NEW BLOG ADDRESS!!!

If you are checking this blog posting and finding this message it is because you haven’t been on my mailing list…I have moved the blog to an easier address to remember. WWW.PEANUTBUTTERSMUDGES.WORDPRESS.COM …now the URL coincides with the name of my blog.

If you want to receive automatic email updates of my new blog postings, please go the the new blog location and enter your email address in the “Subscribe to Smudges” box in the top right hand corner and wordpress will send you an update whenever I write anything in the blog. There will be no more updates on this site…. so please go to www.PeanutButterSmudges.wordpress.com for all my ramblings!

Thanks for being interested in my writing,

Lola Saldia 🙂

The Pen is Truly Mightier than the Sword

http://www.insidehalton.com/opinion/letters/article/894326–double-standard-for-picking-up-after-pets

Double standard for picking up after pets

Dear Editor:  On Friday, I was greeted by a huge pile of dog feces on my front step.

I seems someone thought my dog had been loose and pooped on their lawn. This person, seemingly lacking in class or understanding of constructive adult problem-solving, apparently felt the only option was to childishly throw it at the home of a resident who may or may not have been responsible.

In this particular instance, my dog wasn’t the offending perpetrator, although I will stipulate that occasionally my puppy has been off the leash, as we have children who are still learning to keep doors and gates closed.

My issue isn’t with this person, it’s with the general culture of dislike for dogs and their owners who intentionally or accidentally leave dog poop behind, while allowing more acceptance of outdoor cats.

Why do I have to be diligent about picking up after my dog — which I do regularly — while cat owners seem to feel free to open their back doors and let the community serve as their litter box?

Why do dog owners obey the municipal bylaw about picking up after their dogs while many cat owners let their cats roam free, for what seems to be the express purpose of pooping in my yard?

Lola Saldia

Back-to-School

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”…usually this song pops into your head when you think of Christmas shopping and family visiting for the holidays, but now Staples has claimed this popular song as part of it’s commercial campaign to celebrate the Back-to-School season. 

I watched the commercial the other day and it got me thinking, “Is this the most wonderful time of the year for me?” ironically, despite my children having spent the last 12 days of August bickering over whose turn it was to choose the cereal, or who gets stuck with the earphones that don’t work as well, I am going to miss them when they are back in school full time. There I said it. Sue me. I know that most people are thinking that I must be crazy to be sad that they are going back to school; and don’t get me wrong, I’m going to enjoy a little bit of free time each day and enjoying a full cup of coffee while it’s hot or an uninterupted shower. But I will also miss the lazing around on the sofa taking turns snuggling the dog or reading a book. I will miss playing Wii with the kids who marvel at my athletic ability because they haven’t realized the playing Wii games doesn’t really involve full body interaction, really only a little flick of the wrist is needed. I will miss the hours spent at the splash pad and how the icky things discovered at the Lowville park creek mysteriously finding their way into my car.

Back-to-school is great because it brings routine and consistency to our home, schedule and family. But it also means that my babies are out in the world marveling and learning with other people besides Mommy. For 6 and a half hours a day, someone else gets to hear their incessant questions and wipe their tears when they fall off the monkey bars. I miss that. I guess the only consolation is that rather than being ready to lock them in separate towers to keep them from fighting by 3:10pm, I am actually anxious to see them and hug them and hear all about their day!

More Funny Words

Perhaps because it’s summertime so I am bored or perhaps because I am finding some more time to read; whatever the reason, I have words on my mind. So I have decided to release a second edition of Funny Words That I Love….hope there are some here you enjoy as well, or maybe you’ve never heard before and you can start using them too!

Impervious -incapable of being influenced, persuaded, or affected. That’s right, when they are fighting, my children are “impervious” to the sound of my voice shouting at them to stop!

Lascivious – inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd. It sounds so bad, perhaps people would be less inclined to behave Lasciviouosly if we used that word more often.

Chortle – to chuckle gleefully. You can almost envision the laughing person actually snorting from the pure glee.

Quixotic – extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable. Visions of Don Quixote dancing in my head!

Guffaw – to laugh loudly and boisterously. This word just makes me want to burst out laughing just so I can use it, why don’t we use “guffaw” any more??

Cacophony -a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds:  eg. “the cacophony produced by city traffic at midday.” I like using this word, it sounds so much more dramatic than “lots of noise”

Superfluous – being more than is sufficient or required; excessive. As in, any more “letter u’s” in this word would simply be “superfluous”.

Eviscerate – to remove the entrails from; Yep, exactly what it sounds like!

Obstreperous -resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly, boisterous, clamorous, as in opstreperous children. I happen to be an expert in dealing with obstreperous behaviour.

Steatopygia – extreme accumulation of fat on and about the buttocks, esp. of women. Honestly, this is a real condition…of course I don’t know what it looks like or anything, you’ll have to look it up.

Loquacious – talking or tending to talk too much or freely; talkative. I have no idea what THIS word means. Really.