Please pass the Dramamine

I love my job…Honestly I do, but I honestly can’t wait to go home sometimes.

There are times when my chosen career path is rather draining. Emotionally speaking it’s like a very tall, very loopy, very sickness inducing high velocity roller coaster that just happens to operate in the dark. The passengers include about a dozen or more of the most startling girls I’ve ever met.

Did I mention this roller coaster has no seat belts? That’s me…The seatbelt.

The end of the ride is terribly exciting. Even before I get on I am already eager for the conclusion. To reach the end of the ride, with everyone in tow is a thrilling and exhilarating accomplishment, even if I am covered in vomit, which I usually am.

However that end does not usually come with everyone safely in their seats. That is when it is hard.

I travel on this ride quite often; sometimes I’m on it a couple times in one day. When it ends well and I am filled with adrenaline. When it doesn’t end well, I feel nauseous... I wonder if they make emotive Dramamine.

I get worried about burnout sometimes. It may sound silly, but I don’t think that I am close to that kind of disinterest with the social work part of my job, I am very close to not caring about the secretarial part however.

I am good at my job. I am good at both aspects of my job, and both are important. After all one can’t really work without the other, at least not proficiently. But in my case as one responsibility moves more to the forefront the other is shifting toward the background. I feel frustration when the milieu bides for my attentions, esspecially when there are more pressing matters (like girls falling out of a rollercoaster).

I’m getting over it...You do what you’ve got to do till you don’t got to do no more. After all “I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep” (Robert Frost Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Eve)

I’m learning to be a juggler… A juggler, on a roller coaster, in the dark, all while trying to be a good seatbelt.

Please pass the Dramamine

So Aussie has learned to jump the fence

Well maybe not so much “jump” as “step over.” There is apparently a mighty stump that is snuggled up close to our eastern fence. We had not known of this stumps existence, that is until this last Tuesday.

How could we not have known about such a large adornment in our own yard? I will tell you. There is an even larger more voluptuous bush that had seen it as its duty to camouflage the stump. However, the winter months have provided less “bush” to said bush by falling most of her leaves which has reduced her concealment powers. Why is that a problem you ask? Well, this has presented Aussie with new opportunities. She, of course, has found the aforementioned stump. At first it was a great new chew toy. Now, however, she has discovered that by stepping up onto the stump she is at the perfect height to step on over the fence and into the neighbor’s yard.

This didn’t seem too horrible. We could always just reach over and get her. Adam got the chance to practice this skill Tuesday evening when he got home from work. However the neighbor’s yard, as we have come to find, is not fenced all the way around. This was also made obvious Tuesday evening while Adam was cleaning up the yard. Aussie stepped right over that fence, found the opening, and continued her exploration down the street.

Aussie really is usually good about coming when she is called. However she is still a puppy and likes to play “Catch Me If You Can” It’s fun in the back yard…not so much in the street, as Adam can attest to.

After struggling with the game of cat and mouse Adam resorted to luring her in with one of her favorite toys…His glove. Adam was pretty frustrated when I got home later that night.

She has spent the last few days in the grandparent’s yard while we have been at work, which we are extremely grateful for. We owe Scott and Mary for the use of their enclosed yard with its TALL fences.

Adam and I are struggling with what to do. We’ve toyed with the idea about putting up a new taller fence, but that is expensive… plus we would have to wait till the ground thaws; what do we do with her till then? Also we aren’t sure how our neighbors would feel about that, seeing as they both have pretty mature grape vines growing on our adjoining feces. We’ve thought about an electric fence, but they are pretty expensive as well, and we both aren’t sure how we feel about that. We’ve also considered the idea of placing her in another home. That last option is heartbreaking.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Does anyone have an in with Cesar Milan the Dog Whisperer? We could sure use his help right about now.

Concerning Sickness

I am sorry to inform those with the aspiration of my having morning sickness that, at this time, there is no such luck. It’s just a plan ’ol cold that turned into a worse cold that turned into the flu that turned back to a cold that is now trying to decide if it will leave me in peace, or try breaking me into pieces.

I am sorry for any inconvenience, lack of information, and/or hope that this may have furnished.

Hoping all is well,
Sara King Flitton
The non-prego

A word of complaint

I find the concept of complaint interesting. The word complain means to express discontent or unhappiness about a situation, or to describe symptoms that are being experienced, e.g. of an illness. As of late I have been guilty of the later. I have found that even I am getting annoyed with my own complaints so I can only imagine what others may feel. Granted, even in sickness I am not much of a grumbler so I believe (and hope) that it has not been too excessive. However in my state of complaint I found myself thinking more on the matter.

