in this world but even more compassion and hope and love. What I consider to be the best lesson of the weekend may surprise you. It's that Todd is the king lightning bug catcher. Yup, that's the best lesson. Told you it'd surprise you. It's the best because who'd have thunk a tough guy such as he would even be interested in chasing bugs with a crazy woman and her equally nutty seven year old? I learn something new about him every day and it's always something that makes me love him even more.

posted by Lisa 5/20/2001 10:54:00 PM | link it |