Poltergeist.

Ryan's new kitchen knife flew off the wall and stabbed me in the leg. There was a lot of blood and handwringing and I ruined a pie and dinner. If I ever needed a beer it was that night. Aside from the whole blood-thinning aspect.

I probably needed at least a stitch because it was so deep, but I didn't have a great way of getting to urgent care. 

It took awhile (days) to stop bleeding every time I did anything mildly strenuous. And then there was the day I went to work in 90+ weather and jeans and sweat kept creeping into it and stinging it like knives of fire.

It turned out that I was allergic to the adhesive paper tape I used to attach gauze to my leg, so the surrounding skin got really inflamed. I switched to large band-aids, but they removed chunks of skin every time I changed them, so now it looks really weird. The skin that had the allergic reaction is sloughing off and the scabs from the band-aids are in a funny pattern. 

Weary Pug

Today, I encountered a lady half-lying, half-sitting on the pavement, outside a pizza place. I noticed her about a block or two away, she had a funny blue mobility trike thing - not electric - next to her and a small dog.

When I first saw her, I thought she might have fallen down and was maybe unable to get up, so I made eye contact when I got near enough to her and was getting ready to ask if she needed help.

But before I could, she asked me if I had a cell phone.

The small dog was an extremely overweight elderly pug who wore a weary expression, punctuated with a tongue that he was either unable or could not be bothered, to keep in his mouth.

"My dog..my dog has dislocated his hip and I need to call my friend."

I said, "Of course." and dialed the number she gave me - she seemed not to want to take both hands off the dog and asked me to dial. She left a message for her friend, while the phone was ringing, she explained that she had a broken foot and gestured to the trike.

She left a message for her friend - I posited that her friend had not picked up because of my out of the area area code. I asked her if she needed anything else, like help getting into a chair.

"No, no. I need to be down here with him."

She patted him on the butt and he looked around wearily. I don't think he gave a shit where she was, but lying on the ground with him seemed to make her feel better.

Das Vampire

Elinor bit one of her school friends.

I was probably not the right parent, between her two parents, to be the one to deal with it with regards to the school's representative. I basically just got a little weepy and then hugged Elinor.

I'm sure they thought that was bizarre but in that moment, where I was mortified, upset, worried, anxious, and feeling vulnerable, I needed a hug and I couldn't very well ask the teacher's assistant for one.

Ryan would have probably told Elinor it was unacceptable behaviour, thanked the teacher's assistant and in general have had a much less weird reaction.

I think what made me feel so upset was that initially, when I was brought into the directors' office for a quick mention of the situation, they mentioned that she had apparently been "acting out" more.

The teacher's assistant, with whom the main meeting about it was (Elinor's teacher was out for the day), didn't mention anything like that. But all I could think after I heard "acting out" is that she is unhappy why is she unhappy is it my fault?

I asked her if she still liked going to school and she assured me she does. She's very cheerfully making pizzas with her dad right now. I have no idea why this is so emotionally overwhelming.

Blueberries.

I went blueberry picking. This is a picture of me in a blueberry field. I like it because my sunglasses, (which I bought because part of me wants to only wear huge glasses, oversized men's white dress shirts and undersized hats, possibly with a sweater vest and or a tie/silk scarf, part of me is not brave enough,

)

makes my face not look so round and huge even though it is, just like the rest of me.

God I feel huge.

Multi-level Marketing Schemes

It's slowed down a bit, but after I had Elinor and after I made friends with some mums of kids of a similar age, more and more examples of multi-level marketing schemes started popping up in my facebook feed.

At first, I was annoyed. I thought, "My goodness, these are intelligent women! Why are they falling for this crap?" 

Weird food products. Tat jewelery. Wall decals. Skin and hair care products. Essential oils (ugh). Healthy living plans. Sex toys.  

Generally, the posts from a particular person went on for a few months. And then they sort of died off. In the meantime, someone else's latest foray into the pyramid selling world would start populating my feed and I'd go through the same thought process. 

As I said, at first I was annoyed because I felt that the nature of these companies should be quite clear to anyone. Surely an organisation that asks you for a bunch of money up front and involves talking people into buying stuff should set off some kind of alarm in any semi-savvy persons head? 

And then, it made me a little sad and a little angry. Because I think I know what was actually going through their heads. You're home with tiny kids and it feels like you never have quite enough money or possibly an outlet for non-kid-related stuff. And you come across this thing that promises money, a little bit of independence but without sacrificing the time with your kids or the money it would mean to get a job, even part-time.

And these companies know that women are in this position and they take advantage of it. To take advantage of someone's desperation is predatory and wrong and also seems to be one of the motivating factors behind the way capitalism works. 

Work Party.

Ryan's department head hosts a summer party at his house every year. Elinor initially suggested that having a beach at your house was "silly". On second visit, she decided it was "silly" and a "good idea". 

I have nowhere to put my saddle.

Not to get maudlin, but I have nowhere to put my saddle and I feel like it's becoming a metaphor.

My current boss insists that all horses go in their own saddles because she is very anxious about saddle fit, which is fair to a point (I absolutely hate Bandy's saddle, never buy a Schleese). I do wish that my boss had made provisions for employees needing to keep riding stuff at the barn. I have to bring it back and forth every week and Rachel, who is there everyday, keeps her stuff in the office. So, my saddle sits at home and has done for a long time. It was in Elinor's closet along with my (more self-pity:) nice dresses. Now the closet needs to be used and my nice dresses have all been packed away and I have nowhere to put my saddle.

Marie Kondo would probably tell me to get rid of the dresses and maybe the saddle because both things just make me sad right now. But Marie Kondo is kind of full of shit on a lot of things.

Right now, my saddle is just getting moved around the house. I don't want to put it downstairs because it will get ruined. I don't want to put it in the loft at work because I don't have a good enough cover for it. If it were something of Ryan's that was just floating around the house, I would be so annoyed about it. I am annoyed about it, but not as much as I might be.

But yes, I have nowhere to put my saddle because I have to make room for this baby and I barely had room for it when I just had Elinor. And it kills me that the trajectory of my life changed so dramatically when I had a child and Ryan's trajectory did not.

Doughnuts

I have a confession to make. 

I do not care for doughnuts. 

I mean, I don't hate them, I just...don't think they're that great. I am only tempted by them if they are very fresh. 

Breech Baby

I found out today that the baby is still breech. My midwife assigned me to do these weird poses for 20 minutes per day.

I can't do 20 minutes. It's unbearable. I managed 10 today.

Moxibustion and acupuncture were also suggested and now I'm facing a question I had only thought about theoretically prior to now. Exactly how far down the woo-woo path am I willing to go to attempt to avoid major surgery?

It's one thing to contort myself on my couch at home, it's quite another to have to go to a place, pay, politely grin ("Am I doing this right? Am I convincing them that I don't think this is total hokum?"), nod and listen to nonsense while someone lights a candle next to my toe.

While Ryan is in Hell

Ryan is currently in Hell. My parenting may be called into question while he's gone. I let her eat Cheerios for dinner this evening and earlier I found this on the floor of my kitchen:

"My hair was too long."

I allowed her to sleep in my bed last night as a "treat" and did you  know that a 30lb small child can take up more room on the room than a 40lb dog? or a 160lb human?