Cookies and Cat Food

I started off willing my “Minute of Nothing” to continue yesterday morning, but felt a little guilty doing nothing after telling the girls there was no way in hell they were swimming until AFTER the messes they created in their bedrooms and the family room was cleaned up. I even added in the extra threat of “I’m inspecting” this time too.

I started puttering around, cleaning up other areas of the house. I didn’t do enough work in any particular space to make things appear neat, mind you, but I did rearrange some piles of crap. I even shredded a bunch of stuff so the piles are a teensy bit smaller. Really, I need to figure out what needs to be kept and what doesn’t. I don’t want all this clutter any more.

I then tackled the checkbook and was thrilled to see what my balance looked like with no daycare payment. What I should say, is that it was always my choice to work and paying for child care goes along with that decision. I don’t argue the amount I paid or the care my girls ever received, but it feels good to have that expense off the budget for the summer.

The girls finished cleaning and hit the pool. I spent several hours on the deck playing, “Mama, watch this!” as the girls performed amazing stunts in our little pool. I forced them to get out a couple of times, but waited until their lips were Smurf-blue and their teeth were chattering. Without evidence like that, they’ll scream that they ARE NOT COLD. They insisted on having lunch outside and I was amused to see that Spice put on her crown as a matter of routine, just like Sugar puts on her glasses. I guess when you are royalty, you must flaunt it. Perhaps introducing Spice to “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” was a bad move on my part.

Early in the morning I had a post on my Facebook that one of the packages arrived in Afghanistan. This inspired me to make the cookies that the girls wanted to bring to the firemen for driving them to school. The girls made cards and ate cookies and I had two big platefuls for them to bring today. I have yet to hear how the drop off went. I do know that Spice did not get the opportunity to lay her googly-eyes on the hottie fireman. I’m sure she’s disappointed.

Since Bella went missing back in May, I started following these ridiculous pages on Facebook. They really aren’t ridiculous, they are so very sad. I see posts from the Florida Boxer Rescue and have fallen in love with both London and Beaumont only to see them die because they weren’t saved from neglect earlier. I am on the list for a dog recovery site, and I see all the dogs in my region that are lost, then found… sometimes dead, sometimes alive. And my heart breaks every fucking time. It only made sense then that when I saw that the local animal shelter was looking for canned cat food, I asked EN to pick some up when he went to Walmart with the girls today. I’m also smart enough to know I would not have left the shelter empty handed, so I asked him to drop the donation off today.

So wow, yeah, I’ve totally tooted my own horn here and made myself sound like the giving-est person in the world, what with my cookies, junk food and cat food. Call me Mother Teresa. I think I did this stuff to assuage my own guilt. I wrote recently about wanting to fight and I duked it out with my mother last week. What shithead fights with their own mother? ME!

I guess I must still have a lot of anger about what went down with my niece and her “graduation.” I may have said a few snarky things like, “I don’t understand how she has money for a nose piercing, but can’t afford to pay her own tolls every week?” And, “Why did she bother signing up for beauty school? She’s not even going to bother attending.”

Oh yes, my behavior was delightful. I need to learn to keep my fucking mouth shut and just keep baking cookies and buying cat food.  

xoxo

Ice Princess