Screaming at Squirrels

Happy Friday, boys and girls! It's been kind of a rough week or two. My workload for my job has been a bit heavier, and so has Ashton's. We've had our ups and downs at the homestead. Manimal continues his climbing adventures, and The Mouth smacked her face HARD on the concrete walk leading up to the back door of our house right before Easter. She was a TOTAL mess. On the upside, two weeks later, she no longer looks like she was in a bar fight.

These things, in addition to some others, contribute to my lack of motivation to write. But I should, because, of course, a., The Fans, and b., I really do want my kids to have some of our perspective of this unprecedented time and situation.

I don't have a lot to say- just some musings from our oasis in this time of COVID-19, and of course, some pics. :)

So, the musings (most of these are not original, I'm just venting):

• Why does working remotely make it easier for people to be nastier/more dismissive? I have a looooooong memory, and we WILL be back in the office some day.....

• Do people truly have no concept of distance? Why is staying 6 feet apart at the grocery store so difficult? I know my arms are about 2 feet long, and I assume, barring a medical condition, that most people's are, so can we all just do some basic math and spacial relations?

• Why, even after many announcements about the fact that there isn't really a food/supply shortage, can I still NOT find things I need when shopping? Whoever is buying my fat-free half-and-half needs to give it a rest already. (You are causing me coffee-making stress, and that cup makes the day go MUCH more smoothly, so CUT IT OUT.)

I realize that these are very privileged-person rantings, so I'll stop now. We have jobs and paychecks, we received our stimulus money, and we are fine. But, oh, the stupid running around out there.... that's what should stay at home!

So, OK.... getting to the other, cuter but weirder, stuff. Manimal, is, as I mentioned, still climbing. "To the windows, to the walls...." Just kidding. But he does get on the fireplace, ALL tables, the sofa, the chairs that we pull out to keep him from getting on the tables. And sometimes, when he climbs, he gets a hold of things that cause us chagrin as parents, since he puts everything in his mouth. Case in point:

Yup, those are teeth-marks in our Lush bar lotion. Manimal did NOT enjoy the taste of this. I don't know why- it's called Snowflake.

The Mouth is in the process of losing her marbles, slowly, during this time. When she has finished entertaining herself for the day, and she cannot have engagement from us in the form of crafts with Mommy or 'beauty salon' with Daddy,

she starts wearing all of the fancier dresses in her closet, often on top of her other clothes. I'm not gonna lie to you- she looks crazy, with a capital 'C'.

And now, this loony nugget has decided that she is the protector of all of the birds in our yard, especially their food supply, and wants to monitor the bird feeders all of the time. There is one squirrel that won't leave the suet alone. And so, in typical 'Mouth' fashion, when she is made aware that he is on the feeder, she runs to the sliding door, heaves it open with a mighty shove, and SCREAMS at the squirrel- "Get out of here, Squirrel! Mind your business!"

And we laugh...hysterically. The drama, volume, and sincerity are just priceless. Not sure if our neighbors agree. But the cardinals and woodpeckers appreciate her particular brand of loyalty. :)

So, a word of advice to all. If you need to relieve some stress, just yell at the squirrels. They'll get over it, and you'll feel better.

Enjoy the weekend, doing what you were doing all of the rest of the days this week!

The Pilkertons