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.








Bush Babe
Glad you feel better Tanis!! Nothing like a good purge to clear the air and blow the cobwebs out of the proverbial creative corners of one’s brain.
I think you are amazing, witty, strong and a very loving Mum (sorry, Mom). Any kid would be very lucky to have you care for them – underneath that acidic online tongue lies a heart of pure gold. We all know that – if those adoption people cannot see that they should be in a different line of work. Seriously.
I totally understand your call on what blogging is to you – I love having people visit me and comment and share the love, but really, it’s my own little time capsule. Should something happen and I not be around tomorrow, my kids will have something real to understand their Mum. Their place in my life, how I interacted with the world, why I made some of the choices I have made. And if anyone thinks you can make a fortune off an ad in the corner of a blog, they are dreamin’. I just want to pay the postage costs of my mystery photo winners!
You blog when you are ready T. We love it, but it ain’t worth jeapordising your family over… we look forward to seeing you rise above this tough time! Feel the love and delete the negative comments from your head. THey say more about the people who make them, than they do about you.
Hugs
BB
busydad
You know how hard it is to read a post via crackberry in cold ass NY weather? A lot easier than to scroll thru 55 comments to get to this here box. But I had to do it. I had to just chime in to say whomever is doing that to you possesses not a decent fiber in his/her sad excuse for a body. Jealous I can understand. Bitter I can understand. Just plain asshole I can understand. But to use a mother’s grief over her child is just a level of low down scumtasticness that I cannot even fathom. It sickens me. And truthfully kills my faith humanity a little bit. Keep doing your thing. Us humans love it.
Sasha
when I found out that my beautiful newborn baby girl had a disability, I was crushed. there is nothing that can prepare you for the pain of losing your dream of having a healthy child. soon after that, though, I found your blog about the shalebug and suddenly felt less alone in the world. I have been laughing along side you for about six months now, and today, on your pissiest of days, I want you to know that the turkeys can say whatever they want. your words are healing balm and your memory of your precious boy has helped me more than you could ever know.
and thanks for the excuse to avoid housework. I can’t be getting injured, now can I?
regs
my heart goes out to you. I can’t imagine what you’re dealing with, but I know how it is to be pissed and not being able to do one damn thing about it.
i’m pissed that boy down the hall won’t even come talk to me like the good old days. I’m pissed that I can clean my house for DAYS on end and it’s still trashed. I’m pissed that my kids trash the damn house. I’m pissed that I don’t love my husband the way I should.
Also, I HATE, LOATHE, DETEST STUPID PEOPLE!!!!!
BTW, you gals with the uneven boobs problem, you’re lucky to have them. Some of us look like 10 year old boys in that department…..
Momma Mary
Delurking. I’ve been reading for a LONG time… people are jerks. Sometimes even I am. I hope you keep writing. You are doing more good than you know! Hang in there! MUAH!
Jennifer McKenzie
Fuck the trolls, Tanis.
And I’ll join in.
I’m pissy because my best friend moved away and is never coming back.
I’m pissy that my husband works out of town and I’m a single mom with a husband five days a week.
I’m pissy that Dell computers has called me FIVE TIMES A DAY for A WEEK to pay them and I don’t have the money.
I’m pissy that this stupid election isn’t over yet. I want my life back.
Brooke
Ignorant people suck!!
I love the lopsided boob part, maybe we should switch half a bra, my right is bigger than the left = )
Wether its pissy or funny or whatever, i’m just glad that you’re here!!
kellie
you are a wonderful person. ignore the asshats. they’re not worth your attention.
tony
glad you got all those things that have you pissed out in the open
question: does size matter?
cause if it does…I AM PISSED
there, i feel better
Mrs. Schmitty
Aren’t uneven boobs the worst? I hate mine.
Never mind the trolls….they don’t matter. No one can tell you how you should live your life. Fuck ‘em.
maggie, dammit
I’m glad you said something. I’m glad you addressed it. People need to get fucking lives, that’s what they need to do. It’s pathetic. Pathetic and awful and depressing.
This made me cry. Thank you for writing it.
tutugirl1345
The people who have said disparaging stuff about you and your son should rot in hell.
On a happier note, men DO have lopsided testicles. I once dated a guy who’s left one was twice as big as his right.
Tonya
You rock Girl!
I love you and your blog.
Keep writing, girl!
Miss Grace
I loved this post. I wouldn’t worry about bringing us down. I care about what’s happening with you, good, bad, or otherwise.
Grant's Mommy
Ditto I have been in a rut latley for at least the last month can’t figure out why as Son’s aniversary is months away just feel like mouring and crap. Sending some love your way though
Angela
Bravo! Those anonymous trolls and bitter, angry little people who have tried to infect you with their pissy little words, I say to hell with all of them, I hope they die all alone wallowing in their self inflicted misery. How dare they try and take away some of your joy and laughter that you try and share, how dare they!!
Your posts and your blog is full of hope, laughter and joy, thank you for sharing. I am so very hopeful that the adoption process becomes so much easier, the child who is welcomed into your home will truly be blessed.
Fancy
First of all, this is Your blog. You post any darn thing you want, happy, sad, angry, funny, whatever. As for the trolls, please send us their IP addresses. I’m pretty sure you have a few loyal readers who would be only too happy to hunt them down and shoot them from a helicopter, Sarah Palin style. You betcha
One more thing… One of the tricks I’ve found for overcoming mismatched boobies is to buy a bra, like a wonderbra, that has removable enhancement pads for when you wash it. Buy the cup for your smaller boob, and pull the insert out for the bigger one. If they’re close enough in size, it works like a charm.
Headless Mom
I’m glad you wrote this. I hate the trolls, too, and am cheering you on for calling them out. Why you write is really none of our business-if someone doesn’t like it they can click the little red box in the corner. I’m glad you write. I love what you write-your honesty and real emotion.
Wendy
Oy.
Listen, you don’t HAVE to write all joy and happiness! Write what you want. If it happens to be that you want to write funny stuff, then go for it. But when you need to get it out, by all means do it. I do know from experience, though, that if you give in to the bitterness when you’re writting, it’s hard to take control again.
You’re right. Tomorrow may not happen. I’m going to fix my problems at home tonight. Because I may not have another chance. Thanks for reminding me. Big cyber hugs sweetie. I hope you feel better for getting it out.
Avitable
I also stick to the funny, but sometimes you just have to rant.
Would it help if I told you that I love redheads and, in fact, will do anything that they ask because I fall under their spell?