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Rexaco

October 17, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

Our dear, sweet, little Rex has settled in quite nicely.  Dare I say he is getting too comfortable?  He found the package of little rawhides on the counter and decided to help himself today.  Hubby thinks he found all of them.  He also has begun taking “lovees” from the boys’ rooms.  Rex has his own lovee-a little pig/frog toy.  Plus we bought him a toy chicken too.  But he loves to steal a lovee and run to the living room with it to see if anyone noticed.

Rex has also started snooping in corners, exploring all the nooks and crannies of his home.  He’s almost destroyed my beautiful comforter.  And he enjoys trying to chew on the decorative pillows that match the almost-destroyed comforter.  He doesn’t chew to tear, mind you, but as if it’s a chew toy.  I almost miss the scaredy dog that he was.  Not really, I am so happy he feels comfortable here.  He feels loved.

He makes the rounds if he hears people outside, day or night, and then barks if he feels there is a threat.  Scary bark, which I don’t mind.  Sounds way bigger than he is.  And when he is ready to go to sleep for the night, he jumps up on our bed and gets in his spot.  His spot is actually my spot.

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When I go to bed I have to move him, which is easy enough.  I just slide him across the almost-destroyed comforter.  Once I’m in bed, he sneaks back over so he is right up against my legs.  Hubby says some nights he has to move Rex because he has slowly pushed me over to the edge of the bed.  Impressive considering I weigh quite a bit more than the 46 pounds Rex weighs.

 

 

Hubby says Rex pretty much sleeps all day.  Then when I get home…puppy olympics!  The boys and I take him outside and Rex runs in circles at dizzying speeds around me.  The boys keep him moving until finally Rex collapses on my feet, the sign that he is done and ready to go back to the couch.  This sign usually happens 8-10 minutes after we start.  He is quite the couch potato, except for those 8-10 minutes.

With his gigantic ears, Rex could have been named Gizmo, Gremlin, or Dobby, for a more current reference.  I should get Rex a Dobby lovee!

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Mr. Rogers

October 16, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

I saw a picture on the web that simply made my day.  It was Mr. Rogers.  I was transported back to the age of seven or eight and felt all warm and fuzzy.  I need to watch a clip of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood more often because it just makes you feel good about yourself.

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And I like me just the way I am.  Quirky, flaky, flibbertigibbet…that’s me.  I wish I had his job.  Playing with puppets all day, living in an imaginary world, changing into a sweater and changing your shoes…wait.  I do change my shoes a lot.  I don’t change into a sweater upon entering a new location, but I do change my glasses when I get to work.  I prefer my non-bifocal lenses to drive with, but really do need the bifocals at work to accomplish anything even remotely productive in a day.  Once I forgot the bifocals, so I wore my regular glasses with my drug store reading glasses perched on my nose just below the other pair.  Looked like an ass, but I could read!

Told you I was a flaky flibbertigibbet.  Back to Fred.

When Mr. Rogers got his life time achievement Emmy he focused on others.  Asked the audience to think of someone who helped them.  I wish my sons had a show like Mr. Rogers.  Blue’s Clues was probably the closest show they had to it.   Steve and Joe both spoke directly to them, as if the show were just for them.  They lived in an imaginary world.  But they NEVER changed their shirts or added sweaters.  The occasional Halloween costume, but not a cardigan.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll start the day tomorrow with a song or two.  Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll start the day tomorrow with a smile for you.  I do often start the day at work singing to my coworkers.  It just makes the day a little more chipper.  Try it for yourself.  Just greet your family, then your coworkers, with a song.  And don’t worry if they look at you like you’re nuts.  Remember that Mr. Rogers likes you just the way you are.

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Grimm Carcasses

September 29, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

I saw Tiger the other day.  As Rex and I rounded the corner of the shed, heading toward Rex’s poopy spot, Tiger jumped up from where his lifeless body had rested till we brought him to the farm to bury him.  His orange body flew toward our neighbor’s house and I even called out his name.  I swore Rex saw him too as he pulled my arm out of the socket (again) in his efforts to chase Tiger.  I realized it was not Tiger since we had buried him almost a week ago, but it was a vivid image.  I realized Rex had probably spotted a squirrel and, as usual, could not figure out where the darn critter had gone.  Rex apparently still needs to learn to look up the tree trunk and not just sniff around the bottom of it.

So Tiger has been on my mind.  This is the firs time in my four decades that a pet has been killed by a car.  My sons didn’t even finish their first decades before it had happened.  I suppose they’ll be wiser for it.

Then last night I swore I saw Tiger’s lifeless little body on the side of the street again.

It wasn’t there this morning, in the sunlight.  Shocking.

