Leah Barr

I’ve been working on my novel quite a bit lately. The story is having some hiccups but all in all it’s turning out quite well. Matt has been working on his as well and his writing is always wonderful.

We took the kids to Disney World last month. For any of you who have read earlier in the blog, I had mentioned a big surprise. That was it. They only found out about it the night before we went. They were ecstatic, the blonde kid even screamed. We had a marvelous time in the Magic Kingdom (although I could have sworn my feet were going to fall off) and then hung out with the short one’s grandparents the next day at Disney Hollywood Studios. A fantastic time was had by all. I have, somehow, lost an entire outfit of clothes. Jeans, shirt, bra…all missing. I’m wondering if I left it in a hotel. I can’t imagine I’d have not noticed them but they are not here so I have no idea.

My crazy, sweet, violent, black cat has been extremely put out with me lately. I haven’t been napping with her and she gets rather annoyed. I can tell because when she sees me (if I walk into the bedroom for anything) she gives me the stink eye and then swings her huge puffy tail around violently. On occasion the violent tail swinging results in Maggie hitting herself in the face. You have to stifle laughter in front of her, however, or she waits until you’re not looking and bites your ankle. It’s special.

Speaking of special, Maya (the dog) is driving me nuts. She is a very active dog and is going to be getting trained shortly. I cannot stand that she is so…what’s the word…orally fixated. She tries to eat the short kids hair and is constantly trying to eat my fingers, feet, legs…really anything she can get her mouth around or tongue on. I know most of you don’t know me that well so I’ll clarify for you…I don’t like being nosed (having a wet nose put on me, even my clothing) or licked. I am not a dog person. It isn’t that I dislike dogs, and they all LOVE me, it’s just that I like having my own space and every dog we’ve had doesn’t give me that. I think that’s why I prefer cats. Although Maggie wants me to nap with her she isn’t out here with her mouth, tongue or body all over me while I type. She will just ignore me for a few hours after she gets up, assured in her feline knowledge that her absence is punishment enough.

So my birthday is a week from tomorrow. I do not celebrate but I do look forward to it. I will be 29. I know, you’re wanting to know how many times I’ve been 29. Well, I’ve never been 29 before and when I turn 30 I’ll be proud to admit that too. I’m one of the few people who sees age as an accomplishment. I can’t wait to be 30, 40, 50. I think that each year is a triumph in that you did not become a statistic. I have survived for almost 29 years, sometimes by force of will alone, and I’m looking forward to each year that comes. It doesn’t hurt that I have a baby face, though. I can imagine that if I were aging prematurely or had lines of really any sort on my face that I’d be more horrified by the passage of time…but I don’t know. I think that laugh lines and crows feet can add character to a face. Just not mine right now.

I saw Twilight on Friday night. I was disappointed that one of my favorite exchanges between Bella and Edward had been butchered (superhero reference) but other than that I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed Kristin Stewart as Bella and Rob Pattinson can bite up my pillows, break my headboard and bruise me up anytime…so long as he’s Edward when he does it. There were things I understood needed to be changed and things that made sense for a movie but would have ruined the book. I think it was well done and kudos to Stephanie Meyer for her cameo in the diner. I’ll do a full review later.

I got back in touch with some old friends today. It was good to hear about their lives and all the stuff they’re doing. I find myself completely cut off sometimes, so much so that Saturday night, when I went to a small party at a friends house, I managed to learn all kinds of developments. Some people had lost weight, some had gained, some had cut their hair (me included) and some had grown it out. Some had started new relationships, were progressing in their relationships or had ended it. It was like being thrown into a reunion and, honestly, I realized how much I’ve missed all of them. They’re great people and so generous and caring. I couldn’t ask for better friends. That and Apples to Apples is a kick butt game.

So today was a bit of a loss. I got things done but only under the surface, nothing big. We’d been moving furniture around all weekend to change around the rooms. Once I’m done I’ll post pictures. The place is looking great. Today was fighting with the ever growing paper monster and figuring what our next steps were (and not lifting anything because my back was ticked off from the even minor lifting I’d done this weekend).  

Do you ever look back at the past and realize that the answers to things you didn’t understand are so much clearer now? I mean the reason I left jobs or relationships now seems so much more understandable and sometimes…weren’t very good reasons for the change at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy and all my mistakes and weird choices have led me to being married to a wonderful man and having three great kids who keep me on my toes. Add in the lame (literally) dog and mentally disturbed cat and it makes for one fun household. I don’t know that I’d change anything, except maybe the cat litter. Have to do that in the next day or so. What I mean is that I realize how childish I was at times, even in the relationship I’m in now. I’ve said and done things that were so stupid and yet he loves me enough to let it all go and just be calm. I love my taciturn man.

This is one of those moments I feel like we should discuss what we’ve learned today but I think I summed it up. The cat needs her litter changed and Apples to Apples is a great party game when you’ve had a couple drinks and of course muscle relaxers and pain killers are necessary if I lift anything more than about six pounds. Go back and neck injuries!

Well, I’m done rambling. I know you’re relieved.

