Dia del la Mierda del Gato

Or if you prefer..."Jour de la merde de chat" sounds more sexy-pretentious, no? Maybe "Giorno della merda del gatto"? Oh, "Tag der Katze-Scheiße" 'cause everything sounds mean in German. Or how about "День дерьма кота" just for sh*ts n' giggles?

First let us review the CAT. His name is Porter, we adopted him on Oahu, he started thinnish, now chubby, but always been spotted like cow---except when he's been dyed blue. After some initial trepidation Gary has completely given over to this cat, it is an understatement to say that the man would be crushed should something happen to the Pookus MacDookus. Which is odd, considering The Man is technically allergic to cats, and is an admitted prior cat-hater. ANYWAY, we have a special super-kewl-neato-fer-sure Litter Maid auto-box with kitty cabana (ask me sometime about Gary trying to assemble that thing). Now this may be one of the only times I will adhere to what the advertising on the box says, regarding using only litter maid litter. We've tried others and it literally doesn't work as well, smell, dust, clumping, etc. The litter maid litter truly is better with this particular sh*t box. It is expensive though, and so happens that a lot of it is wasted in the machine's raking process, I've devised a method to 'save' it somewhat. Part of my afternoon was spent sifting cat sh*t. The rest of my afternoon was spent shifting Porter turd from my clothes, here's why;

Fiona likes to close Porter-kitty's closet door (where the litter box is located), sometimes poor PK gets stuck IN the closet as she has closed it when he's cabana-ed doing his bizness. Before we left for the race in Utah, The Toddleator had closed the door and we neglected to make sure it was open before departure. When we returned home that Sunday evening Porter was beside himself with kitty glee, I opened the closet immediately and briefly searched for cat smell throughout the house. I caught a whiff in my closet but it dissipated and I chalked it to paranoid nasal hallucination. This morning however, my vain attempt to find things that still fit in my closet led me deeper into the first shelf than I had been in a while what with the tri-clothing getting most of the attention, articles that no longer fit simply being ignored and buried...I grabbed a shirt, then the cat pee smell wafted and out flew several dessicated cat turds. I looked closer, and still closer. The realization hit me, and all I could do was chuckle some, began singing "the cat shit in my closet" song. At that point I didn't have the time to clean it all up---besides it was going to be a closet overhaul and I needed more than the insane, frantic fuming attempt would have produced at that point. So, after Little One's nap time I took my time with the disinfectant and deodorizers sorting out the clothes, cleaning everything, more laundry to do (still may not be redeemable clothing though). I glimpsed the large piece of bark Fiona had adopted during a walk, and the idea that "holee goodness, it's everywhere!" flitted through my mind....then I recognized the mulch chunk for what it was. The damage was contained on the one shelf, luckily. Cat piss in one's closet is a super-closet-cleaning motivator! I can be grateful that this didn't happen on Kauai where everything mildews...it could have been so much worse.

In other news, the phrase of the day is "Mommmy, mommy, heolp itt", in use when asking for help with an item OR when attempting to help me with a task. Yesterday's phrases were, "mommy gotch-yoo" and "babee gotch-ooo". The Toddleator asked me for a diaper this morning, I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty, "Jeasss" was the answer...and voila, poop in the potty! She was proud, I think.

That's my day today, lots of poop, sh*t, doo-doo, doodle, feces, scat...
Mommy or not, Here I Am.

Pinwheels, birthdays, and the TRI

Today we went outside for about an hour before naptime, I took one of the leftover pinwheels from The Toddleator's birthday party stuck it in the ground into the wind to facilitate that joyful spinning sparkle that IS the pinwheel. I find them mesmerizing, a pinwheel identifies my sunny childhood, blow on them....runnnn into the wind with them. Colorful glittery wheels of light and fun. Really symbolic of innocence, springtime, and childhood---at least for me. Miss Fiona proceeds to pretend Little Bear on a trike-ride, we play with her "puhple bahl", a much coveted and sought after large rubbery ball of the Target variety. Then it's time for hotdogs, nap, and playoff basketball, to which Gary is glued a majority of the time lately.

My birthday was a really nice day, I enjoyed it thoroughly. After breakfast we shopped some, then I got to take an impromtu shopping trip with a friend, happy birthday to me! I am a size 6! Never have I been a 6---thank you triathlon training! When I got home, Gary had successfully executed the assembly of a cup-cake with chocolate icing (there goes the 6), roses and music. We hung out and watched new movies.

