I haven’t been blogging much.
Nothing like stating the obvious, eh?
Everyday I sit down and open my laptop and start writing a post to publish here on RMN. And almost everyday, without fail, I scrap the post or save it to finish another day.
I haven’t been able to write what I want and I’m feeling bound and gagged like my husband tied me up with soft purple satin strips and walked away while leaving the ball-gag in so he could go get something to eat.
(Not that he’d ever do such a thing. Really.)
I could tell you I’m weighted down with grief as of late and I’m having a hard time finding my joy. But that would be lying.Â
I could say I have been so busy sitting around doing nothing I haven’t had time to compose anything worthy of publishing. But one look at my daily twitter account would betray that falsehood quicker than when the kleenex I used to pad my bra in tenth grade fell out at the feet of the cutest boy in my class.
(It is a mystery why I was such a geek back then when I am the epitome of coolness now. Hmm.)
The truth behind my spotty posting as of late is more complicated than the gossamer weavings of a spider’s web tucked up high in the corner of your ceiling.Â
I’m pissed off.Â
Okay, so it really isn’t that complicated. I’m mad as hell and I’m tired of muzzling myself. I’m tired of not being able to sit down and compose a post about what happens when you grab your husband’s package while on a six-hour road trip only to hit a pothole. Hint: eyes bulge out and expletives may be uttered.
I made a promise to myself when I started blogging I would focus on the funny. If it didn’t bring joy or wasn’t about remembering how to find joy, I wouldn’t write about it. My life has enough drama filled moments I don’t need to fill my time trying to recapture them.
For the most part, I’ve held true to this promise with few exceptions. I’ve never felt stifled by that decision. Until now. Now I feel as though there are things I need to get off my chest so I can resume my routine of focusing on exaggerating and twisting my daily life for the sheer pleasure of knowing my husband will read this and wish he had remembered to wear a rubber one fateful night long ago, thereby escaping a shotgun wedding and an eternity tethered to me.
So I’m going to stray off the beaten path and do what I never do. I’m going to dump all my pissiness at your proverbial feet in hopes you’ll understand why the bee has been trapped in my bonnet as of late.
Deep breath. (Stay with me peoples. It’ll be quick and painless. Like having sex while intoxicated.)Â
I’m pissed with the adoption process my husband and I have been traveling for almost two years now. I’m tired of running along side him in this hamster wheel of bureaucracy and being bound by legalities (and a healthy fear of retribution) to not speak about it.
One day, though, this path will end. I will climb the highest mountain and shout my story for sherpas and villagers everywhere to hear. Or I’ll just open my laptop and press publish. That day cannot come soon enough for me.
Bureaucracy can suck my big hairy toe.
I’m pissed with the anonymous trolls who have nothing better to do in their lives than to mock my parenting, my dead child and me. I won’t lie and say it hasn’t destroyed a bit of the joy I have found in the community of the blogosphere. I prefer my naive belief that as adults we can all agree to disagree and if you have nothing nice to say keep your big fat yap shut.
I have walked through the shadows of hell, holding my children’s hands tightly within mine, to ensure we all survived our unthinkable tragedy as unscathed as possible.
It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t fun. For any of us. For people to diminish my loss and the loss of my children pisses me off.
I don’t write about my son, Shale, for entertainment. I certainly don’t write a post about him to earn money off the revenue I make running ads in my sidebar. I write about my son to help remember him, to preserve the memory of his tiny chubby hands laced with calluses and covered in drool, or his curly blonde hair always sweaty from exertion or how he’d throw his head back and laugh when he did something he deemed extraordinarily funny.
I write about my son so my children will one day understand why I am the person I am today. How his life and his death so deeply impacted my very being and how I struggle to stay aloft the despair that threatens to pull me under every day I live, knowing I will never watch my youngest son grow to be a man.Â
I post ads on my site to create revenue so that I can donate money in his name to the Stollery Children’s Hospital. I wanted to be able to do something personally, to show my gratitude to the hospital that fought so hard to keep my son alive for as long as he was. Every damn cent I earn off my words goes straight charity.Â
I’m pissed off that my new puppy eats more scat than puppy chow and insists on kissing my face with her shitty breath. And I’m pissed off I’m dumb enough to coo over her and let it happen. Repeatedly.
I’m pissed off I am a damn klutz and am now paying the price for attempting to clean my house. This is just further proof no good can come from household chores. Â My twisted knee and myself are proof of this.
I’m pissed my son is eleven years old and still has to be reminded to clip his own damn toenails. Those suckers are like sharp little crack nails and he doesn’t even seem to notice.
Hell, I’m pissed my left boob is noticeably bigger than my right one. I feel lopsided and uneven. I know I’m not alone in this. Women everywhere have uneven boobs. But why don’t guys have unevenly sized testicles? What’s the deal with that? And why don’t bra manufacturers make bras with different shaped cups so one boob isn’t squished and spilling out while the other cup is almost so empty you are eyeballing a box of kleenex like you did in junior high.
But mostly I’m pissed off that people just don’t get it.
Life is short. There is no such thing as tomorrow. Tomorrow is a promise not always kept. I speak from experience. Why do people waste any second of the spun gold known as time as though it’s a renewable resource?
I want to teach my children to focus on finding joy and learning to be amazed with whatever path they choose to travel. To always aspire to be better not bitter.
That’s why I blog. I just needed to remind myself of this and expectorate the pissiness.
Like a cat after coughing up a hairball, I feel much better.
Care to share? Purge your pissiness. You’ll feel better. I promise.








