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Aliens, Duncan, and the Baby of Science

This was a busy weekend – we went to a friend’s for dinner on Friday, then breakfast club and a vet appointment for Duncan on Saturday, and the vintage clothing sale and the Ottawa Parrot Club birdie garage sale on Sunday. Plus, you know, the not-so-much-fun things like laundry, grocery shopping, meals and housework (ha ha, I’m kidding about the housework).

I’m still getting used to working full-time, and I’ve been coming home exhausted every evening, and usually with a migraine.  I can’t figure out how those of you with full-time jobs and kids manage to keep your lives together. What’s your secret?

I saw the neurologist last Monday evening about the aliens living in my left calf. She says it’s probably caused by nerve damage from my back surgery. Plus, you know how your leg jumps when the doctor taps your knee with a hammer? My left leg doesn’t, so I have to have an MRI. But the good news is that it’s probably nothing awful since it’s not accompanied by muscle weakness. The other good news is that she put me on a migraine prevention medicine which costs $11 a month, compared to the migraine treatment medicine which costs $17 a headache. And I’ve been going through a LOT of migraine treatment medication lately. So yay.

What else? Clipping Simon’s wings was a good idea. He can still fly, but not well enough to be a menace. He’s no longer acting like a tyrant and the rest of us are no longer cowering under the coffee table whenever he’s out of his cage.

Duncan went to the vet on Saturday, and the news was all good. He’s doing well. He has gained some more weight and the vet and I are both very happy about that. She said even his teeth look healthier. He got lots of treats and a pedicure while we were there.

Rosie has started humping Duncan every night during supper. GC and I think it’s  a little odd to see a female dog humping a male cat at the dinner table, but Rosie’s gentle and Duncan doesn’t seem to mind, so we just politely avert our eyes and make small talk until they’re done.

We got to meet sweet baby Milo last weekend. You might know him as the It Ain’t Meat Babe baby, or perhaps the Baby of Science. He’s very wonderful. GC and I both got to hold him.  Jennifer demonstrated 21st century diaper technology for us. Cloth diapers have come a long way since the 70s when I used to diaper my siblings.  Back then diapers were rectangular cotton which you folded, and fastened with giant safety pins. All the babies were routinely punctured in the hip area with the safety pins. (Today’s diapers are fitted and have snaps and cute little covers instead of rubber pants.)

I made Milo an outfit. When I was almost finished, it occurred to me that maybe it was a politically incorrect outfit. It’s got cowboys and Indians and little Mexican dancing girls. But it’s very cute and a progressive baby like Milo could probably make it look ironically politically incorrect.

I also made him some booties. This was a very challenging project. Sometimes you need to use your own judgement when interpreting a pattern, but this was not one of those times. This was one of those times when you need to do exactly what the instructions say, even if they make absolutely no sense. These are lined booties, made with two different fabrics. When the instructions say to sew the sole onto the top of the almost-complete bootie, that’s apparently what you’re supposed to do. Then, by some magic which I still don’t understand, when you turn the bootie inside-out, the sole ends up where it’s supposed to be.

 

 

9 comments to Aliens, Duncan, and the Baby of Science

  • Good news all around! When I worked fulltime and had kids, I was MUCH younger. Now it is just me and the pets and I work only four days a week, but by Friday, I am tired and grumpy. Cute baby outfits! Maybe you have morphed from knitnut to sewnutty!

  • grace

    What a lucky little baby! I can hardly wait until you’re a grandmother!

  • I’m glad it’s nerve damage and not something more serious – not that it’s not serious enough, but it’s something you can live with. I actually get nerve issues up and down my whole leg and sometimes in my foot. At night I tend to get weird twitches and my leg just won’t get comfortable. It’s annoying, but I always thank my lucky starts that it wasn’t something much worse.

  • Manon

    Our miniature dachshund, a female of 8 pounds, used to hump one of our male Siamese cats, which was bigger than she was. It seems it’s a dominance thing; the cat used to just sit there and let her be. She was never aggressive about it, just wanted to make her point. I agree it’s is rather puzzling, but I understood better once it was explained that it had to do dominance and pecking order, nothing sexual…

  • Kathy

    I work and have kids – I just have not so many hobbies and im tired a lot. My hobbies are reading and napping. And at least 50 percent of the time the kids are fun.

  • merle

    I am really curious about the migraine prevention meds. Let me know how it works out for you.

  • lucy

    If there is a secret to working full time with kids while getting enough sleep and keeping one’s housework under control, I haven’t found it yet!

  • lucy

    Does your “good” leg actually jump when tapped with the doctor’s hammer? Neither of mine do. They never have. I have always thought the knee jerk thing must be a scam, that people pretend to do it because they know the doctor is expecting a reaction. When doctors try it with me and are surprised that my leg doesn’t jump, I always tell them it’s a waste of time, it doesn’t work for me.