I am not going to say what's on my mind right now, because I know some of my fellow whiners are not in agreement with me on what's making me so spitting mad. But I'm putting the post up so that y'all can vent and maybe I can rid myself of some of the rage I'm feeling by giving empathy out.
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I'm angry about valuing particular old guy opinions over individual women's personal health care decisions. As discussed last week in a different context, all that hot air can cause robes to billow.
Speaking of employers with crabbed personal agendas, my son's GF's employer balked at giving her the day off to go to son's grandma's memorial in a few weeks. She and son have been together 9 years! AW: the employer caved, but I suspect this is going on her permanent record or something. Jerk.
AW: had a nice quiet birthday, and dinner at the good Japanease place with my sweet daughter!
AW: my sweetie will be home in a week! Bonus: the dog, who is very dramatically devoted to Her Man, has actually been fine.
W: Sweet pooped in her trashcan on Saturday. I didn't find it till Sunday. No real explanation for why this seemed like a viable idea. Poop. In the trashcan.
AW: Favorite Babysitter was wanting to come babysit. So I am sitting in our wee public library "working," while Favorite Babysitter deals with them for a few hours.
Esperanza already wins something, for sure. Possibly the babysitter, also.
Gee thanks. Rubber gloves and bleach?
Looking at the silver lining, Sweet is ready for camping without facilities, or the apocalypse, whichever comes first. ;)
So yeah, rubber gloves and bleach. xoxo
I hear you Liz. Well said kathy...
Grr...boo to employers who don't understand what family means. I'm glad she can go to the service though.
esperanza - you definitely get an award, bleach, rubber gloves, scented candles - whatever you need. Glad you're able to enjoy an afternoon at the library!
W: With the Big Holiday tomorrow, during which Canadians show about as much national pride as we are able to muster up and then apologize for...because, boasting... the grocery store was packed with people. Not great for my dislike of crowds.
AW: Survived said grocery trip. All set for Canada Day!!
I am also pissed that the majority of women's-health issues seem to be decided by men. Disappointed that SCOTUS has once again marginalized women, even though I should not be surprised.
I will admit that I have shopped at Hobby Lobby in the past, and one is opening here "soon." I may just have to sacrifice the deals and the increased range of products in order to show my displeasure.
All quiet here on the southern front. Sun continues to be scorching, and I continue to be slothful. Not much to report, to be honest.
Sue, what is on the Canada Day menu? You seem to run a healthier household than poutine and nanaimo bars -- although you certainly have our blessing if those appear! ;)
KLee, you have plenty of creative ways to express yourself without subsidizing this particular set of "closely held" corporate jack@sses. I'm fine with everybody's personal religious beliefs, so long as they don't involve infringing on others.
Just found out that the young man Offspring has been hanging around with is, in fact, not gay. He apparently kissed her and asked her to be his girlfriend. So, I'm glad that she does not have to face heartbreak again so soon.
That is all.
The Hobby Lobby case/decision flummoxes me, on pretty much every front. Apolitically though, I am curious: Have the Hobby Lobby people ever looked at their primary customer and employee demographics? I mean, I haven't, but if I were to hazard a guess, I think I would find a whole lot more women than men in both categories, and having a very strong "anti-woman" reputation can't be good for the bottom line. Honestly, how much scrapbooking do Judge Scalia and his merry band of cranky old white guys do?
AW: Focused my visceral rage to call several of my donors from last year to basically say, "I'm MAD AS HELL! And I've got to burn it off by asking you to donate to me!!!" and they did. Raised over $600.
Which is to say, I'm still angry, but I'm happy too.
Go, Liz!
Andy, you hit the nail on the head, but apparently wimminz is sposed to be 2 stupid 2 B cognizant w/o a permission slip. I personally would be happy to scrapbook with Justice Alito (junior in the hierarchy, but he wrote the opinion) and the rest of the gentlemen, anytime. I'm a former yearbook editor, and can still wield an Xacto knife and metal ruler, not to mention the rubber cement.
