remember to floss!

Today I went to the dentist for my yearly cleaning, only to learn that this particular dentist doesn't believe in yearly cleanings, he believes in twice yearly cleanings. When he said he would see me back in six months I nearly cried because the idea of enduring all the scrapping, puffs of air, and suction that comes with the cleaning are torture. And then I thought of the gritty tooth polish with it's swirling brush head and I did cry, but I passed it off as gagging over the xray thingy.

I am deathly afraid of needles, although I have gotten a little bit better since I was pregnant because there is nothing a doctor loves more than ordering blood work on a pregnant lady. I hate getting shots and am not above acting like a child when told I need to get one. The only exception to this are shots prior to dental work. Even though the needle is scarier and it's going in my mouth, these shots don't bother me in the slightest. I find the drool-y feeling of having half your face numb really interesting, especially when the drugs start to wear off, and since needles and shots are part of that process I guess I've just looked past my fear. This is just a long, long winded way of saying I would rather skip all my dental cleanings, let my teeth rot and fall out, and go in for repair work and I see nothing wrong with wanting this to be my dental plan for life.

And as if the cleaning wasn't bad enough (have I mentioned the gritty tooth polish? vomit) throughout my cleaning I kept smelling something. I had no idea what the scent was other than "perfume" and I knew it was coming from the dental tech because it went away when she did. I assumed she had on perfume and it made me hate her a little because if you're going to be that close to people's faces all day I think you should eliminate from your life all perfume or heavily scented lotions. But then I sat up and saw this:



Green apple scented exam gloves! That smell nothing like green apples! They should be outlawed.

After slyly taking that picture I looked to my left and saw these:

Smugly I thought to myself "Well, at least she didn't use the grape scented ones, I bet those are truly awful." Of course then the actual dentist came in and grabbed two fucking grape gloves to do his exam. I can now report that they smell like all the grape medicine I was forced to take as a child and then threw up.

After being given a clean bill of dental health I stopped at a 7-11 for a Big Gulp Diet Coke and this:

Because nothing says "I have no cavities!" quite like a big ball of sugar.

it was a good day

You guys, today was such a good day.

After hearing my whines about getting the boot from various playgroups, the lovely Natalie suggested, probably jokingly, that we should get together for our kids to play. And you can safely assume that I jumped on that offer immediately so she wouldn't have time to change her mind. We met this morning at the Children's Museum and despite the fact that Truman stole her adorable child's goldfish crackers and regularly threw himself down on the ground in a heap of tears and screams, we had a good time. We played, we ate grilled cheese, and then we parted with talk of doing this again. Holy crap, I hope we do. Adult conversations! I have missed you! And she likes sweet tea vodka! I'm totally peeing from excitement.

Then, as if an excellent morning wasn't enough, another friend called and suggested we head to a nearby park for a late afternoon playdate. We wandered around the playground talking, Truman found a renegade potato masher, I got a diet coke the size of a bath tub, and we rode the train. The best part was that not only was I all happily dosed up with adult company but Truman really had a great time too and was exhausted by the end.

I hope it doesn't sound too stalker-ish, but these two woman will likely never be able to shake me now because the adult conversations were just so nice. Does it make me more tolerable if I bring snacks to the playdates because I am not above bribing people for friendships.

Unrelated to anything else in this post, recently I have noticed that all my shirts have tiny holes in them right in the same place. The holes are located along the lower edge of my shirts on the front and I can't for the life of me figure out what's causing them. I thought maybe the cat was to blame but I didn't pick her up today and yet there are the holes. I am honestly baffled by the mystery of my holey shirts and I would also very much like it to stop. Today's shirt was one of my favorites, dammit.

*earlier today I heard Ice Cube's It Was A Good Day on 90s on 9 and I thought "Yes, Ice Cube you are so right, it was a good day! Today I didn't even have to use my A.K. either!"

could I be more whiney about something this ridiculous?

The other day I mentioned on twitter that I had been rejected from a playgroup:


What I didn't mention on there was that a few days later I got rejected from another playgroup. I have managed to join one playgroup that didn't have an application that I can blow but the playdate I attended was filled with babies all six or more months younger than Truman. All the other moms happily sat in the shade of the park holding bottles and chatting about how their tiny non-moving babies could still go to movie theatres and sleep through the movie or they could take the baby to dinner and the child would gladly sleep in his car seat the whole meal. I spent the whole playdate chasing Tru through the park while he shoved a sub sandwich into his mouth and I occasionally got close enough to the other moms to shout a hello in their direction.

I hate to be all mommyblogger on you, but lately I'm feeling like less of a person and more of a mom than I have since Truman was born. In California I was able to incorporate motherhood into my life thanks to friends that loved Tru and didn't mind him tagging along for lunch or shopping trip as well as a mother's group that allowed me to hang out with other women that were dealing with the same sort of things I was. Here in Austin, we have some friends with babies but we don't see them nearly as often as I saw my previous mother's group. I'm learning how quickly you can lose your mind when all you have to talk to for 9 hours a day is a little person that can't answer you. I'm unfortunately becoming that person that talks way too much to the cashiers at the mall.

