Scarred for Life

Reposted from May 20, 2008

Dusty died.

Well, okay, but who is Dusty?

Our neighbors dog.

Remember I am not an animal person, so Dusty has been the closest thing to a pet that my children have had (besides those fish that live in Ben's room and refuse to die even though we never remember to feed them or clean their tank).

Dusty was a sweet dog. Ron and Sue had Dusty for 14 years and in the four years that we have lived behind them my kids had come to love him. He was patient and gentle and even shared his water bowl with Cooper once.

Over the past year Dusty's health has been rapidly declining and on Sunday he had a stroke. Ron and Sue took him into the Emergency Vet Hospital and determined that it would be best to have Dusty put to sleep. Sunday afternoon we were all outside when Sue pulled me aside to tell me about Dusty. She and Ron were understandably very upset about the loss of their sweet dog and she asked that I please tell my boys.

So I did. And they were sad, but seemed to process it well. We talked about how Dusty was very old and had gotten very sick before he died and that Mr. Ron and Ms. Sue took him to a dog doctor and that is where he died.

Great job, Trish. You covered your kids first pet death experience very well.

Why thank you very much.............

but not really.

Monday morning after getting Ben on the bus, Coop and I are making the five minute drive to the fabulous Miss Jeanie's house and the conversation went like this:

Coop: "Mom, will Dusty be back from the dog doctor today?"

Me: "No, buddy. Remember Dusty died. He is not coming back from the dog doctor."

Coop: "Oh. Mom, what will the dog doctor do with Dusty?"

Me: "the dog doctor will just get rid of him by burning his body."

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just told my four year old what really happens to dead pets..........

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How stupid am I............did I forget that I was talking to a four year old?

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am supposed to tell him something nice bout how dogs go to heaven and all that sweet stuff.........


HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What were you thinking Trish? Now what are you going to do..........

Oh good, we're pulling into Jeanies, maybe YOUR FOUR YEAR OLD WILL FORGET ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST TOLD HIM!

Knock, knock on Miss Jeanies door.

Miss Jeanie opens door.

Coop: "Miss Jeanie, Dusty died and my mom told me that the doctor is going to burn his body"

Miss Jeanie (with stunned and bewildered look on her face): "What?!?"

Me (stammering because I feel like the worst mother in the world): "Dusty was our neighbors dog and yes I just told my four year old what really happens to dead pets and now I am late to work can you take care of that for me i don't care what you tell him cuz anything is better than what I just told him thanks and goodbye."

Daycare.

It's practically the same as therapy. Right?

We're out of here.......

The boys and I are headed out of town for the week. We are hopping a train tomorrow morning to head North. First to my sister Kris' for a day or two, then to my mom and dad's for the rest of the week.

We're going to celebrate Christmas with my family on New Years. It'll be a big shindig seeings as how my immediate family (brother, sisters, spouses, kids, mom & dad) number 34. It's lots of fun and lots of crazy!

I've got some repeat posts lined up to play again. They are my favorites from the past year.

Don't forget to head on over to Sunshine & Lemonade to enter her last Weekend Winner Giveaway!

In The Spirit of Christmas

Dear Sweet Lady at Fred Meyer,
Thank you. Truly, thank you. You know what Christmas is all about.
You looked into the eyes of a total stranger as we passed each other in the store and saw that I had been crying. I was trying to hide it, but obviously I was not successful. Then instead of just offering a sympathetic look and walking by; you put your hand on my cart and stopped it. Then you put your hand on my arm and asked me if I was okay.
It had been an emotional day (some days are just like that). That store was PACKED, my children were driving me NUTS, my husband and I had been ARGUING all morning long, and honestly it's time for my monthly bout of PMS. I was beginning to feel frantic, like I didn't have everything I needed for Christmas. I was worn thin and it was showing.
While I was trying to convince you that I truly was okay, you reached out and hugged me. In a very friendly, stranger to stranger hug. Not only did you hug me, but you whispered "This isn't how it was meant to be. Take a deep breath and remember that the baby, born in the manger, is what this is all about."
Then you let go and asked if I would be okay. I looked into your caring eyes and muttered yes. Then you and your husband smiled at me and walked away. I scurried off to find a corner to compose myself and dry my eyes.
I looked for you again the whole rest of my shopping trip. I wanted to thank you and possibly hug you back (even though that is WAY out of my comfort zone), but I never did see you again.
So here and now, I want to say thank you. For looking into the eyes of a complete stranger. For reminding me that there was nothing more that I needed. I already have it all because of that Baby, born in the manger.
I hope you know I was blessed by you today.
Merry CHRISTmas,
Tricia


"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6


PS. Yes, this truly happened to me on Tuesday.

The whole neighborhood was turned on

This is one of our favorite Christmas movies:

And look what a house nearby has in their front window:

HI-LAR-I-OUS

Happy First Day of Winter!

I cannot believe all this snow! We are buried here. Benjamin and I went out our deck to measure this afternoon and our 12inch ruler was buried by about 1/2 an inch. I know, to all you bloggy friends that live places like Colorado, Illinois, Virginia and other arctic places, that may not seem like much, but for those of us here in the normally rainy Pacific Northwest, it is a ton of snow!

So what have we been doing?

Well, we've played in the snow.

We left our stuffed friends inside to watch the snow fall.

We sucked on sheets of ice.

We played games together on the computer.

(please ignore that messy desk!)

We decorated our gingerbread house.

Tonight, during our bedtime prayers we prayed that our dear friends Jim and Bob the squirrels are tucked into their nest high in our tree and are staying warm.

And finally, tonight I spent two hours shoveling the walk, digging my car out from under a foot of snow, and putting chains on so that when Dave leaves for work tomorrow in our four wheel drive Xterra, the boys and I are not stuck here at home!

