Apr
13
Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me
by Leslie
We moved into our new home in September and since then, I’ve had some trouble finding friends. I’ve met a lot of nice people, moms especially, but haven’t made that special friendship connection…until two weeks ago.
I’d been getting to know one of the moms from Jumpercize class at the YMCA through one minute conversations between Ring Around The Rosie and the squishy mat obstacle course. I had liked her right away. She was a friendly woman with a pleasant smile and a love for her daughter that seemed to surround them with light. We were close in age, as were our girls, and we shared the experience of being married to men with uncommon work schedules. She was the aquaintance with the most friend potential I’d met so far and I was eager to get to know her more.
After class that day two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to chat and it was one of the best conversations I’d ever had. We had similar ideas about parenting and the experiences we wanted to offer our children as they grew up. We talked about the places we like to go and the things we like to do and found that both of our families had an interest in geocaching. Dave and I had been doing it for a while and this mom and her family wanted to give it a try. I excitedly offered to let her borrow our geocaching equipment and invited her and her family to come out caching with us some weekend. She seemed delighted by the idea. The kids were starting to get restless, so we said our good-byes and agreed to exchange phone numbers the following week. As she headed off to her car, I met up with Dave who said, “Wow, you were talking a long time. She’s probably thinking she’ll never come back to avoid that crazy talking lady.”
When we reached the car and I realized that I’d been talking with her for an hour, I started to worry. Maybe he was right. We talked for an hour. I started to replay our conversation in my mind – did I miss any signals that she was trying to get out of there? Dave just laughed and said, “Don’t be silly. I was just joking with you. I’m glad you found a friend.”
The following week, I arrived at Jumpercize with my contact information printed neatly on a piece of pretty pink stationary, but the mom never showed. She wasn’t there again this week. Is it possible that I frightened her away? I don’t know. Maybe they’re sick or have something going on, but I can’t help but think I freaked her out. Now I’m very self-conscious and practicing how to greet people in the mirror Mary Catherine Gallagher style.
Maybe I should stick to blogging. I think I’m a bit more likeable in this medium.
Apr
11
The Cat Lady
by Leslie
Here’s a story
Of a girl named Leslie
Who was living with three very lovely cats
All of them had been spayed
They had their shots
And they were spoiled like brats
Here’s a story
Of a real estate agent
Who sold Leslie his land and former home
He’d had three cats living there with him
But he moved out alone
Then the one day Leslie moved into the house
But she didn’t know the seller was negligent
He had left behind his many cats
And one was pregnant
The Cat Lady.
The Cat Lady.
That’s the way she became The Cat Lady.
Now, I have eleven cats (you can see all but two of them pictured above). The eight cats we “inherited” from the previous owner (the original three plus the five kittens the pregnant cat gave birth to on our move in day) all needed to be spayed or neutered and given their shots. We started Operation Sterilization last week and hope to have it finished in May. So far, three cats have been spayed and are recovering in our house. When we take them to get their stitches out, we’re dropping off three more to get the snip. It’s insanity.
I always used to tell Dave that if I weren’t married to him, I’d probably be one of those crazy cat ladies with tons of cats that she calls her babies. Today, Dave looked at me sitting there with three cats in my lap and said, “Leslie, married or not, I think you are a crazy cat lady.”
You know, I think I am.
Apr
11
All I Really Need
by Leslie
Have you ever had one of those days where half way through you discover you’re wearing your underwear inside out? I’m never sure what to do when that happens. After going that long with them inside out, is it best to just leave them that way or should they be turned right side out? Usually I just end up changing them altogether because I can’t decide.
I’ve been having a lot of inside out underwear days, lately due to lack of sleep. I’m just not getting any. Sleep. I’m up peeing every hour and in between trips to the potty, I’m nauseous or having a stupid dream in which my baby is born with three heads.
All of this non-sleeping is having an effect on me during the day. I’m just not as good. Normally, I would know better than to allow Julia to retrieve a hard-boiled Easter egg from the refrigerator to eat, but non-sleep Leslie thought it was a good idea. The result was five broken raw eggs in the bottom of my fridge.
I really need to get some sleep so I don’t say “Yes,” through my sleepy fog when she asks if she can light the fireplace.
Apr
9
I’m IT! My fabulous friend Mommy The Maid has tagged me. I’m supposed to list 5 things I am obsessive about. Then, I’m supposed to tag 5 people to do the same on their blog.
I have two problems with this:
1) Only five things? I could rattle off 30, easy. You’re probably saying, “Well, if there are so many, this should be a quick and easy post to write, Leslie. Bust it out, girl!” Not really. Narrowing down 30 things to 5 is tough, especially when I have to consider which ones will endear me to you and which ones will send you running.
2) I’m scared to tag people. Who likes being tagged and who doesn’t? How do I know? What if I’m tagging someone too much and they’re all, “Well, I did it the first time to be nice and now all she does is tag me. She’s a meme monster. A MEME MONSTER!” Then, there might be people who are like, “What about me? What’s wrong with me? She never tags me.” If I say I’m not going to tag anyone, well, ugh! This whole tagging thing is very complicated.
Okay, so on with the meme.
5 of my obsessions.
1)
A)* I am obsessive about my blog and the readers of my blog. (See above paragraph on tagging…and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You don’t even want to get me started on that bloglines subscriber I lost.)
*since I used numbers earlier in the post, I thought I’d better use letters here to avoid confusion. Not that I think you’re easily confused. I don’t. It just seemed right.
B) I am obsessive about the cash in my wallet. All of the bills must be facing in the same direction – no Presidents staring each other down in my purse – and grouped together by denomination from low to high. I don’t have as many rules for change except that I refuse to carry more than six pennies at a time. That’s just overkill.
C) I am obsessive about the birthday card I made and sent to PBS Kids Sprout in hopes of it being included in The Birthday Show for Julia’s birthday. I worked on that card for a long, long time. If it doesn’t make it to air, I’m gonna feel like one big loser. And I’ll feel stupid if I forget to watch the show on her birthday and never know if it made it, which is likely to happen considering her birthday isn’t until June 24th. I feel pretty sure some new information will bump that reminder right out of my brain before then. If you think of it, on June 23rd remind me to set my DVR to tape The Birthday Show the next day. Thanks.
D) I am obsessive about the way I shower. I have to go from the top down. I wash my hair first and my toes last. If I don’t go in order, I just don’t feel clean.
E) I have an obsession with zits. I’m a zit popper. They don’t even have to be mine.
Since that last one probably sent you all running, I guess there’s no one left to tag. Darn. Next time!
Apr
7
Clean
by Leslie
Here’s Julia getting clean with her Ozzie the Octopus spout cover by Crayola. We put one of Crayola’s blue Color Dotz in Ozzie’s mouth to make the blue water (it comes out through his tentacles). It’s one fun way to get clean!
Stuff I Do
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Stuff You Should Do
You know, Stuff.
