quid pro quo
I have a duck. Natalie linked a Craigslist ad on Facebook and then texted me, "Do you want a duck?" I texted: "No thanks." And then - "Oh wait, is it too late to change my mind? Can I have a duck?" So she brought me one. It was $10. I had two dollars, Bill had two dollars, Alex pitched in a $5, and Tristan gave me four quarters. It's very much a family duck.
My vision of duck ownership was gardening with my little feathered friend following along. Except my duck had a wonky eye and we took her to the duck doctor for a surgery to remove it, so she's been a house-duck. Which is a lot of work. Because she poops a lot. And the bigger she gets, the more "people-like" her poops are getting. Gadzooks.
Her name is Queen Piddle Diddle and she's kind of a pirate now. She is a Muscovy. Her favorite food is grapes. If we set her on a towel on the kitchen floor, she's content to hang out there all day and watch the activity going by. (She needs the towel for traction.) At first, she was very tiny and the cats were unhealthily interested in her. Now, she's the same size as the cats and has nipped them all on the nose for being impudent so we no longer have to worry. I can put her to sleep by stroking her bill, and she likes to sit in our laps while we watch TV. She likes to take a bath in the bathtub every morning (and after being in a cage all night, she needs one, believe me). I have been checking out books at the library about ducks; ducks are actually very interesting creatures!
Oh, and she does follow me around cutely in the garden, but until her eye socket stops weeping, she's a house-duck. I put warm compresses on the socket several times a day, which she finds calming and falls asleep. I like being a duck mommy.
Also, I took my 84 year old Grandma to California. The funny part is how she asked me to go. She said, "WHY won't you take me to California?" I think I said, "What?" And so, a few months later we went. She was very generous and bought my ticket. Bill and I scraped together enough nickels to buy a ticket for Tristan, and I'm so glad I did.
I keep saying this, but I somehow astonished myself: I was so focused on getting Grandma to California to see family, that I really did not think about how I would be spending the week. I had a vague idea that it would be good for Tristan to spend time with the nine children of my five cousins, but that's as far as I planned. I think I was really preoccupied with finishing up at Whatcom Community College before we left to think about it much.
The week, oh gosh, it was incredible! Grandma was...well, herself. Hard to say whether she had a good time but I hope she'll look back on it fondly. We sure laughed a lot. But do you know what? I had the time of my life! And Tristan even more so! I laughed with my Aunt and my cousins like no time at all had passed between visits. Tristan was overwhelmed with cousindom; it was like no other experience he has ever had, being an only child and typically surrounded with dysfunctional adults such as myself. We swam constantly, I wore my swimsuit every day, I drank lots of beer, and I got to know all the kids and it really warms my heart. Every night was like a super duper sleepover. Everyone turned their routines and homes upside down to make us welcome and make sure we had a good time and spent as much time as possible together. It meant so much to me. The only thing missing was my sister. I wish they would all come see me here in Bellingham. I think they'd like my fair city.
Before we left, I bought hair clippers and gave Tris a buzz. I got his mowhawk too short for his liking and he's still pretty mad about that. But geez, it's just hair!
Yesterday was a pretty subdued Fourth of July. Bill wasn't speaking to me on Saturday so I wasn't sure how the day would go. We didn't argue, but I was upset about some things that had happened on Friday night that I don't really want to go into. The whole thing culminated in a fit of pique about 1 a.m. on Sunday morning when he called me a bitch. I didn't even lose my temper, I just went downstairs. In the morning, I ground some pork and made homemade sausage for breakfast because, as I told Bill, "That's what us bitches do." I got a smile out of him at that point, handed him a cup of coffee and the rest of the day went well. I'm glad I didn't lose my temper.
We didn't go anywhere. I piddled around the house, feeding fish emulsion to the veggie garden, getting a BBQ ready, stuff like that. I spent about an hour playing Mario Kart with Tristan and then we lit snakes on the front walk together while I drank beer. We had ribs, corn on the cob, beans, bbq romaine (sounds crazy but it's quite good), and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Bill bought some fireworks at a stand by the Cost Cutter and 75% of them were ridiculous duds. We made the best of it by screaming WOOOOOT!! FIREWORKS!!! and throwing devil horns at these tiny little three inch flames. It was pretty funny. Then, we watched the City's fireworks. We are about a mile from the bay but we get a really good view from the upstairs bedroom window. Bellingham is pretty neat like that. I didn't take any photos yesterday, I just enjoyed the day.
