Monday, February 21, 2011

Just me...

Is it like this at any of your houses?




Pic from here

No? 

Just mine?  

Alright then.

Nevermind...

Monday, February 14, 2011

The greatest thing…

The vertically challenged dude with a lisp said it best, in Moulin Rouge…“The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

To Love…

Friday, February 11, 2011

Friday Flashback…

Remember the days before digital music?  When there was a song you loved…you listened to the radio for HOURS…literal…HOURS with your index finger on the record button, and your middle finger on the play button…and you waited until it came on the air.  God help you if you had to pee.  Or had to go answer the phone that was attached to the wall! 

No youtube or itunes to get your music fix…uh-uh.  You had to work to hear the songs you loved. 

And if you wanted the lyrics to those songs?  There was no quick Google search.  You would play a bit, write what you thought, rewind to clarify or verify, then move on.  I’m glad rappers used to rap slowly, unlike they do today…I’d have never been able to figure the lyrics of today’s rap, with old school methods.  No way…

Maybe you don’t remember this shit…if not, your mom’s calling.  Isn’t it past your curfew? 

I’m kidding…I’m almost to the bitter point about my age.  Being in class with 21 year olds who, when asked if they’d seen Men In Black (because we have a teacher who talks like one of the characters), answered with, “Like…OH.EM.GEE.  I was, like, seven when that came out.  Bwahahahahaha…” 

Bitch… 

Anyway…I didn’t mean to go there…

Here’s one, specifically, that I remember spending hours writing down the lyrics…

Have a Friday!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Intriguing…

Yesterday, I spent the day on the psych ward of a local hospital.  Voluntarily, for close observation.  FOR THE PATIENTS. 

I went to be a fly on the wall, and a to give my pathetic attempt at a mental health exam as a part of my psych rotation.  Not as a patient.  This time, anyway!

It was…intriguing.

That’s the best word I have to describe it. 

I went in terrified.  I absolutely dreaded it.  The only perceptions I had of what a psych ward might look like, I’m ashamed to say, came from Hollywood.  Little bits and pieces of movies about mental hospitals, and state institutions over the years. 

I hoped that my perceptions were wrong, and that Hollywood had inaccurately portrayed that population that I knew so little about, but, I had little else to go on. 

It turns out…Hollywood pretty much nailed it.   It seemed as if they had crafted the characters with mental illnesses after some of the very patients I visited yesterday.  That part…was eerie. 

I have to admit, and I’m not proud to say, that while I was on the floor, I was anxious.  No.  Scared.  Our professors had shared with us the “worst case scenarios” and how to keep ourselves safe, and what to do in an emergency, or should an incident occur…which only heightened my fears, once my perceptions were confirmed. 

My head was on a swivel the entire time I was there.  I was flipping through the pages of the “therapeutic communication” that I’ve learned so far in this program, for the appropriate things to say.  And the things to definitely NOT say. 

I was on high alert for seven hours…and left there wondering how the nursing staff works in that same state for twelve.  So much so…that while I was pumping gas, after I left my clinical, I found myself looking over my shoulder, and watching the man at the pump next to me, for signs of escalation and agitation. 

But, one part of the experience, I was not prepared for, came throughout the hours after leaving the hospital. 

I was given a glimpse of a world that I didn’t really know existed.  I realized how much I take my own mental health (however much or little I have, depending on the day) for granted…because it’s a helluva lot more than these people were afforded.  And I’m fortunate for that. 

I can’t imagine being trapped inside my own head.  I can’t imagine my thoughts moving so fast that I can’t control, contain, or coexist with them.  I can’t imagine my mental instability burning the bridges to every last relationship I’d ever had.  I can’t imagine feeling completely cut off from the world…from reality

Those things?  That I can’t even begin to imagine for myself?  For the patients I visited yesterday, those things are their daily suffocating reality. 

The feelings that surmounted in me, the more I thought about my day, surprised me most of all. 

Compassionate…empathetic…intrigued…

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Six Word Saturday…

After being snowed in for four straight days (IN TEXAS!!!), Jenga may not be the best way to beat cabin fever, but, it is one way!!!

6wsButton

“From the loser’s point of view!”

jenga 

AND…

“From the winner’s point of view!”

jenga2

Friday, February 4, 2011

Losin’ it…

We’ve been snowed in here for the past four days.  In Texas.  SNOWED IN.  FOR FOUR FRICKIN’ DAYS!!!

