La De Da Days of Triggers, Dog Photography and Shopping

I have the best bunch of readers. Your comments always keep me moving forward. Lately I really need that since we have been home bound. Thank you.

Maizie has refused to leave the house for three days. The good news is her migraines seem to have slowed considerably. We began Topomax on Monday and she has yet to have a migraine since then! I am thankful! Instead her anxiety is high and she is playing it safe by avoiding everything she thinks is a trigger. Currently this list includes the following...

*Mexican Restaurants (the smell) or any other restaurant
*Anywhere there may be a crowd (I tried to bribe her with a trip to The Dollar Store and Build A Bear..both were turned down due to this)
*Unhealthy Food (She has yet to admit that Happy Meals are unhealthy)
*Anywhere with Fluorescent Lighting
*The Sun

Lovely. Such is life. Joe and I were picking at one another tonight due to being stuck in the house. Joe works in our creepy dungeon like basement all day talking with people all around the world. I get mad because I feel like he at least has the advantage of reaching goals, talking to people and I even hear him laughing now and then. I on the other hand spend my time talking to Maizie, the dogs and the guinea pigs. I am not a phone person. I never have been. I am reconsidering this. Possibly, I need to devote more time during the day talking to friends on the phone. The bottom line is all three of us are in this house 24/7...together...all the time...never leaving...always hearing and seeing one another. A blessing and yet....ahhhhhhhhhhh! Anyway, we both moved on from our little spat and the night is looking better.

I certainly need some new goals. But what? Tonight I left to run my first errands of the week. First I went to The Dollar Tree to pick up some cheap workbooks and puzzles for Maizie. After that I went to Pet Smart to get two harnesses and a coupler for our dogs. The collars we have sometimes pop off during walks. This is terrifying when you live on a busy street. Once home I put the harnesses on the dogs and took off for a walk. The halters are the best purchase I have made in ages. Both dogs seemed very comfortable and they did not pull any more than normal. Now, I have no excuse not to be walking the dogs daily. Getting back in shape sounds wonderful. I am still not back to my ol' self after my hysterectomy. Walking should work wonders.

Tonight Maizie and I took some photos of the dogs for Saint Patrick's Day. This is usually exhausting (due to uncooperative doggies) but lots of fun and laughs. Here is one of the photos of Stella protesting. If you want to see more go HERE. I also want to remind you all that Maizie has blogged a few posts recently. She would love it if you stopped by. Like me, Maizie loves getting comments. The last thing I will blab about tonight is a purchase I made last night on line at Southpaw Enterprises. We have been using this company for years for many of Maizie's sensory and educational needs. This year they came out with a new clock that has a place next to it for a picture card. We are going to make a small laminated list for the different parts of the day. I think it will help her learn the passing of time.
I also bought her some fidget pencils since her latest obsession is licking the pencil lead and rubbing it between her fingers nervously. Surely she rather play with the cool fidgets on top of the pencils.
My final purchase was a book on tying shoes. Maizie wants to learn how to tie shoes more than anything. It seems more is required in teaching this than just the typical bunny ear method. This book is supposed to help children with special needs master this skill. Since Maizie's shoes have special inserts and no longer come in Velcro we are hoping this book teaches us how to teach her to tie her own shoes. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The Man Purse!

Have you noticed the increase in 'man purses' lately? Or...the more politically correct name for this new fashion trend is the 'messenger bag' or better yet...the murse. When we lived in Jersey we got out a lot and I never saw any man carrying a man purse. I think doing so would have been a death wish. People being different whether it be through speech, artistic tastes or any sort of creative endeavor was highly looked down upon in the ultra catholic conservative Italian mafia macho men that ran our neighborhood. I like to think that I have an open mind and that I could come around to the idea of a man carrying a man purse.

But, I just can't. If Joe ever said, "Do you want to go to Target with me so I can buy a messenger bag?"...I would laugh hysterically and then say, "Hell no!" I would not approve of Joe carrying a man purse. Calling them a messenger bag does not make them look any better. What messages are modern men carrying around in these purses. Have you seen the ones they have at Target? I am telling you...they look like purses. I could carry one and it might look cute.