Which, I think I'm about to do to make a memorial keepsake for friends and family at my MIL's gathering. The online options are not [heh] cutting it, so think we're going with old skool design techniques. And more decent sources of materials.
If nothing else, Andy has given me a hilarious mental image of the justices, in full robes of course, scrapbooking together.
Dearest Whiners,
The battle of the basement goes more slowly than expected. Morale is low; every night the cats cry from their perch in the upstairs and the dogs valiantly attempt to soothe their wounds. Indeed, I must admit that I share their demoralized manner; my own feet bear the wounds of several battles with the enemy.
The enemy has proven more cunning than initially seen. Thrice have I laid out devious traps and bombs, and while each time took a number of casualties, they have been able to reinforce themselves at an alarming rate. Munitions are low, and I fear we may lack the requisite firepower to break this offensive.
I fear the entire house is in danger of falling to the relentless enemy's siege. Already, I feel them on my legs as I type, but when I look to counterattack, nothing is there. Is this madness the product of a mind broken by the horrors of battle? Or merely a natural response to the demands of our vigil? I know not, but I fear the end may be nigh. God willing, our next attack will be successful, and we shall be able to root them out of their hidden dens and nests once and for all.
Yours,
Beauregard
In a way, that's what they do. Not always elegantly.
My comment was for Esperanza, but it might also serve for Beauregard. You should take away the fleas' scrapbooking materials, stat.
Rubber cement those suckers, Andy!
--Neighbor Lady
p.s. um, but not the ones on the legs!
Maybe poop in a trashcan and leave it in the basement? Unconventional, but they will probably be disgusted and leave. Just call it "an organic chemical weapon."
Happy Canada Day, to those who celebrate!
Ze book of visages has decided to not let me post, saying it detects something bad on my computer. Huh?
Go Liz!!!!
Keep fighting the good fight Beauregard. All is not lost.
Menu for Canada Day - homemade beef, bacon, cheddar burgers on the bbq. Potato salad, green salad. Appetizer is hubby's amazing homemade guacamole with chips.
The weather is not great. We're predicting torrential downpour at EXACTLY the moment we fire up the bbq, but only because the universe has a sick sense of humour. No worries, that's what raingear is for.
Happy Canada Day!
Mmmmm -- Sue's house for dinner!
Kentucky! Latest in a series of federal court wins for equality!
Had to take Offspring for her last immunization before college and a full physical. After the doctor (which took FOREVER -- arrival a 9:30, appointment at 9:45, triage and in exam room just before 10:00. Doc doesn't come in until 10:48. We finally left (after physical, shot, and prescription for birth control) at 11:50. WTH?
Took Offspring to lunch, and then to Tarzhay for dorm room stuff. Got a set of XL dorm sheets, nice plushie blanket, shower caddy, and desk lamp for less than $70. Then Offspring spent another $90 on shoes and clothes.
Went to see some friends who are moving to Kansas at the end of the week, and she went off to sit with some of her work friends before heading into work herself.
Am now wallowing on my bed, like a beached whale. Too hot outside to go clean my car (which needs it desperately!) and too dad-gum lazy to do anything else, like clean the hellhole that is my craft room, or clean my living room (which is less of a hellhole, but only by the briefest bit).
Points to Beauregard for his prosaic style. We also have the problem with the pesky and insidious flea. If anyone has a sure fire way to get rid of them,I'd love to hear it as well.
Oh KLee, I am *also* procrastinating the desperately needed car cleaning because it is too hot! Everyone in SmallTownVille knows it is mine, because it is not a pickup truck. It's embarrassing for people to see inside it. Not embarrassing enough to get off my duff and sweat, apparently.
There's a drought! I'm sure that applies to Esperanza, anyway. But nobody should be forced to clean cars in that kind of heat. Unless it is a college-bound student who gets places via the car, and just had a shopping spree? In which case, spraying water on a hot day, what could be better?!!! And is it possible Baboos could be set on a competition to stuff the most junk into a bag? Once it cools off later, of course.
