The score

The current score:
Daschund - 3
Opossum - 0

Yes, they got another one. This hapless creature was found stiff as a board this morning when I let out the dogs. It explains why they were so crazed last night. Let us recap; first opossum was about a year ago, lived through one incident and played opossum convincingly. Was later found murdered. Second opossum was found inside one of the bags of soil I'd left out back and unceremoniously tossed out with the trash. I didn't take the time to discover whether it was alive or not. Third opossum this morning, murdered by the dogs last night and disposed of this morning.

My tiny yard is now the killing fields.

Weekend Wrap Up

Due to the extended weekend in the US, I am publishing a combo Tuesday Post.

Let's begin with Thursday - my weekend, I decide when and how to start.
I posted on Wednesday night about the funeral I was planning on attending on Thursday. I gave The Boys the option of attending or not. They both chose to go and support their friends. There were five times more people than the old church could hold and people were rotated in and out to allow visitation and final good byes. The Oldest wanted to go in with me and see the body. I do not look at dead bodies. I know the souls of these people are no longer inhabiting the bodies, so I do not feel the need to address the shell. Also I was too young when I attended my first funeral and seeing a dead body was not what I should have done. As it was, when The Oldest and I walked in was at the same time the widow was saying her final goodbye before they closed the casket. Heart wrenching. I barely kept my shit together. Seeing the 6th grade girls surrounding their friend in support broke my heart. No child should have to go through this. Of the children supporting, one lost her mother a year ago under weird circumstances. I hope the two of them are able to process and come out the other side healed. The Oldest hugged his friends and we left. One of my dear friends and an inspiration to me was coming back in and looked like she hadn't slept in a week (she probably hadn't). I had a few words with her and left teary eyed. Same night was open house at The Youngest's school. That put us home after 8pm and The Oldest spent until 10:30 completing his homework.

Friday - Morning after late night homework was stressful, and full of meltdowns. Let me just say that a 12 year old who is over 5'6" and weighs more than 150 pounds is not a fun prospect when meltdowns happen. Worked in the morning getting caught up on work stuff. In the afternoon I was in the classroom working on Father's Day gifts with the 4th and 5th graders. Went grocery shopping and finished most of the laundry in preparation for The Youngest having a friend over for a swim party on Saturday. My second time at a new organic market and the prices are too high. There is another, closer market that has much of the same items at a fraction of the cost. I'd written off the first shopping trip to purchasing stuff I didn't buy every week, but this week was the usual, and twice what I pay at the other market. Did pick up some gluten free pizza crusts which we tried for dinner. The boys determined the crust baked on the pizza stone was superior to the one on a cookie sheet - I couldn't tell the difference... I made sangria and jello shots in preparation for the swim party.

Saturday - It was pretty chilly when we woke up and the wind had already started, so the swimming was cancelled in favor of just hanging out and playing. The morning was cleaning bathrooms and finishing laundry while The Boys cleaned their room and fought over minecraft, which was subsequently taken away. Felt like I was completing stuff and things were neater and more tidy than they have been in a while. The Youngest's friend came over and they played and laughed and giggled and annoyed The Oldest who in turn was following them around making kissy noises, as the friend is a girl. In fact, The Youngest has stated he want a pool party with the 4th grade girls this summer - not the boys, just the girls. I raised my eyebrows, but said ok. I suspect the fathers of the 4th grade girls may have a differing comfort level. Quiet night at home - The Boys watched a movie while I read.

Sunday - Took Simon to the dog park after breakfast and let him run around for a while. Did some dishes and got ready for Sis' birthday dinner at my folks'. Had to practically bribe The Boys into showering beforehand. Dinner was fun with The Nephews making my laugh, which I seriously needed after mediating my parents' increasingly hostile interactions. Having sangria and jello shots helped too.

