Posts Tagged ‘Family’

Lessons From a Passive Aggressive.

10 Comments
Posted 10 May 2010 — by Leah
Category Family, animals, gardening

I’m not typically a person who enjoys conflict.  In fact, I avoid it like the plague.  I’ll put myself through misery to avoid it.  Bad way to live life, but I do it.  One thing I’d like to grow my way out of.

Today my fears completely faded away for a brief moment though, and it was kinda funny.

Isaac and I were at a local nursery which is like…my happy place.  I had just finished carrying goats and rabbits around in my arms (yes i like to carry them) and I was looking forward to getting back to my cart and my hot nonfat Starbucks latte.

When I get within sight of my cart, which was one of their nicer ones with a place for a small child, I see my starbucks sitting on TOP of a garbage can, a crappy cart with no child holder in it and this lady walking away with MY CART!!

Immediately I yell out “Excuse me!!!”, she turns and looks…” did you just take my cart?”.  And I make her come back, unload her toddler and plants that she had just loaded up on MY cart and I took it back.  MY CART.  It was empty all but my cup of coffee and she said “well it was empty”.  Then I snorted back that it had a HOT cup of coffee on it.

I walked away giggling at myself.  What a stupid thing to cause a scene about, really.  She could have used it much more than I could have.  Isaac is bigger and doesn’t NEED the child containment but it’s nice, I wasn’t purchasing any plants (well, until I saw they have alpine strawberries and then I bought a plant ) and she had two small children and plants she was buying but…it’s the principle here.  You don’t take someone’s hot coffee off a cart and stick it on the garbage can and you don’t just assume something that’s not yours.  I felt like I was teaching her a lesson.

I’m sure I learned a bigger lesson, though.  It felt really GOOD to just tell a person how it is.  I didn’t mix up my words, I was as kind as I could about it and I ended up not stewing about the jerk who wronged me…cuz I took control of the situation.  Something every passive aggressive person needs to learn.  It’s not that bad.

I really don’t know what came over me, what a weird, random thing for me to do.  But, I liked it.  And I’m also going to like my alpine strawberries…and I really liked having Ikey contained…because when he’s not…bad things happen.

Tags: , , , , , ,

I’ve Been Bit

2 Comments
Posted 05 May 2010 — by Leah
Category This and That

Last year I was apathetic about gardening.  I wasn’t in the mood.  The news of Silas’ autism had made it so nothing that once brought me joy was enjoyable anymore.

I can proudly say I’m now beyond that.  I’ve been bit by the gardening bug BIG time.

It’s funny, after only having one year of gardening behind me…I already feel so much more wise about how I go about it this year.  Like how to space my pots and where I want certain things to grow in my garden.

I know exactly where to put my osteospermum so it grows SUPER big…with my cedars…which is weird cuz cedars kill things…hmm…who know?

My strawberry pot has been moved and made into a strawberry patch because I’ve been cutting the shoots off and planting them again.  There’s so many flowers on it…I’m so excited to eat all those strawberries.

Corn is planted in it’s usual spot and same with 3 pots of tomatoes.  1 yellow heirloom, 1 beefsteak heirloom and a cherry.  There’s also broccoli and the carrots have been planted too :) .  I have space left for my zucchini, some lettuce and red cabbage.   Although…I kinda wish I had some bush beans too.

Brent promised to build me some cedar boxes along my fence because it’s just to swampy there.  I’m tried of dealing with it so we’re building right on top of it and I can fill my boxes with flowers and other marvelous things.  Perhaps I’ll put some bush beans there :D

I still wanna find space for some blueberry bushes…alas…that’s probably asking far too much.  I love the idea of a mainly edible garden though.  K wait, I think i might have a spot for those blueberries.  Hmmmmm.

In the front of my house I planted a new bed with salvia, rosemary, lilies, heather,  johnny jump ups, pansies and lavender.  For my pots on the ground I chose purple and orange pansies.  Everything in front is purple and orange.  Except a pot of just white bacopa. :)   I also have yet to plant a hanging pot of wave petunias.

In the back pots that sit on my fence I planted purple, red and white wave petunias.  I like how much colour they have and how cheap they are…and how MUCH they grow!!

