A death in the family, and other news
Well, one of our sweet little lizards died overnight. I knew he was in trouble last night; he was looking pretty listless lying on the bottom of the terrarium. This morning I wrapped him up in sky blue tissue paper, and we had a small, private burial service in the backyard. Now the other little guy seems pretty lonely in there by himself. Actually, I think green anoles might not be that social, and maybe he's thinking, "finally, a little peace and quiet!"
We do have three additions to the family, though--last weekend Trinh bought three White's tree frogs with her own money. They're cute as can be, but I'm afraid to touch them or pick them up. I don't like things that might jump on me! So, now we're having to buy masses of crickets all the time.
I'm worried about my oldest cat, Sophie. She's gotten really thin over the past few months, and now seems to have some sort of infection in one eye. Also, she keeps "missing" the litter box. She gets in the box with her butt sticking out, and I guess she thinks she's all in there. It's been quite a mess. I tried putting smaller litter boxes in the spots where she "misses," but then she just went in those boxes instead, and still had her butt hanging out. I don't know what else to try. I know I need to take her to the vet, but I'm afraid of what they'll tell me, and of what it will cost to treat her.
The girls and I have joined a Girl Scout troop. We are going to Big Bear in a couple of weeks; we're staying in a cabin, though, so we won't camping out or anything. At Friday night's meeting the girls all decorated t-shirts for the trip with fabric paints. What a mess! Let's just say I'm glad it wasn't my house! This troop is made up of 10- and 11-year-old girls, so Trinh and Melissa fit right in. However, Trinh kept being mean to Melissa, telling her to go away, and making fun of her in front of the other girls. This just made Melissa want to stick by me, which kind of defeats the whole idea. I kept giving Trinh the evil eye, and when we finally left I told her, "I'm pissed as hell at you." I was silent all the way home, then told her, "I'll be in in a minute to talk to you." (I remember my parents striking fear in my heart with just such a phrase!) Anyway, I ended up telling her that if I have to keep telling her not to be mean and exclude Melissa from the group, then we won't do Girl Scouts at all.
I've made a big mistake by setting up screen names for each of the girls. Now they want to spend all day checking for e-mail and IM-ing their friends. I should have waited until they were older for this. Already, Melissa had some "18-year-old" guy approach her in some kids' site and start talking about sex stuff to her. Melissa got really scared and logged off right away, but still, I was so sad and upset to have that happen to one of my kids. Kids are forced to grow up pretty fast these days. But I guess every generation of parents thinks that.
I now have every other Friday off (I started a 9/80 work schedule), and last Friday was my first day off. I went to a matinee with my mom to see "Under the Tuscan Sun." It was very pleasant, exactly what you think it's going to be like. Now I will daydream about moving to Tuscany!
Then on Saturday I took the girls to see "School of Rock," which we absolutely loved!
Today is my mom's birthday, so she is coming over for dinner. We're going to have steaks, baked potatoes, salad, birthday cake (which I baked yesterday), and vanilla ice cream! If I can just get rid of this headache, it should be a nice evening!
We do have three additions to the family, though--last weekend Trinh bought three White's tree frogs with her own money. They're cute as can be, but I'm afraid to touch them or pick them up. I don't like things that might jump on me! So, now we're having to buy masses of crickets all the time.
I'm worried about my oldest cat, Sophie. She's gotten really thin over the past few months, and now seems to have some sort of infection in one eye. Also, she keeps "missing" the litter box. She gets in the box with her butt sticking out, and I guess she thinks she's all in there. It's been quite a mess. I tried putting smaller litter boxes in the spots where she "misses," but then she just went in those boxes instead, and still had her butt hanging out. I don't know what else to try. I know I need to take her to the vet, but I'm afraid of what they'll tell me, and of what it will cost to treat her.
The girls and I have joined a Girl Scout troop. We are going to Big Bear in a couple of weeks; we're staying in a cabin, though, so we won't camping out or anything. At Friday night's meeting the girls all decorated t-shirts for the trip with fabric paints. What a mess! Let's just say I'm glad it wasn't my house! This troop is made up of 10- and 11-year-old girls, so Trinh and Melissa fit right in. However, Trinh kept being mean to Melissa, telling her to go away, and making fun of her in front of the other girls. This just made Melissa want to stick by me, which kind of defeats the whole idea. I kept giving Trinh the evil eye, and when we finally left I told her, "I'm pissed as hell at you." I was silent all the way home, then told her, "I'll be in in a minute to talk to you." (I remember my parents striking fear in my heart with just such a phrase!) Anyway, I ended up telling her that if I have to keep telling her not to be mean and exclude Melissa from the group, then we won't do Girl Scouts at all.
I've made a big mistake by setting up screen names for each of the girls. Now they want to spend all day checking for e-mail and IM-ing their friends. I should have waited until they were older for this. Already, Melissa had some "18-year-old" guy approach her in some kids' site and start talking about sex stuff to her. Melissa got really scared and logged off right away, but still, I was so sad and upset to have that happen to one of my kids. Kids are forced to grow up pretty fast these days. But I guess every generation of parents thinks that.
I now have every other Friday off (I started a 9/80 work schedule), and last Friday was my first day off. I went to a matinee with my mom to see "Under the Tuscan Sun." It was very pleasant, exactly what you think it's going to be like. Now I will daydream about moving to Tuscany!
Then on Saturday I took the girls to see "School of Rock," which we absolutely loved!
Today is my mom's birthday, so she is coming over for dinner. We're going to have steaks, baked potatoes, salad, birthday cake (which I baked yesterday), and vanilla ice cream! If I can just get rid of this headache, it should be a nice evening!