Monday - planned on attending the art & wind festival with a friend, but by the time we got moving it was starting to rain. Rented movies, snacked in front of the fire and drank hot buttered rums. It was perfect, and she cooked me dinner too! Having woken up with a sore throat, and thinking it allergies - it only got worse over the course of the day. Had to leave before the ending of the final movie because The Ex didn't bother to tell me when he was bringing The Boys back, and sent text from in front of my house.

No pics this weekend. Hoping I'm not actually sick. My nose is running like a faucet and simultaneously draining down my throat. Not sure how I'll be able to sleep like this. Worth a shot I suppose.

Thoughtful Thursday

Hug and love those around you while you can

Today I will be attending a funeral. This is going to be a difficult one for me. The person we are remembering was a 41 year old husband, father and grandfather. He had many demons to battle, and was unsuccessful in beating them back, or keeping the darkness at bay. He committed suicide a week ago. He left a note. I do not know what the note had to say that his final action did not. His family and mine have been intertwined through friendships and shared hardships. Everyone is sad. I am sure it hasn't completely hit everyone yet. I can only hope and hold in my heart healing for the entire family.

What I ask is that you send good vibes, love, healing, prayers, or any other positive intention for the healing of this family. I love you B's.

Tableau Tuesday, nearly Wednesday

For some of you reading, it may indeed be Wednesday. Never fear though late, this is what I'd planned to post for today:


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

All photos taken last Friday while visiting Sacramento. Enjoy your week!

Sometime Monday Weekend Wrap Up

The weekend was a blur of activity. All enjoyable, and exhausting.

Friday - spent the entire day (11 hours) on a field trip with The Youngest to our state Capitol. We began our journey at 7:10 am headed to school. I dropped off 4 students and one teacher at the train station with the rest of the class, and drove the 90 more minutes to the Railroad Museum. Following our tour, we piled in cars and headed to the Capitol where we wandered the senate and assembly galleries. We had lunch prior to our time in Sutter Fort, and ended our day at the Indian Museum and a 2+ hour drive back in traffic. Home at 6:10 pm. The kids love this trip, and frankly I do as well, but all 4 places in one day made me so tired.

Saturday - slept in. Started laundry. Grocery shopped. Took the puppy to the dog park. Chilled at home until we took off at 4:30 for the A's game. The Boys had a blast. Except for 3 innings in line for 3 different foods, so did I. There was a Star Trek themed fireworks show after the game, putting us home after 11.

Sunday - more laundry. Cleaning too. Got The Boys showered and dressed in time for a friend's birthday party where they had fun, and I drank Proseco. This is one of their friends from school (the multi-age program) and she had a fairy princess 7th birthday party theme, which was very cool, but I wasn't sure the 12 and 10 year old boys would want to go. They did, and had a blast. The moms of the other little girls want to hire the 12 year old to come over and entertain at their kid parties. He does enjoy getting everyone dressed up in costume and putting on plays. He knows some magic, and would do really well at it. Thoughts for college fund building! The X picked them up and I stayed and visited until around 9. Came home, played with the dogs and went to bed.

O.K., so it didn't take as long to type as I thought, but it seemed like way more activity than it took to write.

Wild Wednesday - reflections of Mother's Day

On Sunday people gathered across the US to celebrate, remember, and even denounce their mothers. Because I did not have The Boys all weekend, I had some time to reflect on Mothers, Motherhood, and the impacts of all women on a child.

Of course my own mom and I have our issues. I think that is the nature of mother/daughter relationships. When I think back to my childhood, and the influential women during that time, I think of my mother first, my sister second - throughout our shared childhood we were at odds, but now we are happily friends and advisers. She is the reason I wanted to and ultimately did have The Boys. Outside of the two, there are a handful of women I would like to acknowledge:

Aunt Trina - My dad's sister, younger by several years and someone I admired while growing up. She ALWAYS took us to Loard's Ice Cream in her Datsun B210. She went to college. She travelled Europe and started my love of The Little Prince, Babar, and Orangina. She was so worldly, but always had time for me. Today, Trina is a widow and a Neo-Con, so we do not see eye to eye on most issues. As far as I am aware, she is still prop choice, however and I can appreciate that. She has two dogs and god knows how many cats. Her late husband was a dog person, and those dogs survived, and may in fact be the last dogs she ever has. She and I share the cat lady label, though I have been better able to handle just one cat. I am considering a road trip with her this summer, which could be interesting.