I don't really know where this pity party is going but I feel much better having it all out there. I've been rolling the idea of finding a part time job around in my head for the past few weeks because that would guarantee me opportunities to interact with other adults but I don't think that's really the best solution. I think Truman needs to hang out with other kids as much as I need to hang out with adults so we're going to start hitting the playgroups hard to see if we can find one that won't kick us out before they even get a chance to harshly judge us. Wish us luck.

never a moment's rest

We three Parkses were busy this weekend.

We took a walk to Butler Park for some fun at the Liz Carpenter fountain. Supposedly all the splash pads and fountains in Austin shut down today which is ridiculous since it'll be hot as hell for another few months.


I got a new necklace from Old Navy and I love it. In fact I love it so much I included some porno tongue in the picture.


We also hit up Pease Park for some sliding fun. Tru was exhausted but rallied for the twisty slide.


We headed to the Children's Museum where Tru did some suduko. No matter how many times I explained it to him, he kept lining up three spades in one column. I guess Harvard is off the list of possible schools.


This is what I spend most of my time looking at, the back of Truman as he bolts onto the next thing.


I wore cute shoes.


Tru napped.


I wished I napped but instead the framer finished our pictures so we got to hanging. This one is about your mom:


And this is Tru's newest robot print.


(Both prints are from this etsy shop)

After his nap there was more water fun.



Tonight we had dinner and Tru and jparks shared a meal. The picture does not do the situation any justice at all as the two of them had a full out eating contest. Tru shoveled food in as fast as possible because he was starving which made jparks worry that there wouldn't be any left for him so he started shoveling it in as well. This continued all the way through to dessert where I finally had to explain to jparks that he's the adult and is quite capable of getting a second helping so there's no need to worry about a toddler stealing all of it. I think someone had his lunches stolen on the playground a few times as a kid and is working through those issues as an adult.


And now I'm off to drag my tired ass to bed.

second verse same as the first

So you guys are awesome. Did you know that? I knew posting that last thing could lead to some nasty comments about me but I posted anyway and you guys were so supportive, informative, and kind. Thanks so much for that.

I decided that you were all right and I should get over the fact that he was smoking. We all have vices, I love a beer after a hard day and is that really so different than a cigarette after losing your legs and more? Actually it's totally different and hell, a beer after dealing with a toddler seems a lot worse than what he's doing. So I figured the next time I drove through his intersection I was going to hand him a few dollars. But when I passed today he wasn't there.

See, the thing I didn't mention before was that I knew if I gave him money I would worry. Not just about how he spent the money but about him. I would worry if he wasn't on the corner one morning. Would that mean that maybe he's improving his situation and no longer panhandling or had something awful happened to him? What if he's sick and can't find medical help? What if, what if, what if. I can't help it.

So today I drove through that intersection and he wasn't there. I turned the corner and looked for him on one of the other sides but he was no where. And now I'm left wondering.

I guess until he's back or gone forever I'll be donating some money to a charity and I'll be hoping for the best for him.

help me possibly help him

Here in Austin you can't drive through an intersection without seeing a person holding a sign asking for money or food. And while I will gladly donate to food/meal distribution centers I just can't bring myself to hand money out the window of my car. Call me cynical but I always assume the worst, that the money will be spent on drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol. So I just keep my eyes on the road and my wallet shut.

This method of selective blindness has been working well for me but last week a new guy moved onto a corner I pass frequently. He's a young guy missing both legs, cruising around the corner during morning traffic while wearing fatigues. I've seen him a few times now and each time there's something about him that pulls at my heartstrings. I tend to keep a few dollars in my purse in case I encounter a place that doesn't accept debit cards and this morning I just about handed that cash out the window to him. I pulled up to the light, reached for my purse, and then noticed him lighting a cigarette. That simple act stopped me dead in my tracks.

Like I said, I assume the worst. If he's buying cigarettes then maybe he is making money somewhere and he isn't in as dire of a situation as I'm thinking? I mean, surely he wouldn't buy them over food, right? And if he is buying cigarettes over food, then that's a bad situation that I don't need to aid.

Being the skeptic I am, I took my hand out of my purse and kept driving. But also being an over-thinker I haven't stopped dissecting the situation. Did I over react? What if he didn't buy the cigarette, what if it came from a car. I've seen smokers hand them to people on corners, so it isn't unheard of. Am I judging the guy too harshly? If for some reason I feel compelled to give him $5 should I just give him the money and he can spend it however he wants, that part is not my concern. Or should I make a donation to a homeless shelter instead knowing they will spend it appropriately?

So friends, what say you? Should I stop being overly critical and just give the guy a few bucks or pass that money along to an organization?

For the record I realize we are talking about very little money and I would donate more to an organization than I would hand the guy, but still. I just want to feel like I'm doing some good which I realize is selfish but whatever. That feeling of "I helped, yay me! " is a big reason people donate money.