Joe and I went to a party this weekend and there was a man there who was wearing a fashionable man purse. I wanted to know so bad what was hidden within the stylish man purse he held tightly against his hip. Does it hold secret very important messages to be given to friends or colleagues? They are about perfect size to hold several porn magazines. Finally, a man could go into a public restroom and have his very own "reading material" right there and ready for action! Or do they carry "manpons" or a selection of flavored Astro glides? Ah, the secrets within these man purses is enough to keep me up at night. As the night went on it got to be too much. Watching this man finger the shoulder strap slung around his neck was making me feel creepy.

If someone was to run up and snatch it from him...pulling it from around his neck and running down the street with it...what would he do? Scream! Would he yell, "My purse!" and tear down the street after him. How would it be reported to the police? Would it be called a purse snatching or a messenger bag snatching? Soon there will be scenes in movies where men are getting their man purses stolen. Will another man chase down the purse snatcher for the man victim or will women start chasing them down. Call me crazy and old fashioned but some things are just meant to stay for women. Purses are for women.

Do they put their wallets in the thing or does that still go on the back butt pocket? As a woman I always felt secure knowing I could hug my husband and know that I would feel his wallet kept snug against his ass. Seriously! Think about it! My man is so put together that everything he needs is right there neatly put together in a sharp leather wallet clinging to his nice behind. That is way sexier than thinking of him digging for his wallet in his man bag, purse, clutch or whatever the heck you want to call it. I rely on my husband being able to find his debit card faster than me! Not to mention if I want to look through his wallet for a couple of bucks I always know exactly where it is.

I love thinking about what is in these man purses. I suppose the obsession is like men who are curious what is in a woman's purse. What does it say about a man if his man purse is clean, neat and perfectly organized.? His tooth picks and chap stick neatly put into the side holder designed for such a purpose. All of his papers, receipts and maybe even a book perfectly lined up and within easy reach when needed? Does this mean the man is respectful, dependable, without spontaneity? What if the man's purse is a disgusting mess of wrappers, messed with food stains and melted chap stick tubes crusting up the inside? Papers crumpled and pushed into every available space within the purse. 'Manpons' so crumpled they can't be used for fear of spreading disease. Condoms slightly ripped from being jostled around but hey, it does not matter...she won't see if the lights are out! Ha! Would this be a man with little respect for women, for himself? Possibly he is a total slob and trims his toe nails as he sits in his office chair letting the clippings fall into the purse, to add to his growing collection. Worse yet, he has no occupation and uses his man purse to hold his journal full of poetry that he will surely get published some day.

Someone should do a study. I need to know what it all means. Where do I stand within this world if I suddenly have to compete with men when it comes to my purse. It is bad enough that I will never have the purse of my dreams...will I begin to see men with more expensive man purses than I will ever have?

Wow. It is all just too much. What is this world coming to? I have heard that women love their purses on a very instinctual level. Women are created to carry beings within themselves. They are also the vessel for sexual relations. The holder of the goods, so to speak. Purses are an extension of this very personal and amazing part of their existence. A lot can be said about a woman and the way she keeps her purse when looked at from this direction. So, when you think of a man and his purse it just seems to go against nature.

It Spins!

This weekend we are going to see the ballet Cinderella. Little Miss Maizie needed a new dress for the occasion. Kohl's always has cute dresses so off we went. Maizie was in the mood to shop! She tried on six different dresses. Luckily, we had a large dressing room so she could try out the most important dress quality...the 'spin'. It is interesting that some dresses just spin way better than others. She settled on a long, light pink dress. She looks beautiful in it and it is top notch spin quality.

Even though we had a long discussion about where and when the dress would be worn she immediately began insisting that she would wear the dress the minute we got home. Nope. It is for the ballet first and then she can wear it as often as she wants. Suddenly, she insisted the ballet is "now and not next year". Argh. Understanding the passing of time is a big challenge for Maizie. Once home we put the dress in my closet for safe keeping and Maizie apologized for 'begging' to wear the dress. I apologized for my short temper, we ate dinner together and then played a nice game of Yahtzee. Maizie won!