One Rare Time That "Auntie Nicole" Laughed Of Late

With "Auntie Michelle" withholding Reilly from "Momma" once again, at least "Momma" has time to write another quick entry—an entry that is actually a little upbeat for a change. At least in the painful moments, "Momma" can think of moments like the one in which poor Reilly bested her toy-stealing cousin, whom "Auntie Nicole" first mistook for a toy—and quickly realized that she mistook for a toy as she went to reach for her and play with Reilly.

In between being mistaken for a furry toy and getting an actual toy taken from her snatch by Reilly, Camille decided to keep stealing a destuffed-and-desqueakered ball from "Auntie Nicole" every time that she would try to give it to Reilly—run in between "Auntie Nicole" and Reilly to get it, play tug of war, etc.—Cam insisted on Rei's lack of being able to get the toy.

Finally, "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" threw the toy for both of them—and Reilly got it! Of course, "Mom-Mom" later had to remove the piece of cloth that Camille tore of it from Reilly's mouth—and that "Momma" tucked into the ball when she threw it for Cam and Ri.

Incidentally:

1. The laughter, of course, was marred by the OCD/Anxiety, etc.
2. "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" still thinks about how Reilly doesn't have a "Daddy" and Camille doesn't have an "uncle" with whom to share moments like that—so, loneliness definitely marred the laughter in Camille's bratiness. 

"Momma" Worries For Reilly & Herself As Life Continues To Close In On Her And, Thus, Reilly

In an article that "Momma" read recently, the article's author quoted Dr. Brené Brown: 

"Waking up every day and loving someone who may or may not love us back, whose safety we can’t ensure, who may stay in our lives or may leave without a moment’s notice, who may be loyal to the day they die or betray us tomorrow—that’s vulnerability."

Puppies—including adult puppies—are truly as loyal as any creature can be. Meanwhile, especially when humans get in the way of that loyalty can be incredibly frustrating—especially when the humans who get in the way do so because they take advantage of a more-vulnerable human—as "Momma" is typing this, for example, "Auntie Michelle" is deliberately holding off from bringing Reilly downstairs to take Reilly potty. 

"Auntie Michelle" darned well knows that she wouldn't take advantage if "Momma" did not have Cerebral Palsy, because she couldn't take advantage(!)—unless "Momma" had another physical disability (whether a visible one or an invisible one, and whether another neurophysical one or a non-neurophysical one) and provided that "Momma"'s mental illnesses weren't debilitatingly flaring up, "Momma" could safely take Reilly out at night. 

"Momma" has also told "Auntie Michelle" and "Mom-Mom" this—i.e., that they couldn't take advantage of "Momma" re Reilly if she didn't have a physical disability—several times—and they know deep in their hearts that they do it even if and when they do it subconsciously.

That's part of why "Momma" blogs so much about Reilly needing a "Daddy" and "Momma" needing a helpmate. By the way, speaking of a "Daddy" for Reilly and a helpmate for "Momma", "Momma" recently wrote:

"While "Momma" has some ideas about whom Reisy's "Daddy" might be (or at least whom she hopes that he might be), she's not sure that she's currently—and she's more sure that she's currently not—in a position to share her specific thoughts about that with anyone but God, Reisy (even though Reisy is a canine—specifically, an adult puppy known as a "dog"—as opposed to a human), and a few other people. If anything, the case seems to be that whoever Reisy's "Daddy" is might have to tell "Momma"—especially if he's among those whom "Momma" thinks strongly might be Reisy's "Daddy"."

That's part of why "Momma" requoted Dr. Brown—and whether she has to look or has already found him, she still has to wait either way. 😒

The Manuscript For the Book About Reilly Is In Progress

The book has the following introduction and will, God willing, be submitted for publication and published soon:

Introduction: After “Momma” Began Blogging About Reilly & Made A Facebook Page About Her…    
 
 
 
That’s how this book came to be written. By the way, that post was written on October 25, 2016—or Tishri 24-25, 5776. Also, the posts that are contained in this book were written from 2014 to October 31, 2016—or from 5774-Tishri 29 and 30, 5776.
 
 

Mischief Night And "Momma"'s Kiboshed Costume Idea

1. The kiboshed costume idea: a cone as the suction, a thundershirt or a jacket as the vacuum bag, and the tail as the handle. After all, both already have cones; Camille has a thundershirt, and Camille and Reilly have jackets; and we could've just gently wrapped cloth or tissue paper around Camille's and Reilly's tails.
2. Mischief night: Camille steals toys from Reilly; Reilly tries to, eh, dominate Camille when she tries to steal the dreidel toy; both mischievously beg at the table for salmon, etc..

In other words, Halloween Eve was normal for what a normal Halloween Eve is at Reilly's and Camille's house.

PS Perhaps Reilly's Mischief Day was yesterday.

A Short List Of Reilly's Saturday Antics

1. Going into the upstairs bathroom and sniffing the toilet rim—as "Momma" later found out, that was not the first time that Reilly had done that—and this is part of why Reilly is not allowed in the bathroom.
2. Begging to go on a walk when "Mom-Mom" was taking Camille to the vet—Reilly wondered why she couldn't go, and she looked out of one of the family room windows as "Mom-Mom" and Camille drove by the side of the house.
3. Taking a chunk of peanut butter that "Auntie Michelle" accidentally dropped on the floor and biting "Auntie Michelle" as she refused to drop it—and even as she came over to "Momma" and went outside with "Auntie Michelle" to "go potty", she was still licking the peanut butter!