Beauregard for style, certainly. Dear Beauregard, time to call in the artillary.
W: visited briefly at a the home of a friend. She has two huskies. Allergies HO! I am now feeling sick to my stomach from the inhaler stuff.
Esperanza is not so smart. She picked the hottest hour of the hottest day of the summer (so far) to clean out the car. (Outside wasn't too dirty, so no violation of water restrictions needed). Baboos love to vacuum...the air, themselves, etc.
This is almost too exciting to share, but I got serious about the old jars in the fridge. We run heavily to ancient salad dressing and salsa, but many cultural traditions of ancient condiments were represented.
What are you procrastinating that led you to such a task, kathy a? So glad to hear you are a multicultural expired food household.
Albatross. A bad albatross. Also, maybe it was just time to say aloha to the jars featuring 2013 as a sell-by date.
Liz, hope you are feeling better! I do badly with dogs, especially long-haired ones. Even though we are a multi-species household, and teh current dog is short-haired. Rub the dog, rub my eyes -- gah.
AW: A win from yesterday. (First, remember the big upholstery project? It still lingers...). Favorite Babysitter: "Ms. Esperanza--are you *making* a chair???" Blew her mind.
AW: we managed a lunch at a restaurant without having to drag a screaming child out the door.
W: We had *three* trips to the restroom within the span of 7 minutes.
Allergies suck. Hubby had to break down and take an antihistamine yesterday b/c the pollen is so bad this year. He does not like to take them at all, but it's better than the not breathing well.
kathy, our son checks our salad dressings every time he eats at our home. He knows our history of keeping ancient jars for prosperity and the growth of heaven-knows-what.
esperanza, double thumbs up on the chair!! Bonus award for a full meal in a restaurant. As for the multiple trips to the loo, not to worry, they will start doing that again at 50 or so. :)
AW: One month from now, I will be on VACATION. But who's counting?
Yay for the famous chair!
Boo for allergies.
Yay for vacation!
W: A friend's wife's cancer has been advancing; they were running short of treatment options in recent weeks; and the friend has gone silent. I'm afraid the very very bad time is upon them. They are not local; hard to know how to help. Fireplacing cancer.
Fireplacing cancer. There probably isn't much you can do right now. Perhaps a card or email to say 'thinking of you'?
Just spent the day with MIL because she went to the ER last night vomiting black fluid and the SENT HER HOME still vomiting, but with an unfilled prescription for zofran.
We went over, MS got her scrip filled, she took it, and promptly puked twice more, each about a quart.
Took her to a different ER, they took her very seriously, started her on a zofran drip, sent her for a cat scan, and now are sending her for X-rays and shit because apparently one's stomach is not supposed to have an actual twist in the middle.
MS and I are relieved that she's being taken care of and PISSED OFF at original hospital to the point of letter writing to Powers That Be
((( Liz and family ))) That's terrible! I'm glad your MIL is getting better care from hospital #2. Sending much love. xoxo
Uber aggravating, Liz. I hope she's better pronto.
((((Liz))))
--Neighbor Lady
((((Liz)))) I hope your MIL is feeling better soon.
Thanks everybody! I'll keep you all up-to-date
W: Neighbor Girl is off at sleep-away camp and is very very homesick
AW: This is kind of typical for her, and will hopefully pass soon.
AW: Novels, books, time to read! School year is over, and it's like I can breathe again!
W: tried to re-enter the world of household chores after being so overwhelmed all year. Put out the recycling in the regular bins. It didn't get picked up. Neighbor Guy told me the town stopped using those bins and switched to a different kind that we also have.....about 6 months ago! oops. I have been out of it.
AW: Neighbor Boy asked me to show him how to do laundry yesterday. And today he did some. For fun, I think. He seems to like it.
