TILThisW

I'm a pretty damn good gift giver when I have some time to think about it, and particularly when I think the receiver will be appreciative. See, I've never really been a fan of gift card gifts- giving or receiving. Sure they're nice, but I love getting something a little different, something where I can see the gifter put some time and thought into it. My husband has always been an amazing, unique gift giver. But he's always had a good job to be a little more frivolous, which I think is easier. Me? I've always been poor so I need to find ways to really make my gifts matter. And while I generally don't even give gifts to adults, when you're turning 40, you get a gift. And a fun one, damnit.

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Ever since DORA TOOK OVER THE WORLD, I've sort of dreaded tuning in to kids television. But then my kid started getting older and needed more down time so I started tuning in and avoided Dora (still do damnit!). Lovie quickly fell in love with Nick Jr. (no commercials) and shows like Team Umizoomi, Ni Hao Kai-Lan, and Bubble Guppies. But after seeing how Nick Jr. changed their style a bit... man, they piss me off. But what is scaring the most about all of this, is how much it bugs me. I've taken to writing about it on my blog. And yesterday, I friggin tweeted to Nick Jr. about it. What have I become?!?  I need to get a grip.

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Finishing near the bottom of the pack (#56 out of 62) isn't always so bad... especially when you find a really amazing writing community. That was my "win" this week for absolute sure (finding this community), and I'm stoked to write and read more next week.

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My dad's place is less than 15 minutes from Lovie's school. Who feels like the asshole now? This girl. See, my dad, 78, moved into an independent living community two years ago this June. He's a lonely guy, has been for some time. But he's in amazing shape- like one of the healthiest people I know. So of course he didn't want to move into an old folks home. But he did because he saw that I couldn't really be available for him as much as he wanted and needed. We do our best to make the rounds to family and friends every single damn weekend, but since my parents are divorced, it's really fucking hard to do. We're always spread so thin. So I thought why not give doing dinner with my dad during the week a whirl. Getting there was easy. Getting home was a nightmare. But it was doable. Really doable. And I'm making this promise right here and right now to do this at least once a month, if not every other week. Of course I didn't share this with my dad just yet as I don't need him hounding me in case something doesn't pan out.

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Lovie must've learned about Beaches and Water this week at school (and I keep forgetting to ask them about it- bad mama!). Every day when I pick her up she tells me, "I wanna go to da Beach." When I confirm this is what she said, she replies with, "Yes. I wanna go to da Water." And when I tell her we can do this when we go on vacation, she repeats, "I wanna go to da Beach" cuz she has no clue WTF "vacation" means. And she repeats it over and over again. :) Sometimes we still talk about the "da sun goes down, it gets dark" but for the most part, this week has been all about the Beach and Water.