Startling moments you're never quite prepared for would have to include learning the following:
- You're pregnant.
- You've won the lottery.
- Your draft number has come up.
- Your previously Luddite father has not only found and read your web site but has left a message on the guestbook using an embarrassingly cute family nickname.
Luckily for me, I don't have to go back and revise anything. I've never put anything on this site I'd be embarrassed to have quoted in public or let my family see. Nonetheless, it startled a nervous laugh out of me when I saw who'd signed the guestbook. They're certainly the only family members I know of to actually look me up online.
I'm loopy from sleeping three hours here, four hours there, and a little worried about tomorrow when both John and I have to go back to work. Dixie's doing better (her nose is cold and wet again) but we had to go back to the vet's today for different medication and now she insists on sleeping outside where it's quite cold and unsanitary. I've been keeping her in all day and most of the evening but despite taking an aspirin-and-codeine pill which was supposed to knock her out she's been lurching around the house whimpering. Stubborn creature! She seems to feel better outside but I worry that I'm doing something stupid by giving in to her. At this point, I'm so tired of monitoring her pain levels I just want her to get some rest. If lying on a blanket in the backyard lets her fall asleep then I'm not going to deny her.
I watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown tonight thinking it would be sweet to watch some old television from when I was a kid. Quel mistake. It's dark and sadistic. Who'd give a kid rocks for Halloween? And why is the arbitrary cruelty of childhood supposed to be funny? It made me feel bad until the very end when Lucy puts her little brother Linus to bed after he falls asleep outdoors waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. That was nice, though it did make me wonder about a world where parents wouldn't notice their child was outside at 4 o'clock in the morning. I know, I know, it's not reality, where's my sense of humor, it's comedy and irony and fable. Bah. I'm not going to watch it ever again.
This time last year we were halfway to California, spending the night in a hotel outside Amarillo, and being amazed at how well the pets adapted to long rides and motel rooms. We had Texas barbeque for dinner and bought lottery tickets in hopes that being from out of town would be in our favor. Ever notice all the really big winners are from somewhere else? That's why I don't buy California lottery tickets. Well, that and good sense.