AW: Neighbor Boy has a new shorter haircut which makes him much less overheated (he has very thick hair). And, he loves it!
slight W: the haircut removed the last of the pink streak he had in his hair, and I am finding I miss it. But, I keep it to myself, because he loves his new haircut (and that is rare for a short cut).
That's all the news from here--going to try to go for a walk before the storms hit....
Happy summer to all, and happy 4th to those who celebrate! and happy belated Canada day!
:)
--Neighbor Lady
Hi, NL! Yay, vacation! Yay, haircut. The recycling is very Old Skool!
W: skunk incident in the night. Not 100% whether dog got a direct hit, or whether the aroma was just wafting around her.
W: daughter had a giant screaming fit last night, the upshot of which is that I suck. The immediate trigger was reminding her she had promised to water plants in the yard. Next in line, by the time she got around to applying for a job she saw listed a while back, the position was filled (that was one where I actually know the people hiring).
I know she is depressed and lonely, and she hates her current job, and she wants desperately to be able to afford her own place. And sure, sometimes nagging slips past the maternal perfection filter. But damn. It isn't too much to ask for some household help, IMO.
Y'all, I need hugs. Lots of hugs. Soup would be nice too.
I returned for an emotionally draining but professionally rewarding trip to the Home Office.
The wasband flouted my "18 and with your own money" rule to take 16 yo Daughter for a tatoo and nose piercing.
Tween Son had a hard time with me away but he's with the B$@ troop camping this week and that always makes things good in his book. For the record, it is an amazingly open troop. Bigotry is not tolerated AT ALL. Plus, he gets positive models of masculinity there. See above for why that is so important.
Family Member with Legal Troubles still has them.
Family Member with Mental Illness has been triggered and is not doing well.
My superpower seems to be dealing with people with severe mental illnesses based on the sheer number in my world right now.
I am hosting several teen girls this weekend.
I am run down. And cranky.
My romantic life is on the complicated side right now and that isn't helping things. My partner wants more of me than I can give. I don't have the energy to deal with the fallout when things go public. I really wish my partner would understand that.
Both school aged Offspring get to go to summer school AND miss Jesus Camp.
But I still get to volunteer. Woo Freaking Hoo.
Kathy, I really feel your pain wrt to Daughter. That is way too often my life and it is contributing to the burn out.
NL, I feel disconnected from house after being gone two weeks. This too shall pass, right?
Liz, thinking of you and your MIL. Hope she is getting good care.
Fireplace the fireplacing cancer. I know so many who are barely hanging in right now due to the fireplacing cancer.
Esperanza, I hope you can catch a weather break and/or adjust your car cleanliness expectations.
In lieu of hugs, I'm listening to Ani DiFranco. She speaks to my struggles.
Also, I miss church. I haven't been able to go in weeks due to travel and I think that is where a lot of my crankiness stems.
He not only allowed piercing, but tattoo? For a 16 year old? Can I just point out that one of these is more permanent than the other?? Move that the posse implement magic marker commentary on his epidermis.
((( Miranda ))) Lot on your plate, sister.
I think the posse needs to trade up to a branding iron for the wasband.
After dropping him off at the air port, I pretty much had a breakdown and to leave work early. I'm still not the best after everything and it's going to take some time in order to feel better.
Therapy would prolly also be good.
((( Miranda )))
Holy Freaking Guacamole, Miranda. Too, too much. And the tattoo would just have about pushed me over the edge. Not so much the tattoo itself, but the breaking of the established rule.
Um. There is a maternal perfection filter? I was unaware of this. That would explain a lot....
((((Miranda))) - lots of hugs and soup. Bringing on the posse on the wasband. Seriously, what the....????
kathy, sorry about the daughter-tude. Sigh.
(((((Miranda)))))-- saddle up the posse. I move that Andy's fleas be corralled and delivered to the legs of wasband. I'm with Sue : What the......?!?!?!
ANd also, very good riddance to wasband, I'd say. Sorry about the fallout. That is all just too much.
