Thought I'd jump on here and catch up the latest details of life here in Texas. So much has been going on...yet nothing overly mentionable. Cooper continues to grow and wedge himself into our hearts and family. He and Oscar are quite good buddies now. Oscar is very jealous of any excessing loving on Cooper. And likewise...Cooper can't stand for you to sweet talk Oscar without having to jump right in there for his own words of praise and snuggles. They wrestle and race and play most mornings now like a couple of crazies. Then both sack out for naps exhausted from all of their efforts. It's a far cry from our first quiet week at home with Cooper where Oscar was hiding at the top of the stairs constantly and wouldn't get anywhere near the new puppy! Potty training is...well, we're still training. Not that I really expected to have this mastered just 3 weeks into the game...but I think somewhere in my mind I had hoped he'd be a puppy prodigy and just "get it" from the first. He does pretty good for the most part. There are still accidents...usually on the boy's watch. But when we are vigilant, he has a much higher success rate! I would however appreciate it if these training lessons are grasped...sooner than later!!!
Clara is restless these days. She's BORED. Always. Endlessly. If she is not with a friend or having a friend over to play she is bored, bored, bored and drives me NUTS! Apparently it is all my fault because I did not give her a sister. And she's holding quite the grudge. When I point out that I did give her two perfectly good brothers AND an adorable puppy she is less than amused. And so Clara is currently struggling with learning to entertain herself and to be content with being ALONE. Driving me absolutely crazy in the process.
Report cards just came home for everyone. In true fashion Clara brought home straight A's. Ben came home with 5 A's and 2 B's and Max...well. Max was also true to form with more C's than anything else. WHICH got him grounded from all video games until the next report card in six weeks. WHICH made Max very upset. WHICH then had Max saying that "You two always cause problems" (since we grounded him). And there you have it. The classic Max cycle. Everything is our fault. No responsibility lies on his shoulders. Because we push him to get better grades...we are horrible parents. Ahh, the joys of parenting.
As for me, I've had my own recent struggles. This coming up on 40 is nasty business. I'm getting fluffy. And flabby. And blind too! The fluffy and flabby is a never ending battle that my body seems determined to lose...but I finally decided that I was tired of being blind and that I needed to make a stop into my optometrist. He happily told me that, yes, indeed my vision was faltering...a lot. But that he could fix it and wouldn't I LOVE to try some contacts. I wasn't too sure about it. But agreed to give it a shot. Seems simple enough. And I'm not squeamish about touching my eyeball. I've seen others do it like a zillion times, so I figured Sure...why not! Enter the drama. I got a great lesson in the office on getting them into my eyes. Mastered it. No problem. Well...it wasn't THAT easy....but I DID get them in and scheduled my one week check up and went on my merry way. By bedtime that night they were making me CRAZY!!!! Even though they said I could leave them in for a week, I couldn't stand the thought of leaving them in for another hour. And so I went to take them out. And thus, the drama began. Because, see...there was no lesson on getting then OUT. Only IN! And here I was, needing them OUT! NOW!!! And I was tired. And my eyes were aching and dry and irritated. I got the first one out after about 20 tries. But the left eye refused to be removed. I tried forever! Poking and digging and grabbing and pleading for it to come out. I sent out a facebook appeal to see if anyone had any secrets for removing such apparatus. After many tips (I tried them ALL), I FINALLY got it out. And vowed NEVER to put it in again. I put my tired, aching, aggravated eye to bed, got up the next morning....and put it right back in. I did this for a week. Fighting to get them in. Fighting to get them out because they make me crazy. Vowing to be done with them once and for all. Sigh. I went back in for my check up resigned and READY to order my glasses. Instead, I got talked into trying a different kind of contacts. Apparently, what they gave me were 30 day, day and night wear lenses. They are thicker than most. Hence the discomfort. So now they gave me Dailies...which are very thin and much more comfortable. Though they come with their own problems. For one, they handle completely different than the others. I manage to fold them up on themselves about a zillion times while putting them in. My right side goes in easy enough each time with only 10 attempts or so. But my LEFT side....oh mercy...yesterday it took 56 attempts to get it in. And then...I realized that in all the attempts, I had managed to flip the lens and land it in my eye BACKWARDS. So, of course, it had to come out and then I had to start over and get it back in again. Grrrr. I got in with just another 3 attempts. Whew! I didn't think I had trouble touching my eyeball...and really, I don't. What I have trouble with is WATCHING myself touch my eyeball. I can touch my eyeball if I look away. The problem is, the contact won't go on that way. I have to keep a watch dead ahead...and that's where the problems come in. It's like a double whammy. Here I am, watching this finger come right at me and everything in me is screaming "Don't do it". I think it's written somewhere that Thou shalt NOT poke thyself in the eyeball. This whole thing would work better if only I could sneak up on myself! But I see me coming every time and reflexes take over and everything in me says NO...don't do it! Thus...56 attempts. Today is my second day with the new "thin" lenses. I've not put them in yet. Not ready to face the aggravation yet. Don't really need them to type this because I have a honking big computer screen and can see it without too much difficulty. But in the next hour or so I shall undertake that task again. Can't wait.
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In other news, Chris is traveling a lot right now. Springtime seems to bring lots of that for him. He just got back from San Antonio yesterday and will fly out today for Orlando. Then will go from Orlando to Tucson. Home only one night in a week. Poor guy. I am holding down the fort in the meantime. Which becomes more fun by the minute considering one is grounded and one is BORED to death, one puppy is neurotic as the day is long, one puppy wants to poop on everything...or eat it! Never a dull moment! Oh, to be bored!
That about sums it up. I got an e-mail from someone Chris works with. They have newborn twin boys that just made it home from the NICU. I'm going to be doing some pics for them very shortly. They are teeny dudes at just 5 pounds each! I can't wait. I've only done one other set of twins and they were girls! So this should be fun!
And, on a final note...it was 80 degrees yesterday. The high today is 56. Have I ever mentioned that Texas weather makes me CRAZY???!!!! I wish they would turn on Spring and just LEAVE IT already!!!!!
The end.
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