So I found this puppy and reported it to Animal Services and posted online and took it around the neighborhood, etc. We've had it here about 3 weeks and we've become very attatched. Yesterday, a family shows up and asks for their puppy back. All the kids are really upset, and so am I, especially because she had an advanced case of worms when we found her, was unregistered and sickly.
We are all in love with her, especially my old dog, who's often bored out of her mind, when we are busy.
My boyfiend & I have been looking into the protocall for puppy-care, i.e. worming, vaccinations, spaying, registration, crate training (she has a house-pooping problem), and how much that all costs and what it requires; and feeling like this dog should have had all of that before it got a chance to end up running around in the street, dying of parasites. I couldn't bring my self to give her up without a guarantee that she'd be properly looked after. But it was breaking my heart, because they were clearly as fond of her as we are.
I feared there was no easy answer.
Then I learned that the family was just about to take a road trip, and I thought, Geez, there's plenty of time to discuss this after their trip, without a bunch of upset kids hopping around, freaking out, climbing all the fences & spilling out into the street...Whew!
So I asked for their phone #, & if we could discuss it when they got back.
The lady's response surprised me. She said the puppy was clearly very loved and happy, and that puppies are like little kids: they need to run and play, and we have a bigger yard, and we're obviously very nice to her. She said she'd bring over the dog food & jackets they have for her at home, and she asked if her kids could come visit.
That was intense. The kids were really nice, and about the same ages as my kids. They actually fit in really well, at my house. But how often do I need a storm of that kind of energy, when I already live in that climate?
It's really kind of a commitment. But here's the thing: My 4yr old has very few friends in the neighborhood, and it could be a really good thing.
So the puppy looks like she's staying here.
Here's a weird thing: My 11yr old acts like she "won." She decided that she hated the girl who lost her dog, and heard everything the girl said as mean and ugly. I saw a very nice and polite kid, about my daughter's age, who misses her puppy.
When we discussed it among the adults in the house, we made the "other" family into a cartoon "Other," and said comically ugly things that were utterly outrageous, like, "those weren't worms, they were balloons of heroin. She was being ABUSED!" (I didn't say that in front of the kids, by the way...) But of course I didn't actually hate them, I was trying to separate my possessiveness from my protectiveness, using humor to sort out my feelings. But my kid just really hated the "Other Girl." That made me sad. I guess they should hang out...

it would be SO EASY! I could have photographed the black eye my son came home with, after being shot in the face with an air cannon. I could have sat down here every day for the last year or 2, and chronicled every time he flaked out, stood up my childcare people, forgot to take kids to school/classes. I could advertise my blog on the sites already frequented by people he wants to like him- like in the bike community, which he proudly announced to me he'd alienated already, because "those people are all jerks." I would make fun of him for always using other people, like his girlfriend, kids, friends, as talent, because he sucks as a performer, and his main talent is BS-ing.
But I don't have time or energy to spend attacking people. If I was going to park here & send messages out to THE WHOLE WORLD, I would be inviting them all to come see me: I've been reading cards at a local shop that I'm really proud to be working at, and giving Ghost Hunt Tours for another really slick outfit.
Or, I might share something upcoming, like the folksy EP I'm rehearsing for with my wonderful boyfriend.
But the folks I work for tend to take care of their own advertising, and I don't generally find the time for this kind of public diary.
My ex does, though.
He seems to find plenty of time to slander me & my (very supportive & sweet) boyfriend, even if he has to make stuff up to make me sound real mean.
What's he so mad about?
His flakiness was upsetting my family. My BF, my mom, myself, 4 babysitters, my whole family at Thanksgiving...he kept saying he'd start respecting other people's schedules, and stop dragging the kids to work with him for cute points but he never actually started behaving. So I stopped putting him on the schedule. His girlfriend seems to be able to handle a schedule. I can deal w/her just great!
But instead of thanking her for being his secretary, he decides to go to his blog, and say I'm SO MEAN, and talk about what a GREAT dad he is, even though he refused to read a book to a child until he'd been a dad for a full decade, he's never supported a single thing his daughter does unless it makes him look good, and he pays a pittance for child support, less than half of what the state would ask him to, and complains endlessly about it.
IF I WANTED TO FIGHT WITH HIM:
I could go to the family law center, and get some lawyer to proclaim him unfit, and REALLY take his kids away! It would be so easy, with all of my friends & family he's upset, they'd be happy to tell their stories. But all I want is for him to act like an adult, and vent his anger to a therapist, not by slandering me & my peeps on his blog, which has all the comments filtered, so you can't disagree with him.
I've been trying to stay out of these internet flame wars, but I get really mad when you pick on my friends. I didn't want to give my stupid ex any more attention, but I can't sit by & let him say BS about my sweetheart, who is the most loving, supportive person I've ever been with, and who takes GREAT care of my ex's kids: helps w/homework, fixes bikes, disciplines, guides, cleans up pee, and NEVER asks for a pat on the back for it, even when he should!