I'm both glad to be home and sad to have left California. When I got home, I told Alex that I am a California girl. He said, "D'OH! It has taken me YEARS to get you to say you're a Washington girl!"
Maybe I'm a hybrid.
My vision of duck ownership was gardening with my little feathered friend following along. Except my duck had a wonky eye and we took her to the duck doctor for a surgery to remove it, so she's been a house-duck. Which is a lot of work. Because she poops a lot. And the bigger she gets, the more "people-like" her poops are getting. Gadzooks.
Her name is Queen Piddle Diddle and she's kind of a pirate now. She is a Muscovy. Her favorite food is grapes. If we set her on a towel on the kitchen floor, she's content to hang out there all day and watch the activity going by. (She needs the towel for traction.) At first, she was very tiny and the cats were unhealthily interested in her. Now, she's the same size as the cats and has nipped them all on the nose for being impudent so we no longer have to worry. I can put her to sleep by stroking her bill, and she likes to sit in our laps while we watch TV. She likes to take a bath in the bathtub every morning (and after being in a cage all night, she needs one, believe me). I have been checking out books at the library about ducks; ducks are actually very interesting creatures!
Oh, and she does follow me around cutely in the garden, but until her eye socket stops weeping, she's a house-duck. I put warm compresses on the socket several times a day, which she finds calming and falls asleep. I like being a duck mommy.
Also, I took my 84 year old Grandma to California. The funny part is how she asked me to go. She said, "WHY won't you take me to California?" I think I said, "What?" And so, a few months later we went. She was very generous and bought my ticket. Bill and I scraped together enough nickels to buy a ticket for Tristan, and I'm so glad I did.
I keep saying this, but I somehow astonished myself: I was so focused on getting Grandma to California to see family, that I really did not think about how I would be spending the week. I had a vague idea that it would be good for Tristan to spend time with the nine children of my five cousins, but that's as far as I planned. I think I was really preoccupied with finishing up at Whatcom Community College before we left to think about it much.
The week, oh gosh, it was incredible! Grandma was...well, herself. Hard to say whether she had a good time but I hope she'll look back on it fondly. We sure laughed a lot. But do you know what? I had the time of my life! And Tristan even more so! I laughed with my Aunt and my cousins like no time at all had passed between visits. Tristan was overwhelmed with cousindom; it was like no other experience he has ever had, being an only child and typically surrounded with dysfunctional adults such as myself. We swam constantly, I wore my swimsuit every day, I drank lots of beer, and I got to know all the kids and it really warms my heart. Every night was like a super duper sleepover. Everyone turned their routines and homes upside down to make us welcome and make sure we had a good time and spent as much time as possible together. It meant so much to me. The only thing missing was my sister. I wish they would all come see me here in Bellingham. I think they'd like my fair city.
Before we left, I bought hair clippers and gave Tris a buzz. I got his mowhawk too short for his liking and he's still pretty mad about that. But geez, it's just hair!
Yesterday was a pretty subdued Fourth of July. Bill wasn't speaking to me on Saturday so I wasn't sure how the day would go. We didn't argue, but I was upset about some things that had happened on Friday night that I don't really want to go into. The whole thing culminated in a fit of pique about 1 a.m. on Sunday morning when he called me a bitch. I didn't even lose my temper, I just went downstairs. In the morning, I ground some pork and made homemade sausage for breakfast because, as I told Bill, "That's what us bitches do." I got a smile out of him at that point, handed him a cup of coffee and the rest of the day went well. I'm glad I didn't lose my temper.
We didn't go anywhere. I piddled around the house, feeding fish emulsion to the veggie garden, getting a BBQ ready, stuff like that. I spent about an hour playing Mario Kart with Tristan and then we lit snakes on the front walk together while I drank beer. We had ribs, corn on the cob, beans, bbq romaine (sounds crazy but it's quite good), and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Bill bought some fireworks at a stand by the Cost Cutter and 75% of them were ridiculous duds. We made the best of it by screaming WOOOOOT!! FIREWORKS!!! and throwing devil horns at these tiny little three inch flames. It was pretty funny. Then, we watched the City's fireworks. We are about a mile from the bay but we get a really good view from the upstairs bedroom window. Bellingham is pretty neat like that. I didn't take any photos yesterday, I just enjoyed the day.
I'm both glad to be home and sad to have left California. When I got home, I told Alex that I am a California girl. He said, "D'OH! It has taken me YEARS to get you to say you're a Washington girl!"
Maybe I'm a hybrid.