I’ve got small things at the moment–every time I try to write a big thing on the blog it comes out super long and super personal and I’m just not ready to do that, so small and perky it shall be!
* Speaking of small things… I saw a teeny-tiny Maltese/Shih Tzu in the store today. I was shameless. We were all wearing masks (and Citrus Heights mask/distance protocol is pretty sound) and I just wanted to stare at the dog. I stayed in the middle of the end-cap as the person was passing my by:
“Don’t mind me. I’m going to stare besottedly at your dog until you pass. She’s adorable!”
“Thank you!”
And then we talked dogs for a moment–but I did have a moment of pause.
This was a small dog–this dog would be, at biggest, eight pounds. She was two months old and maybe two pounds total and an absolute doll, which is pretty much where Geoffie was.
But Geoffie was always such a little scrapper. Even as a baby she never would have let us carry her into a store–she was sure she had a giant voice, even then. I remember introducing her to Johnnie, setting her in front of him and thinking, “Oh God! He’s huge! He’s almost fourteen pounds! He’ll destroy her!”
And Johnnie looked at her for a couple of days like he was afraid of just that.
And then, on like the third day, she did her Geoffie thing–it’s terribly rude, but we can’t seem to break her of it. She feinted–not passed out, but fake-lunged. It’s the most terrible body language for a dog. It says, “I’m gonna get you!” and Goddess forbid a 200 lb. St. Bernard take her up on that, right?
But she did it to Johnnie, and Johnnie retreated, and it was like somebody had run a bell in our living room.
Let’s get rrrrrrrready to RRRRRRRRRUMMMMBLLLLLEEE!!!!!
And ladies and gentlemen, it was ON!
And, at around ten o’clock at night, it has BEEN on ever since.
Let’s hear it for rumbling and tumbling, and small dogs who would never, ever stay in a purse.
* Speaking of small things… the kids are forever asking me about when they were little. And I forget sometimes that I’ve written this blog partially as a way to keep track of my observations about being a mother and about how much fun (or sometimes not fun) they are.
So I was looking for a ficlet I’d written a long time ago and of course couldn’t find it (I use tags pretty consistently on the Patreon, which makes things easier, but oi! Took me long enough!) Anyway–I did encounter a story of Squish, who had recently discovered MAD-LIBS.
“Mom, want to play a game of MAD-LIBS?”
“Sure, but, uh, maybe wait until I’m out of the bathroom first?”
“No, no–we can do it now. Name a noun!”
So I retold Squish–and the entire family–about this, and we all had a good giggle, and it was reassuring. My kids have gone through some shit times this year–everything from coming out (both as gay and NB in Squish’s case)–to having the entire blanket ripped out from under his feet for ZoomBoy, they’ve been sad and upset and generally worrying for the last few months. And to find out that hey, thanks to the maskless wonders out there, they might not get to attend school in January? Oh my God–fuck us all sideways with a chainsaw, because I don’t think we’re gonna make it anyway.
So it was good to remember, there was a time when laughter was super easy, and we did it all the time.
* And speaking of laughter–
We shotgunned the entire first season of the Animaniacs reboot. I was going to recapture the television but, A. I loved it, and B. My kids and I were watching the same thing, and oh my God we had a good day even if none of us frickin moved. At this point I’d sell my soul to know my kids weren’t in their rooms obsessing over the darkness within.
So the new Animaniacs–very funny. Highly recommend.
Also, Dot apparently has a crush on Chris Pine, and so do I.
* In completely unrelated news, tonight I made Mate watch Unstoppable for the one-hundred-and-fiftieth time.
Goodnight everybody!
