Field Trip to the Zoo

It was one of those days when it started pretty cool in the morning and got hot later in the day. I should have dressed her better, but it was fun. She really enjoyed feeding the giraffes.

Innocence lost...Goldie the goldfish dies.

Well, Goldie the goldfish died. I noticed she was not right yesterday and mentioned to Abby that I thought she was dying. Abby is 5 now but we had a cat that died when she was three and she still talks about it. She didn't quite get it then but it made an impression on her. Well the lip immediately popped out and the tears started. I talked to her about goldfish having short lives and she had a good life. I work nights and last night my husband calls to tell me that she started asking all these questions about death before she went to bed. She wanted to know if the dog would die, if the trees would die, and if people die. Well this morning Goldie had died. I didn't flush her before Abby got home from school because I knew she would be really upset about not getting to be the one to flush her. When she gets off the bus, she seems upset and I asked her what was wrong. She says "I don't want to die". I tell her that's not something she needs to worry about and that she has a long life to live. So after lunch we got Goldie out and she wanted to look at her for a minute. We then go to the bathroom and put her in the toilet. Abby flushes and then says "bye Goldie" as she completely falls apart and starts sobbing. She was breaking my heart. She starts crying about not wanting to die and not wanting Goldie to be dead. She says she doesn't want me or daddy to die. I could hear my husband sniffing from crying in the other room. I'm still holding it together until she says in between sobs...."When I die, sniff sniff, on my last day, sniff sniff, will you make it the best day ever?" She then sobs into my shoulder and asks me if she will live to her next birthday. I tell her she's got lots and lots of birthdays left to have and that I don't want her to worry about dying. It's time to check out some library books.

My sweet baby is starting to lose some of her innocence. I just want to put her in a bubble and protect her from being hurt.

I can't keep up....

....with life! I feel so busy lately. Sometimes if feels as if I don't know if I'm coming or going. At the same time, I feel as if I get nothing accomplished. Sometimes I look at other moms and wonder how they do it. They seem well rested and appear well-groomed. My house looks like a war zone. I stopped by the home of a friend this past weekend. Her house was clean. I didn't see dirty dishes on the counter. I didn't see cat puke on the kitchen floor from a kitty with a sensitive tummy. I didn't legos scattered about the living room. I didn't see moon sand in the crevices of the coffee table. There are no stains on her carpet. It would actually make me feel good to see these things.

New additions to the family

Abby is now the proud new owner of two cute guinea pigs. I lost my mind for a minute and convinced my hubby to let her get them. She had been asking for a bunny, but the research I did convinced me that a bunny wouldn't be the best choice for her. Guinea pigs are known to be great pets for kids and aren't known to bite. It's recommended that you get two because they are herding animals and like to be together. As I was doing my research, I found a family who wanted to give their two piggies away, along with their cage, because their kids had become too busy and lost interest. They are less than a year old. They are pretty shy right now but are eating great. Their names are Lenny and Patches. I need to get some pictures. I'd love to hear from any other pig owners out there and any advice or recommendations.

To the smokers: Help me understand

I'm so frustrated with hubby. He's been a smoker for a long time, and I really detest the habit. He's also talked about quitting for the longest time. Last week he was getting serious about quitting after prices went up significantly. When he ended up with the flu, he was actually so sick that he went 2 days without smoking and so decided he might as well go ahead and quit cold turkey. I thought he was doing really good, and he had a good attitude about it. Last night was the end of day 4 of no smoking. He called me at work last night to tell me that he just couldn't take it anymore and had to smoke. He says that he just can't quit right now and he really wants to try to lose a little weight first. He's been talking about losing some weight for over a year and it still hasn't happened. I just don't understand how you go 4 days without smoking and then you just can't take it anymore. The nicotine is out of your system by then. I'm really trying to understand but I'm must admit that I'm angry. I got my hopes up about this. He says he's not going to smoke as much but I just don't buy that. I think within a few days he'll be smoking as much as he ever was. I'm really disappointed.

Calgon take me away!

It just seems like lately it's just one thing after the other. This past week has been no exception. Abby got home from school on Monday complaining of a headache and saying she didn't feel well. Later, I realized she felt warm and she had a fever of 102. I gave her some Tylenol and it went down. Tuesday morning I go to wake her for school and the fever is back so she stays home. She had no complaints other than just "feeling yucky". She wasn't interested in eating, but we made sure she stayed hydrated. She didn't play much and just wanted to lie around. This continued through the whole week. We fought the fever with Tylenol all week and it would just keep coming back. I know there's really nothing the docs can do about a fever so I didn't feel there was any reason to go running to the pediatrician. On Thursday, she started with a cough that kept her up all night. Hubby also tells me Thursday night that he's starting to feel like crap. I called the pediatrician on Friday morning, even though she was acting a little perkier. She still had a fever of 100 and was still coughing. I felt like she needed to be seen since we had the weekend coming up. So the doc says something that wasn't even on my mind as a possibility. She says she feels strongly that Abby has the flu. I don't know why I didn' t think she could have the flu, especially since her teacher told me that the only thing that's really been going around the school is flu. The doc also asked her if her ear hurt, because she also has an ear infection. She said it didn't hurt, but it's probably because we've been keeping her loaded with the Tylenol. Oh, and hubby is now really sick and achy and coughing like crazy. He pulled a muscle in his stomach from coughing so much and is in a lot of pain with each cough. Can I just say I'm in hell but thank goodness I got a flu shot. I'll make sure everyone gets it next year.

Something else made me angry this week. Wednesday night I was leaving work. I looked left to make sure no cars were coming before I pulled out of the garage. I noticed a man walking a dog but then realized he was kicking the dog (it was more like an older puppy). I'm an animal lover and so I was trying to figure out what he was doing. He then picks the dog up completely off the ground by his leash and slings him around. I was like "oh, hell no" so I called 911. I know they were probably calling me a crazy lady. I even said to the operator that I knew this wasn't high priority but that if there was any officers in the area, they really need to check and see what the hell is wrong with this guy and make sure this puppy was ok. She said she would send someone. I would have said something, but considering it was 1am in the city of Cincinnati I didn't want to risk my safety.

So, there you have it. That was my fun-filled week...and the fun continues...

Wordless Wednesday