Today has been feeling like a day where I should have just stayed in bed, snuggled under the duvet with the cats and some shows on my laptop and my knitting.

(Although I did get to sleep in, courtesy of BDH, so that was WAY nice.)

It’s cold and dreary out, and I had to run around getting groceries this morning — studiously avoiding THAT STORE — which was fine, but where in the hell did all the people come from? The grocery stores were crowded and busy, and there was a lot of traffic on the roads. And why are the kids not in school? Is it a holiday? Why didn’t somebody tell me?

I spent way too much money for the measly bins of groceries I ended up with. Milk, vitamins, meat… big ticket items. Le sigh. I meant to go light on the spending today, what with Christmas looming big on our Visa card. Oh well.

I got home to find that our daughter’s name change paperwork was sent back AGAIN. This time, they say our vet, who was our guarantor on all our travel/passport documents and consequently on this as well, and who has known us for 15 years, is not valid. They indicate that they need a “legally qualified medical practitioner”, which she IS… Gah. How I HATE those bastards in Thunder Bay. She’s apparently okay as a guarantor on my passport, but not to do a simple name change? NICE. Get your shit together, government. AND every time they send this stuff back, we have to pay AGAIN to send it BACK to them.

I HATE THEM.

So that’s been bugging.

Plus, with the holidays coming around, there’s always the inevitable discussions and considerations around what to do about my estranged family. It’s a question that we toss around and around and around. It’s never a fun thing to think about; it just serves to get us stirred up and angry and resentful. So as we drove around in the car today, I was talking about it with Stinkerbelle. Not that she has much to say about the matter, but it’s nice to have a sympathetic ear. She’s a good listener. Also, now that she is in the car with me all the time, I can talk and it doesn’t look like I am just a sad case who drives around and talks to herself. Another bonus to having kids!

And then there’s just the everyday hassles of preparing for Christmas. We’re a few weeks out, so we really have to get some things done. Cleaning, organizing, making lists, checking them twice (no, THAT part is all done!)… there IS a lot to get done. And I am really NOT in the mood, but I think this year, we may have to break the traditional rule and start trying to get decorating and festive BEFORE my birthday. I don’t much give a fiddler’s fart for my birthday anymore anyway, since there’s someone else in the house now for whom festivities are FAR more important. But we DO have to get started.

And to top things off, That Baby has NOT been going to bed well this week, or waking at odd hours. I have been alone much of the evenings this week due to BDH’s soccer schedule, which would be fine EXCEPT for those times when it takes 2 hours to get That Baby to go to sleep and there’s much crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Or when she wakes at 5 am. I wish she could just tell us what the problem is — are you teething? growing pains? gas? all of the above? — because then we could fix it, and I could have a quiet evening to myself that does not involve the sound of screaming baby through a monitor or trucking up and down the stairs to see what is the matter.

So this week we are tired and cranky. All of us.

So, yeah. Not a banner day, mood-wise. It really IS the House of Peevish around here. And if That Baby is fussing at bedtime again tonight, it’s going to be a full house.

Change is not easy for a lot of people.

For me, it depends. Some sorts of change are good — like, say, parenthood. Others? Not so much. Today, for instance, I ran smack dab into change that frankly, I am not so good with.

I, like most people, have issues with the dentist. I had very bad dental experiences as a child, which not only gave me a great terror of dental needles, but also led me to stop going to the dentist altogether for a good 5 years as a teenager. This concerned my father, as it would any parent. So he consulted his dentist about what to do. His dentist said, “You tell her to come here. Tell her that I promise her that there will be NO needles, and that it WON’T hurt.”

I was skeptical. My father said, “He promised.”

So I tried it. And the dentist was as good as his word: there were no needles, and it did not hurt. In fact, he kept his promises for a good 10 years at least, until one day he finally brought in a needle and said to me with a wink, “Oh, I think you’re old enough to handle it.” But beyond that, he really kept his promises.

And then he wanted to retire. So he started working part time, and brought on two young, ambitious dentists. They were awesome, and the transition was gradual. I slowly stopped seeing my old dentist, and began seeing these new dentists.

They understood my file, and they respected my fears, and they were really cool to work with. One dentist shared my love of alternative music — what’s not to love about a dentist with a mohawk and piercings? The other, my main dentist, was a woman my age going through relationship and work and fertility issues just like me. So we often had a lot to talk about.

They also brought in great staff. And when you didn’t work well with one hygenist, they’d switch you to another until you found someone you worked well with. And since I have to go every 3 months, this was especially important, since I primarily see the hygenist.

So this week, I got a reminder call about my appointment, which was this morning. The message was a typical reminder, except it said: Oh by the way, your hygenist C has moved to Ottawa, so you will be seeing S tomorrow.

Wha…?

This was bad news. I was nervous all night. I loved C. I had her for a few years, and she and I really hit it off. She knew how to work on my problem teeth and gums, and I didn’t dread going to the dentist anymore. And now, this was going to change?

But I sucked it up and thought, okay, there’s nothing I can do about it, and they’ll move me around if it doesn’t work, right? So I figured I’d give it a go.

I got to the dentist this morning, and was ushered in by someone I didn’t know but assumed was S. Turns out, it wasn’t. She was a tech who was going to take my x-rays. Okay.

I finally met S, who ushered me to a chair in the back. She seemed nice, although right off she didn’t make me feel as confident in her skill as I always did with C, (by virtue of mentioning SCURVY – !!!) but I figured maybe she’d be good with the tools. So I thought I’d be patient and see.

And that is when she said: Oh BTW, Dr. V has sold the practice. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in June and decided he couldn’t carry on.

