Tardy Party

Apologies for the late awards.  There are no good excuses, either!  But refreshments include a lovely artisan pizza with sourdough crust, delicious mozarella and a bit of feta, and veggies including peppers and sweet potato.  And, for the non-gluten crowd, some of Debangel's tres cute stuffed peppers with little carved halloween faces.

Sue wins the coveted Elevated Risk of Mullet Award, for "tomorrow my colleagues and I drive to Small Town for our Fall Meeting During Which One Sticks Pins in the Eye to Stay Awake. Travel time one way is 5.5 hours of vigilant moose-watching." 

The runner up for Mullet is Sarah, who wonders if the red dot in the cat's chart might result in banning from the vet, "Or is it just cat owner shame?"

Sue, Liz, and Debangel win the Electronic Salvation From Boring Meetings Prize, for a text party during the boring parts of the Fall Meeting, consisting of a framed commemorative detention slip.  :)

The Old Skool Award goes to Liz, who complains, "I need to get my act together."  Actually, the host has a bit of a question about this one; this is a totally classic whine, but Liz does not strike us as the most disorganized Pixie. 

Amy wins the Good Mama Award, for continued adventures in potty training.  As you can see, this is a topic that resonates with the Pixies!  We're rooting for Tater! 

Esperanza wins the Best Anti-Whine Award, reporting that  "one of the things on the list was take Sweet horseback riding again, for the first time since the giant cast arrived. Enormous smiles made that little trip worthwhile."

The Further Adventures of Super-Kitteh Award goes to Sue's cat, who managed to escape custody, run around, and bite the vet -- with an injured leg and while sedated.  Very impressive.

Sarah wins the Time With Grownups Award, for enjoying off-duty activities.  (But condolences about that date.  We have retroactively decided that he didn't deserve you.)

The Cluestick Posse has been dispatched to have a conversation with Debangel's ex, who remains a jerk.  We will let the lawyer be an honorary member of the Posse, and are wishing him well in delivering a dose of reality.

Much love to Esperanza's niece, who is in a scary place.  xoxoxo  And big congratulations to another niece, who got into the school of her choice!

Love also to Sarah's middle-schooler.  Fingers crossed that things swiftly improve.


The 60-day Month Award goes to Miranda, who will be our charming host next week!

Zombie Apocalyptic Revenge

There is something in the air, or something.  Here is the countdown for today, at my house:

1 dead microwave.  No idea what happened, but we have a spare from daughter's second-to-last apartment, so no problem! 

1 dead garage door opener.  I got the door shut, and pushed my car up against it so the dogs won't get out.  Let's call that a victory.   ETA:  it works again.

1 flaky roommate of son, who apparently is not going to pay rent or utilities this month.  Note that son is not able to work since he just had surgery.  Flaky roommate may have quit his job.  Not happy times.  ETA:  son has called 3 times to apologize for certain outbursts.

2 computer crashes.  My virus etc. protection says I'm fine.  Some call center that mentioned the word "M1cr0s0ft" but was not that company called about blah blah malware, and I was perhaps curt about being on the do not call list, and so the guy called back to admonish me about hanging up on him, and I didn't pick up the third time.  I hope I was only rude, and not stupid. 

1 Amaz0n misdelivery (for daughter's class; delivered to dog alone knows where) was fixed.  Victory to daughter!  ETA: it actually got delivered.  Here!

Unknown number of cats with worms.  Due to a certain amount of ambient angst, the cats I can sometimes catch went into hiding.  But I caught the most likely culprit and dosed her.  Victory!  This is senior cat, so she'll plot revenge immediately after the next nap.

On the up side, no sewer problems!

Passing the whines, the wine, and a nice crockpot stew.  Some days stink; tomorrow will be better.

Burnt Spaghetti Sauce Edition

Sometimes things do not go as planned, right?  Yesterday was one of those days, so these awards are late.  Yes, I really did manage to burn sauce when I only meant to simmer.  That achievement was not on my bucket list.  There was another installment in the SILfH saga.  Etc.  But friends, in antiwhines, the space shuttle went almost right over my house yesterday morning!  Tres exciting!

This is a week of parenting challenges with kids of all ages.  Hugs and sympathy to all.  Many thanks for your patience with my whininess.

Esperanza leaves us in awe, and wins the Extreme Parenting Award this week for her tale of the thigh-high purple cast and a major pook accident.  Here's hoping the next couple of weeks with the cast are uneventful, and that the teen BFF's stick to decorating the cast in more upbeat ways. 

Amy wins the Patience in Potty Training Award.  We promise that at some point well before college, Tater will decide that pullups no longer fit his self-image.

The Plateful of Parenting Award goes to Miranda, juggling the challenges and hiccups of 3 distinct age groups.  You're so great!  Really good news about Tween's nice teachers. 

Liz wins the Style Award, for introducing us to this hilarious video!

The coveted Elevated Risk of Mullet Award goes to Debangel, responding to news of Liz's allergies with:  "You may think it's funny to kiss your honey when your nose is runny. But it's snot."  Deb is really on a roll this week; check her other comments, too.  :)

The Hi-Ho Back to Work Award goes to Sue, who missed her people while she was gone!

