Well, I think it’s safe to say that Bart the Bird does not love me anymore.  He attacked me Saturday.  Like, flew across the room attacked me.  Fortunately I saw him coming and was able to swear and drop into bear attack defense position (curled up, covering my face and head).  But a little background information is necessary to make this totally make sense.

 

My mom flew into town for the first time in 10 years.  My brother and I have a rather strained relationship with her, so everyone was a little on edge.   She was staying with me, so I took her over to my brother’s at lunch to get together and show off his house, etc.

 

Bart was his normal obnoxious self, but really, he was fine.   So my brother put him up on his shoulder and took him over to the table.  No big deal.  I was in the kitchen and when I walked in I saw there wasn’t a lot of space for me to get by, so I decided to walk around the room the long way just to be safe.  But stupidly, it put me very close to his “territory”.  I saw him take off towards me, I screamed and curled up the best I could.  I felt him land on my back and the next thing I knew, he had grabbed me by the ear.   And OMG, did that hurt.  I was trying to pry his beak off of me and was just about to grab him by the neck when my brother got him off.  Less than 10 seconds total. So now the girls are crying and I just quickly put my hand over my ear, really not sure if he had hurt me badly or not.  I just kept saying, “I’m OK, I’m OK” to the girls as I walked to the bathroom (followed by a parade of people, which I really didn’t need right then).  So I take my hand down and really, it’s not bad.  The ear is swollen and red, and there is a definite hole from his beak which is bleeding, but it didn’t go all the way through and there is nothing missing.  The back side is torn up, but I can’t see that, and my ear is going numb, so I’m not really that upset.  But my mom is going on and on about how I should have just killed Bart, how dangerous he is, blah blah blah, and I looked at her and said, “Why would I kill something that is so important to him?”

 

I just felt really bad for my brother.  He was so upset.

 

 But, a little peroxide and neosporin and I'm almost as good as new. I now call Bart Killer and I just won’t go in if he’s not locked up.

 

 

Shannon told me a story about school when we were driving home yesterday.  She had a class writing assignment and had to write a story about her favorite vacation.  She raised her hand and said, “But I’ve never been on vacation.”  

 

At least I made it home and into the bathroom before I started crying.

Remember when I forgot to put the money under Emma’s pillow and had to sneak it under during the day?  Well, this little boy at the after school program was telling her that it was her parents that put money under the pillow, not the toothfairy.  And Shannon walks over and says, “Oh yeah? Well, then how did the money get put under Emma’s pillow while we were at Walmart?  My mom couldn’t be in two places at once.”

 

The poor boy had no answer.

 

And my brother and Bart are fine-no flooding!

I just visited Rhonda's site and think she has the right idea.  While I think it is important to remember, to still grieve for those lost, today especially, I am going to be grateful. 

 

For everything, the good and the bad.  Everything and everyone who has shaped who I am.

 

And I definitely will not take these things for granted.