Where Oh Where Has My Darling Daughter Gone?

Help! My darling daughter, Twelve, is possessed. Shocking you might say, after all this is the same dd who used to think that I was the "best mommy in the world". True, that was a looooooong time ago, but nonetheless, she used to like me. Now, I believe aliens have taken her and slowly replaced her once sweet disposition with a "mom you don't know anything" replacement. She screeches, she rolls her eyes, she whines. I keep "thinking, wishing, hoping, praying" (hey isn't that from a song?) that this is just a phase that she is going through. Now I'm getting worried that this so-called phase is never going to end. In fact, just when I think that she is as "possessed" as she is ever going to be, she "kicks it up a notch" , "lets it all out" and becomes even more annoying. Then when I feel that I am at the end of my rope and ready to snap, she miraculously is able to completely pull it together and be the sweet dd that I used to know (of course this is usually because she wants something from me!). I'm stressed...I'm feeling like a failure as a mom...I feel like somehow it's all my fault. I still love my daughter, but I can't say I like her very much right now. In the meantime, I 'm continuing to give Amber, the dog, her double dose of sedatives (and it seems to be working)...I wonder if she would share with me...not for too long...just until I get my darling daughter back.

I Hate My Job!

Maybe a better title for this blog should be "I Hate That I Have to Work". Although I only work 24 hours per week (that way I can pick the kids up from school everyday), some days I just don't want to get my tired body out of bed and go to work. Realistically, even if I decided not to go into work one day, I would still have to get up early to get Twelve and Ten off to school. My darling hubby would LOVE it, because that would mean that he could go to the "dreaded" (my word not his) gym and have an early morning work-out. I fantasize that if I didn't have to go to work, I would somehow organize all the piles of paper and junk that I have strategically put (o.k....dumped) in various places throughout the house. I would cook healthy gourmet meals every night for dinner (or would at least plan ahead so that I wouldn't have to run to the grocery store everyday trying to figure out what I can throw together for dinner), and I would no longer turn into a "crazy stressed out woman" stuffing all my clutter into any empty drawer or closet that I can find, whenever anyone says that they are coming over. I would be unflappable. Nothing would bother me, nothing would stress me out, I would be (drum roll please) ..."SUPER-RELAXED-ORGANIZED-MOM". In the meantime...does anyone have any "How to be Organized and Clutter-free in 10 Minutes a Day" advise?

Double The Dose

Took Amber to the vet to have her stitches removed (no more cone-head for her!) . Incision site is looking fine. Vet could see how "hyped up and ready to go" Amber is. I explained that this is how Amber behaves even WITH a sedative (we won't mention the one I forgot to give her)....so...the doctor prescribed giving Amber double the dose (two pills instead of one...not to exceed 4 in a 24 hour period), plus...Amber can now go on two 10-15 minute walks everyday. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!!!!! We still need to use the "sling" to help protect her leg, and she still is not allowed to go up the stairs, but for her to be able to "go for a walk, outside"... will seem like Heaven to her, and to us. In addition , Amber has lost 5 pounds since her surgery. I don't get it, all she's done is sit around in her crate or next to one of us all day, eat, and go outside to "do her business", and she's lost 5 pounds. I work, run around with my kids, take care of the dog etc...and I gained weight...doesn't seem fair.

The World of Blogging

I am so excited!!!!! Today after sleeping in late (hey, to me 6:40am is late),then getting breakfast for Twelve and Ten, playing with Amber (who is feeling waaaaay to frisky for a dog that had TPLO surgery just eleven days ago), attending Ten's VERY exciting 4th grade boys basketball game...his team won by the way, coming home and making lunch for Ten (after all he was STARVING after playing such an action packed game), and playing with Amber again... I finally found some time to sit down at the computer and search the blog website. Now you must understand that my sister, The Erstwhile Librarian, is always telling me about interesting blog sites that she finds. I on the otherhand never seem to find the time to sit and search the blog site... and even if I did, I figure I am not the researcher in the family...I wouldn't even know where to start! My sister has encouraged me to just type in something that interests me and that I would be surprised at what I would find. So today that's just what I did. Now if anyone asked me what I typed in I would have to say: Girl Scouts, volunteering, organizing. Those three areas seem to really interest me. Girl Scouts because I am a Girl Scout leader, volunteering because that's something I do, and organizing because I wish I was organized and clutter free. I didn't learn much from the Girl Scouts sites other than apparently not all of the councils started selling cookies on the same date. Volunteering lead me to some sites that just didn't interest me. Organizing, on the other hand,...well I think I may have hit the mother lode!!!!!!! I found one blog site called "I'm an organizing junkie". What an interesting blog!... I think that it might just be the answer to my organizing prayers. This woman really has some amazing ideas that I would love to try...if only I can find the time.

The Essence of Volunteering

Last night, I was able to take my Girl Scout troop to a City Council Meeting. We were one of many groups being recognized for volunteering at a city sponsored event. The 7th and 8th grade girls in my troop had never seen any form of government, at work (other than in school) . I thought the meeting was quite impressive. I think it was a good experience for the girls... even though it was a school night and some of the girls were tired. I also think that it was good for these girls to be publically recognized for their service to the community. Hopefully this experience will stay with them, and they will continue to volunteer long after they have finished with Girl Scouting.