((Kathy a.)) you are awesome.
That last one was me--sorry, forgot to sign off-
Neighbor Lady
I am proud that we are the only Posse on the intertubes featuring not only clue by fours, but also centipedes and *NEW* branding, and/or fleas!
Wow -- when it rains, huh?
Miranda -- so sorry. You officially get the "Emotionally Overloaded" award. There's so much there that would break a lesser woman, and you are COMPLETELY justified In totally losing your shit, should you need to. I can't even begin to contemplate what all you are dealing with now.
Liz -- by all means DO write a letter to the hospital about the poor treatment. I hope it turns out to not be Anything Serious with the MIL, but if it does, you have grounds to clean their clocks.
Kathy a. -- sorry for the daughter drama. I wish there was something I could do to help. It is not out of order for you to ask for some (really basic) household help.
We have a 16 year old Siamese. In the last year or so, she has started to have these sort of "fits", which look like seizures to the untrained eyes. She has basically stopped using the litter box entirely. We take her to the box and place her in it every few hours, and it's usually a battle of wills as to who is more stubborn as to whether she actually goes or not. Most times, she hops out and we put her back in, repeat ad infinitum. At any rate, it is time consuming, and annoying, but we love her. When I picked her up to take her to the box earlier today, she bit me about six times on the forearm. I must have picked her up wrong, but I now have several deep puncture wounds on my arm, with one that I think went all the way to the bone. Ow. It is very tender. I was highly tempted to bite her back.
Got into an "argument" with my best friend over the H0bby L0bby business. She feels that people are losing sight of the fact that HL's insurance pays for 14 kinds of birth control, and it is within their right to deny the coverage of things which cause the elimination of a fertilized egg. I tried it explain that it's the hypocrisy of investing in drug companies which make those very same products, not to mention that this is a slippery slope which will lead other employers to demand their insurance plans not cover things that they find personally offensive. It was an awkward conversation. I respect her right to believe what she wants, but I'm feeling very "lone blue-shirt in a red-shirt state."
At any rate, Offspring has the new boyfriend over now for a movie night, and to meet the 'rents. Going to make pizzas for them in a minute or two.
Oy, KLee. Much love about the kitty problem, because she is an old cat, and -- does the vet have any ideas?
Let's be clear on HL. Birth control of all forms is not covered now, if a company claims to have a religious objection. The hypocrisy comes after that. And where will this go? It was an unreasoned opinion, and everybody's gonna be complaining about everydamned thing they religiously object to as a result, because the only legal rule here is: see what 5 justices say.
Um, I'm in a bad mood because I'm about to go de-skunk the dog, while also busy de-skunking the furniture the dog slept on. Because I'm too stupid at 3:30 a.m. to keep an eager dog outside when there is a whiff of skunk. Which is still whiffing. Gah.
The HL issue is making me cranky.
Wasband (a woman I know has the very best nickname in the universe for him but I think it's a little too crude for WW. I will share it by PM in FB.) also bleached Daughter's hair. It looks terrible. It was also something I wasn't keen on but I didn't forbid since, hair. Well, she asked me today if I wouldn't mind dying it back to her natural color as the upkeep for being a bleached out blonde is too much.
In an exercise of my own maternal perfection filter, I did not remind her that I told her that before she let her father do it.
Keep those posse plagues coming, Pixies.
KLee, hugs for the kitty issues. I second the asking for advice from the vet.
AW: My partner is out of the US for the weekend. I am happy to get a break on that front. After the colossal argument last night that we will say involved Partner but did not exactly include Partner, everyone needed a cooling off period. I really need Partner to stay off the grid the entire time this time. I need to think and honor some other commitments.
Wasband is a great name! And hair, you can fix it and it will grow. I didn't have objections to that -- and trust me, there was a LOT of hairstyling going on when my boy was in a band, often starting with bleach (they abandoned clorox eventually) and ending with elmer's glue, spiked using my personal hair dryer. But hey, a hairdryer, too, can be replaced.