Incidental note: While "Momma" has some ideas about whom Reisy's "Daddy" might be (or at least whom she hopes that he might be), she's not sure that she's currently—and she's more sure that she's currently not—in a position to share her specific thoughts about that with anyone but God, Reisy (even though Reisy is a canine—specifically, an adult puppy known as a "dog"—as opposed to a human), and a few other people. If anything, the case seems to be that whoever Reisy's "Daddy" is might have to tell "Momma"—especially if he's among those whom "Momma" thinks strongly might be Reisy's "Daddy".

PS "Reisy" is one of Reilly's nicknames.

An Accidentally-Smoked Cutting Board, A Screen Door, And A ~3-Hour Chase—Short Version

1. "Momma" accidentally turns on the wrong burner—she means to turn on the burner with the water-and-lavender-oil-filled pot on it.
2. A sound like a fire alarm is going off—that's when "Momma" becomes aware of the smoke.
3. "Momma" attempts to clear the later-thrown-away cutting board off of the burner, put as much as cold water on the burner as possible via squeezing a cloth—she had to do the same to the too-hot-to-touch board.
4. She turned on the fans, opened the windows, turned off the heater, and opened the backyard door in the family room.
5. With the screen door open and "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" trying to reach to close it, Reilly and Camille burst out into the backyard.
6. What finally bribed Camille to come inside was to play with "Froggie".
7. Meanwhile, Re-Poos-nik decided to stubbornly continue to stay outside. Never mind "Momma"'s use of the spray bottle, treats, gentle pushes with a stick, etc.. What finally bribed Reilly was the promise of a belly rub.
8. In between the use the spray bottle and belly-rub promise, "Momma" had to call the non-emergency police to try to help her catch Ri. The non-emergency police, though, sadly could not send anyone to help her.
9. Cam got yogurt and peanut butter as a treat as well as a stomach helper. Reisy also got some yogurt and peanut butter, mainly for her "nasties"-digesting stomach.
10. Meanwhile, the house has a faint and nice smoky smell to it; the burn is still on the burner, and "Mom-Mom"—even though "Momma"'s 26—forbids her from using the stove when she's not home—despite that "Momma" diffused the smoke, called "Mom-Mom" to tell her shortly after it happened, etc..

Though I Forgive And Don't Begrudge, I Don't Forget

I'd be absolutely foolish to let my guard down and pretend that someone didn't wrong me when he or she did wrong me, especially when he or she comes back to slander and/or libel me about what he or she said and/or did. In fact, as I've come to know because of how I was abused during my childhood, one's placement of blame on his or her victim of slander and/or libel is abuse on top of abuse—that kind of abuse is known as verbal abuse and/or emotional/mental abuse:

• Verbal Abuse occurs when one person uses words and body language to inappropriately criticize another person. Verbal abuse often involves 'putdowns' and name-calling intended to make the victim feel they are not worthy of love or respect, and that they do not have ability or talent. If the victim speaks up against these statements, they are often told that the criticisms were "just a joke", and that it is their own problem that they do not find the joke funny. They may also be told that no abuse is happening; that it is "all in their head". Verbal abuse is dangerous because it is often not easily recognized as abuse, and therefore it can go on for extended periods, causing severe damage to victim's self-esteem and self-worth. Damaged victims may fail to take advantage of opportunities that would enrich their lives because they come to believe they are not worthy of those opportunities.

• Psychological Abuse (also known as mental abuse or emotional abuse) occurs when one person controls information available to another person so as to manipulate that person's sense of reality; what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. For example, [a form of the most-extreme kinds of] psychological abuse [occurs] when a pedophile tells a child victim that [he or] she caused the pedophile to abuse [him or] her because [he or] she is a 'slut' who 'tempted' the pedophile. Psychological abuse often contains strong emotionally manipulative content designed to force the victim to comply with the abuser's wishes. It may be emotional abuse in this sense when it is designed to cause emotional pain to victims or to “mess with their heads” in attempts to gain compliance and counter any resistance. Alternatively, psychological abuse may occur when one victim is forced to watch another be abused in some fashion (verbally, emotionally, physically or sexually). Like verbal abuse, psychological abuse is often not recognized as abuse early on and can result in serious sequela (psychological after effects) later on.

You'd be foolish to think that I won't call you out on it or take other actions of admonishment regarding you, and I have even reported threats of violence on Twitter to both Twitter and the authorities. Imagine, then, what actions of admonishment I'd take offline if I'm willing to report threats that are seemingly small because they are online—for example, I'd threaten to sue you if I had to do so, whether I'd get a pro-bono lawyer or ask the court to make you pay legal costs and any necessary damage payments. By the way, ask a few people whom I had to threaten with legal action for their clear violation of the ADA—once I threatened the action and reaffirmed my threat, they suddenly decided to make the accommodation which they needed to make.

In conclusion, I remind you that "forgive and forget" means "forgive and don't begrudge"—not "forgive and pretend that it never happened".