It wasn’t Tiger but some other animal done in by the road.  The boys found the carcass this afternoon.  They went looking for it because this morning Rex and I happened upon the two turkey vultures dining on it for breakfast.  I think the buzzards dragged it across the street to the grassy side of the road to have a more private dining experience.  Rex and I gave them a wide berth this morning and I mentioned it to the boys so they would avoid that part of the yard this morning before church.

This guaranteed that when we got home from the university this afternoon that they headed straight to that spot once they had finished their outdoor chores.  The turkey vultures (some call them buzzards) were gone.  The carcass was not.  My sons gave me a great moment in my tale of mothering.  I was able to call out proudly to them to stop looking at the carcass and come finish their homework.  A proud moment indeed.

Thinking of the turkey vultures made me thing of Bugs Bunny and the vulture/buzzard episode.  This made me look up turkey vulture and discovered that the old world and new world vultures are not that closely related.  There were some fancy biological terms that were more than my brain could handle at the moment, but still I now understand the difference in appearance.  I was more familiar with the old world than the new world.

This made me wonder how well the turkey vultures get along with the wild turkeys that live in our town.  And do they bother the lonely swan at the 7-11?  And finally it made me truly thankful that we found Tiger first and not the vultures.

And that is why I didn’t finish grading papers tonight.

 

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El Tigre

September 18, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

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El Tigre, the elusive dining room table meerkat, is extinct. 
He’s hunting bunnies up above now. 
We will miss you, Tiger.

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September 11, 2013

September 11, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

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I asked my sons what they knew about 9/11.  Older son wanted to appear very knowledgeable and didn’t seem to want to talk about it except to show that he knows, he knows.  Younger son knew quite a bit about the plane that went down in Pennsylvania but seemed very curious about the Twin Towers.  We looked at a picture taken by an astronaut that day.  Then we watched news clips of the planes hitting the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon.  He may only be eight, but he got the significance of what he was seeing.  His eyes welled up with tears.  He quietly asked how many people died that day.  He asked how that number compared with all the people in the world.  He said in a quiet voice, “Terrorists did that, didn’t they?”

I don’t want to scare my kids with more information than they can handle, but I also want them to be aware.  I don’t want them to have a cavalier attitude about today or any of the holidays or remembrance days that are important to our country’s history.  They need to learn and understand now so they carry it with them and teach their own children one day.

The images still haunt me.  I didn’t show them the people jumping from the buildings.  I still dream of that and don’t know what to do with it.  Each year though I layer in a little bit more.  Younger son was trying to fit it into his mind that the Twin Towers were built when I was a little girl, that I had been in them several times, that they were destroyed decades later, and that he will never see them in person, but only in pictures and videos.  He pondered becoming an architect and rebuilding the Twin Towers so we could go up to the top together.

We ended our time reflecting on this day by looking at pictures of the new buildings and the memorial.  I know he can’t yet fathom the size of these buildings.  I still can’t.  I still can’t go to the site.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back there again.

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Another First Day of School

September 5, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

I know the funny memes go around the internet this time of year.  Pictures of happy parents driving away from the school, or lounging with a drink, celebrating the first day of school.  I always feel happy that my sons are healthy, happy, and here to return to school too.  But a part of my heart cries along with the tears that drop from my eyes because it marks another milestone in their lives and another big step toward independence.  It means they are growing up a little bit more and little bit more away from us.

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I know that older son will face more challenges this year as he yearns for his classmates to realize that he has done some growing up and isn’t exactly the same young man.  That he doesn’t want to be the “talker”.  He is who he is and he is embracing that.  Since preschool he has corrected teachers (politely) when they asked or said something inaccurate and he did it again this morning as one of the teachers asked if he went on any archeological digs this summer.  “Well, technically, it’s a paleontological dig, but no, not this summer.”  He is comfortable with himself and that is what I will carry in my heart today as I think of him walking around the school as a fifth grader.

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My third grader had to go it alone to the classroom this morning and this was not the plan.  He debated it all evening and finally decided to have me walk him to his classroom to explain his brain and stomach ache to the teacher.  To help with his TS, he has a foam brain (from my work-no one could try to say it isn’t younger son’s brain unless his parent happens to work with me) and one of his stomach aches.  It’s a little stuffed representation of what causes a stomach ache.  These two objects will be safely tucked into his desk and if the tics start acting up, he can release some energy by squeezing them.  The tics were in full force last night and the night before.  My little one is nervous about being back at school.

But the new rules prevented me from walking with him.  Luckily, I had written a note in his homework notebook to his teacher about the brain and the stomach ache, so she shouldn’t give him any trouble.  But we didn’t get to do the Kissing Hand.  He was already in the school and I wasn’t allowed in.  I suppose that is more for me now than it is for him, but still it’s the first time he’s gone into school without doing the Kissing Hand.  IMG_7369

Older son was still waiting outside and he did the Kissing Hand with his mom, risking torture if seen, because he realized I really needed it.  He saw I was crying and told me it would be okay.  He’s a good egg, if you ask me.

