Positivity! (This is my first attempt, so be patient with me!)

I am completely awesome. (And "awesome" is a word I almost NEVER use, because it conjures up surfers way back in the 80's and one would think that after 25 years or so, it would've ceased being used constantly, but it hasn't, and so I hold it in reserve for things that truly ARE awesome--that is, worthy of awe. Which is what I am.)

Behold.

I have recently become the recipient of a nice bit of swag from the Hill's people, the makers of Science Diet doggie food. The anatomy atlas above is full of drawings of common issues and diseases seen in veterinary practices. It doesn't SOUND particularly exciting, but it really is. The the part about it that makes ME awesome is that I won it. On our last day of class, we were given a sheet of questions we needed to answer about various dog foods. I had the highest score and was able to choose between this book and a CD with feeding stuff on it. Actually, this book is pretty coveted among tech students--we like pretty pictures of spleens.

Now, all this stuff came in the mail today. A mouse pad, a t-shirt, a bandanna for Moe (which he won't wear, because it doesn't mesh with his fashion aesthetic,) and a cool hardback book that I have looked at bunches of times at Half Price Books and never bought because even at half price, I am too cheap. These goodies are rewards for taking an online nutrition course that Hill's does, called the VNA, or Veterinary Nutritional Advocate. There are three modules, and for each one you finish, you get some stuff! The above stuff is for modules 1 and 2. We didn't have to do 3, but I'm wondering what I'd get if I did it. I might, just for kicks. I think it might be a tote bag, because a friend of mine who took the course last semester, had one.

It really is nice to get something tangible, something other than a grade, for doing well in a class. I mean, hopefully, doing well in these classes will get me a JOB, and subsequently some money, so that's not so bad, either.

So while I think we can all agree of my insane level of awesomeness, let us turn to something less festive but much more intriguing (at least in my opinion.) It is the fact that I can spend 75% of the average day with the girl, lamenting that I just need time to myself, and will you please quit hanging all over me, and can we quiet down for JUST A SECOND!? and I need time off, and then when she's been gone for less than 12 hours I'm already in a cold sweat wanting her back! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT! Will someone please explain this dichotomy of motherhood to me? Please? Because it makes very little sense.

And speaking of mothers, visited mine today. I got there around lunchtime, so I fed her, and then rubbed her hair until she fell asleep. Yesterday, I was standing in line at a store where a teenage girl was talking to her mother in a way that made me want to walk up to her and very politely knock her teeth down her attitude-spouting throat, and I wondered what she'd say if I said to her that I wished I had a mother I could talk to at ALL. Probably would have rolled her eyes and called me a bitch. But I do wish that.

Boy. This "dealing with stuff" thing is so difficult sometimes! But for those of us gifted with an abundance of awsomosity--a mere trifle!