Puppies, Parents, Pirates, and Patching the Roof

No notes in my last entry. So sad!
(Speaking of which, go back and see puppy pictures if you haven’t already)
(Speaking of which again, I am slow at typing because aforementioned is in my lap, asleep, and because he is so big already, I need one hand to support him.)

One-handed typing for the win!!

Marley is starting a new Pirates campaign, and character creation was on Friday. By character creation, I mean character history discussions as well as rules-learner-ing. We are definitely using a pretty cracked up version of DnD. I like it. My character is also the only one to actually be a pirate by the time that we’re starting the campaign.

Also, Pirates is capitalized on purpose in that last paragraph (during which I also put the critter to bed– can’t type one-handed to save my life), as the campaign is set in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe.  I’ve been spending several hours over the last few days reviewing the Pirates wiki, to remember what exactly happened during those movies.  Thinking of Pirates makes me remember Sandra, and how much of a fangirl she is.  I don’t really condone fangirl-ism, but whatever.  I’ve been trying not to let this "research" make me feel to guilty.  I hadn’t really realized that I’d tried to push Pirates out of my life as an attempt to avoid coming off as a Johnny Depp-oholic.  I am not a Johnny Depp-oholic, though I do consider him to be one of my favorite actors.

Also on the note of the Pirates wiki– knowing that Beckett and Norrington are different people TOTALLY makes the movies easier to understand.  No fucking wonder I was ten times more lost than everyone else.

Oh Joy of Joys occurred today!  Danny, the landlord, came by, with some tar that will dry whether it be wet or dry.  He patched our roof’s many leaks!  All of them!  Our house no longer leaks!  Huzzah!  He said that he will also replace the ceiling in the bathroom because of the severe water damage (as well as prevalent mildew– yuck), as well as a lot of the other plaster that got destroyed because of the leaks.  He may be a slow landlord, but he is a responsible one.  And the latter I find to be more important.  Three cheers for a dry house!!

WebMD seems to think that my severe vertigo/lightheadedness is caused by an inner ear infection.  This would make a lot of sense.  Especially since, upon consideration, I realized that my right ear HURTS LIKE A BITCH.  I tend to ignore pain, sometimes to the point of not noticing when things go particularly wrong.  Oops.  But, fortunately, I’m not dying, and I do know what’s causing the fainting spells.  Now I just need to not drive (easy when you don’t own a car), and not stand up too fast when I’m particularly excited.

I woke up early this morning to attend yoga with my mother, only to find that I could not in any way shape or form get ahold of her.  All of the cell phones in the family were OFF, and no one was answering the house phone.  I was frustrated, hurt (my mommy forgot me!), and generally displeased that it is so hard to get ahold of my family.  I wound up taking a frustration/depression nap because I was so frustrated/depressed.  I slept in until one, which, considering the ear infection, is probably actually a good thing.

I realized after the nap that my family is probably in Southern Utah, vacationing in their cabin.  This made me feel infinitely better, not to mention how I didn’t have to explain why I’m celebrating Father’s Day with Bryan’s family.  Probably the best Father’s Day ever, actually.  Between scooting Porter outside to potty, pulling leaves out of Porter’s mouth, pulling food scraps out of Porter’s mouth, trying to keep Porter from eating everything, pulling Porter off of Jonie (their dog, whom Porter finds hump-able), and generally babysitting Porter, I actually got to talk a lot to people, play with their Wii for a small while, and eat lots of food.  The puppy went in the crate as soon as we got home.  I was exhausted.  *wipes hand across brow*

Aaaaand, because it’s Father’s Day, I might as well list some of the great things about my dad.  Which is surprisingly difficult.  I think I focus too much on the negativity with him.  Well, I do focus too much on the negativity with him.  In the last few months he has laid off of his heavy alcohol use, and is actually a tolerable (dare I say likeable?) person.  So maybe it’s time to start forgiving.  I still feel like it’s out of reach.  I still feel like this is the one thing that is unattainable.  But hey; I’ve felt that before and managed to meet my goals.  Good things about my dad is a place to start.

• Thank you for all of your bad puns.  There’s nothing quite like everyone groaning at the dinner table in unison.  This is the only time you’ll hear me say it.  Your puns truly are horrible and I hate them and never told you I liked them, right?  *nudge nudge*
   
• Thank you for constantly having NPR on every God-damned radio in our house.  Between the BBC, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and every other show in existence, I was not only informed, but a better person for it.  Also, much more of a hippie.  These are all traits that I appreciate in myself, and NPR fostered many of them.
   
• Thank you for secretly buying me ice cream when Mom said no.  Thanks for sneaking $20 bills into my stash before Christmas time every year.  Thank you for fighting for my internet rights in high school (consequently allowing me a presence on Open Diary).  Basically, thank you for sticking up for me, even when Mom was against it.  Independence is great, but sometimes we need help "sticking it to the Man," as it were.
   
• Thank you for doing dumb, embarassing things, like taking me into the men’s room when I was ten.  I was always mortified, but in retrospect, those moments were HILARIOUS, and make good party stories.
   
• Thank you for not wanting me to be a doctor.  If you were in on it too, I’d go insane.  (Well, more insane than already.)
   
• Thank you for buying me cheap, dumb toys as a kid, and then handing me a screwdriver and asking me how they work.  I can still remember Mom walking in on me and a table of springs, gears, and plastic bits.  The look on her face was priceless.  So was the look when I put it all back together and it worked!
   
• Thanks for supporting my Rubick’s cube addiction.  I had the nicest-moving cube of anyone I know, and it’s because YOU took it apart, sanded, and oiled the joints.
   
• Thanks for being in with me on teasing my little brother.  Of course Mom can’t condone the behavior, but it’s good to have someone else smirking when he’s flipping out because of my latest prank.  (My brother is bad about being teased– all the more reason it needs to be done!)
   
• And seriously, thanks for trying.&nbsp

; I know that you’re not good at consolation, you’re more paranoid than is good for you, you can’t make or enforce rules, and you’re so much scarier than you intend to be.  But thanks for trying.  It is clear that you really do your best, and I do appreciate that.  Yes, I wish your best were… friendlier.  But you always try, and you always seek to improve.  It’s because of this desire for improvement that you cut down on your drinking, and that has really changed our family dynamic.  We’re functional, and it’s because you listen to criticism, and have an honest-to-God desire to improve.  That’s admirable.

So yeah, gush gush bash bash gush gush.  I tried.  And spoke from the heart.  And left out [most of] the bad stuff.

Aaaaaaaaaand speaking of parents!  Guide Dogs posts pictures of their litters on their website (every six months or so; Porter’s baby pictures will go up when I have access to them), BUT I did find a picture of Porter’s mommy with his brothers and sisters who were born in 2006.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I present, Danielle:

I would like to point out that she has a little seam on her nose, just like Porter does.  I showed PortPort the picture, and said "See!  That’s where you got it from!" and then stroked his little seamed nose.

Goodnight, everyone.