Fiona's birthday morning was just as great. After assembling the required birthday items, namely birthday cup-CAKE, balloons, sodas, hot dogs, drinks, etc. partying commenced in the way the small people party....meaning sort of play n' scatter, group to get favors, scatter again, group to eat, and then 2 hours have passed and at least one kid threw up, someone is having an overtired meltdown somewhere and we all trickle away home. The weather was fantastic, Colorado really showing off the early spring. After the frenetic weather that is normal for April and May I think we got pretty lucky!

We enjoyed that weekend immensely. Then just one week until my race, I was in taper, and going a little batty what with all the extra time and energy. We left on Friday morning super early, drove to Utah, my race was Saturday, then we drove back and took it easy.
The race was pretty brutal, even by the standards of some veteran athletes I spoke to. The wind was gusting up to 35 mph, there were swells and white-caps in the reservoir where we swam. I FINISHED though, that's about all I could ask for. I did better than about 200 people that DNS (did not start). I'm only just now to the point where I figure, "yeah, I could do that again." No telling when I'll put another race on the calendar though, now that my volumes are decent, I'll enjoy a 5 mile run, a 20 mile cycle, or some pool training with my swim buddy. It's a way of life, and I like it!
This is my RaceReport on BeginnerTriathlete.com, and these are the race photos (*annoyed* what there ARE of them), and my times from the source.
See some other photos and the littlest cheerleader below....

First Fear, the Toddleated Bed, and Grandpa

THE VACUUM *dum-dum DAHHH* The Toddleator is terrified of the vacuum cleaner. I've named it Clean Machine, talked about how great it is that Mr Clean Machine helps us keep the house clean, showed her how it picks up trash in her room, whistled, sung, and joked while vacuuming---all to no avail. As soon as the V-word is mentioned, Fiona pops up from what ever she's doing, bolts to her room and snuggles down into her quilt on her bed...there to stay until "all done" is sounded. When I have to stop to empty the belly of the beast, I hear a plaintive "Mommy? All done?" from her bed room, then I explain that I'm not quite done yet, give her a time frame, and continue. She's been very brave about saying 'HI' to Clean Machine, has even ventured to push the button to turn it on, but otherwise she is absolutely stayed in her bed the whole time that I (or The Man) vacuum.

Incidentally, her bed is now toddler-fied. Meaning I have made the switch to the toddler-bed version of the crib. Eventually it should convert all the way to a twin bed, that's only if we can download instructions and purchase bedrails online, as the, uh, less that satisfactory movers damaged screws and lost things. ANYWAY, I digress. Little One was more than curious about what I was doing to her bed, and offered her assistance such as it is. When the mini-reconstruction was complete, I saw the realization dawn on her face, and she joyfully climbed into her bed all by herself. She promptly invited a few buddies to have a pretend meal in bed with her. A couple of days ago I checked her at nap time and saw that Farmer MacDonald's tractor loaded with the animals must have needed a nap also, as they had found their way into bed. I made the ultimate decision to convert 'cause one day as I watched her, Toddleator looped one leg over the rail, with the other toe still on the mattress, as I proffered my hand, she reached out and easily flipped out of the crib. That was too easy, I thought. So, she graduates to toddler-bed...I'd rather she fall six inches than four feet. She's only fallen out of bed once so far, still asleep, half way on the floor, I put her back kissed her g'nite, and went back to sleep. So far, so good I think.

Grandpa came to visit middle of April, we had a great visit! Miss Toddleator really took to her Grandpa, she enjoyed walking in the park with Pop, checking out the trees and showing off her daredevil swing skills.

Sheesh I can't believe how busy April was for me! One week from tomorrow, we're in Utah, and I am racing Olympic distance Tri! Day after tomorrow, Toddleator is officially 2, with cake and balloons at the park, yay! Tomorrow I am 31, proud of it! I think I actually have a gray hair or two---though G might argue this observation. I'm excited, it's like a badge of honor I think :) Just as I was relieved to pass up the twenties, I think it's super to be in my early thirties, besides I like the threes. If anyone ever says they hate their birthday, just remind them, it's better than the alternative!