Alabaster Mom

I said good-bye to my kitty today. She had not been eating or drinking for quite a while. Honestly, I'm not even sure what was keeping her alive, but I could not let it go on any longer. I tried everything to tempt her: treats, turkey, milk, cheese, canned food, etc. For a while, she was eating a few treats a day. The illogical part of my brain thought maybe I would just feed her treats instead of food, but obviously that was not a good long-term solution. I was also concerned about the fact that she was no longer drinking any water. I was still giving her the Pet-Tinic, and I believe that was the only fluid she was getting. I have not needed to clean her litter boxes in quite some time. She did something very strange the other night. On Saturday evening, we had gone to a concert in the park. After the kid had taken a shower and headed off to bed, I settled in to watch "48 Hours Mystery" on TV. Now, the cat door has always been left unlocked, but Ella seldom came ups...

P spent the day looking for his soul mate at a comic book convention out of town, so the kid and I did some mother-daughter stuff. We hit the farmers' market and then headed to a bike trail. It's a nice trail; it runs alongside a river and is pretty scenic. Today was the perfect day for a ride because it was sunny and only around 73 degrees. We rode 6.5 miles in total. I was pretty proud of my little sprite. I had no idea what her stamina would be like (or maybe her attention span was more of a variable than her stamina was). From our starting point, 3.25 miles took us to a park with a playground that she loves. So, it was the perfect place to hang out before turning around. I did warn her that a lot of the people on the trail are trying to exercise and may not want to chat. She nodded, but then still forced every passerby to say hello to her.

My husband and I finally found something we can do together: watching "Game of Thrones."  We are currently working our way through Season 1 via Netflix.  There are a lot of beheadings and gratuitous sex, so we have to make sure Short Stuff is asleep when we watch it. In one episode, even a horse is beheaded. I'm sort of wondering how many of the characters will still have heads at the end of the series. P and I don't watch a lot of TV together. I have my shows and he has his (I swear that he only pretends to be reading comics while I watch "Dance Moms," though - I've seen him sneaking a peek and then shaking his head like he is disgusted. Ten bucks says he can name every mom on the show.)  We aren't really united in music either, now that I think about it. We have a few interests in common but sometimes I'd swear we are from different planets. [ whispering ] He's a Republican, you know. I think one reason he doesn't like to watch TV w...

Remember the sleepover from last week? It turned out to be a bust. My daughter got homesick and insisted on coming home at around 10:30. My daughter and her friend were both in tears, and the night ended with a couple of broken hearts, I think. I guess the good news is that they'd had a lot of fun earlier in the evening, when they saw the new Ice Age movie and ate some junk food. Honestly, I am not sure why my daughter got homesick. She has always been pretty independent. In fact, she got lost in a crowd at the farmers' market yesterday morning and I was the only one who was upset. When I finally found her, placidly wandering through piles of produce, I hauled her behind a cheese truck to yell at her (I mean, I had been legitimately frightened when I could not find her). She looked around at all the people walking by and whispered, "MOMMY!" I was embarrassing her, apparently. "I DON'T CARE IF I AM EMBARRASSING YOU! YOU HAVE TO STAY BY ME!" So yeah, I b...

I'm just gonna say this outright: girls are more dramatic than boys. I am not big on gender stereotypes in general, but I can declare this one to be true with absolute confidence. You see, I grew up in a home with sisters (no brothers) and I was sometimes the root of the drama. With three girls, there was a lot of it to go around. I've noticed that my nephews don't seem to engage in a lot of drama. They may choose to invest their time in non-productive activities like punching each other in the head or making weapons out of Legos, but they don't usually stomp down the hall with a wail of "You don't even love me!" With my daughter, I get the full package: the stomping, the wailing, the eye rolling, and the dramatic statements meant to turn my cold black heart into something squishier and more easily manipulated. What scares me the most is that this is not a phase. I fully expect it to continue until she becomes a mom herself. Honestly, I cannot wait until...