I'm part of an exciting new household I like to call "The Fire the Landlord Project," here in Portland, OR.
We have 3 kids, two empty rooms, and NO NANNY!
My best childcare person (my amazing daughter!) just went back to school, and my housemate's daycare just had a crisis, leaving us with busy schedules & busy pre-schoolers. Whew!
I can offer FREE RENT & MEALS in exchange for up to 30hrs of childcare a week, and cash in yer pocket for anything above that. Your child would be welcome.
Please help save me from the craigslist hell I'm in, & pass this on...

The story of the last 10 years: Six houses, each more communal & livable than the one before it; my family is thrown out because of the unstable housing market. It is slowly reassembling in my head, in the form of a musical theatre parody. I am a grumbling Grrrl Tevye, packing my family's ragged belongings, bidding a tearful farewell to one more beloved Anatevka.
Yet another landlord has kicked us out, so he can sell the house. We are trying to convince him to sell it to US,

A review of Rev. Phil Sano's "Bike Porn II: Bikexploitation"

By the Afternoon of Friday the 13th, when Dingo the Clown (my Baby Daddy) rolled the big, bike-propelled, Airstream-like trailer he calls home into my yard, so he could hold down the fort for my every-other-weekend furlough, Many people had already asked me what I was planning to DO with my time off.

In 1986, when I was a moody teen sporting a mohawk, combat boots, and an "Abolish Apartheid" t-shirt, I bought one of those postcards with two punks kissing, and tacked it to the wall in my room. Yesterday, I saw two of my friends; all shaved, charged, & studded, sharing a smooch, and I thought to myself, "watching real live punks kiss is much nicer than those old postcards."

So I'm with my 9yr old daughter, and we walk past a garage that advertises "Paint and Body."
She asks, "That's auto body, right?"
I said, "Yeah. People don't usually paint themselves." Reconsidering, I said, "Well, I wear plenty of makeup."
"Or henna, maybe," she replied. Then, we passed a beauty salon, and I realized it was just like the car place, only for people.
I was thunderstruck! I said, "Oh, my God. People treat their cars like they do themselves!"

I heard this guy on NPR. He lost his son to suicide from steroid use. It's worth checking out, if your kids are into sports.
http://www.taylorhooton.org/
He said the pressure on his son had been intense, as nearly half his team was ON steroids.
Ok, so I'm thinking: HALF! What percentage of America's teen sons does that represent?! In these testosterone-fueled times, is this a symptom, or a cause?
Will this lead them toward the military, or other gangs?
I'm lighting a candle for our young men.

Ok, I don't know how you clever ladies get you tube to appear up here. But here's a link to my favorite thing I've seen on there yet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

In my dream, I shared my bed with two lovely women: a soft, quiet American, and a skinny, feisty German. Our children slept elsewhere, and our slumber party had taken some ingenuity to arrange. I had mad crushes on both of them, and they were helping me with a revolutionary art project. I was so smitten, I wrote a poem.
I woke to find I was really bunked down, as usual, with a squirmy toddler. But I remember the poem, and it is to ALL of you. Note:there's one "bad" word.

Rage On, Mamas!

Rage on.
Let your creative anger ring like the Liberty Bell across tomorrow.

In our search for a new home, I was so terrified that we would be homeless. It looked bad.
I prayed to the Mother, and She delivered us here, where it is peaceful & functional, and I am ever so grateful. To Her, and to my friend who took us in, for being such a solid Sister.
Then the money debacle set in. My jobs are both postponed. How am I gonna pay for this blessed roof? And the drama. My marriage is over.
Well, I've prayed some more. Prayed & prayed. For my family, for my kind friends who, even though they have problems of their own, have been here for me in my hour of need.

Last Friday on Alberta is SUCH a big mess!
Please help me get my deposit back.
Friday (tomorrow), Noon to Midnight, 25th & Alberta.
I'll buy beer. Movie is TBA.
Thanks!

So does her family.
Having to Move in PDX! Very few places open, and I have two delightful kids and a well-behaved Pit Bull, who are making it hard to find a place. Any dog-&-kid-friendly places available out there?
I can try to pay up to about $700, but am seeking low rent.
For my dog's references, visit
www.clownhouse.org

So I was praying in the kitchen, as women are wont to do. I was worried about my dog, whose toenail just split, and who has no home to go to at the end of the month. I pray mostly to the Virgen of Guadelupe, these days, and I asked her to show us the way to good shelter, as me, my two kids, and my unbelievably charming Pit Bull are at the end of our lease, can't afford it here, & have no new place to go. I prayed beyond Our Lady, to all the deities, angels, & helping souls, for a place for these charming, sweet, high-energy critters that are charged to my care.

