Saturday, February 28, 2009

Hello Again

Everything is fine here. My lack of posting is due to a combination of busy, lazy, more lazy, and unmotivated. And lazy.

Can't even blame it on the rain. It's been pretty nice this week, plenty of dog walking and ball-throwing in the back yard. We even hit a few parks, aren't we special. And believe it or not, I actually did a couple of social things this week, and one one of them was without the baby. Shocking!

I hope to get my ass in gear and be back to more regular posting next week. Fingers crossed!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

It's like WWE but with blueberries and goldfish crackers

A friend hosted a play date today for a couple of us gals and our unruly children. Four boys, from 16 months to 4 years... Note to self: have a girl next time. You should have seen those kids vying for this one toy hammer. It was like throwing a bag of Wonder Bread into a duck pond. But with whining.

Samson was the youngest of the group, so it was one of those opportunities for me to see my future with him in tidy little stages. Observe:

Little Friend #1 is about six months older than Samson. He was doing amazing things like putting the correct shapes in the shape sorter.

Little friend #2 is ten months older than Samson. He's learning about sharing, asks for help, and has interesting ways of greeting other toddlers. Like chest bumps.

Little friend #3 is about three years older than Samson, and I've always been weirded out by him him simply because he does things that Samson will surely never do, like speak in complete sentences and build entire systems of wooden railroad tracks. Hanging out with kids his age reminds me that I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT KIDS and HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO RAISE ONE.

Every time I stop to catch my breath, I look back and see that 3, 6, 15 months have passed and the baby is still intact. Sometimes, he's even smiling. And usually he's doing something new and amazing that I never thought I'd see, like GIVING BEAR HUGS and GOING DOWN THE SLIDE BY HIMSELF.

I am in a perpetual state of shock.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Pass the syrup

Apparently, Mardis Gras is called Pancake Day in the UK. Or at least, that's what NPR told me, and NPR don't lie.

Let's learn more about this day of flapjacks, shall we?

Shrove Tuesday, also known as pancake day, is the last day before lent, so everyone eats pancakes.

OK, if I were silly enough to actively practice a religion that made me give stuff up for 47 days, I might gorge myself on red meat and alcohol on Shrove Tuesday, or maybe laziness and porn. But pancakes? I can take 'em or leave 'em.

French toast, however, is a totally different story.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

I hate the rain

I'm pretty sure it's never going to stop raining. Samson and I will never leave the house again, and we will both eventually go crazy and do something awful like shave the cat.

It's been a hell of the weekend. I totally jumped the gun and put Samson to bed at 6 tonight, about an hour before his regular bedtime, but I just COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. I needed him to be doing something that didn't require my involvement, and sleeping is about the only thing on that list right now. So he's been down there, talking to himself in protest, and I know the talking will escalate to a complaint, then to a yell, then to a scream...any. minute. now.

I can just picture him running his pacifier along the crib bars like in some old prison movie. Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.

Oh, all right. It's not all bad. During one of the few five minute breaks in the rain, we went out to the backyard to blow bubbles (bub-oh, so damn cute he is), and Samson totally discovered puddles and how jumping and splashing in them is totally the most fun thing ever. That was awesome.

But the rest of it sucked.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

This would be heaven except for the dog farts

Max and his party animal friends are on their way to Amsterdam for a wedding at the Norwegian consulate. Samson is asleep. I've got Chinese food delivery on the way and there's a Sharks game on in HD tonight.

Awesome awesome awesome!

Also, it's not raining. Not even a little bit.

Of course I will miss Max. He will be very far away. Too far away to, say, hog the TV with his Call of Duty ridiculousness. Or to, say, hog the entire bed with arms and legs and what not. I'm just saying.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

No Gnus is Good Gnus

Nothing to report. Hooray for You Tube!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Sickly Samson

Samson had his first fever over the long weekend. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated; basically he was just hot to the touch. And really really cuddly. Actually, Saturday night was pretty rad.

The fever went down by Sunday afternoon, but so did his cuteness levels. He had become cranky, clingy, and whiny, and refused to eat or drink. He wobble when he walked and he had developed a lovely rash on his chest and back.

At the doctor's office on Monday, he was diagnosed with a cold. Nothing special, just a cold with some fluid in his head causing the balance problems. I've never heard of a cold with a fever and a rash, but I didn't attend 4 years of medical school either.

It was so great having Max around to help care for Samson, and it was hard to send him off to work today knowing what kind of day we were in for: more torrential rains (have you heard? it's the end of days over here) and a sick toddler. Now that the day is over and he's gone to bed, I can look back and say that it really wasn't that bad. Two naps, he ate and drank very well, and played outside when it wasn't raining. Not that I'm not counting the minutes until he can return to the nanny share on Thursday...

Friday, February 13, 2009

Wow, all this rain is totally spooky

I've had plenty of things to complain about in the last handful of months. Plenty of things. The weather has not been one of them. This has been among the driest, warmest, most enjoyable winters that I can remember. Very little rain, very few crappy days. It's been awesome.

And then it started raining. Intermittently at first--a couple days here, a day or two there. Not enough to get all hung up about it. And every time it sprinkled, somebody would comment about oh, we really need the rain. This is great. And to that I say, it's far too late for that. We're already going to have a drought, so why pretend? Why rain at all? Let's enjoy global warming and all of its sunny warm winterful glory.