I’m very excited for my garden this year.  I can’t wait to get those boxes done and begin filling them up with perennials…and perhaps just a few annuals :)

I also took my bday money and bought myself a big, beautiful hanging basket full of bright and glorious flowers.  Pinks and purples and blues, so pretty.  It’s hanging outside my sliding glass door just like the last one did two years ago and it makes me ever so so so happy.

Photos to come, I left my camera at Jennies house.

Tags: ,

I HATE You Stupid Dirt Devil

7 Comments
Posted 30 Apr 2010 — by Leah
Category Family

Oh stupid Dirt Devil my sister told me to buy

How I loathe thee.

You make me feel like the idiot in the Dyson commercials

coughing from the dust

flying

in my face whilst trying to clean the

stupidly placed filter.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid Dirt Devil

You suck

but in all the wrong ways.

I want you to suck the way a Dyson sucks

like suck up the dirt

actually.

Stupid person who designed this stupid dirt devil

You should be fired.

You should have to pay me back for all the times I sweated

trying to vacuum even just one stupid area rug.

Because you don’t work

well

at all.

You should have your vacuum designing license revoked

twice.

So should your boss.

Stupid me who believed my well intentioned sister

“its a really good vacuum for the price!”

You don’t know what you’re talkin ’bout

sis.

You should have your vacuum buying advice license revoked

twice.

Oh how I wish I had a Dyson

so pretty and so wise.

The man who made you

should get a vacuum designing award

twice.

How I want one of you

so badly

so badly.

But why doest thou cost a small fortune?

Am I destined to live with cheap-assed vacuumes??

my whole life??

Oh Dyson oh Dyson

I want to feel your power

under my hands.

Kissing my carpet with your futuristic grace.

Sucking out all the things

my stupid

stupid

Dirt Devil

will never suck away.

Because it sucks

ass. (sorry grandpa)

The day

when I get my Dyson

I will throw you off a cliff.

And then I will go down

and pick up

all the pieces.

Because littering makes me feel guilty.

Or I’ll just suck them up

with my new Dyson

because it can get the job done.

I hate you stupid dirt devil.

Tags: , , , , ,

Bad Dog Owner!!!

2 Comments
Posted 28 Apr 2010 — by Leah
Category Family, This and That

If it were the old days of blogging, where when something would happen I’d immediately begin writing the blog for it in my head, I would have taken a photograph to capture the moment.  But, I’m not so much back there, yet.

I’m an avid watcher of The Dog Whisperer.  Who watches that show?? Excellent right?  EVERYTHING he says works for us and our dog.  My dog came to us fairly balanced but has reached a new level of doggy zen since being with us.  She’s a total dream for one reason:  we’re balance pack leaders.  And…I’m not saying it was hard with her, because she’s just an angel and we just happen to be consistent.

But when my consistent nature failed, and I slacked on the whole exercise part, she proved Cesar Millan right in a BIG, BAD WAY!

Last night we get home and she’s passed out on the couch in usual Cleo fashion.  I think she sleeps more than a cat.  She slowly gets off the couch looking extra extra tired.  She says her hello’s and then back from whence she came.

The kids are SOOOO grouchy at this point.  We were just ready to get them in to bed.  We walk upstairs and find this MASSIVE mess in the bathroom.  Then I peek my head into Silas’ room and there are used diapers EVERYWHERE!!!  She had chewed them all up and then took a pee in the middle of it all.

FanFREAKINGtastic Cleo.

Brent looked like he was about to grab her by her giant floppy ears and throw her off the balcony.  I had to keep saying his name in that certain tone that women use when they think their man is about to get out of hand.

Right away I knew this was my fault.  Bored dog = trouble.  My dog was bored and it was my fault.  I should have walked her.  So I got to cleaning it up and I kinda happily did it, feeling like I had learned a lesson.  I kinda sorta like an excuse to use my Bissel Little Green too.  Man if you have kids or a pet….you NEED one of those.  It has saved my life.

Brent went out to chill a bit, came inside all chipper and said he’d take her for a walk.

Okay Cesar Millan…lesson learned.  Exercise, discipline THEN affection.  Even if your dog makes a better couch ornament than it does a playful companion.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Conspiracy of Niceness

4 Comments
Posted 18 Feb 2010 — by Jennie C.
Category Uncategorized

posted by Jennie C.

