recent happenings

My car died last weekend. Christopher jumped it on Sunday and it started working, but it was dead again on Monday. Naturally, we had a playdate and four time-sensitive errands scheduled that day. Instead, Christopher came home over lunch to jump it again and I went to buy a new battery. The GPS brought me to the wrong garage so I had to go to an Auto Zone on the other side of town. I think I could identify four items in the entire store- tires, air fresheners, tictacs, and a pocket knife. The very nice man asked if my Rogue is an S, SL or SV. I had no answer to that question. I told him all I know is that it's a blue Nissan and I like it. I don't know about cars. He followed that question up with "Is it a four-cylinder?" I got the feeling he wasn't listening when I told him I DON'T KNOW ABOUT CARS. I'm part of the reason why there's a stereotype about women not being knowledgeable about cars!

One of our stops after getting the new battery was to drop off our Operation Christmas Child boxes. I've been doing them for over 12 years and now AB gets just as excited about packing them. We've learned how to really maximize every square inch of the box. 

We've always included a card, but this year at the homeschool group we were given OCC sheets to color and put in the box. Look at the care with which Sesame drew our house. Such attention to detail and dedication to including all the loving decor touches I've labored over.

Annabelle's future husband invited her to friendsgiving today. She was the only girl in a group of 9 children and she wasn't sure how to handle it. She kept giving them the side-eye and covering her ears (both of which I wanted to do myself). 

It's not as if she's always a dainty flower at home. She makes plenty of noise and ruckus by herself. She's constantly asking, "Do you want to hear how loud I can yell the word ________? Can I have a snack? Can I watch a show? MAAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAA!!!!!"

Her talking could fuel all the vehicles needed to transport the shoeboxes around the world.

Does Jimmy Carter have double chins?

Last week, Mom, Grandma, and Elizabeth came to visit. They never comment on the state of my house, but I was cleaning and vacuuming like they would arrive with a magnifying glass and sue me for every speck of dust they found. I assure you I'd have lost the million dollars I don't have if I was fined for every spot left unclean.

The main outing of the trip was a visit to Jimmy Carter's boyhood home. There isn't much to do in our town, or within three hours of our town, so JC's has become The Place to bring visitors. It's JC's, the library or the playground. The paparazzi snapped this photo of me playing secret service and escorting Grandma down the stairs while she asked why Jimmy wasn't going to meet us for lunch. "I come all the way from Massachusetts and he can't meet me for lunch?" 

I'll be honest. I tried to photoshop my double chin out of this photo. I rely on picmonkey to be my poor man's botox but sometimes it doesn't work and I end up looking like a cartoon character. We all have our burdens to bear and multiple chins is one of mine.

I didn't picture my life one in which my little girl would be playing in a southern cotton field on a breezy 78* day in November, but here I am. 

Multiple times a day I tell Sesame she's my best girl. She always responds with "You're my best girl too, Mama." I've always wanted her to be close to her relatives but this trip presented an unexpected issue. "Actually Mama, you're still mostly my best girl but Aunt Squiddzen (Elizabeth's nickname) is my best girl too. It's like, her than Grammy than you. You're still my best girl but more like my third best girl." Well. That backfired. I've promoted them too much. I've raised them too high on a pedestal! 

She's still MY best girl.

cats and turkeys

I was under the impression that cats were very easy, very hands-off pets. Sources told me, "all you have to do is give them food, water and clean the litter box." No one told me that they'd go into all my cabinets, sit in the sink while I brush my teeth, drag a loaf of bread bigger than their body from the pantry to the living room, stand on the keyboard while I type or sit on my head while I'm sleeping. They're into everything. It's like having two toddlers. 

No one told me they can also have allergic reactions leading to traumatic shots at the vet.

I took AB to her doctor this morning to have her ears checked. She hasn't complained about them but she's had an endless cold and what might be blocked ears on and off for about three weeks. It just as well might be selective hearing. Who knows. Most of my motherhood is guessing. I decided last night to take her in so I didn't have time to make an appointment. Her doctor takes walk-ins every morning for an hour so I decided we'd try that instead. Half the town had the same idea, thanks to flu season. Annabelle wasn't concerned about germs and thought laying out flat on the floor was a good idea so we'll be bathing in disinfectant tonight. Lucy had an appointment at the vet at 11:30 so we were on a time crunch. After waiting 40 minutes we were still two patients away and Lucy's appointment was fast approaching. I had to choose between waiting another 40+ minutes for my child or taking my cat to her doctor. I don't like those types of decisions. It's too much of a which child do you love better situation. OF COURSE, I love AB more, but Lucy is the one with wounds/sores on her body and Annabelle was the one happily sitting in the waiting room with her dress bunched up around her waist with her tights and belly on full display. She is not in any pain. We made an appointment for Monday and left.