Wild Hormone Awards to Debangel and Amy, who have thoughtfully passed the parmesean garlic chips and chocolate.  Mmmmm! 

Sue wins a Wild Weather Award, going from "swelter" to "snow's coming" in under a week.  That's NASCAR speed in the weather world.  We love the idea of your outdoor and indoor "happiness zones"!

Here is to a good weekend, and only little whines next week!

Household Annoyance Week

In this heated political season, and what with the weather, and in the midst of school / kids / work / etc., there is one thing that we know to be true universally:  stuff will go wrong in the household.

the useful oven
does not work, and who knows why.
someone should fix it.

 Do not get me started on the dishes.  This week, I'm not just complaining about the entire rest of the family being unable to rinse; this week, I am guilty, too.  And hello, we have this whole second sink that is meant to hold the rinsed dishes until someone gets around to loading the dishwasher, but does that keep certain people [not me, I am only guilty of a few rinsing offenses] from tossing dirty dishes, leftover food, recyclables, and dog alone knows what else into the rinsing sink -- causing spoons and worse to drop into the garbage disposal, which everybody knows needs to be run to clear the backed up water when I am trying to make coffee in the morning?  No, the wanton destruction of flatware continues, even though making coffee is clearly the priority first thing in the morning.   

The categories are wide open:  toilets; cat barf; laundry; derelictions of vacuum duty; spiders; poop of all sorts; trails of mess left behind as the herd moves through the household; and I'm not even getting to problems with the physical structure, or outside influences.  The list is endless.  Endless!

Please share! Antiwhines, too.  As always, prizes for Old Skool, Style, Mullet, and whatever else comes to mind.

Happy Dance Awards

This video is the happiest thing I've seen all week, and my theory is that the universe needs more happy.  Also, Sue can blast it when nobody's looking at work.  (Don't even try to tell us you aren't dancing to the ABBA.)

The coveted Elevated Risk of Mullet Award goes to Debangel.  First the backstory:  pathetic unemployed ex drags his feet on changing the parenting plan, then demands Christmas and Christmas Eve (he does not celebrate), and to cut child support to $50/month.  Excuuuuuse us??   And now the Mullet: "Pookie, my ultra-mellow Burmese cat, who is famous for eating paper, but only the important stuff, showed what he thought of my ex's proposed changes by chomping the document ;-) I love that cat."  The Cluestick Posse admires Pookie's leadership and initiative, but also recommends legal counsel for you.  (Well said, Liz.)  Passing the catnip.

The winner of the High Decibel Award is Amy, whose  MIL found brand-new drumsticks on the ground at the mall, diligently waited for the clueless person who dropped them, and then gave the ultimate passive-aggressive grandchild gift:  "Thank you, MIL, for giving Tater (a boy who is *finally* *possibly* *knock wood* moving past the hitting-is-an-answer-for-everything stage) an item whose sole purpose is for hitting things. *facepalm*"  Maybe these special toys can be saved for when Grandma is visiting? 

Esperanza wins the Old Skool Award for:  "It is driving my OCD side nuts that I can no longer match pairs of socks in the laundry, because Sweet is only wearing one of the pair."   On the other hand, not needing to match may be a bonus, seeing how the sock demons so frequently mess with us.

JenR wins the Excellent Creativity in Appropriate Parenting Award for:  "My 4 year old regularly wears two different socks and even two different shows just because he likes it that way. I haven't been able to match pairs in over a year. (Shoe mixing rule: The must be the same size and the same type - two crocs or two sneakers or two flip flops. He goes along with that and it makes me feel better about the potential for hurting his feet)."  As Amy noted, this "sets limits while honoring your child's need to explore."  I just love the Rule. 

A Lurching Bravely Onward Award to Sarah, whose son does not have major motor issues, but does have stuff standing in the way -- a classic parenting W/AW combo plate.  It's great that there may be some OT.  And you will definitely hit on ways to move forward via ye olde trial and error.  Know that the Pixie Nation is with you!  Also, woo-hoo about nice guys out there!

Sue wins the Navigating the Ouch Award, being supportive to a longtime parishioner who cares for her but is also leaving the congregation, all in a time of grief.

Gentle Cluesticks to Esperanza's beloved, who is worried about her getting by when he is out of town overnight, but doesn't realize that night is no different from the many working-late nights he spends away.  Things do get done all those other nights.  An overall plan for more respite and/or sharing seems like a good idea.  Hugs, because this stuff is hard.

Wild Applause and Congratulations to Miranda, on  earning her well-deserved promotion!  The Posse has those responsible for lost posts on its schedule this week.

A Happy Dance Award for Liz, who had a bloggy meetup with our friend YT and the world's best bleeding heart attorney.  Jealous!

Kudos to the Entire Contingent!  This was a week where a lot of us had problems and questions and things to vent, and there were so many excellent suggestions, and so many voices of support.  So, let's dance!

Whining Works!

Yay, Sweet Baboo's sleep is improving!  Knock wood!

My friend is still in the hospital, but no surgery (so far) because they are hoping this whatever is clearing up.  Cross fingers!

