Another addition to the family

I finally gave in and let Joe have a hamster. But only because it was free. Of course it was free because somebody else made the mistake of buying one and now their kid doesn’t want it. Anyway, Joe has begged me for a hamster, a gerbil, a bird or a fish for a couple of years now and I’ve always said no. After all, we have four dogs and need another pet like I need a hole in my head. In fact, he begged me for one just yesterday morning while we were at PetSmart buying dog food. I held firm. Later in the afternoon, when he said the kid down the street wanted to give his away, I was weak. I’m curious how long the poor thing will make it with Angel. She’s only 8 months old and hates the squirrels that venture into her yard. As I expected, all the dogs sniffed Spinny’s cage and Angel barked for 10 minutes straight.

I think one reason I gave in this time is because I feel guilty that I had so many pets that my poor mother had to take care of. When I was 9, I had 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2 parakeets and a turtle. Mom took care of them all. So whenever Joe has asked and I’ve said no - I’ve felt like a hypocrite. However, I am going to stand strong and make Joe clean the cage. I’m not that much of a softy.

I’ve been watching Six Feet Under this weekend. I missed the series when it originally aired. Oh I’d seen an episode here or there whenever HBO offered a free weekend but so many people had raved about it, especially after the debacle of the L Word finale, I decided to rent it. I’m hooked. I watched 7 hours straight on Saturday. Did you see it back during its run? If not, I’d definitely recommend it. What did you all do this weekend?

I got an email from my friend Minnie who told me I am off the 3-day restriction she imposed on me for sneaking out of my house when I was a teenager. Therefore I am to blog something today. Ha! Silly Minn.

I haven't been blogging because I've actually been working. No, I haven't heard anything from the last job interview but I've worked 3 days straight, 10-12 hours each day. So I've been brain dead by the time I get home. I check out my friends blogs and then go veg in front of the TV til I pass out. That picture up there is my pug Charlie napping on the sofa. That's how I've felt the last few days.

Spring took a weekend trip out of town since it has been cold and rainy here since Friday. The boys spent the weekend with their dad so it was just me and the dogs. The boys came home around 7:00 last night so we promptly decided the dogs needed a bath. Joe was teasing - at least I hope he was - and said he'd pee'd on Charlie the other day. I can't imagine Charlie would stand still long enough for someone to actually wee on him but Hank and I decided not to take any chances and threw him into the bathtub. That led to all the dogs getting baths. The pugs have so much hair, it takes them forever to dry. Angel was dry in a fraction of the time that Charlie and Carley were. We rounded out the evening by watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean. How can Johnny Dep look so good with black teeth and long finger nails?

Who censors YOU?

I’ll tell you a secret - most times I don’t feel like a grown-up. And I hardly ever feel like an adult. I don’t feel like a kid exactly, especially when I am around my own kids. I know I am the adult in the house so I have no problem in saying “no, you can not set the sofa on fire to see how long it will take to burn.”

But when my kids tell me they “snuck” out of the window the night it snowed so they could go walking in the snow, I don’t get mad like I’m supposed to. Wait. I’m supposed to get mad when my kids sneak out, right? Instead, I think sneaking out at 11:00 p.m. to walk in the snow sounds lovely. When they confessed to their “crime”, I asked why they didn’t just tell me they wanted to go out, Hank responded, “because you were asleep. If I had woke you up to ask, you would’ve said no because you would’ve been mad that I woke you up. But if you’d been awake and I had asked, you would’ve said ‘yes - so long as you don’t bother anybody, stay on our street and keep quiet.’ Isn’t that what you would’ve said?” He’s probably right. But in hindsight, the little bit of adult I possess can think of 50 reasons why I should’ve said no - its dangerous, you shouldn’t get in the habit of sneaking out, etc.

