Reverse Karma

kar·ma[kahr-muh]the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation.  ~ Dictionary.com

Life in Weaselville isn't all that much different than life in any other home it's just faster paced, harder hitting and more chaotic, except things here will always be a strange twist on the reality of the way things work in a normal home.

Like many of you, we have tightened the belts, cut out unnecessary spending and given up a few luxuries that we had become accustomed too.

One of life's little pleasures that I have given up is my manicure/pedicure pampering sessions and I do miss them dearly.  I have to keep reminding myself that they are a want and not a need.  Anyway, the other morning my phone rang.  It was a dear friend of mine who invited me to go get our mani/pedi's together this weekend - her treat!  I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I immediately started doing my happy dance accepted without so much as a polite 'oh I can't let you do that'.

Not too long after that, I left Weaselville to go check in on another dear friend, Patsy, who happens to be the mother of 1st dear friend to sneak in a game of cards and see if she could use a helping hand. Boy was she glad I did.

Patsy's health and mobility are limited  but her card playing skills are shark like and I let myself into her home to find her faithful companion Lady's health wasn't too great either that morning.  Poor Lady* had some major digestive problems happen all over the house  and I do mean all over.  The mess had Patsy confined upstairs, as she was unable to navigate around the landmines nor get down to clean any of it up and let Lady outside.

Now you must understand that I have a gag reflex that is unparalleled in it's ferocity am not good with cleaning up after pets, but alas looking around the room I found myself to be holding the sh*tty end of the stick the best and most qualified person for the job.  I grabbed the paper towels and a bag to get straight to work on the monumental task in front of me.  Or tried to at least.

Every time I got close to a toxic contaminated liquid landmine, ye old gag reflex was faithfully at my side.  Poor Patsy had to listen to the awful sounds that were emanating from the living room to accompany the aroma of sick dog that permeated her home.

I took me a while, and 3 or 4 trips sprinting to the bathroom to avoid making the clean up job any bigger than it had begun but the mess eventually was gone and the carpets one again were clean and disinfected.  Patsy was grateful and I was glad to have been there to help when she needed me.

What's my point?  Life in Weaselville will always march to a different beat.  The laws of Karma may be at work, but here they will always work in reverse.

When something good happens to be, I should remember to look up because the other shoe is about to drop.

*Later that day I took Lady to the vet and she is doing much better now.

Happy Birthday, USMC!

Today is the 235th birthday of the United States Marine Corp, and by proxy - my father.

Dear old Dad left this earth twelve years ago, but he has never left my heart.  He left behind a wonderful legacy of children and grandchildren, but most importantly  he left behind his wisdom and knowledge for me to benefit from.

Dad was always the one I turned to when I had a problem or dilemma.  He was a great sounding board and always left you with food for thought from an angle that you hadn't considered.  He had a talent for simplifying what at first seemed to be the most complicated issues.  He was my pillar and my guide.

When we found out that Dad was dying and his time left on this earth would be very short, we were all upset.  It was odd to speak to someone about there own imminent death and get their input.  To grieve with the soon to be deceased was a gift that I will never forget.

I said to Dad, "I don't know how to live without you.  You are my pillar, you are my support, my shelter in a storm and that steady constant in my life.  Even though I am grown, it always comforts me to know that you are there".

Dad replied to me, "No.  You haven't needed me in years.  You have Mr. W.  he is your support, pillar and best friend.  He is the one you have depended on for years.  He is your comfort and your partner in life, just as it should be.  You will miss me, but you replaced me with your husband long ago."*

This gave me comfort and put everything into perspective.  He was right and only then did I realize that I was the last person to recognize that this morph had happened years prior.  Dad was still an important part in my life and I loved him, but he hadn't been the shelter that I would run to in an eon.

So yes, I miss Dad and think of him often, but I have survived and thrived just fine for more than a decade without him.  Most of all, I just want to wish him a Happy Birthday, on this his 2nd birthday of the year.

Semper Fi! 

Please Tell Me That You Didn't Sell The Farm

I'm a city girl that married a country boy.  We compromised and live in the suburbs.  Needless to say, the culture differences between our two families are vast.

A few weeks ago, my farm living parents in law called to let us know that they were driving out for a visit - the next day!

This wasn't much notice, but that wasn't too big of a deal.  I rushed around the house in an attempt to get ready for guests and kicked Eldest Weasel out of her bedroom after having her clean it and bring me her sheets to be washed readied the guest room.

Most everything was ready and I was busy in the kitchen when the door bell rang, alerting us that our company had arrived.  Mr. Weasel answered the door to greet his parents, but instead of the expected sounds of a reunion, I heard silence followed by, "WHAT THE HECK HAVE YOU DONE?????".

