The little things that count...

Half my family suffer from some form of OCD.  Washing hands.... This mustn't be done like this, but precisely like that.... Checking doors (not just one or twice, but sometimes going back home to check the door for the fourth time)... This list goes on... Years ago I dated a guy who was OCD to the point of being quite painful.  I've never had an issue with feet on the couch (as long as you're not filthy, by all means get comfortable).  "No feet on the couch!"... "Don't sit on that couch" (even with the throw on it)... "The cats can't go in the house, their hair goes on everything" (the cats never did like him)...  I could list 100 things and still never get through all the OCD statements he made. Even I like the toothpaste to be pushed from the bottom, but with kids around, you're never going to win that battle... But most mornings, I still push the toothpaste up, and then use it, knowing it will be pushed from just below the to...

It's been months since I've written a blog post.  I've had nothing to write about.  Nothing that stirred inside me.  Nothing inspiring.  Nothing thought provoking.  Nothing. We chase things our whole lives.  Always looking for something to make us happy.  Sometimes we fall into such a deep, dark depression, we may not even realize it at first.

Tonight I got soap in my eye... Well, conditioner. I lay back in the water and washed it out. It made me think about how differently the kids handle soap in their eyes. The eldest: girl. 17. I have no idea when she last got soap in her eyes. She's pretty much been independent since she was 8. When I got divorced. She probably does the same as me (she has picked up a lot of my traits). 2nd: Boy. 11. "Mom.... Mom! MOOOOOOMMMMM!!" "What?" "I got soap in my eyes".  Well there's no much I can do about it. Wash your eyes with water. Use a face cloth" "ok..." Youngest: Boy. 9. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" if no reaction, again at a higher pitch. One of us usually runs in because it sounds like he's bring attacked by "something". My "deal with it" approach doesn't work and the screeching continues. So I send in his father. They both shout at each other but in the end calm is restored. ...

Bella is my dog.  She getting fussed over a lot lately because her brother went missing 3 weeks ago.  Not a trace of him.  No phone calls, no Odie at the shelters, no body lying on the side of the road. Nothing.  As morbid as it sounds, if he was no longer of this earth, I would rather find his body.  It would be closure.  At this stage I'm going through every possibility that exists.  From "he's been taken in by a loving family who are not online and don't go out much and don't know to report him to a shelter..."  Well, you never know... to "somebody thought he's a pitbull puppy and taken him for a sinister reason"  to "dog fighting bait" and even "maybe he's running around a taxi rank eating pap en vleis and getting fat".  Fact is... he could be anywhere - dead or alive. Bella and Odie have been with me since I moved into my house more than 9 years ago.  They were 5 week old brother and sister pitbull/ sharpei cross.  ...

Not everything that seems bad is actually bad.  You've heard the sayings... "don't judge a book by it's cover"... "there's light at the end of the tunnel", "You have to take the good with the bad".  You need to stop, take a breath, and take note of everything that is RIGHT, instead of dwelling on everything that is wrong.  We tend to focus on the bad things, forgetting that there's a bit of good and bad in everything... How many times do you find things happening and your reply is "that's so typical" or something along those lines. Something negative. Sometimes you need to find the good in bad situations.

I have finally washed off the last of the army of ants that invaded my personal space today. I went to buy lunch for Spike- our pet spider. Oh, I didn't tell you we have a pet spider? A Curly Tarantula to be precise.  He/she (we're not really sure if its male or female) is 3 years old and fits in the palm of my hand... well, more like overflows...  Spikey seemed a little hungry last night - I stuck my hand in the tank to fill the water and "he" seemed way too interested in my hand after being on a hunger strike for 3 weeks (don't worry- water was always filled and they can go a month without eating).

My favourite time of day. I was suffering from a tension headache from hell that had rendered me useless the entire afternoon. I ran the hot water. Then added the cold- as usual.  Left it a few minutes to get ready to hop in... I turned off the cold to let the hot run again. I climbed in. Geeeez!!