Now I’ll admit, I’m pretty lenient with my kids. I think I’m this way because my own parents weren’t super strict. Oh sure, I had rules but my dad learned pretty early on that I’m a “school of hard knocks” kinda gal. In other words, I have to find things out for myself. Life lessons mean more to me if I have to clean up my own mess. Not to say that sometimes I don’t repeat my mistakes but at least I don’t expect a white knight to ride in and save me. No, I always save myself. And I guess that’s how I figure my kids are.

Yet, I have always wanted my kids to know that other people, our family friends, love them and look out for them. I believe it does take a village to raise kids. But at the same time, I don’t want that village to censor my children. I bring this up because of something that happened at work yesterday. I was helping the clerk up front put new magazines on the display rack and she said “call me a prude but I don’t think this magazine needs to go out. We had two magazines this month that I didn’t put out because the women on the front were dressed too skimpy. Young boys don’t need to come in and see that.” This is when the not quite an adult part of me took over. I didn’t say anything to her (it would’ve done no good) but I silently questioned “who are you to turn these magazines face down on the shelf so others can’t look at them? Besides, don’t you think teenaged boys have enough curiosity/sense to pick this magazine up and see what’s on the front?”

This has been playing havoc in my head for 24 hours now. Who appointed this woman censor at Rite Aid and why do we need one anyway? Now I admit that I get offended by certain websites. For example, I find it very offensive when women are ogled and trash-talked about, even it is by other women! Does this make me a hypocrite? I don’t think so because I keep that opinion to myself because that’s what it is - an opinion. Who am I to tell you or the rest of society how to live? If I don’t like a particular conversation on a blog or website, I simply don’t participate in it. Do children have this right also? Most adults don’t think so and that’s why we have all the laws that require parental consent or knowledge of so many things.

I know I’m skating on some slippery ice with this subject. But I’d like to hear what some of you think and why. I’d like to ask you first though to remember the things you did as a kid that your parents didn’t know about and then ask yourself this: would you have been better off if your parents had known all the things you did wrong so they could save you from yourself? Or did you learn a more valuable lesson by making the mistake and fixing it yourself? And if you ever looked at Playboy or Playgirl, were you harmed in anyway?

The Little Dog Laughed Last

The little dog got the last laugh on me. It’s another beautiful day here so I had just let the dogs out to play for a bit. Angel was being her usual devilish self and running into the other dogs and knocking them over. I shouldn’t laugh but the pugs and the chihuahua look so funny being knocked about that I can’t help it. Please, don’t call the ASPCA or PETA on me. My dogs are very well taken care of but I do giggle when they’re being typical siblings with each other.

Anyway, Angel decided to torment Badger, the Chihuahua and Badger can only handle a few minutes of it. So after I had a laugh at her expense, I went over to shoo her back inside and close the door, thus separating her from Angel. By the way, does Angel look like she needs a halo or a pitchfork?

Well guess what? Yep, the door clicked and I was locked out. Now imagine me in shorts, green tee shirt, black socks and black crocs, my cotton-white legs not shaved for a month and standing on the back porch at 8:30 this morning. Not a pretty site. Just ask Lynda & Peter, my neighbors, whose house I walked to so I could call my ex to let me back inside. I had a new door installed last summer and never got around to giving Lynda an extra key. That fact will be remedied soon because I had several spares made today.

I had just taken some pictures of the little darlings before I locked myself out. I’m always trying to get cute shots of the pugs; they never both look at the camera at the same time. But I got a pretty good one of Carley by herself; I whistled and she obligingly cocked her head for me.



Job update: went on the interview on Saturday but as the kids would say - I don’t think the owner was all that into me. Interestingly, the pharmacy was next door to a massive cemetery. Was that an omen, ya think? Not to fear, I have another interview tomorrow with another independent store. The chains may offer better benefits but I’ve heard they’re all cutting hours so I’m going to try to steer clear of them. Y’all send me some good vibes tomorrow around 3:00 Eastern!

