A Rumble in the Backyard

The other day, Y's computer zonked again. Completely. Like, needing the rescue disks completely. Shouldn't be a problem, except I couldn't find the third rescue disk (which may have been thrown out in the trash by accident) and the computer was set to RAID mode, and it's only got one hard drive. So, off to Fry's I went with that computer and his previous computer. Fry's got the new computer out of RAID mode for free, and they're fixing the other one for $100. The technician, Yuri (yes, he still speaks Russian), told me to take it home and use the rescue disks myself to save me some money. Alas, number three is somewhere in this great cosmos, but I have not a clue as to where that is. So, I got online on my computer and emailed HP; they sent me back a phone number and the new rescue disks will be here on Friday.

When I called home to tell Y that he would have to deal with my computer until the weekend, he was like, "Mama! Why no here tomorrow?!" Then he told me the dogs were very bad and handed the phone to the babysitter. She proceeded to tell me that Goofy and Michael got into it in the backyard just 30 minutes before I called. She heard them screaming out there, and she and Y ran out into the yard. They saw Goofy (120lb lab) dragging Michael (48lb boxer mix) limply around the yard by his collar. D (the babysitter) said Goofy would not release, so she had to get a two by four laying in the yard and wedge it between their heads. Goofy tried to release Michael, but he couldn't because his lower jaw was twisted into Michael's collar. Y was screaming that his dog was dead, and D was getting excited and nervous, so I'm sure that didn't help calm the situation. D got them apart and Michael tried to lunge at Goofy (believing in his little doggie brain that Goofy had choked him on purpose). Y took Michael and Squirt inside, and D checked Goofy over. She was surprised to see nothing but dog slobber, however she did leave him outside for a few hours after that. D told me that Squirt (63lb pit mix) was just sitting calmly on the other side of the yard watching everything going on. Y insisted that Michael was hurt, but other than being a little dazed from not getting enough breath for a couple of minutes, he too only had dog slobber on him. D said Michael was quiet for quite a while afterwards (way not normal), so Y took him up to his room to sleep.

Goofy stayed outside until D left at midnight, when she put him in the big cage in the living room. Squirt slept in my bedroom till I got home at 12:30am. Only 30 minutes in the cage, and poor Goofy couldn't walk very well when he got out. He has hip dysplasia. I told D not to put him in the cage again, he's really too big for it anyway; next time just lock him inside the den. I put Goofy outside and went upstairs to check on Michael. Y was out like a light, and Michael was ecstatic to get out of his room. Mikey was just fine, in fact he and Goofy kissed and made up just minutes later; and they were back to being best all-time buddies. Y was still very nervous about the whole thing the next morning when I took him to school. So, I called B and asked if Goofy could stay the night with him. His first visitation with "Daddy!" Goofy was very excited to go for a car ride, and he even took his doggie bed with him.

Early Thursday morning I got a phone call from B. It only took Goofy 18 hours to destroy the other house. No, he didn't tear up the furniture, eat walls, or poo on the carpet. Goofy saw something out the back window. B was asleep, so Goofy decided to make his own doggie door. Right through the glass in the back picture window. Luckily he came away almost completely unscathed. He has about three scratches and that's it. The window is a little worse for the wear as it now has a Goofy-sized hole in it. I guess he was jumping up and pawing at the window and it broke. I have no idea how many G's a 120lb dog can produce when jumping, but he can probably move small mountains. Needless to say, I picked Goofy up from B's house later that afternoon. I feel like I took one of my babies to daycare and they called for me to come get him because he was misbehaving! Don't know if B still wants to dog-share after this. Y said that "maybe Goofy no like B's house."

Natalie
TX

The Topic of Conversation

Apparently "my girls" were the topic of conversation this week at work. Several people asked me if the story of a coworker staring half the night was true. These people need to get a life! Can't wait to see that coworker again and ask him if he saw "the girls" I brought to the party last weekend. That should shut him up for a while!