The following quote from Marjorie Moore was included in the program...I don't know who she is, but I think this quote is worth sharing, and probably one of the reasons I have chosen (although certainly not consciously) to volunteer. "Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote everyday about the kind of community you want to live in."

Volunteering

I'm tired! I spent all of Saturday afternoon helping one of the girls in my Girl Scout troop complete some of the prerequisite requirements for her "Silver Award"(the highest honor a Cadette Girl Scout can earn). These things needed to be completed before the whole troop can start on the actual project. On Sunday, I was asked to volunteer at my children's Sunday School. Up till now, besides being a mom, working 24hours per week, volunteering as a Girl Scout Leader, and volunteering as a room mom in my son's class, I was also volunteering on the Board of Directors in the Association where we live. Elections are coming up in March and I have decided NOT to run again. Evidently I must have felt that this left me with some extra time on my hands, so when asked, I said that I would happily volunteer one Sunday a month at the Sunday school. What was I thinking?...

My Bad.....

Missing sedative...what missing sedative. Turns out that in my bleary-eyed morning ministrations to Amber yesterday, I must have given her a pain pill instead of a sedative. At least that's what I think I must have done, since last night when I counted the sedatives in the pill bottle, there was one extra sedative, and I when I counted the pain pills in the pill bottle there was one less pain pill than I could account for. (Good thing both the pain pills and sedatives are on an "as needed basis". ) That would explainAmber's wide awake/raring to go attitude yesterday. Lesson to learn from this.....have someone else be in charge of the medicine...maybe I should ask my 85 year old mother...she's more experienced with coordinating medicine than I am...then again, knowing my mother...maybe I shouldn't.

The Misplaced Sedative?

I think I misplaced a sedative. No...I wasn't lucky enough to have one for me, but I could swear that I gave one to Amber (the dog) this morning. It's supposed to make her sleepy and lethargic. I know that I stuck it in the back of her throat this morning and kept her mouth closed while she licked peanut butter from my finger, but when I came home from work, she was sitting up in her crate looking wide awake. Amber was raring to go. I took her out "business", not one, not two, not three, but four times until she decided to "go". Amber was using the leg that she had just had surgery on. Well, not really using it...but it was actually touching the ground, which is something she hadn't been doing since her injury on Sunday night. After doing her thing, she sat down, proceeded to "clean herself' (o.k. she was licking herself) then decided to get up and get a drink of water. I however, was totally mentally exhausted from trying to coordinate the sling, the leash, and the dog who had her own time table for "doing her business". Now, she's sitting next to me looking quite awake, and barking at the wind.... What part of sedative doesn't she understand??? I need to go pick up Ten and Twelve but before I go there's something really important that I have to do... Lucky me gets to crawl on my hands and knees and look around to see if I can find that darn sedative... just in case.

Amber - Day Two

Back to the insane comment from yesterday...I must be. Spent all yesterday afternoon and evening perched on the floor (can you be perched on the floor or do you need to be up on something?) in front of Amber's crate. Mind you, this is not how I would usually choose to spend an evening, but someone (and that would be me) needed to sit with Amber to make sure that she didn't lick her incision site. It was either that or have her wear an "Elizabethian collar". (In case you don't know what that is, it's a huge plastic cone that goes over the dogs head). The collar looks both ridiculous and uncomfortable. My daughter, we'll call her twelve (since that's her age) and my son, we'll call him ten (since that's his age) did "spell" me so that I could both "make and eat" dinner. The incision site from her TPLO surgery had started to bleed sometime during the afternoon. Not alot of blood, mind you, but enough to make me call the surgeon. This didn't happen after her last surgery. The office said to watch it to see if we (meaning me) needed to bring her back for another stitch. Just how I would want to spend my day! Can you say STRESS????? Thank goodness this morning there wasn't any blood. Gave Amber a sedative so that she would be comfortable in her crate today. Came home from work, Amber looked as comfortable as one can look with the collar on. She stared at me with big brown glassy eyes (can you say morphine patch plus a sedative?). So now where am I?.....you guessed it, typing this blog, perched on my chair with one eye on the screen and of course one eye on Amber... Has anyone got any extra valium?

Why Am I Doing This?

Never thought that I would be sitting here writing a blog. I mean...who actually has the time to spend doing this? Just brought my dog, Amber, home from the vet. She had TPLO surgery yesterday, her second one in 15 months. At $3,600 for each surgery, I must either really love my dog...or I must be insane. I prefer to pretend the former, although when the bill comes, I'm sure that I will believe the latter. Either way... my wallet hurts (this comment was provided by my 12 year old daughter). Amber is currently blissfully relaxing in her crate, having been given a morphine patch that will last for 5 days...lucky her! I asked the vet for a prescription for valium for me...she just laughed. Don't know why she laughed, I was serious!!!!!!!

So what are my plans for this blog? Who knows. Realistically...who cares? I'd probably do better with a diary (the kind with a lock and key). Maybe when I'm done here, I will print this out and let my "princess doped up dog" do her "business" on it.