thirty days of thanksgiving 15

Lucy Mercer is zonked out. She is absolutely exhausted. She may not wake up until Sunday.

She went to school today.

And she was so good. She visited three different story times in the library before lunch. Those little ones crowded around her - talking loud, rubbing her hair backwards, getting right in her face - she never even flinched.  She stood patiently while each and every kid had a chance to love on her.

After lunch my classes came in. And she let everyone of those older kids love on her too. Then in each class we went outside and let her run and run with them. At the end of seventh period she crashed, and I thought maybe she wouldn't play with the next class. But when they wanted to pet her, she was happy to let them. And when they wanted to run to the end of the football field and back over and over, she ran with them.

And now that she is finally home, she has passed out.

It wasn't all just fun today. Lucy was helping me to teach writing.

The students had to observe her during the visit and then write about her appearance, personality, and mannerisms. The idea being that to successfully write about anyone or anything, they must get to know the subject through observation or research. And they were observant. There was a discussion about her color; no one could decide exactly what color she is. And several students noticed that Lucy likes her momma.

Lord, thank you for pets.Through them we learn what it means to love unconditionally, to devote ourselves fully, and to follow where our master leads.

family friday night

My Friday nights have taken a turn this fall. I love high school football, but without boys on the team, I've only made the home games. And there haven't been many of those. Tonight was another out of town game, so Lovey and I had nothing to do.

Lucy Mercer whined, whimpered, and barked her way through the night (I have no idea why a mouthful of sock causes such whining, but it always does); between the extra bright moon, a windy night and a critter invasion around 2 a.m., sleep was a bit interrupted last night. So today I've had a lack-of-sleep hangover. When I came home from school I told Jus that I needed a 30 minute nap. I woke up two hours later, still so tired that I couldn't focus my eyes for about 20 minutes.

We discussed having a fire tonight, but I decided that I needed a Liz visit. My SIL works weekends, which is great during the summer, but since going back to school I haven't seen her much. So Lovey and I picked up pizza and crashed the other Mercer's house for supper. Liz got a new washer and dryer today. She was trying to catch up on laundry. We noticed the dryer was making a strange noise. I thought that maybe something in the load was banging the dryer and making the noise. She switched loads, and still we heard the noise. She told Joey that something was wrong with the new dryer. After several minutes of conversation between the wives and the husbands, the husbands finally went to check. They had to come back and admit that we were right - something is wrong the new dryer. Suddenly, my week just got better. I love being right - hate that Liz has a brand new dryer and still has dryer issues, but I. Love. Being. Right.

why i can never find socks

She sneaks in from the bedroom.

Head down, refusing to look anyone in the eye.

With anything else, I can just tell her to spit it out, and she drops whatever she's chewing.

Doesn't she sort of look like that commercial where the dog has dentures? And isn't it a big mouthful? Just how many socks are in there?

TWO! The socks I wore on my walk last night. She stayed in that spot, guarding the socks for about an hour. Doesn't she look so sad that I have made her spit them out? She usually hides them. Under that pillow, beneath a blanket, between the couch cushions. But her most secretive, favorite spot - under Lovey's pillow! he-he-he!

an analogy

Jake : Lucy :: Monday : me


I try to prepare myself - face it head on.

But occasionally, I let my guard down, relax, even try to squeeze in a nap.

And BAM! Monday sneaks up on me!

Coming out of nowhere,

grabbing me by the throat,

holding me down.

Sometimes I think I have broken its hold,

but if I'm not careful, it comes back,

And bites me in the butt.

pre-dawn ramblings

Why is it that on Sunday morning my eyes pop open at 4 a.m., and I can't go back to sleep for anything; and tomorrow morning when the alarm chirps at 5:30, I won't be able to focus my eyes enough to get out of bed for at least 15 minutes? Drives. Me. Insane.

On a much more serious note - 9/11/2011. Has it really been 10 years? Has it only been 10 years? At times it seems like only yesterday. Watching news footage of that day can immediately bring back the fear and sorrow and longing to collect my family and hold them close. I can't imagine what it will be like for those families who will visit the NYC WTC memorial today. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Last night Brooke and I took a small contagion of our youth group to Warren for an outdoor concert. It was a quickly planned trip. We saw the band Two Empty Chairs at a youth conference last winter, and when we saw a poster advertising a concert, wanted to go hear them again. Many of the kids had previous plans, but we had enough to remind me that I have missed spending time with them each week. Tonight we officially start back to UMY, and I am excited - it's going to be a great year.

I am writing in my usual position. Squished to one side of the chair because Lucy Mercer has to have the other. And Jacob can't quite figure out where his spot is. As of this moment he is sleeping on the ottoman. I can't move, or he thinks I want him in the already crowded chair. He frequently "helps" me type. Which explains the two keys currently missing on this keyboard.