Other than that, it finally warmed up to a regular Houston winter temperature (50's), so the puppies (the actual canine kind) have been enjoying lots of time outdoors. It seems that 4 hours in the back yard protecting us from errant squirrels and deer is quite exhausting. No one has attempted escape in the past few days, and no one has made a mess in the house, either. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop, if you know what I mean. No real chasing of the kitties. Makes me wonder if my doggies are feeling okay? Y even took them for a walk the past two days. Maybe that's what's made the difference.

I'm down 9.5lbs now, another 1.5 inches gone in the waist, 1 inch in the hips and 2.5 inches in the bust. That just flabbergasts me. Losing inches up there. I didn't think that was possible. Might even have to go buy new bras!

Enjoy your day.

Natalie

TX

Moments You Treasure

Y finally got together a load of clothes for me to wash this evening. It was bribery, I told him if he cleaned his room he could have an extra hour on the computer. He didn't clean his room, but he did bring down one load of laundry. As I was putting them in the washer, his dog Michael was getting in the way. He knocked over a full basket of clean clothes onto the floor. I said in exasperation, "Get him out of here, he's knocking everything over!" Y called the dog out of the tiny laundry room and asked me if I liked his dog Michael. I told him yes I did, just sometimes he's very annoying when he tries to 'help' you. Y said, "Michael help you like I help you, yes?" I said, "Yes. Sometimes Michael 'helps' me by creating more work for me to do. Sometimes you create work for me to do, too."

Y replied, "You like me?"

"Yes, I like you."

"You like Michael more you like me?"

"No, I like you more than I like Michael."

We continued our conversation in the kitchen.

Y - "I like Michael because Michael is my dog."

"You like Michael more than you like me?"

"No! I like you more because you my Mama. And, Michael likes everybody."

Natalie

TX

(Probably the first time he's said something like that and then didn't immediately add, "Come on, maybe you buy me something.")

Y's 15th Birthday Party

Enjoyed having everyone over on Saturday afternoon for Y's birthday party, although it made for a very long day. I got up at 4am to report to work at 5:30am, the got home a little after 2pm; picked up two Subway party platters and a picture cake from Kroger and off to home I went. I barely had time to put the food out, put the dogs out and finish sweeping the floors before all the guests arrived. Good thing they don't expect a spotless house when they come to see me!

The kids immediately wanted to go up to Y's room, so I told them it was at their own risk. He refused to clean his room or his bathroom before the party. And both are disgusting. I mean bordering on health violations disgusting. Just keep the door closed and keep that mess out of the rest of my house. He can go to school wearing stinky clothes for all I care. Don't want to clean your room and bring your dirty clothes downstairs - reap the consequences of what you sow.

It was barely warm enough to be outside, but it was beautifully sunny, so that made things better. All the kids were bundled up and they spent quite a bit of time hanging out on the trampoline and playing with the fur covered kiddoes in the back yard. K.G. so kindly came in at one point and told us "Houdini" was at it again. Took me almost 15 minutes to chase his skinny butt down, and with the help of a neighbor, corner him - collar him - and haul his butt back home and into his cage. Michael (the dog) was not pleased to be stuck in there for the next hour or so until everyone left. Again, a natural consequence - escape and you'll be jailed up in a more confining spot for a longer time. End of story. Y was confused when I called from my cell phone to tell him Michael had escaped and was running toward a busy street and that he needed to come out immediately and help me. Y said, "No! Michael in room with me." I had to clarify that I was talking about his dog.

Goofy and Squirt conducted themselves quite well, although A seemed very wary of Goofy's size (120lb lab - and no he's not fat, just a slightly chunky, seriously huge dog). Little did she know the only way he could kill anything is with slobbery kisses. Tigger spent the better part of the party locked in my bedroom because one guest was allergic. Daisy spent the entire time hiding somewhere. She didn't come out for almost an hour after everyone left.

Y made out pretty good on his birthday, considering Christmas wasn't too long ago. His cashiola turned into a pair of jeans, two t-shirts, two long sleeve shirts and a heavy fleece jacket. (He really needed that.) And, he's been enjoying way too much birthday cake.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves, even Bill. He stayed after the party and we discussed some divorce things and I think that went pretty well. That's all I'll say on that subject because he doesn't like being discussed in virtual reality.