We live in a society of complaint. The city is too crowded. The country is too lonely. People drive too fast. People drive to slow. We are creating Global warming….oh wait, it’s getting colder…We are creating climate change. The government is not doing enough. The government is doing too much. I could go on, but we’ve all heard it.

What I find about complaint is that it always stems from one of two things.

1. The complainee has no control over the situation and has no other option but too moan about it.

2. The complainee has the opportunity or ability to change the situation but is either, too sacred, too lazy, or too full of the idea that no one person can make a difference.

My mother calls either of the two B & C-ers (I’ll leave the interpretation of that acronym up to your imagination). The second of the two is one of my biggest infuriations. For example: I am sick, but I have not taken any medicine to manage or repair my system (Granted I despise taking medicine, and would have to be in dire straits to take even one Tylenol). Do I have a right to complain? This sickness, to a certain extent, is beyond my control. However there are strategies that I could employ to lessen the gravity of my complaints, yet have chosen not to employ them. That is my own darn fault. My laziness, as well as a certain level of grossed-out-ness, has escorted, maybe even aided my ailment on its drawn out expedition throughout my body. I restate: It’s my own darn fault. What have I to complain about besides my own ineptness?

Complaint is a natural Human reaction to the undesirable. Like I stated before I admit to grumblings and therefore admit to my own exasperations with myself. However there is a summit to complaint. Excessive complaining leads to annoyance, hurt feelings, disregard, blanket statements, and our own self defeating behavior.

• On Annoyance: Who likes to be around negative? What complaint have you ever heard that was a positive or an affirming comment?

• On Hurt Feelings: I think that the greatest abuses towards my being were in the form of complaints. I most often gauge my value and merit on my performance. Whether I am at work, play, or really anything I am trying to perform at my best. I like to think that nothing is a competition, but it really is. At least it is for me. I am always in competition with myself. This can be good. I have taken complaints about my actions, used them to improve and rise above. Constructive criticism can be good, but when it is presented hurtfully it can wound the most impenetrable. There have been a few times where I have quit things that I enjoyed or, now looking back can see that I was actually really good at. As much as I would like to admit otherwise I succumbed to the “don’t even tries” and the “you’ll never be as good as”. I have also witnessed this hurtful criticism and the ruin it initiated to others.

• On Disregard: Just as the boy who cried wolf, those who continually complain about their circumstance usually are rewarded with deaf ears. Example: I continually complain about how ill I feel when said illness is nothing serious. What If and/or when that sickness becomes more serious? It may seem common and dismissive.

• Blanket statements: These are all-encompassing statement that is not strictly true. For example: 'Everyone likes ice-cream'. In this example, although a lot of people like ice-cream, there is always a chance that some people do not. What does this have to do with complaint? Complaints often produce blanket statements. I am so annoyed with Janice that I am complaining about her callousness. "Everyone hates her" I say. This may be true to some, but what of those who don’t know Janice? What about her mother?

Blanket statements and assumptions are my greatest annoyance.

• On Self Defeating Behavior: Complaints often lead to excuses why not to act. When we submit to being lazy, fearful, or when we get caught in the thought that we cannot make a difference our life becomes submissive, passive, and accepting. Small acceptances lead to larger ones. This can lead to morals and beliefs becoming compromised. When that happened we are defeating ourselves

I hope that I can pause before complaining. My tongue does run away with me sometime and I ask for forgiveness in advance if I forget myself. Again, complaint is human just as it is to make mistakes. Let us try to fault on the side of more compassionate humans.

Our little stinker

This is a horrid picture, but that is what you get with a 1 megapixel camera phone. I haven’t had the chance to download our holiday pictures as of yet so this will have to suffice for now.

BUT IT IS AT LEAST A PICTURE JAX!!! LOL…

This is a calm Aussie enjoying her Christmas presents; an overstuffed dog pillow and her squeak bone (both of which are now her prize possessions. You can tell by the way she brings them with her from room to room all while trying to chew them to bits). This Christmas we discovered that Aussie is incredibly adapt at opening presents. Included in the pictures to come is a time laps of this feat. She is very good at ripping off the paper without disturbing any of the contents with her slobber or teeth holes. She helped both Adam and I delve into our presents. She is truly a stinker.