Will
That right there is exactly why I love you. Let it out, shout it to the winds, don’t hold back, never apologize for speaking your mind. There’s always going to be detractors, fuck ‘em. They ain’t worth your time or effort. When you’re pissed just let it go, keeping it in only makes it and everything else worse.
And for the record, my right testicle is bigger than my left.
Kaila
A good purge is always therapeutic. Best wishes!
Momo Fali
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
And, just so you know there’s someone who feels your toenail pain…when referring to my daughter’s, I call them “talons”.
Maria
Purge away, lady.
I’m feeling pissy for a dumb reason today. I’m 38.5 weeks pregnant and developed stretch marks all over my thighs overnight and I’m tired of getting big and tired of people saying “it’s okay, you’re pregnant” because I may be pregnant but I’m still a total fat ass right now and it’s going to be my lame ass responsiblity if I want to get back in shape instead of drinking wine and eating junk food for the next year.
I’m pissy that my property management company fucked me out of $1500 and the thought of it keeps me up at night every night. I’m pissy that in order to take any maternity leave I have to drain our savings until it’s literally non-existent.
I hate money.
On the other hand, my son’s been hugging me non-stop all day and we had a huge giggle-tickle-fest earlier.
Last night I started bawling and he stroked my face and said “Mama, let me get the wet off you.”
And so the good wins.
Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah
*hands you a shot of tequila and a lime*
toyfoto
I’m pissed you have trolls.
I’m pissed my husband is trying to sell our house and risk future security for future “security.”
I’m pissed that I can’t sleep because of it, and if I say “no” outright he will always wonder: “what if” and probably end up looking at me and wondering “why.”
I’m pissed at all the things I can’t say because they really won’t do anyone any good. I just have to wait and hope.
And … just checking again … Yep. still pissed you have trolls.
Ernesta
Sorry to hear the adoption is taking so long – I followed one of your links back and you wrote about it over a year ago too. Good luck with it – nice to hear that proceeds help key charities although I would say that your words help more people than you know!
Grace
Wow, your husband’s testicles are the same size? Lucky woman!
Stacy
Hey tanis..
I have been reading your blog for a couple months now. I think you guys are very strong and awesome. I don’t know how i’d deal with all that if I was you, I probably wouldn’t. That is a terrible thing that has happened. But I’m sure things will be ok. And you will get a baby one of these days. Or you better. THey would be crazy not to. I’m sure you’d give them a very loving home to live in.
And life is too short. Man if only I could redo a few things from my past I would. BUt I can’t. I have to move on and face the new day. No one is guarenteed tomorrow, so we have to enjoy it for what it is.
And raging about all your troubles, is thearaputic(sp) and helps. So good for you!
And whoevers being mean and stupid, don’t let them get to you. They are not worth your time, or thought process.
Good luck with everything!
TSM
With all your fabulous fame comes weirdos and freaks to kill your joy.
Incomprehensible that anyone would choose such subjects to poke you with. May insects infest their ear canals and may their genitals shrivel and rot off. Publicly.
Carrie
Interesting. I was just wishing the other day that you’d be inclined to post a little more about Skjel when you felt up to it, because it seems like such a great tribute to your family’s love for him. The trolls can suck me. (I would never outright ask, because I know that’s entirely personal, but I’ll be happy to bear lurking witness to it.)
I wish the rest of it would even out for you.
~Sacha
Excellent post, and if I could comment on the least important (?) bit of it, to provide moral support of the highest order. My Bub? His balls are lopsided.
fidget
I’m sorry cyber space is being shitty to you. You have to realize that any decent person would have boundaries. These folks are bitter under bridge dwellers who probably never leave their home and have to wash themselves with a rag on a stick. There is a blog out there only created to bad mouth me, I decided to take it as a compliment.. as hard as it is sometimes. People are assholes. Of course, along with the buttholes, you find gems and I see, every time i come here, that you are surrounded by them
Ive wondered why you havent said much about the adoption process. I didnt want to pick a scab for you so I havent asked.
We all know that humor does not exist in a vacuum. Suck stuff happens and it’s ok to wallow in it in an unfunny way. We adore you none the less.
And charity? You do rock. My ad monies (all $2) goes right to the grocery store.
Walking With Scissors
I’m glad you gave yourself the chance to vent. No matter how many times we tell ourselves that hateful comments from trolls don’t matter, sometimes they manage to get under our skin anyway. F*ck those bastards. They probably all have zitty skin, pocket protectors and big, fat asses.
Undomestic Diva
People are such ASSHOLES. Seriously.
And Tanis, you do not need to explain why you do things, why you write things or where the money from your site goes to… because guess what… this is YOUR website. And if people have a problem with it, they can stay the fuck away.
Don’t let the dog shit on your shoe ruin the whole outfit. You rock.
Mahala
*applause*
DC Urban Dad
Word.
Bennie
I’m really not shocked that someone or some persons have acted so cruelly based upon recent events in my life. It seems the Golden Rule is no longer in vogue. There are just some folks out there you are so bitter with life that they become envious of those of us on a mission to spread joy. And yes, that is also the primary reason I blog.
Don’t let the blindness of a few cloud the mission you’ve set out to accomplish. You are too important to those of us who are your friends.
And by the way, one testicle is usually larger than the other and hangs a little lower. Keep that in mind the next time Boo pisses you off. Just don’t tell Joan.
Jean
People suck (well trolls suck). Post anything you want Tanis, we are so here to listen to you.
BTW, anyone who makes fun of a child (living, gone from this world, sick, or otherwise) should be punched multiple times in a painful spot. Sickos!
We love you and only want the best for you!
fidget
oh yeah and my right boob is hella bigger then old lefty. Right now that i’m nursing it’s waaaay noticeable and totally hilarious if he only nurses on the left side.