Stanley and the End of an Era

So, S has been having a lot of respiratory problems this past year. We've started him on Zyrtec again for the seasonal allergies, and he's been taking Singulair for a while now as well. The pediatric pulmonologist prescribed this vibrating vest that he wears twice a day to help clear out all the congestion. We were also told to get rid of the cats, as it was making his problems worse. Shim was Bill's cat, and we were never all that close, but I've had Stan for 11 years.  He'd seen me through divorce, remarriage, children, and he was my Cubs game napping pal.  We were a team.

First Bill and I tried to place them with some of our friends who have cats--but it seems like everyone is either strictly a one-cat household, or they've got 3 or 4 cats. We then moved on to the no-kill shelters, which are all at maximum capacity. Luckily, one of the professors at work volunteers at Pet Refuge, and when she found out that I had gotten Stan from there, I was told that they would take them both.  I drove out to what I thought was their new location, and had to park far away. I dragged the two carriers in the building, only to discover it is a gun shop/shooting range. As I'm loading the cats back in the car, I can hear bullets banging against the building's siding and I think to myself--so this is how it's going to end, getting hit by a stray bullet because I mistook a shooting range for the cat shelter. Before I could get back in the car, the man from the gun shop asked if he could see the cats--he thought Shim was too big and Stan was too old, so off I went to the actual shelter.

When I got home, I told Bill that we are never getting another pet, not a goldfish, not an allergen-proofed dog, nothing. Surrendering your pets, even if it is for a good reason, sucks. They scan your license, have you sign a form stating you will never try to see the pets again, and you have to explain to some pretty intense people that you are only doing this for your son's health. When it was time to say goodbye, the professor from work took me back and gave me a quick tour of where they will be living while they await adoption, and then took me upstairs to the quarantine area where they'll be for the next two weeks. Shim was pretty pissed, and the woman who was so intense downstairs while I was doing paperwork actually rather kindly noted that "she's a tortie and they're like that." Stan, as he always does, had settled in quite happily and was making new friends among the volunteers. I sat there and sobbed for a few minutes, and he let me pet him, but if he knew it was goodbye, he didn't seem too concerned about it. I imagine he'll live out his days as the Mayor of Pet Refuge, and while it makes me sad, at least we were able to place him somewhere where he'll be well looked after and be able to live out his days naturally.

When you decide to get a pet, you are making a commitment, a promise to look after another living being through good times and bad. Stan in many ways symbolized my old life--one that was good in many ways, but one that is very different from my life now.  My life now is also good in many, many ways, but it is different, and when you have a child, especially a child with complex health issues, you are also making a promise to look after another living being through good times and bad. When you have kids, even when they are healthy, it completely changes everything. I think I did not quite grasp that before S was born. I figured he'd go to daycare at IUSB and life would plug along as normal. For a long time I've struggled with how the reality of caring for S has completely upended my old life. I love him more than anything in the world (well except for Bill & C of course), but I have also spent many years mourning my old life. It has been getting better, as I find that there are still pieces of my old life that can be woven into the new reality of my wonderful family, but the realization that I would not be able to honor the commitment I made to Stan, a commitment I made in what feels like a lifetime ago, has been difficult to accept. S is doing better already though, so that makes it all worth it. 

Movie Review: The Nice Guys

On Friday afternoon I was able to get away and catch The Nice Guys The latest film from Shane Black, who made Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, one of my favorite movies. This one was not quite as great as that film, but it was a lot of fun. Both Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling were quite funny, and the soundtrack was great. I read somewhere that the film came off like a pilot for a detective series, and that is true, and I would definitely watch such a series. The theatre I saw it in has recently remodeled, so all the seats are barcaloungers and you can order Starbucks. Quite nice. Still plugging away with the creative writing course and the boys are doing well. Went a wedding for one of Bill's students yesterday. They had a mariachi band as part of the mass and it was awesome. I want every mass I go to for the rest of my life to feature a mariachi band--that's not to be, but one can dream.

Book Expo and Weekly Update

Last Wednesday afternoon I took the train up to Chicago. It was the first time I'd been to downtown Chicago (not the airport or McCormick's Place) in five years. Strangely enough, so much of it looked the same from when I used to come up all the time. The only real difference I noticed was that the Borders had been replaced by some big clothing store. 

I missed Bill and the boys, but it was quite fun to hit Trader Joe's (where I bought a disturbing amount of chocolate and chocolate covered almonds, oh, and a bag of coffee so I wouldn't look weird) and then eat dinner on my own while enjoying a book.  It was raining and late, so I abandoned the idea of finding a new and exciting vegetarian restaurant in the city and just ate at the Grand Lux Cafe near the hotel. It was great. I realized that some things are total tourist traps for a reason. They did not care that I was in my yoga pants, they gave me a great window table where I could peek out from my Kindle every few minutes and enjoy the busy street scene below, the service was great, and they did have a really good sesame tofu and vegetable stir fry.

I downloaded the Jolly Coroner from NetGalley, and it is okay so far. It is one of those books that is just not grabbing me--it is almost like there are too many adjectives around every single character. I keep waiting for the descriptions to end and for the story to begin. Hopefully it will pick up soon. Either way, I'll post a review here.