Feelin' sappy

Its freaking gorgeous outside so I feel cheery today. Sunny with an expected high of 70. And I have a job interview! I responded to a job posted on Monster.com and the guy called me back yesterday afternoon. The only catch is its 30 miles away. Now for you big city types, that commute isn’t even worthy of mention. But for small-town me….it’s a haul. Besides, I only live 3 minutes away from my current job. The interview is at 1:00 so y’all send me positive energy, k? This new gig sounds like something I’d like; a small-town, independent pharmacy. I’ve never worked for one but it appeals to the Mayberry part of my personality.

I just read a very touching blog over at Blogher. That site is my new addiction. Any type of blog you’re looking for can be found at Blogher. Politics to recipes - they’ve got it. Well this morning, I stumbled into one on friendship. Now in case you haven’t figured out yet, I’m a sap for my friends. I realized my marriage wasn’t worth saving once I owned up to valuing my friends more than my mate. If I could’ve ever treated my husband the way I do my friends, he would’ve been a lucky guy. But that’s another story.

The blog that got my tear ducts working this morning was written by a woman who's best friend has early-stage Alzheimer's. Losing my memory terrifies me. My mother had a photographic-memory. She’s been gone for 20+ years and I still forget that she isn’t around to confirm my childhood memories for me. In my late teens, I had a great-aunt who developed some form of dementia and it was frightening to watch how quickly she forgot us. She always remembered my mother but me? She thought I was my grandmother who had died when my mother (her daughter) was born.

So while it was sort of fun to pretend I was my long-dead grandmother and get caught up with Great-Aunt Faye, I hope I never experience another memory-eating disease again. But just in case, I’m going to start writing down memories of people that I wanna keep. Remember The Notebook and how James Garner read Gena Rowlands their love story everyday? While I don’t have a great love story I’d like to rediscover if my memory goes, I do have awesome, amazing friends that I never want to forget. I’m sure lots of you do too. Wouldn’t it wonderful if you wrote down a memory of you and your friend and sent it to her or him? I know I’d like that. So if you’ve got a sappy story about me you want me to never forget, send it my way. Or preserve a memory for another friend and pass it along to her.

P.S. - Yes, I still love The Three Stooges.

Will Work Like A Mule

I’ve been feeling stressed all week. I’ve been downsized. Damn! Even the term itself is depressing. Now don’t worry, I haven’t totally lost my job but the hours I’m scheduled to work in the coming week is so miniscule, I can’t see them. Seriously, I found out when I got to work on Monday that was the only day this week I was scheduled to work. Who knows about next week?

Its not like I didn’t see this coming. The company has steadily been cutting technician hours since the first of January. But it didn’t really sock me in the gut til this week. So I made it through the second snow day with the kids (see previous blog) and waited until they were back in school on Wednesday to commence my job search. First thing I did was update my resume. The second thing I did was drop off a form for my pharmacist to complete thus finishing up the online course I’ve slowly waded through. And ya know what? He gave me a glowing report! Awww. That made me feel warm and fuzzy when I’ve otherwise felt panicky yesterday and today.

So to fight the panicked feeling, I registered with both hospital (we have two in town) websites and applied for open positions in their pharmacies. Then I checked out the newspaper and saw an ad from last week for a mail order pharmacy. Sent a resume off to them. Tomorrow, I’ll do a separate resume enhancing my rusty clerical skills. After all, I stayed home with the kids for almost 8 years so my secretarial skills ARE rusty. That’s why I took the pharmacy tech course - career change and all that.

Am I worried? YES! I could crap my pants if I think about it too much. I took another course two years ago, pre-separation, trying to prepare for living on my own. But I never successfully found a job using that degree either. So here I am. Ya know what though? I’m a survivor and I know I’ll get through this. Just in case though, how do you all feel about sharing a home with a middle-aged cranky lady, two boy children and 4 dogs?

Animal Odd Couple

My friend Marsha sent me this video today. I'm a sap for animals and friendship so I was bawling by the end of this video. Not because its sad but because its so sweet. And the message at the end is awesome!