It's been raining since about Tuesday night, and damn cold to boot. Tough to stomach when your toddler repeatedly runs up to back door, bangs on it as he turns to look at you, then bursts into tears before you can even say no or explain that it's too cold or too wet to go outside right now. On the plus side, he's learned a new manipulation skill. He knows that we all need coats and shoes in order to go outside, so he's stated bring my my sweatshirt or maybe a tiny converse from time to time, looking at me expectantly. Who can say no to that?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

That Other Thing I've Been Doing

I've been keeping a secret from you. I feel just awful about it. And I think it's time to come clean.

I've been cheating on Extra Super Fantastic with my new blog, Etsy Cool. There, I said it.

Wo ho! What's that, you say? You're sharing your intimate thoughts and feelings, the details of your family life and the absurdities that come along with being you at SOME OTHER BLOG?

Not exactly. Etsy Cool is a shopping blog that finds the coolest items for sale on Etsy.com and brings them all to one place, sort of a best-of-the-best list. You won't find ramblings about Samson's love of bluetooth ear pieces or sad stories about sick dogs. You won't even find a link to one of the most hilarious videos ever. (Don't worry, you'll still totally find all that crap here.)

But you will find Valentine's Day cards, pompom hats, and cat toys.

You're welcome!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Doing Fine

We're all still here, chugging right along. And by chugging, I mean snacking. Yep, more mini muffins. What can I say? Stress makes me bake. Also, if you give a dog a cheeseburger, they'll be your best friend.

And what would death be without new life? Downright shitty, that's what. And although I just can't in good conscience compare a dog to a baby, a very very very good friend just announced her pregnancy and that makes life a lot better for me these days. She's one of those people who simply should have children, and there is one lucky fetus inside her belly right now. Damn lucky.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Living it Up

Obviously, we are all very sad. There is nothing nice about knowing that your dog is at death's door. But the weird part, the great part, is that she's still seemingly healthy and normal, totally herself. So we're taking every opportunity to show her a good time and have some fun. Kind of like 20 Good Years, only it's 20 Good Days.

So this morning we all packed into the Outback and headed to the beach. That dog loves to run and fetch, and has little to no patience for toddlers trying to figure out how to use the chuckit.



We didn't care that it was cold and drizzly. Nanna certainly didn't. Ozzy cares only about whether or not that thing in front of him is edible.



Samson, too, had a great time. Vast expanses of sand upon which to run, vast expanses of sand with which he can fill his mouth. He didn't even really mind that we made him wear a hat. The nerve!



I only hope that she's having a good time. Beyond the absurd amount of treats, the extra special attention and all of the fun outings, I hope she knows that she is very deeply loved.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

I hate x-rays

So somebody wasn't crossing the fingers hard enough. Sadly, I will have to say goodbye to my very best friend sooner than I'd like to. Nanna's x-rays came back with lots and lots of tumors in her lungs, and it's looking like she won't be with us much longer.

Sigh.

It's never easy to say goodbye. I'm glad she's still herself, still the Nanna I've known for 12 1/2 years. She's still the Nanna that pouts, goes to bed at 8 pm, and MUST. GET. SQUIRRELS. I'm so so lucky to have some time with her while she's still happy, before she's in any pain. I get to spend some quality time thanking her for everything she's taught me about friendship and life and joy and grace and generosity and fun.

She's a mighty good dog.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Just a dog update

Nanna's tests all came back OK, that is to say her kidneys and liver are all performing as they should. Next step is chest and abdominal x-rays tomorrow to look for tumors and other weird things.

I swear, she'd better not die. Samson just decided that he likes to feed her from his toddler spoon, and that it's funny when she licks his face--as opposed to the absolute end of the world. Finally. I know that at his age, he wouldn't be too terribly effected by her passing, but I would deeply mourn the loss of all of the future memories they are sure to make.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Waiting for good news

Still waiting for the vet to call with test results. In the mean time, I'm attempting to fatten Nanna up with chicken thighs and cheese cubes. I expect to be cleaning up dog puke at some point during the night.

On the flip side, it appears that Ozzy's toxic butt fumes can be cleared up with Bean-o. I'm so happy I could cry...or maybe that's a dog fart stinging my eye. It also turns out that the skunk wound wasn't that bad, but they gave him a rabies booster just in case. So we shouldn't have any crazy, mouth-foamy dogs around here in the near future. Unless Ozzy gets into Max's shaving cream again. Ha ha. Heh. Ugh.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Fingers crossed for no more drama

While Samson does engaging things that aren't watching Handy Manny or Little Einsteins at the nanny share tomorrow, I will be taking a trip to the veterinarian's office with Ozzy and Nanna. As you may have read, Ozzy met with the business end of a skunk Friday night--well, both business ends. And although I cleaned the wound out and have kept a close eye on it, it's starting to look...gross. And wound-like. So I will let the doctor decide if it's more serious than I thought, and if it is, I will pay the doctor to fix it, then I will die from shame and guilt.

On a potentially more sinister note, Nanna is going to see the vet because she's skinny. How's that for catty behavior? My best friend is losing weight so I will pay someone to fatten her up. I've recently noticed that I can see each vertebrae in her back, and her haunches are much more defined than normal. Max says I'm crazy, and I hope he's right. The last thing I want for Nanna is some sort of awful disease that manifests itself in any way other than squirrel chasing and peanut butter licking and snoring quietly on the bed. That would be the disease of the gods.

So here's hoping that tomorrow morning I come home with two totally normal dogs, even if one of them is Ozzy.