Lori - A very vibrant and flamboyant Italian who introduced me to cooking with garlic, and that being myself was just fine with the world. I cannot emphasize enough how important this one thing was for a kid who felt completely out of place in her own family. She also lived her life exactly her way, sleeping until noon and staying up late, had a mildly erotic limerick framed in the living room, and let everyone know that she expected sex on a daily basis. She bought my sister and I a new Christmas ornament every year, a tradition I continue with my own kids. Lori recently had brain surgery due to early symptoms of dementia, but was really a physical issue - she is nearly back to her old fun self, with the infectious and LOUD laugh. I simply cannot wait to have lunch with her.

The women of my street - Judy, Joey, Gail and Yvonne - These were the parents on my street growing up and showed me that everyone raises everyone's kids. It was a cooperative effort on my street with all of these women mothering all of the kids at various times of day or night. I have had to answer to them just as I would my own mother. They have informed how I interact with the children in my own life who I did not birth, nor live with.

I hope you all were able to celebrate in some meaningful way the mothers in your life.

Monday Morning Music and Weekend Wrap Up

My weekend started with this on my brain:

And ended with this on my brain:


How did I get from Macklemore to Pavarotti? Let's see.

Thursday - The Oldest had a school friend over to work on a project and they requested Thrift Shop on the way home from school. I missed going to the Farmer's Market though.

Friday - Actually kicked complete ass and caught completely up with work. Had an AC guy come out and fix the AC - it was a blown fuse. Worked in the classroom, but really just kind of hung out and did some minor supervision while my co-teacher took the kids through their self portraits. Added to the fair board, and came home. The Boys were with their father this weekend, so I just hung at home, doing laundry, and cleaning the house.

Saturday - Woke up early to the cat biting my face because she was out of food. Tried to write a grocery list, but was completely uninspired given the new dietary constraints. Gave that up and took the dogs to the dog park where Augie spent the entire time either on my lap, or a short lead, and Simon had a complete blast. The reason Augie was constrained is that he is a complete jerk to other dogs, trying to attack them. He did that the last time I took him to the park, and same thing this time. I will continue to expose him to crowds of dogs (in a limited manner), until he reaches a point where he will be mellow. Part of the problem (or maybe the entire problem) seems to be his lack of other dog socialization as a puppy. He adored Duke, he likes my folks' dog, and really loved the puppies, but any others? not so much.
I had a nice visit with my Bestie, and grocery shopped. The boys were home around 8. The temperature hovered in the low 90's all day, the dogs slept most of that and once it cooled down, I decided to bake. Granola and a cauliflower pizza crust had me in bed at 1am.

Sunday - My kids woke me up at 8 with my present and card, and I asked them if I could go back to sleep. I got out of bed at 10:30 and kicked off the late morning with iced coffee as it was already 85 out. A cup of yogurt and granola rounded out my breakfast. I spent some time outside reading, and it was so relaxing. I made some fruit salad, took a shower, packed up the car, with the dogs and headed to my folks for supper. It was pretty mellow, except for Augie attacking my Sister's dog more than a few times. So he had to spend more time in my lap. Simon was running interference between the two the rest of the time. We came home and chilled out the rest of the night. My mom was especially emotional, crying over the church having played Ave Maria, which was also played at her mother's funeral. She requested we not play it at hers. She also cried during grace, and was particularly weepy the entire afternoon / evening. I think she was missing her mom.

And that's how my weekend went from kick ass rhymes to somber Latin.