the pattern of terrible two's in 2011

Well, 2011 has finally drawn to a close. Saucy needed a little recovery time to get over it. In hindsight, 2011 may not have been particularly kind to her but she really does like to put a positive spin on things and in this post she would like to examine each experience that she initially felt negative about... and spin it.

Now, Saucy and Veto never argue. This is driven mostly by Veto's easygoing temperament and his unending patience. He not only spoils the family, he suffers a house filled with teenage girls and a wife sidelined with rheumatoid arthritis and all that entails. This year, there was not one, but two arguments in this household. Saucy takes almost complete responsibility for both. In hindsight, they were strikingly familiar.

Argument one: Veto whisks Saucy away to Antigua for a week in the tropics to ease her sore joints (see, he's the better person already). Unfortunately, even staying at a five-star resort, they return home covered with what Saucy thinks might be... bedbug bites. Veto thinks otherwise but after Saucy pays a visit to the doctor and the community health clinic her fears are confirmed.

Luckily, her suspicions have left the her luggage parked outside in the snow. Since Veto has unpacked his bags, ALL of the clothing and contents of his closet must be put outside in the freezing temperature and brought indoors in small batches. Each piece of clothing must be baked for fifteen to twenty minutes at no less than 180 degrees to kill any transients that may have taken up residence. Ditto for the front hall closet where the jackets were hung upon return home. Ditto for Saucy's closet because Veto (thoughtfully, again because he is the better person) hung up a couple of her wraps that were in his bag.

Now, this may seem like a small task but the prospect of clearing out three giant closets and the dressers nearby (yes, you have to do the dressers also) is daunting but Saucy soldiered on. Veto called home from a business trip and let's just say the frustration Saucy felt over those tiny little bugs THAT NEVER MADE IT INTO HER HOUSE simmered over into their conversation.

Suffice it to say, when your husband is away on business and cannot help you solve the problem, it might not be a good idea to go off the giggling pin about the problem. Lesson learned. Or not.

Argument two: During the kitchen renovation (yes, the one where Veto obligingly let Saucy build the kitchen of her dreams) Saucy was making room in the furnace room for the pipe fitter to run the gas line and guess what she found?

If you haven't figured it out yet, clearly Saucy has an irrational fear of bugs. Bugs of any sort, size and intent. Well, their intent is clear. THEY INTEND TO KILL HER.

You guessed it. Veto called home from a business trip and Saucy went all buggy on him because there appeared to be killer carpenter ants in the house and she was not long for this world.

Yes, it was that dramatic.

After two (almost) insect infestations Saucy and Veto survived both but Saucy (possibly) has learned a valuable lesson. She may still call Veto in a panic if she is attacked by bugs, but at least now she understands there's nothing he can probably do about it if he's a thousand miles away. She ought to call an exterminator instead.

The cheer season was another success, depending on how you define success. The team was dedicated, made up of sweet girls that Saucy loves as if they were her own daughters. Instead of repeating as provincial champions in 2011, the team placed second.

The sour part was that the judging seemed a little funky at the time. Saucy knows what the girls need to work on to be successful in 2012 but it still kind of smarted. The judges were pretty harsh with their feedback and that seemed odd, at the very end of the season andSaucy would have liked to seen just a few positive comments rather than pages of negative.

But then, Saucy reminded the girls that second place is better than third and third place is better than last.

The positive part was that in their most gracious loss and in their interaction with the rest of the squads, the team was presented with the Spirit Award. That made the season more sweet than bitter, and in the end it was all worth it anyway. Saucy wouldn't have changed a thing about that group of kids or their routine.

In another strange twist, Saucy found out about a book about a cheer team that appeared to have been written from the very pages of this blog. The similarities were eerily familiar. Veto paid a visit to his lawyer and in the end it was decided not to pursue legal action.

The positive part of this story is that Saucy learned to let go, she learned to take it in stride. The lawyer had some very good advice for Saucy:

There was no legal action to be taken anyway without much stress and financial burden.

Saucy wishes that lesson would have made its way to her a little earlier in the year when a fellow blogger accused her of copying a cake that she decorated on the fly for Sunday dinner.

Saucy kind of took offense to this and she went all bedbug on that blogger's ass. 

Not her finest moment to be sure, but she readily coughs it up when she's trying something from another blog or source. She was just really fed up and tired of dealing with... people.

Because to be sure, when you are volunteering in your community you are bound to interact with a few crazies people of other backgrounds with other belief systems. Strangely enough, the 2011 Pattern of Terrible Two's continued here as well and Saucy was bombarded with phone calls, emails, and text messages by two women with the same first name who didn't like Saucy's blog, the way Saucy said anything, the way Saucy did anything, in fact... the way Saucy ever did any of the stuff they didn't bother to do for the community themselves.

So there. And just to further clarify:

And lastly... the 2011 Pattern of Terrible Two's concluded with a second terrible car collision last Friday.

In both cases, the wrecks were caused by the other driver's careless driving. Things like fiddling with your phones, texting and eating while you drive can wait. Saucy wants everyone to remember that, and pause for a moment to make a resolution for 2012 that you will not put anyone else at risk because you are updating your Facebook status from behind the wheel.

Again last Friday Saucy's Jeep took the impact like a trooper and kept everyone safe. Yes, the brand new Jeep Veto gave her for an early Christmas present in December.

Hell, it not only doesn't look like that anymore, it's not even driveable. Loopy was in the passenger seat and thankfully, both she and Saucy are no worse for the wear other than some bumps and bruises.

And so, Saucy can reflect on 2011 as nothing more than a Pattern of Terrible Two's.

Two stupid arguments with Veto over two kinds of bugs.
Two cheerleading dramas.
Two crazy ladies in the neighbourhood with access to text messaging.
Two terrible accidents in two Jeeps because of two careless drivers.

To put a positive spin on all of it, Saucy is thankful to be here, thankful to have learned from her mistakes and thankful for all of the crazy wonderful, loving people in her life. She has one last Terrible Two for 2011:

Happy New Year.