Conspiracy of Kindness

Something weird is happening.  First, little sister number one sent me a cute little card and a bookmark.  Second, Mommzie sent me a cute little card with a heart-decorated key to her home and $10 to go for coffee with a friend.  Third, little sister number two sent me a cute little card and some nice rooibois tea.  What is going on around here?  In this age of email and instant messaging, little envelopes of love are shooting through the slot in my door!

I’m overwhelmed with love and gratitude for these dear sisters and mom of mine and I want to proclaim it to the world!

But, I need to know, is it a conspiracy?  Did they all notice my desperate need for a lift and conspire to create a cabal of kindness to lift my spirits.  Well, it’s working!  I love my family.  SO MUCH.  We don’t always get along.  But we always love each other.  And we work hard to love each other.  Love isn’t always a feeling; sometimes it’s a little envelope with a bookmark or a key or some tea in it.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Tags: , , , ,

We’ve Expanded

8 Comments
Posted 18 Nov 2009 — by Leah
Category Uncategorized

Luckily I’m not talking about an expansion of my waist so much as an expansion of our family and our hearts. (even though I need to work on the waist a bit too)

I don’t really remember many times where I didn’t have a pet, even if it was only a fish.  I’ve always had them take away a few months here and there in between them.

Ever since I moved away from home at the ripe age of 17, I’ve been desperate for my own doggy.  Never was there the right time.  I’ve filled the void with fish, mice, a hamster, a bunny, more fish and birdies and it just never felt the same.

I’m one of those people who checks Pet Finder and Craigs List like…often, because I just like seeing the doggies that need a home.  I knew full well that getting a dog was a slim chance, dogs are more work and more money and my husband wasn’t ready and I wasn’t sure I was ready either.

A few days ago I was looking on Craigs List and I saw an ad for this female Bassett Hound.  I was like “OF COURSE”  the perfect breed, not too big, not too small and SO lazy that she wouldn’t be in my hair all the time.

When I see a doggy that’s cute I usually forget about it the next day but I just couldn’t forget about her.  The email that I sent to the lady who had her was one of the only ones that stood out to her and she let me come and see her right away.  She said she just had a feeling.

When I walked in my heart just melted, I loved this dog.  She was calm, she greeted my kids, my kids loved her.  So I took her home for a little trial period and well, she ended up staying.

I was a bit nervous about it at first.  Brent and I had tried a dog once and it was too stressful.  Too much at the time.  It was a puppy and I was preggo and working full time and I shouldn’t have gotten him in the first place.  The night she first slept over I thought about how I felt when I had that puppy, I just wanted my life to go back to the way it was BEFORE I had him.  Then I though “do I want it life to go back to the way it was before Cleo?” NO WAY!!  Ever since then I’ve felt calm about having her.  I know this is right for us.

She pretty much claimed her spot on the couch within an hour of being here and she’s hardly moved from that spot since.  She does follow me around, tail wagging, asking me if I still love her.  I love it.

Really, there isn’t a more perfect dog for us.  She’s good on a leash, she’s spayed, she’s healthy, she’s young, she’s calm, she loves the boys, she’s friendly to everyone she sees, she doesn’t bark at other dogs, she doesn’t eat that much.  She’s a lil hard headed and mostly will only listen if there’s a treat in my hand but that’s a hound dog for ya.  They’re lazy and stubborn but because she hardly has any bad habits, it’s not a big problem.

Honestly, I haven’t felt this happy in a long long long time.  I’m so glad I have this little girl in our lives.  I just feel her calm energy all the time and it’s soothing to me.  She’s someone who loves me and who doesn’t yell at me or throw things or scream at me.  She’s actually calmed the whole house down.  She’s also getting me off my bum and walking as well which is good.  I just love her to bits.  I believe she’s an investment for the sake of all of our happiness.  She’s much cheaper than a shrink (even though I might still need one) and with the price of therapies these days, this is an economical route.  It’s perfect.

So, let me introduce to you our doggone, no good, flea bitten, lazy, good fer nuttin hound dawg, Cleo* ( she doesn’t really have fleas but it’s funny anyway)

*name subject to change…just not sure yet.

Cleo

Tags: , , , ,