AB was thrilled to have someone in the backseat with her. Lucy normally loves the car but meowed up a storm. Annabelle kept up a steady pep-talk. "It's ok, Lulu. Do you wanna blanket? Do you wanna little cuddle time? I'll take care of you."

The doctor took one look at Lucy's issues and told me she was having an allergic reaction. A reaction to what, she didn't know. I love the cat and all (I did choose her doctor over my human child's doctor) but I'm not about to do some kind of food elimination diet to figure out if she ate something she shouldn't have. I'm not about to go cat paleo and feed her a diet of almond meal and cauliflower. If she's reacting to something outside, maybe she'll learn to stay inside like she supposed to. The vet gave her a shot that made Lucy jump a foot in the air and AB squeal much too loud for a small room. Both girls were wound up as we walked back to the car. Lucy was trying to leap from my arms and Annabelle was strolling through the parking lot while swinging the cat crate into her legs and asking why a highway is called a highway. 

I'm mortified to have typed out 1,000 words about my cat. I swore I would never be that person.

Earlier in the week, our homeschool group had a kids market where the kids could sell baked goods, crafts or old toys. Annabelle and I made little turkeys out of lollipops and paper leaves.

It goes without saying that I did most of the work but she did draw all the faces. It took IMMENSE self-control not to redo all the faces when she went to bed but it was her project. If she liked how they looked then I would sit on my hands rather than have her think I was criticizing her drawing. She set up her little booth and told me, "You go look around, Mama. I've got this under control." She was so proud of herself.

I could tell she felt grown-up when she would look at what the other kids were selling and handed over her money. I told her she needed to save some of her money, but she spent some on an LOL doll, a necklace, a baggie of meringues and a cup of hot chocolate. Not bad for spending a grand total of $2.50. 

Lucy will need to set up a table at the next kids' market to pay for all her vet bills.

Currently, the beginning of November edition

Watching: You've Got Mail. I watch it every year and every time I love it more. I like to pretend it's based off my relationship with Christopher as we also got to know each other over email. If Meg Ryan ever wants to play me in a movie I won't complain. I forgot that the little girl in the movie is named Annabelle which further strengthens my theory that the movie is about us.

Blue Planet. AB wasn't feeling well on Friday so we had a low-key (she calls it "slow key") day. For science we watched a few episodes of Blue Planet on Netflix. It's the companion series to the Planet Earth series and so well done. It's fascinating. 

Wearing: shorts and short sleeves because it's still 70* and 80* during the day. It was 59* the night we went trick or treating and everyone was bundled up like we live on the North Pole. I tried explaining it's appropriate Fall weather but they couldn't hear through their earmuffs. 

Sharing: my pearls of wisdom with the captive audience that is my offspring. To be honest, sometimes I don't know who is the captive audience of who, she gets so clingy. I am very dedicated to raising AB and any future children to be kind. She has two signs about kindness in her room and I'm constantly reminding her to treat others with kindness and respect. When we were leaving the doctors office the other day, I went into too much detail explaining what "it's better to be kind then right" means. I was really proud of my explanation and was sure she had soaked up every word and would apply it to her life immediately. Alas, she had not. She asked me a question about the office roof.

Baffled by: people who like raccoons. A friend at work told me she was shopping at Target and saw a woman in the store holding a baby raccoon wrapped in a blanket. A BABY RACCOON IN TARGET. The lady didn't want to leave the raccoon in the car alone but she couldn't buy her raccoon supplies while holding the raccoon. My friend offered to hold the raccoon while the lady picked up what she needed. Raccoon rescuer was hesitant that my friend would "steal the raccoon" but she accepted the help. My friend did not steal the raccoon even though apparently SHE'S BEEN WANTING A PET RACCOON. This place is so weird.

Slaving over: Halloween costumes. I give AB until October 1st to change her mind about her costume. Whatever she wants on October 1st is what I make and what she is without complaining. For months she said tiger so I bought the necessary supplies weeks ago but didn't get around to starting it until last Saturday. The upheaval of the last several weeks took away all energy for dealing with orange felt and clothes from Walmart. All the sudden it was five days before trunk or treat at church and I had done nothing. I frantically began cutting stripes and gluing them to the clothes. I was halfway done when she announced on Tuesday that she didn't want to be a tiger anymore. She was no respecter of my efforts and said she'd like to be Elena of Avalor instead. Because she already had the costume from the cruise last year so I let her switch. There's no way I'd be whipping up an elaborate princess dress 24 hours before she needed it. For trunk or treat she brought her tiger with fabric tied around his body to make wings. She stood and acted in a ladylike and princessly manner. 

The next night she stuck a plastic hammer in her belt and whipped it out to defend us against inflatables in neighbors yards. A few little boys we were with had light sabers and she fought them off with her hammer, never caring that they're weapons were four times the size of hers. A princess has to defend her family however she can!

Chaperoning: Annabelle and Grayson's second annual date at the fair.

Expect to receive their wedding invitation in 2039.