Random Precious Moment

One of my favorite memories of this week has to do with Abby and our new neighborhood.

She’s 5 now, so she’s getting her independence, but she’s still a sweet little baby in other ways. We’ve moved to a new neighborhood, and since she’s getting bigger and would like to make friends in this new neighborhood, she’s been eyeing the neighbor kids as they play in the street.

This weekend she saw some kids playing and decided to “go for it.” She asked if she could go for a scooter ride and I said I’d take her out. With her helmet on and scooter in tow, she was ready to go in a flash. The neighbor kids, however, had disappeared by the time we got out there.

Undaunted, Abby spotted a couple of older girls (9-12 years old maybe) walking down the road and took off after them. She really wanted to meet some neighbors!

She was too excited to meet people to realize that these girls were too old to play with a 5 year old, but I figured she’d just say hi when she caught up to them, and that would be that.

Off she went, and there was pregnant me tagging along well behind her, trying to keep up and not slow her down. She had a lot of ground to make up if she wanted to catch them!

There went my little Abby, all 30 pounds of her, all decked out in her Hello Kitty helmet, scooting along down our street excited to introduce herself – or something like that. I really don’t think she thought that far in advance to know what she’d do once she caught up with them.

In the end, the girls ended up taking a turn out of our neighborhood, so there was no way for Abby to casually follow them with hopes of catching up. As we realized this, we spotted some other kids playing in the street in front of their house – and it was on our way back home, too.

We made our way down towards them, but once we got there, Abby didn’t know what to do! She was so excited, and then she froze up. It was kind of funny in a cute little kid way.

I told her to say hi and introduce herself, but she got shy and just went on her way since the kids were kind of waiting for us to pass so they could continue their game of ball without hitting us. They didn’t know Abby wanted to meet them, and she chickened out anyway, so we just went home. They were a little older, too, so I didn’t bother pushing the issue with her meeting them either.

Around the next block we went, and on the final stretch down our street, we saw some adult neighbors in their garage painting some tables. Abby was intrigued by this activity, and the people were friendly enough to say hi as we passed, so she felt like she met some neighbors. The fumes were a little strong though, so I didn’t linger or catch their names. I just shot them a smile, said hi, and kept walking this time.

Here I am, days later, and I keep going back to that image of Abby in her helmet, bopping down the street on her scooter, all excited to actually meet some neighbors. So young. So innocent. So excited. That one will stick for a while…

My Dog is Trying to Kill Me!

In our new house, we have what I have dubbed "The Stairway of Death."  It is a long, narrow stairway in slick hardwood.  My dog used to plow up the curved and carpeted stairs in our old home, but these throw her for a loop.  She has fallen down these at times, and now the wood is scratched where she has had to dig in with her nails in a last ditch attempt to prevent herself from falling.  (I've seen her pancaked out on the top step, front legs spread out wide and claws digging into the hardwood, petrified to move as she slips at near completion of her climb!)

So, I think she holds a grudge for my having picked this home and also for initially having loved the hardwood stairs and upstairs landing/hallway.

Tonight, I was lucky enough to SEE the present she left for me at the very top of the stairs.  There was a slippery puddle with a single piece of dog food in it.  The kibble was probably her signature and symbolic "F.U." like a serial killer taunts detectives with.  The spit up was naturally going to be slippery if I had hit it coming around the corner to make my way downstairs.

But, as I said, I was lucky enough to have seen it first.

Instead of slipping to my death on the stairs, I merely had to clean up a fairly tame doggie mess.

I live to see another day.

Daily Dumbass

It's been a while since I've had one worthy of posting, but never fear! I still have my moments!

I was sitting in my chair at work and noticed that the underside of my sweater sleeve was getting a little "pilly" from rubbing against my body. I picked up the scissors and started trimming the little fuzzballs off. I got my right arm looking fairly well pill free and then thought to myself, "How am I going to get the pills off the other side? Scissors are not meant to be used with either hand!"

At that moment I realized I WAS using my LEFT hand already, so the right hand use would be NO PROBLEM! I was a bit pleased with myself for being ambidextrous and being able to clean up BOTH sides of my sweater. I have to admit, at that moment, I WAS just slightly full of myself for having been able to accomplish that feat.

Later that same day, I took my sweater off and the whole incident came flooding back to me. I felt like a fool!

HOW could I have not realized immediately that I didn't HAVE TO BE ambidextrous to accomplish that task!?!?! All I really had to do was take my sweater off and ANYONE could have been able to clean up both arms.

I was not special. I was a dumbass for thinking I was.

Gosh, how often have I felt THAT in my life?