I missed the "partner" thing earlier, Miranda. But agree on breaks. xoxo
Update: all is well with daughter, who apologized, watered everything, and did a second de-skunking of the dog.
W: well, I DID have a minute (brought to you by My Kid Woke Up Too Dang Early) to post quickly from camp, but blogger ate my comment just add I was wrapping up. Waving hello to the pixies, and wishing the Americans a happy fourth of July! Miss you guys! Commiserating about bad Supreme Court decisions! Sorry about the garbage poop, esperanza! Hugs for Liz! Cheering for NL surviving the school year!
AW: uh, at least my concussion has healed up. It's been a zany week. But now several of my oldest friends are here, and we've almost made it through the week!
QWP--
OMG! Concussion!?!?!?! I must have missed something! So sorry about you having to deal with that!
Hope camp is fun!
KLee, sorry about the bites! Ouch!
--Neighbor Lady
Yikes, a concussion? Glad that is better and that you are seeing your friends!
Town next door had their big fireworks show last night, and lo, it was loud. Scared the bejeepers out of the pets. Tonight there will be shows all around the bay -- if it's not foggy, we'll be able to see several from the hill behind the house.
Precautionary W: every year there are fires because some yerk decides to set off illegal fireworks. Last year's fire season basically never ended, because of drought. Stay home, yerks -- or go to a legal show.
I gnashing my teeth, wondering what Miranda's friend's nom de plume for "wasband" is..... You can't drop a bomb like that in the middle of the party and not deliver!
I am getting a ration of shit all over the place on the book of faces about treating the cat bites. Yes, I know it's serious, and no, I'm treating it at home, but the fact remains that I am not stupid enough to go to the ER on July 4th, and I refuse to go back to our "covered" urgent care clinic because they were HORRIBLE to me when I broke my foot. I am trained in First Aid, and while that's hardly a medical degree, I think I will be okay with no treatment for now. Just because everyone had a horrible experience with their dog/cat / t-Rex bite does not automatically mean this one will fester and suppurate. Geez. *rant over*
Happy Fourth to all of the American contingent, and Happy Friday to all of our Canadian sistren! Everyone, have a great weekend!
NL for Old Skool!
KLee, so sorry to hear about your kitty's troubles. I trust you will take appropriate care of your wound. I totally inderstand any hesitance re: urgent care, especially on a holiday weekend.
Happy Fourth to everyone celebrating this weekend!
It's true - we are the Best Posse Ever.
QWP, do be gentle with yourself. Even when you feel quite recovered from a concussion, your brain still needs lots of tlc. xoxoxoxo
AW: first wedding of the weekend is done. It was lovely, but hot in the church. Rehearsal for wedding two is also done. Makes for a full weekend, but it's kind if fun too.
W: sermon for Sunday? Bwaaahahahahaaa. Ya, not so much.
KLee, can't say how many times I've been bitten. You're doing the right thing, and will do more if needed.
Sue -- yay for one wedding down, the other all set! Here's to some inspiration!
AW: We went to the town fair and music festival! We started going 24 years ago; it has grown a good bit, and includes all kinds of community booths, kiddie games + rides, arts and crafts, food galore, and of course, music.
I got slightly collared by a guy with Fix Our Ferals, who was really interested that we foster kittens. Daughter reported many lovely cats in the booth next door (SPCA?), so I guess this was something of a busman's holiday. ;)
MS reports MIL is confused and unable . to report either to him or to the doctor reliably.
AW: my nephew was incredible as the lead in the musical play about Jews in Russia.
((( Liz ))) Very sorry about your MIL. Sending love.
(((Liz))) So sorry to hear this. I hope things improve soon.
Yay for your nephew's lead role!
Awards coming tomorrow while I'm on the train home. Keep whining!! And thank you.
Tween Son is home from camp. Woo hoo!!!
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