The next day was Book Expo. It is usually in New York, so it is quite a treat that it is here. I saw on the program that Mo Willems was doing a signing, so I got in early to make sure I'd make the cut in the line. He was very gracious. He high fived everyone who was waiting in line before the signing, and then he agreed to have his picture taken with everyone who came through to get a book signed. When it was my turn I wanted to bore him with how much Stephen loves him and how much we listen to his audio books, and how we read The Duckling Gets a Cookie every night at bedtime and how I've created a "Pigeon" icon on Stephen's speech device that he can select when he wants to have me read to him, but, I did not want to hold up the line, so I kept it short--my son and I love your stories, especially on Audible, with Edwina being a favorite. He agreed that the soundtrack for that one is especially cool. And the photo is below.  I can die happy now.

The rest of the day was great also. I went to a few of the conference sessions and got some good ideas for work (I won't bore you with that here) then did a tour through the rest of the exhibit hall. Picked up a free book about the Decker-Slaney/Budd mishap at the 1984 Olympics, and when the author found out that I jog, he gave me a coupon for 20 percent off running shoes from Zola Budd's sponsor. I normally get my jogging shoes from Target, so I'll likely send the coupon to Chris and Sarah, but still, not every day you go to a book show and get into a conversation about running. My other favorite booth was for a book called Someday a Bird Will Poop on You. They were not giving away free copies, but I am going to take a closer look at their website--Stephen and CK might like this one for Christmas.

Anyways, it has been a good week. More soon!

The Great Chocolate Chip Muffin Hunt

Happy Mother's Day! It has been a pretty good one here. Got up for a jog and came home to two beautiful hanging plants from Bill and the boys. Later we went to brunch, where C proceeded to eat chicken strips like a maniac and insist on going back on the golf course to see the carts. Now Bill is watching the boys and I am trying to relax outside of the house. I don't know why I find that so difficult, but I do. Sitting here in the Martin's cafe with a bottled water and the latest Augusten Burroughs. I keep thinking I should be doing something more "Mother's Day-ish" like get my nails done or go to the movies, but nothing playing interested me and really, when I fantasize about time away from the boys, I am thinking about doing one of 3 things: jogging and listening to music, writing, or reading. So, here I am. I just started a nonfiction creative writing course from the open university (it's free, self-paced). I just finished the first exercise. Maybe it will help me come up with more interesting blog posts. About the title of this post--C is currently obsessed with Entemann's chocolate chip mini-muffins. He must not be the only toddler with this addiction, because lately we have a hard time finding them anywhere. I figured I'd pick up a couple of boxes while I was out this afternoon. Five stores later, I buy the last two boxes at Kroger. The funny thing is--everywhere I went, Kroger, Martin's, Target, they all had a lifetime supply of the snicker doodle mini-muffin. Someone should let the area grocery supplier know that snicker doodle is not capturing the imagination of the SB eating public. So I managed to post twice in one week! Here's to more frequent (and more interesting) posts.

Sweet Dreams are Made of this: A Life in Music by Dave Stewart, 321 pages

Dave Stewart had led a pretty remarkable life. He has created some outstanding songs, both as a songwriter and as a producer, and he comes across in this memoir as a guy who is easy to get along with and always up for a bit of fun. It is also pretty apparent that he wrote this work without the aid of a ghostwriter. I think it would have been a stronger work if he had. There were so many insane stories in this book--his time working on the score for Showgirls, an accidental vacation at a Yugoslavian nudist colony while he was still dating Annie Lennox, and the stories behind the composition and recording of Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More," to just name a few. In each instance, however, he either is way too brief, or ends the anecdote a few paragraphs later than he should have. The his re-telling of the Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty saga surrounding "Don't Come Around Here No More," brings this to mind:

http://thetvmouse.tumblr.com/post/133792222659/undeadqueers-deactivated2014122-best-of

Even with that complaint, I did enjoy this book quite a bit. If you're a music fan, even if you're not a Eurythmics fan, you will find a lot to like in this book, as it seems Stewart has worked with just about everybody in not just pop and rock music, but country and soul as well. I found myself hunting down songs on youtube regularly while reading.

Genre: nonfiction Good Plane or Waiting Around in Line Reading: Yes Good Enough Reading to Keep You Distracted From Plane Movie/Obnoxious People on Plane: Yes Hey, I guess this is Different: Stewart is best friends with Paul Allen (known in our family for owning the Portland Trailblazers, but I suppose most people know him as a computer billionaire). Can read when depressed and/or when winter: Definitely

Trying Again!

So much for posting regularly! As usual, life got busy. Typing this now as I have 10 minutes before I give S his meds. I always want to wait until I have time to write something interesting or funny, but that time never seems to come. S has started a new therapy that is helping with his congestion quite a bit. C is growing so fast. He's a handful, but it is fun to watch how much he is learning each day. Bill and I have been trying to eat better and work out more this year. It has been motivating to do this together. It has been almost on year since I stopped eating meat. At first, I really missed bacon and beef stroganoff, but I found this really great mushroom stroganoff recipe and I think I've turned the corner where I can't ever imagine going back. Well, not terribly exciting, but it's a start. I'll try to get back to it more often. The photo above is of S & I the other day.