So I need a job, right? I'm out handing out resumes, and I walk into a sushi bar that has a sign into the window that says sushi helper needed. It was a sheeshy place, which looked good, cuz, if I may toot my own horn for a minute, I'm kind of a hot shot cook.
Well, the polite young Japanese man who was holding up the counter told me the position was for men only.
I started laughing. I looked around for the camera. I was going to pull on the guy's hair, to see if he was really Jaime Kennedy, when I realized he was serious.

The 5th annual Multnomah County Bike Fair was, as usual, amazing. All our favorite booths and events, with a sprinkling of new offerings, made it the gala of good, clean fun we all have come to love. Bike Culture at its finest.

On vacation, I caught my reflection in a mirror in the bathroom of an all-you-can-eat buffet place. I looked distorted. Too long, taller than I really am. I contemplated the nature of the distortion, and considered the idea that they may be trying to make women tell themselves they're thin enough, and can eat some more. Then I caught my reflection in the bathroom's other mirror, and noticed it stretched me the other way- made me look wide and squat.

Yesterday, I was taking the baby for a walk, when we passed two Hispanic guys who were rebuilding a porch. My boy smiled big & waved, cuz that's what he does, and one of the guys saw him, & his face lit up. He waved back, “Hello, Guerito!”
I laughed, “That's funny, because that's what I call him!”

My friend Alex gave my baby this really funny t-shirt.
it says:
F*CK
ART
LETS
KILL
Only it doesn't have an asterisk.

This boy is almost full-grown, now. I first met him when he was about 7, when he and his little "gang" wanted me to fix stolen bikes for them, so they could sell them.
Sometimes a little girl tagged along, maybe 3 or 4. I never met a single parent.
I don't know that he ever goes to school. Sometimes I'll see that he's found himself a job - it's always moms who find a little work for him - and then I'll see him in an altercation with said mom, she explaining that you have to do the work to get the money, and he trying the fast-talk that's the only communication he knows.

This baby boom's killing me!
I haven't had a sitter for 3 weeks, as all the good ones are taken. I went to a daycare open house, laughing at the pregnant yuppies picking daycare for unborn children.
Then I found out I was the stupid one.
I never had this problem with my first. I've been stood up bt 2 sitters in as many weeks. I need to work! My son is bored literally to tears!

I have 8 years' baby & childcare experience, and could watch your baby @ your place or mine, if you can do the same.

My dog is the best bike dog ever. Banjo the Circus Dog loves to take a run, and navigates traffic like a pro.Yesterday, as we we cantered down the road, I knew she wanted to open it up & go fast, but it had just started raining, and she could feel my wheels skidding on the wet pavement. She was being SOOO good, turning where & when I told her, not chasing a single squirrel or dog. I was thinking I should give her a command to go fast, as she has one for going slow ("It's a parade.").

So here it is again, with an update.

We talk about Brittany Spears a lot @ my house.
My daughter is crazy about her, has been since Kindergarten. (now a 3rd grader.)
Naturally rebellious, my kid idealizes the pop star fashion thing, mostly because it bothers me, and also because she can pull it off, in this hip, Spy Kids kind of way she has. She's a dancer, and very fashion-conscious. So she watched every single one of Brittany and Kevin's "Support the Troops, yay G.W.!" concerts, and still bought peace buttons at church (We're Unitarian), and wore them with pride.

A year ago this week, when my youngest was born, the rain and wind buffetted the house, making our drafty old windows rattle, and the plastic over them blow up like a balloon. Since the storm started with his arrival, I looked at his lumpy little newborn self, still so sentient in that way they are when they are new, and asked him,"Did you bring us this storm?" He rolled his head toward me, and smiled in a very un-newborn way, and I got chills all through me.

Eveyone loves little gorilla. Then, he grows up, and everyone still loves him.
I see something happen to boys when they develop into men. Without stong, kind male role models, I see young men unconciously emasculate themselves, in order to not alienate women, or not be a "typical male." One young man I know actually crosses his feet in front of himself in a very weak stance every time he puts forth an idea. He also finds it hard to trust his own judgement, and was asking me a bizillion unnecessary questions, until he realized he was doing it, and is trying to be more self-directed.
I once knew a young man who told me he was raised in a lesbian community, and was adored by all those around him, until he began to resemble a man, and he suddenly felt "tossed aside," like he was a threat, or not wothy of the affection he'd been showered with as a child.