Then I changed clothes and told Y that I was going to another party with people from work, and that I would be home in about two hours. He said, "Is party for adults, yes?" I told him it was (we were going to a bar, not somewhere I want to take Y just yet). He then said, "You drink vodka, you no my Mama!" I told him I would only drink one drink, and that would be it. He told me he wanted to smell my breath when I got home and if it smelled like vodka, then I would "no be my Mama." I said okay and left the house. I was actually gone about 2.5 hours. I called when I was leaving and told him I would be home in 15 minutes. He was quite curt with me on the phone. When I knocked on his bedroom door, he was annoyed, but I breathed on him and he said, "Okay - you go out my room now!" and he went to bed. This morning he was much more chipper. I guess he realized that I came home sober just like I said I would. I hope I proved to him that being a responsible drinker is possible, but I'm sure he'll need a gazillion more examples before he believes it to be true. I totally understand his fears, but considering that I have an average of four drinks a year, I'm not going to not drink just because he tells me not to drink.

I met some really cool people at that party. One is a coworker's fiance and the other is a coworker's wife. They seem like really neat people to hang out with, and I hope we can do it a little more often. Mama needs more of an adult social life every once in a while. One of the gals even provided interference for me when she noticed that one of the guys was spending a lot of time sneaking peeks at my "party" top. It's the only low-cut top I own, and it makes my assets look quite good, I might add. The dude is in a relationship with another co-worker, so I was not offended or impressed with his attention. Apparently he was also not willing to pay bribery money to C. to make her move out of the line of sight, either! LMAO.

No one seems to have teenage boys, however! Everyone has girls. Well, Y might actually want to go with me once in a while if he finds out the girls are gonna be there! I did feel a little bit out of place there because almost everyone was married or there with a girlfriend/boyfriend. Alas, not many eligible bachelors! Good for me, though. Some time to myself to adjust to single motherhood wouldn't be too bad. I think if I start dating right away it will be a big adjustment for Y. We'll have to play it by ear.

Other than the fact that I completely screwed up my diet for that day, it was a very good day.

Natalie

TX

Woo Hoo!

I started Quick Weight Loss Center's program last week. I won't tell y'all what I started at, but I just weighed in tonight and I have lost:

8.5 pounds in less than 7 days!

I never thought I could lose weight that fast, especially when I weighed in on day two and had only lost a half pound. Guess this program really works as advertised. They claim I can lose an average of 3-5 pounds per week. At this rate, I only have 79.5 more pounds to go. They also take your measurements every week. Here are my current stats:

12/29/09

Bust: 45 inches

Waist: 45 inches

Hips: 47.5 inches

01/04/09

Bust: 45 inches (like these puppies will ever disappear! Sigh...)

Waist: 39.5 inches (Yes, my dearies, that is 5.5 inches off my waist in less than a week!)

Hips: 47 inches

I'm practically starting to feel like I have an hourglass shape, but alas, I know from previous weight loss that I am actually an apple shape. Like I said, even when I was on Weight Watchers a few years ago and lost 84 pounds in about two years, I only lost 2.5 inches around my bust. I actually went up a cup size when I lost the weight. Gotta love those Bluemling Boobs (yeah, I know it's the other way around, actually the Seigfried [sp?] boobs and the Bluemling shakes, but it sounds better this way)!

They say it'll take me up to another 25 weeks to lose all the weight, but I sure wouldn't mind it coming off sooner. Hoping I'm still young enough that my skin won't sag too much. Unfortunately Mother Nature has already laid claim to the "Bluemling Boobs." I long ago began to fail the 'pencil test.' Wonder what my waist measurement would be if they did it without my bra on? :0!

Natalie

TX

BTW - I just used a pounds to kilogram converter website to tell Y how much I had lost (3.95553 kg) and his response was, "I no believe you! You kidding me!"

Happy Birthday to Y!

Happy 15th birthday, Y!

(OMG, you're gonna be driving soon.)

I wish I could have been there for you for the first fourteen years of your life, but alas that was not in the plan. I thought this morning about where I was on certain milestone birthdays for you:

Your 1st Birthday - I was preparing to survive a blizzard on Long Island, where were you?