Sometimes when you're five......

Sometimes when you are five:
You make your own lunch while your mom is using the facilities.

Sometimes when you are five:
You spill the whole pitcher of juice while trying to pour yourself a cup.

Sometimes when you are five:
You try to clean up the mess by yourself; using every clean dish towel in the drawer.

Sometimes when you are five:
You drink the rest of the juice right out of the pitcher.

Sometimes when you are five:
Your mom says yes to the Froot Loops immediately following lunch because she has a mess to clean up and needs to keep you occupied and in her sight.

Sometimes when you are five:

You ride your scooter around and around in the kitchen because your mom thinks it's cute that you are call it a "mow lawner" and you keep offering to mow my wood floors.

I said SOMETIMES son.

(just not again tomorrow please!)

Smooth (like buttah!)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Books, Books and more Books **ETA**

More answers to some of the questions that I received a few weeks ago:

Kat at Sunshine and Lemonade asked:
What books are you reading right now? What book have you read that you really wish they would make into a movie (that would be good - and not a horrible Hollywood version of your fav)?

Right now I am reading: Finding the Hero in Your Husband by Dr. Julianna Slattery, Parenting the Heart of Your Child by Diane Moore, and Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman & Ron J. Findley.

The first two are 'self-help' style books, which I am not usually a fan of. However, I am enjoying both of these and have been able to glean good information that I can apply to my life from both.

Stumptown Kid is a book that Ben read this summer. It is set in the 1950's and is about a white boy who befriends a black man who had played ball in the Negro League. Ben really enjoyed this book when he read it this summer and wanted me to read it then but I never did. When my parents came to visit last weekend my dad was asking if I had anything for him to read. Ben jumped in and said that he had a good book and then disappeared to his room and came back with this one. My dad read it that evening and the next morning and then he and Ben had a discussion about it that I enjoyed listening to. So last week I picked it up one evening and am half way through it now.

Three books at one time and I am not doing very well at finishing any of them! I also have two books on hold at the public library. One is Wicked (which I am 11th in line for right now), the other is My Enemy's Cradle. Interestingly enough, I just found out that the later book was written by Sara Young, who is the same person who wrote the Clementine children's books under the pen name Sara Pennypacker.

As far as what books I would like to see made into a movie. I really cannot think of one. I am very excited to see the Tale of Desperaux. The boys and I love that book and will quite likely splurge to see the movie in the theatre when it opens in two weeks!

Meleea, Jennifer A., and Lula! all agreed that they wanted to hear my thoughts on The Shack:

So this one is hard for me to write. Mostly because I hate controversy and this book is a huge bestseller right now and has been highly acclaimed as Christian fiction.

And I did not like this book at all.

I started reading The Shack this summer, but could not get through it, so I set it aside. I wasn't to excited to pick it back up again because it is not an easy read. The writing is not grabbing and it requires quite a bit of concentration to follow the story. When I read fiction I want it to grab me. Draw me in and take me away. That is why I read fiction, as an escape. This book was definitely not an escape.

I picked this book up again early this fall because I was invited to join in a book club that was reading it. I finished it this time because I wanted to be able to participate in the book club conversation, not because I liked the book.

My determination is that while the Shack is a piece of fictional writing it is not being taken as that. This book has been widely accepted as eye opening into the persons of the Trinity however, it does not line up with the Biblical portrayal of the Trinity. That and the fact that so many people are claiming this as "life changing fiction". I do not believe that fiction can truly be life changing, it is fiction after all and the definition of fiction is "something feigned, invented or imagined; a made up story." So my struggle with this book comes when people say something like "this book changed my life, it opened my eyes to the ...............(insert whatever insight this book brought)", and I have heard this. In the above mentioned book club conversation I heard this: "The Shack has changed my life in the way that it allowed me to see that God could be whomever I wanted Him to be, including a woman if that was the way that God fit into my life". It was then that I realized that this lady was searching and when you are searching you often are looking for what sounds good although it may not necessarily be truth. This insight sounded good to her because it fit into the role that she wants God to play in her life. It reminds me of what I call the Church of Oprah, that god is in us as whatever we want he or she to be, and is only one of the ways into heaven. However, this is completely untrue as told to us in the ultimate authority, The Bible, in John 14:6 "Jesus said to him "I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me."

So my take on The Shack boils down to this:

Read it with caution and take it as a piece of fiction (a made up story). If you find it to be "life changing" feel free to e-mail me and we'll discuss that.

And sorry, but I cannot loan you my copy as I returned it to Costco after I read it because I thought it was crap!

** ETA** I would never be one to tell someone not to read something. Probably because I am a bit of a rebel (just a little bit though!) and if someone told me NOT to do or read something, you can be pretty sure that i'd go right on ahead and do it anyway! Read it, form your own opinion, because this is MY opinion and opinions are what make the world go round!

And finally, since we're on the subject of books, my mom tagged me for this meme last week. I have never played along with any of her tags, but I happen to have four books here on my desk right now, so I'll play along.

These are the rules: Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

The closest book of the five is Stumptown Kid. Page 56, fifth sentence and the following sentences read:

" I said I didn't say nothin'," I repeated.
"I think you called me a name, Stumptown," Lobo said.
He came out and stood there on the line between home and first base, his hands on his hips.
"He called you a creep, Lobo," said one of Lobo's friends. He sneered, probably thinking about what Lobo was going to do to me now. Will was watching from behind. He looked scared.


Now I want to know what you are reading or have read lately............

The Best Nativity Ever

It was built as an entry into a Lego contest that required "building your favorite winter scene completely from Legos" and writing a 50 word or less essay describing your scene and why you built it.