Whaaaa…?

I was dumbfounded. No Dr. V?? No more alternative music in the office?? But hey, the guy’s having a health crisis, stop thinking about yourself, woman. I was shocked, but I thought, oh well, at least Dr. J is still here, and she’s my main dentist anyway.

And that’s when the hygenist said: Oh BTW, Dr. J has quit and has gone into practice with her husband.

WHAAAAA…?

W? T? F?

If I had not been sitting down, I would have needed to sit down.

This was a LOT of change. And change of this sort, involving my entire dental practice, is BAD. VERY, VERY BAD.

I was in shock. But it was time for the cleaning.

She was no C, I can tell you that. She was a little rough, and not nearly, NEARLY as thorough as C, either.

I was really starting to stress.

But we finished up, and I met the new dentist. He seems very nice.

Nice does not mean good, nor does it mean no pain. I am still angsty about the whole thing.

So I drove home in a bit of shock. I mean, it has been over 20 years. After all it took to get me there, I got comfortable and trusted the staff and was actually unafraid to go to the dentist. I actually found cleaning appointments to be relaxing. I have even been known to have the odd needle without freaking completely the hell out, mostly with C there holding my hand through it, but STILL.

And now, everything is gone. My comfort zone has been COMPLETELY eradicated. So I don’t know what I will do.

But I am not afraid to say, when it comes to my dentistry? Change is BAD.

A conversation earlier today:

CinnamonOpus says: By the way, YOUR DAUGHTER is walking around wearing her pants like a bib and saying “Bib!”
Big Damn Hero says: LOL that’s my girl!
CinnamonOpus says: She has her chin clamped to her chest and her pants tucked in there and she’s walking around saying “Bib! Bib! Bib!” and laughing. While alternately clubbing me with that computer cushion table thingy. And farting.
Big Damn Hero says: Wow, are we sure she is not my biological child?
CinnamonOpus says: I know!

So, around here, the task of bathing That Baby falls to whoever is available. Often times it is BDH, because I have had a bad back and shoulder these past few months.

We have gotten some tub toys for That Baby to help with bathtime — specifically, floating alphabet letters. Two sets, actually, so that we have two of each letter and can spell more. BDH likes to spell with That Baby. He will pick out letters and stick them to the side of the tub, teaching Stinkerbelle her name or other simple words like “cat” or “baby”. And then, when bathtime is done, the letters are tossed into their tubside caddy until next time.

So, imagine my surprise to come into the bathroom one morning, and look over at the tub wall to see, in bright multicoloured letters:

UHOH

MR BOB        MAGIC

I do not know what it means.

I’m kind of intrigued. Also? A little scared.

I imagine this is how the archaeologists who discovered those prehistoric cave paintings in France felt. Or maybe the people who tried to decipher the Rosetta Stone.

GAH. We are SO over this cold thing already.

I am totally ready to break up with this cold. “Yeah, cold? Yeah, I think we should stop seeing each other. No, it’s not me, it’s YOU.”

Stinkerbelle has had a rough go the past few days. She’s had a fever since, what, Thursday or Friday? She’s had her first cough and chest cold, which means that she’s learning to cough, essentially… so, choking and gagging a lot of the time (yesterday, enough to throw up her breakfast all over herself). And she’s been coughing all night long all weekend, which means nobody around here has gotten much sleep.

Today is the first day since last week that we’ve seen glimmers of her little Miss Firecracker self. And even still, she’s tired.

Needless to say, we’re staying in today, probably tomorrow too. She won’t be going to swimming lessons tomorrow.

And luckily (or unluckily, depending on perspective), she’s in to the doctor on Wednesday for her 18 month MMR and vaccination — and hopefully a flu shot and H1N1 too. But we’ll have to see on that. I’m guessing they won’t want to give her 57 shots in one go. But even if they schedule her flu/H1N1 shots for another day, I’ll be happy, because that’s one less thing we’ll have to worry about. And they can check on her and make sure that she’s getting over this cold just fine.

And neither BDH nor I have felt much like ourselves. Chest colds wreak havoc on me, with my asthma, and I’ve been sneezing my brains out. (I have a big, hearty sneeze. No dainty sneezes or little girly multi-sneezing for me. Oh no. If I am going to sneeze, then I am GOING FOR IT, man.) BDH has a cough powerful enough to blow the windows out, or at the very least hurt your eardrums. And we’re both pooped right out.

(Still exercising, though, for those of you following along with our 100 Day Challenge. Day 57 today! Woot!)

So yeah. TOTALLY ready to be done with this cold.

There’s a lot I have to catch up on. Housework, groceries, bills to be paid, and other stuff around the house wait to be done. I have to get caught up on cooking and baking and planning our meals. There are some play dates to be planned. I have to start planning my Christmas baking. I have to get to the post office.

Also, I have to get caught up on my quilt posts. I have to tell you all about some gorgeous fabrics and wishes that have come in: first, from Dianne and Chris and the legendary Hana of song and story, and also from the lovely and talented Alana. So I will have to get my camera out and get some pictures taken. And I have to update my quilt page, which (since doing some server changes months back) is a bit of a tedious process, but has to get done.

But none of that will get done today. Possibly not even tomorrow.

For today, there is a little girl with a not very friendly cough, a very runny nose and a hint of a fever who still needs love and cuddles. And a whole lot of nose wiping. And if that means we sit and snuggle under a blanket in front of her very favourite videos, well that is just fine by me.

We’re SO over this cold already. But, if I am honest, there’s a little part of me that kinda loves that Little Miss Busy and Independent needs me.