Your 5th Birthday - I was happy that the Air Traffic Control world had survived the Y2K possible meltdown, where were you?

Your 10th Birthday - I was joining Weight Watchers and attempting to lose 84lbs, where were you?

Your 15th Birthday - I was snoozing on the couch downstairs, but I had set my cell phone alarm so that I could go upstairs and give you your birthday card, and a hug, and a kiss, (and more hugs and kisses than you wanted) and tell you "Happy birthday!" for only the second time in your life, where were you? Oh, yeah, you were sitting in front of your computer talking on the internet to one of your Russian friends, chatting away and watching each other on your webcams. And embarrassed that Mama wanted a hug and a kiss in front of your friend.

I promise I will be there for you on your other milestone birthdays, like your 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, and by God's grace your 60th & 70th!

Love, Hugs, Kisses, and all that good stuff,

Mama

Natalie

TX

Merry Merry

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday.

I learned from Thanksgiving to not expect Y to eat whatever I prepared for dinner! So, today I just made a ham steak under the broiler, some mashed potatoes and green beans. Nothing fancy, and he ate the ham and potatoes with no problem. Maybe he just doesn't like turkey and stuffing. Of course, this is Christmas, and he got gifts, too, so he was a little more willing to try things today. I guess a new PSP (PlayStation portable) with a game, a new blanket, new brain games, new clothes, a couple of new pellet guns and some good old cash money will do that for you.

Y was trying out his new pellet shotgun yesterday, and he kept telling me it didn't work right. He pulled the trigger several times in the kitchen (while I kept repeating, "No shooting in the house!") and nothing happened. Then he pressed the barrel of the gun against his calve and pulled the trigger. "Owwwch!" he said, as a small pellet left a big welt on his leg. Guess he it finally worked. And then we went over, again, the list of rules that go along with having a pellet gun or two or three:

#1. You must be outside and all pets must be inside.

#2. No shooting in the direction of any house.

#3. No shooting the deer.

#4. No shooting the squirrels.

#5. No shooting the rabbits, snakes ...

#6. If you shoot the guns in the backyard, and the pellets fall on the ground and are eaten by the dogs - YOU get to pick them back up in three days time when they've been properly processed and are just smelling lovely!

#7. Don't leave the container of 9000 pellets anywhere a cat or dog can get to it, even if you think it's completely closed.

#8. Absolutely no shooting any guns when no adult is present.

Y agreed will all but the last two. He sees no reason not to shoot a gun when he's by himself and he doesn't think an enterprising little cat or dog could figure out how to get a container of pellets open.

Y also got his birthday present a little early. (The big day is 1-1!) He wanted his own dedicated server to play Counter Strike Source online. It's not as expensive as you think. And, he gets to be the administrator, so he can make changes to the map any time he wants and he can boot other players off his server if they aren't playing nice, among other things. Good thing I gave it to him early. There were several kinks to be worked out of the system, since Y can only understand so much English and Mama can't understand any computer language. The site we used, www.counter-strike.com, would be relatively easy to use if I had any computer programming savvy whatsoever. Alas, I am lacking in that respect, so in comes the continual stream of support tickets. The service has been very helpful and quite patient with us. We will even be upgrading to a larger amount of players. It seems Y has more online gaming friends than he thought and several times this weekend he has had more people wanting to play with him than slots available on the server. Oh yeah, and he's also ranked 10,890 or something out of 542,000 players this past quarter. Not too shabby. Or, maybe he just plays too much, I'm not sure.

Back to work now. That seems to be all I'm doing lately. Even though I'm on the "Do Not Call" list for overtime at work, I've been called twice this month to work Monday day shifts. At least Y is in school then, so I came in for the extra money. My first paycheck next year is going to have an overtime and two and a half holidays on it, so that should be a sweet check! (President Obama gave federal workers 4 hours of holiday leave on 12/24 - because I'm an air traffic controller and had to work that shift, I get four hours of holiday pay.) 8 hrs OT and 20 hrs holiday pay!

Merry Merry and Happy Happy,

Natalie

TX