Writer’s Workshop – Thirty-Four

Today is Michael’s 34th birthday.  He hasn’t changed much from the 21 year old I married.  He has a few more gray hairs, but otherwise he’s the same wonderful, funny, dare-devil, do-all, accomplish-anything guy.  Happy Birthday Babe!  Love ya!  :)

This weekend we’re running in the Around the Bay Road Race.  We had originally planned to run a 3 person relay (10km per person) but it was sold out when we went to sign up.  We missed it by only a couple of days.  Apparently it sold out earlier this year than last.  Crazy.  Anyway, so we’re running the 5km together.  Like side by side.  He is a much faster runner than I am, but he is going to run with me and push me to get a new personal best for 5km.  My current PB is 31:34.  I’d like to shave at least a minute and 35 seconds off that time.

My current average pace is between 6:30-6:45 minutes/km for a short run.  Michael’s last 10km run was 5:25 minutes/km and the first time he ran a half marathon distance (without training — yeah, he sucks, he’s a natural athlete and I have to work super hard) was in February and his average pace was 6:16 min/km.  Running with me is going to make him crazy.  He wants to do it; wants to help me.  But he is a much happier runner when he’s running fast.

My slower pace is the only thing I could come up with that drives him crazy.  I even asked.

Me: What is one thing I do that makes you crazy?  Yes just one.
Him: Why? <3
Me: Curious. I bet nothing, because I’m perfect.
Him: Ya right.
Me: Well then what?

And there was no response. I’m sure there is more, but I’m going to go with perfection for today.

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Today’s writing prompt:
3.) Something you do that drives your significant other CRAZY.

Writer’s Workshop – Ch Ch Ch Changes

A year ago I was blogging on an entirely different blog; a knitting blog. I still occasionally post there, though not too frequently. I still knit, I just don’t write about it as much. I started my knitting blog in 2004 so I invested a good six years into it, but I was ready to move on. Onto something where I didn’t feel obligated to stick to one topic. Yes it was my blog so in theory I could have just changed the topic, but I wanted a fresh start, which in December 2010 I got by starting Becoming Me.

Now, what’s changed? Instead of blogging about knitting and yarn and fancy little stitch markers I’m blogging, at least today, about my life as a mother. My day started like this:

4:00am – Ethan started to cough, loudly, longly. I crawled out of bed, got the Stodal cough medicine from the medicine cabinet downstairs and then went to his room, propped him up and gave him his medicine.

4:10am – Crawled back into bed.

4:15am – Looked at the clock, dozed off.

4:30am – Looked at the clock, dozed off, snuggled into Michael to try to get comfortable.

5:00am – Trapped under Michael’s arm.  Uncomfortable and awake, although still  appreciative to have a husband who likes to cuddle.

5:27am – Looked at the clock and fell asleep.  At last.

5:55am – Michael’s alarm went off.

6:00am – Listened to the news on the radio.

6:07am – Dozed off again.  Michael turned on the light.

6:30am – Listened to Michael pull out of the driveway, crawled my ass out of bed.

7:00am – Made kids’ school lunches.

7:30am – Heard Owen get up.  He came into the kitchen and puked on the floor.  Clean up, deal with Owen, call the school, put him back to bed etc. etc.

And so on and so forth … regular morning stuff with Ethan and Lily and Dozer (oh my!) …

8:45am – Lily was off to school (it’s across the street, she walks herself).

9:00am – Breathe and sip coffee.

Mama said there’ll be days like this, There’ll be days like this Mama said
(Mama said, mama said)
Mama said there’ll be days like this, There’ll be days like this my Mama said
(Mama said, mama said)

Mama was right!

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The writing prompt was
3.) What were you blogging about last year at this time? What has changed?

A Big Mess

I remember it rather clearly. My son, Owen, was about two years old. Full fledged toddlerhood. The way our old house was laid out was on the 2nd floor we had a (very) small hallway with a closet right at the top of the stairs and a bedroom on either side. We had a baby gate at the top of the stairs to keep everyone safely up stairs, in a toddler proof area. The kitchen was directly at the bottom of the stairs.

Toddler proof? That’s what I thought anyway!!

I was in the kitchen making formula for Lily, who was asleep, probably in her swing, and probably with Finding Nemo playing in the background. I could hear Owen playing with his toys upstairs, happy, excited, enjoying being a kid. Behaving. I was a happy camper.

What mother wouldn’t be? One child sleeping, the other one playing nicely by himself. It’s motherhood bliss!!

This was one of my first mother-to-a-toddler life lessons. When they sound like they’re having too much fun, they probably are. Owen had gotten into my cocoa butter cream and had spread it everywhere. On my bed, on his toys, on the carpet, on Lily’s crib. It was an absolute mess.

Globular masses of creamy beige dotted my entire upstairs.

Owen, was glowing. Proud. With a “look what I just did” expression on his face, like only a two year old can have.

It took about an hour to clean it all up.

And yes, like any good mother does, I took pictures first.

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The writing prompt was
2.) What did they get into now? Describe a time your toddler got into something they shouldn’t have.

A Valentines Haiku

He snores so softly
But my Love is Not Sleeping
He said “I just blinked”

Click here for more information about Not Sleeping.

The writing prompt was
3.) A poem for your special Valentine.

He Eats Poop

If you are easily grossed out I don’t think you’re going to want to read this one.  :)

This is a disgusting topic, really and truly, but my dog, loveable Dozer, eats poop.  If he can get to his own poop outside before I can pick it up and dispose of it properly, he will eat it.  He will race me to the cat litter box when given the chance.  Gross gross and nasty.

Thankfully for me he doesn’t eat it warm (are you sick yet?  still reading?) and 99% of the time I can get it picked up before he gets to it.

Technically it’s called Coprophagia.

He’s healthy and well fed so we have no idea why he does this.  Perhaps it’s merely because dogs are, by nature, scavengers, or maybe he’s trying to clean up.  We’ve never scolded him for pooping in the house (he only did it once as a pup anyway).  We have tried the vet stuff Forbid and it worked while it was in his system, but once it was done the poop eating continued.  Gross.  I’ve put tabasco and hot peppers on it in the yard to see if we can teach him it’s spicy (therefore not appealing to him at all – he eats shit, but he thinks spices are the devil … he’s a little messed up).

Did I mention this is gross?

Disgusting.

We tell him no and “leave it” if we catch him going for it.

I’ve never had a dog do this before and I’m sort of at a loss.  We had hoped he would outgrow it, but he’s almost two years old now and he hasn’t.  I guess prevention is the best solution.

Do you know how hard it is to pick up poop that freezes instantly to the ground when it is -20°C outside?

So yeah, my sweet and gorgeous dog is a nasty poop eater and if there was one thing I could change about him, it would be this …

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This post was inspired by Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.  The prompt question was: If you could change anything about your pet, what would it be?