An old and dear friend of mine flew in from DC on Friday morning for a visit. He flew back out this morning. I took Friday and Monday off work.  I could probably go in to work today but I need a day to recuperate from the weekend. On Friday, we spent the day bopping around town. He stayed at a hotel downtown, which just happens to be within walking distance of a winery. So, we hoofed it over there and tasted the various wines. We had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant.  Later, we picked up my kid from daycare and headed back to our house for pizza. And after that, my friend and I went out for a little while. Another friend of mine joined us. Yes, at a bar. Don't judge! On Saturday, we went to a local Pride festival. My church had a booth there, so I volunteered to help out (I also volunteered my friend, because I'm helpful that way).  The last time I attended this festival was two years ago.  We had a searing heat wave both times. My friend and I left mid-day to ge...

So, you may be thinking to yourself, "Self, I wonder if Claudia tried to grow anything this year?" (And if you truly did form that thought at some point, you may need to re-assess a few things in your personal life.) As you may recall, I have an inexplicable determination to grow tomatoes.  This is my third summer of trying. Last year, I learned that some tomato plants are "indeterminate," which means that they keep growing until they take over whole cities. Apparently, that was the kind I had last year and I was ill-prepared at best.  Because I have a smallish yard with three big dogs running around (and peeing) in it, my only real hope is to grow stuff in containers.  I am currently growing tomatoes, green beans, and possibly zucchini.  I say "possibly" because I got a late start with the zucchini and don't really know what I am doing. I feel like I am slightly more prepared with the tomatoes this year, though. I bought a bigger cage thingamajig.  I ...

After countless practice sessions involving many tears and a few minor injuries, Short Stuff can ride a bike. She cannot steer well and cannot properly apply the brakes, but she's riding. Hallelujah!   For weeks I have been practicing with her off and on. I can handle bending over and I can handle running, but I can't handle running while bent over. There were days when I thought my spine would snap in half, but she would have a coronary event if I let go of the back of her bike. So, I held on and jogged along behind her, offering encouragement as we went.  We live on a cul-de-sac so it was easy enough to have her practice in the street. She would get frustrated a lot, though, so the neighbors had a front row seat for several meltdowns. I never got upset with her at all, but the kid has a low frustration tolerance. Finally, the ability to balance kicked in and my baby was riding. Her dad and I have been belting out "She's a bike rider" to the tune of "H...

For only the second time ever, our daughter spent the night away from both of us on Saturday. The first time was when she was a baby. We needed to repaint our living room/dining room/kitchen and didn't want the wee lass breathing in paint fumes. So, my friend Mary took her overnight. Mary has fostered over 100 babies so at the time, she was one of the few people I trusted with my little one. Now I'll just let any random stranger take her. Kidding, I'm kidding! We dropped her off at our niece and nephew's house Saturday afternoon. A typically gets along well with their daughter, who is a year older. A has been invited to a few slumber parties with friends, but I've been really hesitant until now. She can't (or won't) comb her own hair, still needs help taking a shower, cries at the drop of a hat, etc. In short, I feared her maturity level (both physically and mentally) wasn't quite high enough to meet the demands of an overnight stay. However, we figure...

I haven't posted in a few days because, well, I haven't done all that much. Or at least, not anything very exciting. Since my last post, I: Complained a bit about the heat. Normally, I am not one to complain too much about the weather because it's pointless - I think it's best to reserve the kvetching for situations that can be changed. But seriously, ya'll - it's hot as fuck. Went to yoga three times. Each time,  I broke a sweat before class even started, just from the exertion of rolling out my yoga mat.  Had a date night with my husband. We rode a roller coaster and then went out for drinks and dinner. My beloved said the wrong thing to me at the bar and then I had to go all silent treatment on him for a little while. You'd think the man would learn after 20 years. Went to church. The sermon dealt with confronting racism and gave me a lot of food for thought. Took my daughter and her friend to a water park (I had free passes that I won in a raffle...