Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Gave Away My Little Boy

Best Mother-son wedding dance!!

Well, my youngest got married over the weekend.  I guess I no longer "own" any of my kids!  Our house will no longer smell of too much cologne, and we will no longer be awakened all hours of the night by doors opening and shutting, microwave going on and off, and lights being turned on, off, on, off.  (My sleep patterns may just improve!) I missed my daughter when she married and left, and I will miss my son as well.  It's not like they moved hours away from us, but it's different anyway.  I no longer hold the same "mom" power - must learn to hold my tongue!  When my daughter got married, it was totally "our" deal.  We did all the planning, preparation, decoration, etc.  I tend to take hold and run with everything, so it was hard to step back and know that I was only "helping out" someone else on this one.  But the highlight was the mother-son wedding dance.  We managed to keep it a secret from everyone but my husband and my daughter, and although I seem to have lost my "groove" over the years, it was still a big hit!  The link to the youtube video is at the top.  And I hope my son will remember the fun we had doing it.
A couple of pictures:




Friday, January 16, 2015

Goodbye Dear Friend

So, this morning I drove our 14+ year-old chihuahua to the vet to be euthanized.  We got Weezer when my kids were little and they wanted a "little" dog.  I asked the person I got him from if these dogs shed, and they told me no.  That was a big fat lie. I could have made a lifetime of sweaters from the amount of hair I have swept up over the years.  He was so tiny when we got him, and he grew to 8 pounds.  He was always happy to just curl up by you -  if you were ME.  I guess every dog "adopts" their special person.  Weezer has tried to bite the fingers off everyone he met except me.  He always "looked" like a puppy because he was so small, and little kids were forever trying to rush up and pet him, only to be met with a snarl and a snap.  He liked our kids, and a couple of their friends, but mostly he hated everyone else.  Had I known this personality, I would never have gotten him.  But he was ours, none the less.  So, we did what most dog owners do - spoiled him, and treated him like one of the kids.  He slept in our bed, sometimes growling if we moved our legs and crowded him.  He had his own set of signals that I always knew, indicating he needed to go out, or was out of water, etc.  I don't know if he understood what I said, or just my actions, but he knew when we were going to my mom's house, and knew when we were packing to spend the weekend at the lake, and was always hovering by the door, waiting for the invitation to come along.  All was well until my daughter brought home a puppy to call her own.  He sat facing the wall, with an occasional sneer in our direction to let us know he was NOT happy about this addition to the family.  But the two finally came to some agreement to tolerate each other, and once in a blue moon, he would "play" with her dog - her dog would lay perfectly still, while he jumped around and growled and stuck his nose in her fur. It never lasted more than a couple of minutes or so, but I guess he did have a kind heart, deep down. 
He always had "little dog" syndrome.  He barked ferociously at ever other dog he saw, and for the most part, even huge dogs backed away from him.  But one day, he barked like that at a female chihuahua.  She ran right over to him, grabbed his throat in her mouth and pinned him to the ground.  He was not hurt at all, but yelped like he was dying.  We made fun of him for getting beat up by a girl!  And his toenails - he absolutely hated having them clipped.  I would always take him to a groomer, muzzle him and hold him tight in my arms while they clipped his nails.  The last time I did that, I looked like I was attacked by a pack of cats when I left, scraped and bleeding. Then we tried taking him to the vet and putting him out to do them, but he was in such a fizz when they gave the sedation shot, that it barely had any effect.  His last days, my son was finally able to do them, while he snarled and snapped at him the whole time.  I won't miss that part. 
Even with all his faults, he was like a fixture at our house.  So, while I must admit I am relieved that I won't have to worry about him biting someone, or fret over his nails getting too long, he will be missed. 
Rest in peace, Weezer.





Friday, January 9, 2015

The Mascara Sneeze

This is only for the girls - unless you're a weird guy.  So, is it just me, or does this happen to anyone else?  I am putting my makeup on in the morning - foundation, powder, etc., and I put my mascara on.  Mascara dries pretty quickly, but not immediately, so you kind of have to not blink hard for a few minutes following application.  But I swear, the instant I get it on, I have this wild urge to sneeze.  You know, that tingling in your nose when you know it's coming.  Now I am faced with a hard decision.  I can either just let it happen, and look like a raccoon with black marks all around my eyes, or I can quickly throw the mascara tube down and begin grabbing my eye lids to try an hold them open.  Of course this poses a slight risk that my actual eye balls may explode out of my head when the sneeze happens. Some days, it's 50-50 which I'll choose.  And to have to make this kind of decision at 5:30 in the morning is just wrong.  I recently shared a funny to my facebook, which is unfortunately too true: I have the decision making abilities of a squirrel trying to cross the road!