I could use some input on something, and I think this is a crowd with ideas.  Daughter graduated college in December, and has been on a long and discouraging journey to find work ever since.  She is applying to be a military officer (because it would be a steady career), and also applying for all kinds of civilian jobs in circumstances where every job has a bergillion applicants.  My daughter is of course brilliant and talented and tough!  She is also very tiny (5'1, skinny), and with strangers, her voice is small and tends to uncertainty.

It occurred to me that she needs to find a public voice that can be authoritative when needed, and that is strong and calm even if she does not feel so confident in that moment.  If she goes to the military, she will be giving orders to older men who are twice her size.  Even civilian contexts, she will need to persuade people who might be inclined to dismiss her, and to get things done working with others.   And she needs that voice even for job interviews -- she can't compete without being able to convey her strengths, and show thoughtfulness and potential. 

She thinks of me as an outgoing, take-charge person, and totally does not believe that I am shy by nature.  And I swear, I had to learn to fake it in social and professional contexts.  There was a time when I was so scared and so willing to please that I never expressed any opinion.  I still cannot speak publicly without my knees shaking, until things get going.  Apple, meet tree.

There is a lot of advice that I can offer but cannot press because my job as the parent of an adult is to not helicopter.  That thing about falling apart in the safety of home is also still in play, so we just had a drama about stupid job notices that don't describe the job or even where it is, and the stupid people who don't bother anymore with even telling one about rejection, and also the stupid rejections.

But -- can you think of examples of small women (or uncertain people) finding or using strong and steady voices?  It could be a TV show, a book, a character, a public example, etc. 

What's happening in your corner of the universe?  Bring your whines, anti-whines, conundrums.  Passing the leftover pizza and an array of pre-Halloween chocolate.

Half-Hearted, Sleep-Deprived Awards Show

Sweet's sleep is getting *worse*, not better, so my brain is not at full functioning power today. Please bear with me.

Due to popular acclaim, the Style Award goes to Junior Whining Pixie, Liz's very own son, MM, for his genius haiku.

Cluesticks to ex-es who hit girls and smaller ones for ex-es with poor time management skills (mortgage broker, smortgage broker).

Hugs to all pixies suffering from hospital PTSD, hospital gift shops with no get well soon cards (this is still boggling my mind), unbloggable whining that requires ALL CAPS, teenagers, work crises, expensive trips, children that act nicely out of the house, the pain meds/constipation endless circle, etc.

Nights off and cloning potions to everyone, and compliments to Miranda for that innovation.

Like I said, brain is not fully functioning. See you next week at the Whiners' Ball.

Back-to-School Whining

Lots of people have already been back to school for several weeks, but the Baboos start on Wednesday. So, back to school whining it is. Though I actually have NO whines about sending them back to school. In fact, I may have a party.

Thank you to all the pixies for all of the prayers, good thoughts, and crossed fingers for Sweet's foot surgery. For those not following along on facebook, here is the recap. If you were following along, you can just skip this part. We went on Monday for a last consultation with the doctor, when he decided to operate on only one foot (the left), as the right looked better than he had remembered. (By the way, this is corrective surgery for club feet, in no way related to her prematurity). This was confirmed by some way-cool technological foot testing. (A pressure plate and a picture of the bottom of her feet while she was standing on them. Very nifty stuff). Tuesday was the surgery, when he put a pin in her heel bone and cut one of the long tendons on the inside side of her foot to lengthen it. The pin was to correct the heel bone's angle without more tendon damage, thereby resulting in a stronger foot in the end. But that necessitated a thigh-high gigantic purple cast. Like it's bigger than she is. We were expecting a knee length walking cast but got this instead. The next 48 hours were not very pretty, with variations on "my tummy hurts" and general grumpiness. Anesthesia stinks. Cast will stay on for 6 weeks, then after another surgery to remove the pin, a knee-length walking cast for 2-3 weeks, then we aren't sure what yet. She is figuring out how to maneuver around the house, and we hope to return to our regularly scheduled chaos soon.

Hospital related whine: pretty sure I have a mild case of NICU PTSD. The hand sanitizer smelled the same. The pulse ox monitor alarmed the same. I was extremely ready to be discharged, and we may have left without signing something we were supposed to. They know where to find us.

That's pretty much all that's been going on in my world, to the exclusion of things like buying toilet paper and washing clothes. What's happening with you, pixies?

Late Prizes

Sending many good healing thoughts to the Sweet Baboo!

Debangel is back, and she wins the Style Award for her ode to a meetup with Liz.  Yay!  We are thrilled with all the happy news, as well.

Miranda wins Triathlon Award, for "End of the fiscal year. Back to school. Difficult people."  Hope things settle down and you catch a breather soon.

Happy Birthday to JenR's baby boy!   Cluesticks to the miserabley worky people, and miserable housey people.  xoxo

The Fashionista Award goes to Sue, who located the elusive Jeans That Fit.  Brava!

Sarah wins the No Fun For the Weary Award, for the world's shortest "week without kids."

Neighbor Lady scored a Great New Teacher this year!  Wonderful news!

Best to all who are making transitions -- back to work, back to school, etc.