Random Tuesday Thoughts-Mourning, Pharmaceuticals, Stranger are Strange, National Geographic Keeps on Giving, Doubleyew, and Grab Ass

So last week was a total mess. Swine flu kicked our ass. My favorite cat died.

What better to follow up the mayhem, but with a Random Tuesday Thoughts post.

On Mourning:  I sincerely, from my cat-broke heart, thank every one who left me kind and supportive comments and emails regarding the death of my cat Shmobie.

There is still a hole in me and in my house.  There is an empty spot in the vortex of our little shack that his body should occupy.  His place on the couch is noticeably vacant.  And Harley, the "grande dame" has taken over our bed and abandoned her cushion in the living room.  The shift of power has already occurred.  The imbalance is palpable and will askew be for a long time.  It does not feel right.

About Pharmaceuticals:   
Cherry flavored Codine cough syrup rules.
Antibiotics still work.
And Tamiflu works...for now. Just wait till that bastard swine flu virus mutates and becomes fully resistant...

After the family got through the swine flu, I finally came down with a 101 fever on Friday.  I went to the "Doc in the Box" clinic and the Dr said not only did I have flu, but bronchitis as well.  Funny how taking care of all the other sick people makes Moms forget there is wheezing in their chests.

My teeth hurt so much when I was sick I had a nightmare that they, MY TEETH, were bursting into fluffy white popcorn.  F-ing POPCORN was exploding from my mouth.  Yeah.  That's how much pressure was in those teeth...

Riddle: How many (numerically) is W?  Because Ella is frequently asking me, "Mom can I have doubleyew?"
Answer: This is easy, but the answer is at the bottom of this post.

Strange People are Everywhere: 
Imagine the parking lot of our local Nor. Cal grocery store. Ella and I were making our way across the asphalt weaving through the parked cars, when a gap with empty parking spots opened up in front of us. Ella was wearing her new yellow dragonfly patterned apron and holding my hand tightly, as she normally does. We walked freely forward and I hear a voice say, "I'll trade my car for your daughter."

In front of us was a older man sitting in new looking red Toyota Celica.

I was not quite sure I heard him right, so I looked up and said, "Excuse me? We're you talking to us?"

"Yeah, I'll trade my car for your kid," He repeated without pause.

"Huh........? No thanks," I said as stared strangely at man, while I kept us moving away from the car and into the store. I was baffled. I could not believe somebody would say this. Was this a creepy old man, a old man making a joke, or some strange complement about Ella in an apron?

Regardless, if somebody ever asks me to trade my kid for their car, I am taking their license plate number and calling 911, as if the Golden Gate Bridge is falling.  I'm going to start firing and ask questions later. Both my husband and MIL were freaked out by the whole thing.  Are you?

Next topic:
We get National Geographic (NG). It's great. I love to read it and look at the pictures.

And, no. This is not a cliche story about naked primitives.

Ella was looking at the NG too one day last week and was very interested in one photo in particular.  It showed a color photograph of a girl with a cleft lip in an advertisement soliciting donations for this cause.

Ella stared at the picture and studied it for about five minutes before asking me, "Why is this baby girl sad, Mom."

I explained, "Ella, that girl is not sad, she has a cleft lip. She was born like that. She needs stitches to fix her lip."

"Mom. I think she is sad, Mom." Ella responded with a cautious certainty.

"That baby is not sad. Really, Ella. She is going to be just fine. The doctors will sew her up and she will be all better," I explained with equal care.

Ella continued to look at that picture for another five minutes before abandoning it.  She picked up the magazine several more times in the day to inspect the baby again.

I let her be the judge of this picture.  Ella did not cry or get scared or show distress in any way. Would you have let your 2.5 year old have this education?

Something Else:
My husband says that there is a significant difference between "grabbing ass" and "patting ass."  I am of the opinion that they are both equally offensive.   My husband thinks I should not be "angry" when he pats my rear, because "grabbing" is so much more "invasive."  To me the unsolicited groping of a woman's rear end is universally unacceptable.  I am still maintaining that my opinion has more merit since my ass is the one being patted.  

Good Home Cooking:
I made a pot of mixed beans with bacon, including mire poix, and spices.  Savory, yummy, healthy...

My adorable, five year old son, Wyatt says upon looking at the bowl, "Mom, I'm not eating that sewage water."  Then he falls to the floor looking squeamish. 

"OH COME ON!!" I rally back, "Ella at a bowl for lunch already."

"No Mom, that's raw sewage."

Then it was too late.  I did one of those closed mouth laughs that you try to suppress but it comes out like a "Phlll" sort of like a fart, but not quite.

Then we laughed for five minutes.

He still had to eat the "bacon and bean sewage" for dinner. 

ANSWER to the Riddle: W = 3 to my daughter as she holds up her little hand and makes a "w" with three fingers she says, "Can I have doubleyew candy corn..."   Now how can a parent predict how a kid's mind processes information with switching numbers for letters like this????

That's random for you.

See The Un Mom for more random...