Go bananas!

I shouldn't giggle about a major accident, but a big rig fell over and dumped many tons of bananas all over the freeway. 

The foster momcat is still with us.  She spent days yowling for her kittens, poor thing.  We noticed that her remembering what it's all abouts are very swollen.  I suspect production is ebbing now.  AW: Much less crying the last day!  There is a report of purring in the night.

AW:  SIL's 14 year old son sent his mom a nice note and some photos of him taken recently.  W: My husband took them up to the locked memory care facility yesterday.  SIL said to "take them away," then she stormed off because her brother would not take her to get her own apartment.

Her kind of early onset dementia (fronto-temporal, aka Pick's) is just so devastating -- she has lost the ability to reason, to care about others, and to regulate her emotional responses; she needs assistance with basically every daily living activity; she obsesses constantly (the apartment is an ongoing item); she has no insight, believes she is fine and everyone else is thwarting her.  This isn't a new problem; but it is emotionally draining nonetheless, and the hits keep coming.   AW:  It is what it is; we're doing our best.  W:  people have fireplacing ideas that long term care in a facility should be easy peasy.  Not really, sometimes. 

AW:  Fortunately, the temps have cooled a bit!  AW:  had a nice dinner last night at a place we hadn't tried.

What's up with you?

Award Buffet

Thanks for sharing your favorites!  Please help yourselves to the selections, which include but are not limited to:  fresh homemade bread!;  gluten-free deliciousness;  cabbage and dumplings;  Indian food w/o cream; onion and garlic free choices;  noodles and sour cream, noodles and sauce; mac & cheese;  veal;  fried chicken; seafood; and a variety of desserts.  Mmmm.

Esperanza wins the Fabulous Babysitter Award; may she have reliable friends when things get busy in the fall.

Queen of West Procrastination wins the Quiet Day at Home Award, well deserved after things have been so busy busy busy.

Neighbor Lady wins the Good Humor Award, for " 'OH, comfort food....' but is slightly less dramatic with a typo. Kind of like slamming the door and getting your skirt caught in it!"

Andy wins the Vacation Bible School Obstacle Course Award, for a game that devolves into drag your partner in a loving way to the finish.  Can't quite place the biblical reference for that one...  ;)

The coveted Elevated Risk of Mullet Award goes to KLee for "so the snowball of suck rolls merrily onward."

Queen of West Procrastination offers a fine addition to the lexicon, "clusterfireplace." 

Everybody has a Suspicious Mind this week.  ;)

The Posse is delivering cluesticks to:  people who steal mail;  people who forget that it's not gracious if your guest has nothing to eat; people who kinda pack boxes and run out of steam, devoting the days to netflix on the ex's couch; administrators who decide more work for the same pay is a good thing;  reply-all violators; people who audition without checking the performance dates; and other deserving parties.

Probably forgetting a few things.  Hope you have a good weekend!

Comfort food

My mother was not much of a cook.  Her idea of vegetables was canned green beans; dinner ran heavily toward hamburger-based meals; she never baked; her spice rack was salt, pepper, and oregano.  Most of what she cooked was for the early "kids' dinner"; we did not have a lot of money, but she usually had my dad bring take-out for "the grownups" when he came home later.  Her own mother was famous for cooking the Thanksgiving turkey several hours beyond done.  My high school friends feared for me, and offered a crash course in domestic skills, including gourmet cooking boot camp.

My mother-in-law saw food as a way to show love.  When her son and I moved in together, she gave me the Armenian cookbook she had since she was a teenager, by way of welcoming me to the family -- she had long since memorized the recipes.  She made her mother's lamb shish-kebobs and pilaf for holidays, and many other dishes; the love stretched between a generation long gone and the newest additions to the family.  When she visited us or we visited her, she loaded us with bags and bags of food -- Armenian specialties and ingredients, fresh fruit and vegetables from nearby farms, wrapped and frozen steaks and lamb and a special seasoned burger blend for later, baked goods, on and on.  She took the same to her sister's family some hours to the south.  When my mother-in-law died in April, the apartment manager cried and talked about how she would come by with food -- "you've been working too hard; here are some steaks." 

After the not-a-funeral gathering to remember her this weekend, her sister's family and ours met again at MIL's favorite deli and bakery.  I believe we startled the clerk, a store full of relatives buying the entire shop and chattering away with memories.  But it was good.

What food comforts you? And what else is new?

Awards! Bark Bag Edition!!