A fifth grader, wiser, gentler, and more compassionate than most would know.  A third grader facing a huge challenge that seems daunting, but armed with a brain and a stomach ache.  Yes, I am happy they are back at school.  Not because it’s “easier” for me, but because they are two strong, smart, little men.

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Tea Lake…we finally made it!

August 31, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

We have been trying since Memorial Day to make it to Tea Lake.  It’s only about 15 miles from our house, so it’s not the distance.  Almost every half-day Friday had lousy weather.  The ones that had decent weather were when the boys were at camp.  It just never happened.  Today we made it.  And we even visited Mighty Joe.  Welcome to the Pine Barrens.IMG_7352

The boys had the lake all to themselves for the first hour we were there.   This really blew my mind.  I truly anticipated more people, but we really enjoyed ourselves.  I even took off my shoes.  And those of you who know me know that I hate sand.

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Then younger son got wonderful revenge against older son.  At least temporarily.

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Hee hee.  He had fun.  Older son had fun breaking out of it.  Sand castles, swimming in the lake, and goofing off with Mom filled the morning.  We had a wonderful time at Tea Lake.  Until next year…

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Mohawks

August 31, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

The boys both got mohawks.  Check them out.

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And you get a little preview of the new wall color…mango!

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Hives, hives, I tell you!

August 23, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

I’ve never had hives due to stress in my life until this week.  I actually thought it was ringworm, which sounds grosser than it is.  I had done some gardening so I figured it was from that, but the treatment didn’t work.  It wasn’t until I had been home for about an hour after work tonight that they red splotches began to retreat.  It was quite the week at work.   Let me explain.  No, there’s too much, let me sum up.  The week is over.  Yea!  Joy!  Rapture!

And yet this evening I looked forward to spending time working on my syllabus.  I’ve avoided it for so long simply because I’ve been too tired to really jump into it and savor the excitement.  Now that I have fed the boys, played a game of Stratego with Older Son and two games of Candy Land with Younger Son, and tucked them in, I am diving into the Brothers’ Grimm and assignments for the class.

I can hear Younger Son slowly creeping down the hall, even though I told him not to leave his room.  He’s adorable.  The best part of this week was still managing to make or find time to spend with my family.  Even if it was only for fifteen minutes, or an extra cuddle in the morning, or the wonderful games tonight, I kept the most important part of my life important even during this hectic, long hours, home late, kind of week.

And now the hives are disappearing.  I do hope they do not think they are welcome every time I am stressed.

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Life Moves Pretty Fast

August 14, 2013 by pinkpigrulz

so I’m stopping to look around.  Where is the year going?  It’s August.  Younger son is now eight years old.  Older son turns ten in a couple of weeks.  There are commercials worrying about gluten in pet food…really?  I get that gluten may be an issue for humans, but every dog I’ve ever owned has thought that cat poop was candy and I need to worry about gluten in the kibble?

The summer is definitely over at work.  Regular hours are back and the students will be back for the fall semester in about two weeks.  I really need to finish my syllabus.  This year’s theme for my class is Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  It’s going to be fun-if not for the students, at least for me.   These tales are not for the weak at heart.  Sex, violence, incest, anti-Semitism, and lots of gore.  As I’ve been exploring the influence the tales have had on our culture, I’ve become even more fascinated.  Please understand, since you may not actually know me, I am not an anti-Semite.  I did not know about that aspect of the fairy tales until I started my humble research for the class.  I had noticed clips of Hitler and the Nazis in Grimm, the television show, but I did not realize the significance of making them wesen.  Now I do.  I am sure the students will get uncomfortable when we enter the section of the course that looks at this aspect of these German tales, but I’m sure they will also be uncomfortable when they read about how in several of the stories the father, after being widowed, figured it would just be easier to marry his daughter.  And the original title of the book was Nursery and Household Tales…really?

Meanwhile, back in the day-to-day reality, I’m painting the living room and dining room mango.  It’s gorgeous!  It’s not done!  Doesn’t matter-I’m actually enjoying the process and decluttering as I go along.  I took pre-pictures and will take post-pictures and share them eventually.

I’m so dreadfully behind posting pictures from the summer.  But what’s new?  I did put up some new pictures on the wall though, as part of the whole painting process.  That’s right.  I’ve finally framed the boys’ kindergarten pictures and added them to wall.  Keep it down, I know they’re going into fifth and third grade.  I’m pacing myself, Sergeant.

The boys have been fish this summer and can’t get enough of pools.  They both had a blast at camp.  VBS went well too.  The years keep passing and life is good.  I just have to remind myself to stop and look around so I don’t miss it.  Have you stopped and looked around lately?

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