Yesterday as I was vacuuming, I decided to stop and order a part for my Dyson. The bottom plate needs to be replaced. The tiny wheels stopped rolling and have worn down so that now it sometimes sits too close to the floor and can't get enough air do its job. I've been meaning to order a new part for some time now but only think about it when I am using the vacuum. Anyway, Lovey came in just as I was finding the Dyson website. I asked him to look on the machine and tell me the model. Well one thing led to another, several parts were removed from the vacuum, and when nothing else would just pop off, Lovey went for tools. About an hour later, I just decided to proceed without him. The vacuum is back together, the floors have been cleaned, and I still haven't ordered a new plate with tiny wheels. But I do have some advice for you: if it's been a while (or maybe never) since you've cleaned the undercarriage of your vacuum, and you can't be exactly sure what someone else might have sucked up with it - don't look, just go buy a new vacuum.

why i don't watch horror movies

“One need not be a chamber to be haunted, One need not be a house. The brain has corridors surpassing material place”. -Emily Dickinson

Never one for horror movies or books that chill the reader to the core and interrupt sleep, I much prefer to spend my money on entertainment which lets me escape my ghosts and avoid my nightmares. As a child I was terrified by the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. Now Harry Potter keeps me peering between fingers. Castle and an hour of who's getting voted off tonight is the most suspense I care to witness.

I don't understand the obsession with horror and suspense in books and movies. LIFE is scary enough for me.

I can torture myself with the what-if's of growing up, raising a family, growing old.

Crave a little terror? I just sit down with this month's bills and last month's bank statement. If that's not scary enough, I watch the news and then browse my retirement accounts.

Want to be so scared I can't sleep? I try calling or texting my boys on a Friday or Saturday night and wait on their response.

If I want to spend a few hours with pulse pounding, sitting on the edge of my seat, I take a scan of those questionable moles popping up all over my body.  Not suspenseful enough? Waiting for mammogram results can almost send me into cardiac arrest. Oh, why did I have to go THERE? Is that chest pain a heart attack or indigestion? Is this just a tension headache or a growing brain tumor?

And almost everyday I come home to a true who-dunit. That can leave me guessing for hours.

 

Don't judge me because I stick with romantic comedy, Pixar and Disney. Sometimes I need to get out of my head - escape my haunted chamber.  

 

welcome home

I glance up just in time.

Lovey's day is done. Off the tractor and walking to the house when they see him.

Supper can wait for a minute. I drop everything and grab the camera.

Going from the cool house into the heat fogs the lens.

I wipe away the condensation and keep clicking.

Capturing the bond,





the obvious love,

between a man and his dogs.













When It Rains

These puppies go a little crazy.

Our Arkansas weather has been so strange this year. This spring we had tornado after tornado. And while the rest of the state experienced horrific flooding, here in South Arkansas we have had drought conditions. And summer's heatwave hit early. Instead of being lush and green in June, the hay field was brown and crispy. And in spots completely bare. But just before the end of the month, we woke to a cloudy, humid morning. The dogs cut their morning run very short. With his thick coat, Jake just can't take the heat and humidity. Then around 8:00 it start to rain. And it poured. I mean really poured - we got almost 4 inches of rain in less than an hour. We lost power; the road flooded. And just for a short time, the heat wave broke. The dogs could feel a change in the air and begged to get outside.

 They made a beeline for the water backed up around the pond. Nothing like a romp in a giant mudpuddle. When I realized that they weren't coming no matter how loud I called, I ran in to get the camera and noticed that other animals were also enjoying the cooler temperature, lower humidity, and fresh water.

Lucy and Jake noticed the other animals too and were in immediate pursuit.

I panicked just a bit. Several years ago Jed Mercer (Lovey's boxer) had a close call with a mama dear after he found her baby hidden in the hay field. She and two of her doe friends came running when the baby cried. I have never seen deer cross a field and clear a fence so fast. And Jed couldn't get away. I was on the back deck screaming for him to run, calling him to me. Until I realized the doe was hot on his tail and he was almost to me. Then I moved pretty fast myself. Anyway, I just knew Lucy and Jake were about to get themselves in a whole lot of trouble.

I was calling them to me. Screaming for them to come to the house. They were oblivious to my pleas.

But having so much fun chasing each other that they became oblivious to the doe also. It was hard to keep up with them.

After a few circles around the yard, they ran right to me and in the house for some water and A/C.

And that doe, who had readied herself for battle, couldn't decide what to do next. She pranced around for several minutes. Running towards the house, then back into the field, then towards the woods. I think she wanted to play with the dogs.