This week there was general agreement that anti-barkage medication, even though it will induce sleep, is a good idea.

We have multiple pixies who are very sensitive to motion. Sympathies and No Tilt-A-Hurl rides for Andy and KLee. (Do y'all have that spinning nightmare at your county fairs?) Epic Wet Wipes award for Klee and her unfortunate flying experience.

esperanza gets the special edition Duffle Bag of Polar Bears Vortex. Canadian cool weather is enroute.

Liz wins the Name that Tune award for "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" - good work. Earworm anyone?

For Andy - the Don't Box Me In award. Hope the moving ends soon.

For QWP and Mr Q we have the Fancy Anniversary Lunch award. A wonderful AW for an anniversary celebration!

kathy a gets the Creative Celebrations award. It's hard to plan a gathering when the focus is on what it's *not* supposed to be. You've done a great job.

Hooray for helpful financial aid people, helpful docs from big hospitals, good unbloggable news, upholstery projects, and flowers.

Hugs and love to everyone with parenting worries, partners on different pages, stoopid administrators who dock pay, bad unbloggable news, unsatisfying school supply shopping, and all other posse-worthy whines.

Finally, the pixies agree that Preschool Solutions for Grumpiness are always good.


Clippy made a cameo appearance this week! Sorry if I missed anything - I'm off to lounge on the patio and read a good book....

Summertime! Summertime! Whine Edition

Greetings Pixies!

I hope y'all are having a good start to the week.

My biggest whine for today is that yet another low pressure system has moved in and created a hair disaster of massive proportions. The word of the day is Frizz.

Also, it is now mid-July and our low temp last night was the same as a typical night in October. Really, polar vortex? Really?

Stay cool, friends in hot places, and enjoy these summer days!

Duffel Bags for Everyone! Awards Ceremony!

Duffel bags of pointy sticks and ethics workshops for doctors who don't take care of people who can't stand up for themselves. Really. And hugs to kathy a and family and her sister-in-law, and to Liz's crew and her mother-in-law.

Duffel bags of quiet rooms, comfy pillows, and sleeping children to anyone who has a shortage of same.

Duffel bags of  fire extinguishers for all who possess small kitchen appliances which communicate via smoke signals.

Duffel bags of sno cones (thanks for that suggestion, kathy a) for all experiencing Teh Hot. And for those not experiencing Teh Hot, we will send you some. In a duffel bag.

Duffel bags of stubborn laundry stains for anyone messing with a little kid online, and double for anyone messing with someone standing up for little kids.

Duffel bags of earplugs for anyone with stressed out sweeties.

Duffel bags of dinosaur playgrounds for people dealing with Offspring issues of all kinds. And big hugs for KLee. You're a good mama.

Duffel bags full of hugs (hey, I'm making this up, I can fill them with whatever I want) for anyone with sick relatives/friends, anyone dating anyone with sick relatives/friends, anyone overwhelmed by family and/or work, and anyone with the dreaded INTJ personality type.

Introvert Overload Whining

I have this memory of titling a whining post this very same title in the not so distant past...

Two Baboos' constant presence + road trip to grandparents' house + returning home to an empty house while Mr E is away on a work trip + Babysitter is away this week = Introvert Overload.

 Are there any extravert whining pixies? It seems like we introverts are in the majority around here.

What's happening in your inner and outer worlds?

Awards of chocolaty goodness!

Filling in for our fabulous host, Liz, who is in transit and with a balky Bl00ger connection.  Apologies for the briefness of the awards, but passing tons of chocolate.

Kudos to everyone who did good this week!  Yay for all the good things!  Which include but certainly are not limited to the 2 emergency fill-in weddings by our Sue.

Neighbor Lady wins the Old Skool Award for mixing up the recycling bins.

Andy (aka Beauregard) wins the Style Award for his epic battle with the invading flea forces.

Esperanza wins Mother of the Year for that little poopcident.

Condolences to everybody struggling.  Fingers crossed for Liz's MIL.  Glad QWP's concussion is better, and we'd better hear a full report next week.  Hugs to Miranda, who has waayyy too much going on, and to KLee on her cat's illness.  xoxo

Cluesticks to jerks everywhere, and yeah, Mr. "Take Your Daughter for Tats," we are looking at you in particular.  Also, 5 members of a high court.  Health hecklers on the book of faces.  Allergens.  Stupid hospitals.  Skunks of whatever technical species.

In conclusion, want ice cream, too?

See ya next time!