Stay out of trouble.

My wonderful husband woke me with a phone call this morning as my alarm clock (aka cell phone) was dead and in another room. Just like me to not have noticed that. It was great to hear his voice. He’d forgotten his cell phone (do you sense the pattern too?) so he called me from work.

There are moments in time that seem to run together, disappearing before you even realize they are happening. And then there are moments that hang in the air like a dust particle caught in a sunbeam, twisting and dancing before your eyes and feeling as if they could last forever. Sometimes I wish the moments with the kids were always the latter but so many of the former happen that at times I feel they are growing and changing right before my eyes. I am not complaining, I’m blessed enough to have them with us the majority of the time and to help them with their homework and know that when things bother them they know they can come to me.

 Matt came home from work for lunch and I had lunch ready for him. I’d changed out the days in his Franklin Covey organizer and packed him his mp3 player, cell phone and headphones in it. I’d also put in a week at a glance bookmarky thing that told him that in his role as Husband/Father his only work to do was “Be loved”. He also said he needed WD40 and tissues so I had those next to his organizer. Sometimes I just wish I was more imaginative in things I can do for him. I sometimes show up at his office with candies he likes and fill up the little jars I bought him. I get him movies he wants on the day they come out and have them under his pillow and I try to surprise him with little things but I feel a little lame, like there’s a much better way to do it. I do something similar for the kids, surprising them with things for dessert or dinner and sometimes having presents for them in hidden places that they come across once they get a hint. Matt and I have a HUGE surprise for them later this year but I’m not giving any hints here. Suffice it to say, all three of them are going to be so excited they might never stop grinning again.

 Maggie is giving me the “turn off the computer and pet me” look so I should probably go before she starts gnawing on my hands.

Is it just me or has everyone on the continent gotten ill? I was speaking with a friend in Canada the other day and people are getting sick up there too. And it’s not just a cold and it doesn’t go away. I’ve been fighting something for almost two months. Of course being asthmatic doesn’t help, but come ON. I am so sick of being under the weather. At least I know it’s nothing fatal, just incredibly annoying.

I’m just glad the kids haven’t caught it. They’ve gotten the normal cold type things but Matt and I have both been sick as dogs off and on over the last few months. I guess that’s just the chance you have to take when married and affectionate, we keep giving each other the plague. I know he was never an affectionate person before but he’s become much more affectionate with me since we got together and he’s the obvious choice for hero to the kids. I didnt think I could love him more than the day I married him, but every day proves me wrong. I couldn’t be more blessed.

Speaking of the evil spawn, shortness has her checkup this evening and blondie and the boy have one tomorrow. Now we get to figure out just how tall they’ve gotten (not that having grown out of all their jeans in the last few months hasn’t been a sign). They grow like weeds, them three. Of course the cat wants to be in on that as well. She’s huge compared to when we got her a few months ago. It’s just one big growth spurt here. Even Matt has put on quite a bit of weight. He’s 1.2 lbs from his goal. I’m so proud of him and he looks fantastic. He’s got color in his cheeks and a smile on his face and I’ve never heard a man hum and sing as he does everything as much as Matt. It makes me very happy that he’s happy.

If you’ve had kids for any significant period of time you learn to listen for things. There are certain words and actions that trigger the most insane of fights between children. One that our spawn like to use is, “I never said you could do that.” Once those words are uttered you have just under 20 seconds to act before there is a screaming match on your hands. It usually involves a toy/game/item that one has said the other could use and wants back, but has been known to be used for any number of other reasons. Another sure sign there’s going to be some groundings happening is when one of the kids nonchalantly walks into the living room and picks up something that isn’t theirs and attempts to walk out with it. It’s like watching a train wreck, you can’t look away.

Thankfully I have, despite many attempts to the opposite (including concerts, keeping my mp3 player too loud and blasting music in the car), very good hearing for these things. I may not hear a thing being said to me but I’m hearing a whisper from one child to another with words like “before she sees” from the other room. It reminds me of the time, when I was a kid, that my parents had company over and were eating in our formal dining room while us kids ate in the eat-in kitchen. You could not see the dining room table from the kitchen table and vice versa but suddenly my Dad yelled for my brother to sit down and stop goofing around. The guests were duly impressed and finally my Dad confided he’d seen my brother dancing in the reflection off the microwave.

I think there should be a name for this ability, this super power to fight crime (or at least the evil spawn we’ve brought into the world). I call mine Momdar, but I’ll have to admit my Daddy had Daddar. It’s not a sexy ability and it sure doesn’t make the kids feel like they can get away with anything, but it’s something I wish more parents had.

 On a side note, this ability is easily transferred to knowing what cats and dogs are up to as well. While sitting in my living room, which has no view whatsoever of the master bedroom, I yelled at the cat to get down from what she was doing. I didn’t hear her so I got up and went in the room and shooed her from trying to play with things on my nightstand. When I walked back out of the room, my husband was looking at me with the “how did you know that?” look and I told him, I heard a little clink as her collar brushed against glass and I knew what she was up to.

It only takes a moment of Momdar to get you grounded.