Running and Beer

It's been ONE OF THOSE WEEKS. One of those weeks where I take care of my darling little girl all day, then put her to bed, then drive 30 minutes to my old lab to finish up THE EXPERIMENT THAT WILL NOT DIE. (Did I finish it? No. Do I want to talk about it? No.) Then I get home and my darling little girl decides that sleeping even for 5 hours straight is for CHUMPS and she will wake up multiple times tonight, thank you. The kind of week where my parents flew to Palm Springs and I volunteered to watch their puppy with bladder control issues, Stanley. And my dog, Stella, goes on a hunger strike. (Given their names, it's not a surprise that he's a bully. But I really wonder if this is what Tennessee Williams had in mind.)

It was the kind of week that by the time Thursday rolled around, I really dawdled getting ready to go to the lab. Then I looked out the window, and saw that it was snowing. SNOWING. IN THE LAST WEEK OF MAY. That's when I had what I like to call a "fuck this" moment, got a beer, and sat down to enjoy the evening.

Of course, that night Hannah did not want to sleep and the next morning Stanley wanted to be up early, so by Friday noon the cranky factor was on high. Therefore I decided to meet my friend Jaime at the mall for a coffee and maybe to yell at some Telus employees. I treated myself to a nice coffee, wandered through the bookstore, and put my hand casually on the stroller handle, where I felt something weird.

Before I go on I should explain that our house is small and full of baby stuff at the moment. Also, Brian is developing our basement so there is not a lot of room for storage. I have become uncharacteristically frustrated with the clutter so the stroller has been spending a few evenings outside, on the deck. In fact it had been outside all night before. You might see where this is going.

Back to my idyllic afternoon in the bookstore. I put my hand on the handlebar of the stroller and felt something weird. I looked down, and IT WAS A SPIDER!! Okay, if you know me, you know that I. Do. Not. Like. Bugs. However, they seem to like me. When I was in Michigan it was only when my roommate was away that the centipedes came out to drink from my apple juice. So when I saw this spider did I jump into action to save my infant daughter? No. Sadly, I swore. A lot. And colourfully. And then - and this is the worst part - got a stranger to flick the spider off my stroller.

New motherhood low. Hannah thought it was hilarious. The only thing to do in such a situation - a week of frustration, dog pee and finally humiliation in the mall, is continue shopping, then go home, go for a run, and start drinking beer. Hope Hannah likes formula tonight.