My Top 5 Gripes (This Week)

Madam Bipolar has started Grumble Sunday, and being the glass half empty kinda gal that I am, I have decided to jump right on board. Since life has been...well...complicated recently, instead of going into a big explanation of my life's crappiness I will do a top five list of this weeks gripes.

#5 Chuck (the fiance) not only seems unable to put the lid back on the toothpaste, the milk, the aspirin, and so on, but he also then LOOSES the lids so that NO ONE can close them. I find lids and bottle caps in all his pockets and laying all over the house. How can you put milk away and NOT realize the lid is off and how hard is it to twist a small piece of plastic 3x with your fingers? (Yeesh!)

#4 Chuck wants to get rid of our pug mix. Yes, yes, I know he snorts, and wheezes and whines. And we call him the piddler since his previous owners left him with his "manhood" so he now pees on everything he deems as "his". And he is quite obviously dumb as a rock. I am aware we also have 2 kids and an increasing issues with our geriatric mess of an other dog. All that considered, I am still super attached to him. He is, after all, freakin hysterical (see attached pictures), and the best damn puggler in the house (he will puggle on my lap for hours. The fact that he is a pug mix gives us (ok me) hour of entertainment making up words to mix with pug, like pugtastic, pugtacular, puggle, pugly...Also, he is great with the kids, and frankly, I just like him, a lot and he makes me happy!

#3 I am currently wasting hours, and hours of my life waiting for doctors and test results, only to still have no diagnosis. Hours in waiting rooms, one whole flipping day at the ER, hours in exam rooms, hours waiting on techs to look at my test results, oh and about 15-20 with actual doctors. Yes, I know you are saving lives, bu for the love of Godzilla, my 2 kids and 2 dogs are not going to feed themselves. Then I get home and Chuck says "What the hell took you so long? It's been 2 hours." I want to tell him "The appointment itself only took like 1/2 an hour, but I have gotten behind on my daytime tv so I stayed on the waiting room another hour and 1/2 to catch up on All My Children and Judy Judy." I don' know why it took 2 hours it's the doctor's office that's just how it works.

#2 is another grumlbe related to my recent health issues. One word: referrals! Each new doctor, each new test the insurance company has to pre-approve and give a referral number for. REALLY? I mean REALLY? He same doctor can't run more than 1 test without a new number? Needless to say, I am in the beginning of week 3 of tests and week 4 of pain, waiting on referral # I don't know I lost track, for doctor #2 of 3 (4 if you count the ER doc) for test number 7 (ish) annnnnddddd n answers. Last test said maybe I have a "lazy stomach". WTF, a lazy stomach? Perhaps if I weren't taking so many medications to control the damn pain, my stomach would be so slow. Lord knows the rest of me has been walking around in drug induced haze for the last few weeks! I'm just sayin'.

#1 And my #1 grumble is my kids! Holy case of the cranky pants Batman!!!! It was fuss after fuss, whine after whine, tear filled moment after tear filled moment! My step-daughter is having the worsted week. To the point where Chuck is ready to snap, and my daughter has a cold so she is cranky and clingy. Chuck's daughter is always clingy, and with him just over it and me sick you can imagine patients is wearing thin. Hope we are all healthy again soon or people in China may hear my head explode over here in the US of A!

Oh and a bonus gripe. I have spent a week or 2 trying to figure out why my phone had stopped typing. I have DROID2 with the keyboard or touch screen option. Neither would let me type more than 1 word at a time before closing a screen. One day in the middle of a blog it just stopped. Turns out if I turn off the auto fill option, it works fine. Who needs a phone who tries to complete your sentences anyway? I mean I get enough of that from Chuck. ;o)

Who Made This Mess!?

Alright, one more post for tonight. (This one slightly more light hearted than the last) I pose a question to you. Yes, you anyone who maybe ready. I just saw an article on pets and anxiety level, and this is somewhat of an on going debate in my house. Do pets increase or decrease your level of happiness and anxiety? I am an animal lover! I have never NOT had a pet. At most points in my life I have had more than one for legged friend. I have an especially soft spot for dogs. They are loyal, they accept you for just who you are, and they are ALWAYS happy to see you. And over all, they are pretty simplistic in that if you love them and treat them well, they return that energy too you. Each dog has its own unique personality and issues, just like humans. So in our house we have pets, and I adore them. They make me laugh. They snuggle with me. They show me affection when I am lonely, and they watch over us as a family. Protect us from the evil thunder storm, or the dreaded neighborhood bunny. (We live in a pretty mellow little town) That being said our pets are what I call "special needs" animals. In other words they are rescue animals who have some issues. They both have some degree of separation anxiety making them ESPECIALLY needy all the time and constantly under foot. One suffers so severely that she become panicked and distructive when left alone (less so now that she is ederly and not as mobile) They other is super sweet but really not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so to speak. Also, needs constant supervision because he likes to mark things as being his. Once even went as far as to make me as his territory. Needless to say, there is often quite a lot of cleaning up after them to do. In combination with the added financial burden, you can understand there is some level of stress that goes along with this. Now Chuck never really had pets growing up, so this whole experience is new to him. He enjoys them and is attached to them, but let's be honest, he would probably not have a pet if it were not for me. They are definitely NOT his four legged babies like they are mine. His argument is that with kids and all we have had going on for the last year, that they are just one more thing to worry about, and they are. Some days I feel like he is right and it is too much for us, but the next minute one of them makes me laugh so hard, or feel so loved that I can't imagine not having them. It is hard to find that balance though, between work and enjoyment, and between pet lover and pet liker. So do they add to our happiness as a family, or our anxiety?