wisdom

tribe, minus one

We lost a member of our tribe a few days ago.  Our dear, sweet tripod cat, Oliver passed away.  Reasons are many, sadness is huge.

My 2-year-old is still looking for him, and my 6-year-old is ready to head to the shelter to adopt another 4- (or 3-) legged furry to round out our mix.  But I think she needs to grieve some first.  Since he left us we’ve had a parade, family visits and school keeping us distracted and busy.  Some quiet moments where his absence looms will serve us well.

Ollie will be remembered, loved and highly regarded, his pawprints hard to fill…

road rage

My 2 year old has road rage.

It’s true, unfortunately for me.  Whenever we are stuck in traffic or approaching a red light she lays it on thick.  “GO!!!!”, from the backseat.  As if I enjoy sitting there.

I find myself assessing traffic patterns and driver behavior more as a result, mostly to save myself from the angry toddler.  And what I’ve noticed on the latter isn’t pretty.

The number of people texting in traffic or at stop signs (meaning you are still moving, by and large, or at least only really stopping briefly) is staggering.  The ones who scare me the most are the ones in my rear view mirror, and force me to resort to some mantra about not hitting my car.

I commute and there is a busy exit off the freeway that many of us frequent.  Lots of cars inching toward the stop sign at the end of the offramp.  This part of the commute is always a little anxiety inducing, as my little one can become a demanding dictator in the blink of an eye…

I saw a lady a few weeks ago on said offramp putting on her makeup.  I’ve seen her before, her orange car with the string from a long-ago-popped balloon which hangs from her rear windshield wiper.  Unmistakeable.  Before that day I had only noticed the car and not the driver.  This lady, focused on the mascara application in the mirror, hit the car in front of her (~shocking~), which held up traffic even more (insert “GO!!!” here) while she and the other driver assessed that there was no damage, thankfully.  While this was problematic enough, as soon as she got back in her car, she proceeded to pick up her phone and start texting.  Incessantly.  For miles.  I have since seen her many times on that route and have seen her reading papers, holding her phone to her ear, applying lipstick, etc.  I now go out of my way to avoid her.

The silver lining with noticing everyone else’s bad driving habits is being more conscious of my own (ahem) which are easy to ignore when your ears are bleeding from being shouted at from inches away.

anniversary

In addition to being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Inauguration Day, Monday was our second anniversary with Ace.  So, as has now become our tradition, we celebrated with doggie cupcakes and candles.

Ace inhaled his, and then climbed up on the table foraging for crumbs.  Which we allowed, being his anniversary and all.

dressy

According to my daughter’s calendar, today is Dress Up Your Pet Day.

 

 

 

 

So Oliver, Ace and Martha had to take one for the team during a fashion show devised by our 6-year-old.

Sorry guys…

 

news flash

We went to Lindsey‘s house yesterday for some R&R (read: make our kids play together so we can ignore them and put our feet up).

At one point, one of our collective children came in to complain about some nonsense involving unfair rules and Linds looked at him straight-faced and said “fine, you can sit in here with the grownups.  We are discussing the news.”

I nearly passed out.  I laughed so hard my head hit the table, my shoulders shook and I could not draw a breath.  Tears streamed, I tell you.  TEARS.

When said child, faced with the choice between “unfair” playmates and grownups discussing the Most Boring Thing On Earth (the news), he scampered back to the game.

Oh Girl, you are a GENIUS.  I will most definitely be using this at every possible opportunity with my kids.  And anyone else’s kids for that matter.

the pug snuggly

For ages my friend Amanda has been singing the praises of the Pug Snuggly for her dog..

I finally got my act together and got one for Ace which arrived just in time for our snowy adventures.  Kicking myself for waiting.

I am not one who dresses my dog, which I think is why I hesitated.  But when the temps dropped into the teens, let me tell you, Ace was excited to put his jacket on…

tolerance