This could not be good.  I rushed to the front door to find out what all of the hub-ub was about.  What I saw was reminiscent of this;


After picking my jaw up off the ground, I hugged my in-laws hello and pleaded with them to, "Please, tell me that you didn't sell the farm". 

No, they did not sell the farm Thank God, but opted to buy the RV so that they no longer need to board the dogs when they travel to visit us.  Yup, you read that right.  Cousin Eddie's RV came complete with two full size German Shepherds that are used to roaming 25 acres at will.

Once Mr. Weasel regained his composure, we went to take a brief tour of this home on wheels that was parked outside my front door.  His only comment to his parents was that he didn't want to hear this;


Yuppers, my life is one big Christmas Vacation!

He Loves Me, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah....

Many of you already know that Mr. Weasel and I have been married for a fairly long time and can surmise that we have a little something special going on to have six kids together yes, that must be going on too and still happen to seriously dig each other.

What you may not know is that Mr. Weasel and I are not romantics in the traditional style.  It's not that we don't enjoy romantic gestures, it's more that I am much more practical and show affection through simple actions such as pointing and laughing playful banter and Mr. Weasel marches to the beat of the hamster wheel rattling around in between his ears a different drummer.

Why am I telling you this?  I am telling you this so that I may share with you something that struck me as fantastically funny and gave me the opportunity to point and laugh while making me fall head over heels for the Mr., yet again after all these years.

A few weeks back, Mr. W. and I headed out of the house for a special night out together, complete with dinner and dress shopping for him shut up. It was for his   Halloween costume.  As a mood setter, my sweetheart set his MP3 player to his play list of "romantic, love songs that always make me smile and think of you",  Commence with the Awwwwwwww-ing. simply titled "Twitterpated"  You know, like in Bambi.

I smiled as his sweetness and melted when the first song in his list was one of my all time favorites, L-O-V-E.


Soon though, my expression changed to quizzical when the next song began. 

and I quote; "I ask your mother if you were at home
She said yeah but you weren't alone

Oh sometimes I think that you're avoiding me"

Soon quizzical turned to morbid with Queen.

"When I’m gone
Don’t stop to wonder if I ever think of you
The same moon shines
The same wind blows
For both of us, and time is but a paper moon. . . be not gone"

This is the point when I started cracking up.  This goes on his list of love songs?  Exactly what did he have planned for this evening, anyway?

I was then relieved to come back into the realm of 'normal' with another personal favorite, even if in a less traditional version by Steve Tyrell.



A few more songs and I was back to quizzical with Michael Buble` and Down With Love. ??????????


In the midst of my laughter that surrounded the incongruity of this romantic play list, I enjoyed my heartiest eruption of the evening when the list ended with something completely perfect and Weaselesque in summing up Weasel Love,
 

Yes, it's a kick in the head and I wouldn't want it any other way!

Tuesday Tidbits (part ?)

In an effort to get my creative juices flowing again I have been mulling over the goings on in Weaselville and thinking about all the angles I could write about.  Alas, I'm finding that I am full of randomness, so I'm just going to run with it and throw some Tuesday Tidbits your way.

~ I have already told you that my old tried and true coffee maker died on me a few weeks back.  Well, I have since replaced it with the updated model of itself.  It's the shiny, metallic red color that I love and looks beautiful in my kitchen.  However, it makes some lousy coffee.  It must be because it is all clean on the inside or something.

~ It's hockey season once again and that makes me happy, but most of the games that I want to see I am unable to watch from my couch.  That's a pain in my neck and in the wallet.  No, I will not sign up for the special sports package.

~ An acquaintance of mine has promised me tickets to the only regular season game this year where the Flyers will face off against the Blackhawks, in January.  This is huge, as these are coveted tickets in this town.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he comes through with this incredibly generous gift.

~ Halloween was a big hit, as usual.  Of course in all the commotion of readying the Weasels, preparing a meal that kids could eat at will, hosting seven stray Weasel friends and handing out candy, I forgot to pull out my camera.

~ Yesterday I received a phone call from school.  Smallest Weasel was in the office and complaining of a headache and stomach ache.  No fever and she did not want to come home.  It was decided that she was simply over tired and suffering from a Halloween Hangover, 6 year old style.  The wonderful ladies in the front office agreed, gave her a placebo and she happily trotted back to class.

~ Report cards came home last Friday.  Can you pass me the Tums?

~ Today is election day and I look forward to getting to the polls.  I also look very forward to an end of all the commercials, phone calls, mailings and wall to wall news coverage of every race in the nation.

That's all for now, folks.  Here's to hoping that I get my creative juices flowing again soon.