It’s craziness.  In the beginning, it was exciting.  We were all like, “Oooooooo…ICE!  It’s so slippy.  Look, I’m slippin’!”  Right up until Jack slipped and fell and I’m pretty sure was concussed.  It’s all fun and games until JACK someone  gets a concussion!

We drank coffee until we ran out of sugar, and we ate until we ran out of toilet paper. 

On the third day, signs of the beginnings of the stir craziness began to emerge.  It was then that we decided, “eff the coffee…we need vodka!” 

Day four, the snow came.  As Texans, we do not have waterproof winter gear suitable for a romp in the snow.  Since this is true, the other 50,000 Texans who live in the vicinity of our WalMart don’t have proper attire either!  They were out of everything waterproof, so I had to get creative.  I donned my children in my latex gloves from my school skills pack, placed their warmer gloves on top…layered them over and over…slapped a toboggan (i’ve heard that you northerners slide down hills on your toboggans…but, down here in the south, we wear ours on our heads!) on their heads…and released them back into the wild.  It was glorious…as was the two hours of peace that ensued while their were only adults in the house!!

As for Jobin…

jobin2

he’s handling the snow fairly well.  He actually likes to run through it, in spite of his unfortunate anatomy, and his man parts dangling into the drifts of snow.  He likes it.

But, he’s been a bit stir crazy, too.  He’s been chasing his tail (literally) for the past few days.  He flies around the kitchen at mach speed trying to burn off as much of his energy as he can. 

And just now? 

Just now I rewarded the furball with his first taste of peanut butter, slathered on a chew toy, and laid out for him to enjoy.  He was silent for a good thirty minutes as he lapped up every last dollop of his delectable treat. 

When he was done…I heard the jingle of his collar and the clicking of his claws as he headed my way.  He nudged my bedroom door open, and jumped up on my bed.  He came straight over to me, grabbed my arm with his front paws, and began to hump me (his first official hump I might add), with lipstick out and all. 

He’s either lost his ever lovin’ mind….or he was ever so grateful for my generosity in bestowing him with his first taste of the peanut butter.  

In the case of the latter, Jobin, dude, you’re welcome.  Any time.  Just please…PUT. AWAY. THE LIPSTICK!!!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Around the corner...

Here's where we are with our oldest.

He knows about sex.  Not because I told him.  Because he heard it on the streets, and he and I had a little confirmation conversation, in which he schooled me on the subject.  Or, at least, what he knew about the subject...which was pretty much everything.

Awesome!

He knows about homosexuality.  He knows that it's a controversial issue...and he knows that I think people are either born that way, or they're not.  He knows that he likes girls because he just does...and seems to understand that if he liked boys, instead, he wouldn't be able to control that, really.  He knows that it's not cool to tease his friends about being gay...because, well...so what if they are?  He knows that it's a sensitive issue, and that some people believe that being gay is a choice, and that that choice will send them to hell.  He also verbalized confusion over that belief when he said, "why would someone choose to be something that people would tease them for and that would send them to hell?"

He may not know it all, but, he does know a lot!

He knows a little about the beginnings of love.  He's learning the rules...he's gathering information, and he's testing the waters.  He's learning to play the game, as evidenced by this conversation...

Him:  So, Mom...boys don't have to flirt with girls, right?

*Because, you know...the kid knows everything.  His questions are not questions, they are statements!*


Me:  Well, that's not exactly it...

Before I could stammer around any longer...

Him:  We just have to be awesome...and the girls flirt with us, right?

Unfortunately, his father overheard this treasure and solidified his ideology with a high five. This boy who's already got it figured out, is even beginning to get physical in his budding relationships.  He held hands with one of his first girlfriends, and his current girlfriend of almost two months?  Well, the other day, he kissed her on the cheek.  The best part of that story...is that he rushed home and called me to tell me all about it.  I loved that he wanted to talk to me about it, and felt an overwhelming sense of pride.

Not pride in the fact that my boy is swapping spit with the fairer sex...just that he's growing up.  We've grown pretty comfortable in our parenting roles lately, and we are due for a new challenge.  And yeah...it's the teenage years that are just around the corner, and while I'm not certain about too much of what lies ahead...one thing I do know for sure, is that it most definitely will be a challenge.

Bring it...