Orts

When I was a kid and my mom didn't feel like cooking, we would sometimes have pot luck/leftovers or, as my parents called it, ORTS. Funny term, huh? I rarely think of it or use it. But today you get a few random, or leftover, thoughts floating around my head.

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Thanks to everyone for the nice comments on the pre-school post. It is so great to hear other people say you've done a good job....child-rearing is so hard! So thank you, it's greatly appreciated. Writing this post and reading some of the comments had me thinking....pre-school is a big transition for a lot of parents (often moreso than the kids). The tears, the fears, the separation anxiety. BUT AJ and I dealt with this so much when she was younger that it's the one thing that doesn't bother me. AJ goes to the gym once or twice a week where she plays with kids, listens to the 'teachers' and interacts with others without me around. She also goes to the church nursery once a week (thank freaking goodness) where she does the same thing - and those people are almost always compete strangers. She stays with friends, grandparents and, on the unfortunately rare occasion, baby-sitters (who she never remembers) without any problems at all. So in terms of social interaction, I think this kid, and her mom, are ahead of the curve. Extra special thanks to Quigs' children for helping us over that nasty problem last year.

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We have found what seems like a permanent solution to our cat problems. They simply can not live together anymore. So Jackie now lives in the basement and Ben gets the rest of the house. Someone said the other day that our basement is bigger (and maybe more comfortable) than a lot of apartments, which is a good point. We couldn't do this if we hadn't finished our basement last winter. But I do feel bad because Jackie lacks sunlight, fresh air through the screen windows and constant human interaction. We do go "visit" her a lot. She is perhaps getting more affection than she used to and I feel lucky to be able to give it to her. It is sad that she can't sleep next to me all night or wake me in the morning or wait for me to get out of the shower. But she has obviously been relieved of the stress she was under. We are waiting for a "tall dog/baby gate" to arrive this week. We had one incident where she broke out of the basement and she's now fortified in there by a card table, a toddler bed rail, a supergate, a regular baby gate and a comforter. Sometimes I also use packing tape to discourage her jumping the gates....hopefully that new gate arrives soon....

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Day One of the Labor Day weekend and AJ and I didn't get to the pool. Here's hoping for better weather on days two and three. We have to make it at some point even if we're cold! APY started his seven-day work weeks for football season. And after seven years it just isn't surprising anymore. AJ and I do our thing and we're happy to see him when we can. I do wish my sister lived around here so we had more to do on weekends while he's working....but we keep ourselves busy.

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Like today, when we went to Starbucks. AJ made the funniest comment. She was talking about peeing and using the bathroom and I said, "That is stuff we talk about at home, not out in public." And her voice got all hushed and she said, "Yeah, now we visiting they home." And I said, "whose home are we visiting?" and she pointed at the Starbucks employees. I had to explain that they didn't live at Starbucks, they just work here, and it's a business...and that led to some confusion, then distraction and eventually we were done with the convo. But a classic one it was, and a highlight of my day.

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