Help! I Need a Name

There is a very good reason parents are not meant to have a baby during middle age. The older I get, the more I actually sleep because I need to and not because it’s something I’ve been conditioned to do.Before you jump to any conclusions, I am not planning on having another baby. Now that my kids are older and don’t need me much anymore, I have been feeling a gaping hole in my heart only to be filled by feeling loved and needed once again. 

I don’t have any idea why I even let myself do it but when my daughter told me a friend was giving away free kittens, some gravitational pull dragged my car in the exact location of those sweet little creatures and I just couldn’t help myself. I spent all night with her next to me in bed watching her like a protective mom should do and today I am totally exhausted. Yes I swore I would never bring another animal into this house but I guess in my older age, I am becoming a softy. So this is our new addition, who by the way, still doesn’t have a name. Any suggestions? Right now, we call her puppy.

Why in the World?

Today my heart got a fantastic workout without ever having to move my body. Oh, those rabbits will be the death of me. I put Puff Daddy outside in the pen so I could clean his cage. I checked on him quite a few times and he seemed to be fine until….the pen was empty. I tried hard not to panic as I ran out the door staring at the pen. There wasn’t a hole and at this point he was much to big for the crows to carry away. The only thing I can figure is that he has finally worked hard enough to complete the stunt he has practicing in the living room. I’ve really enjoyed watching him jump in the air while performing a 90 degree turn. I’ve spent many a night giggling at him as he races around. All I can figure is that he finally managed to jump high enough to get out of his pen. I felt dizzy standing there shaking from nerves wondering what in the world would I tell the kids? Do I just break it to them bluntly and hope they get over it or do I concoct some story making myself out to be the victim? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a streak of white moving in the corner where the backyard fence meets the house. Luckily for me, Puff Daddy hasn’t figured out he can easily fit through the spaces and was happily hopping along. 

My advice? Don’t ever get a rabbit! Go to a petting zoo instead. Your house will smell a lot better and you won’t have to consider taking anxiety medication.

How Do You React?

I have discovered over the last few years that my reaction to what life throws at me shows  me the real truth about my character. It’s so easy to see how crazy other people can act yet sometimes it’s impossible to see it in myself. It took a long time to recognize what bothered me about others, especially how they reacted to and handled particular situations was exactly what I was embarrassed about in myself. I am an over reactor by nature. I grew up that way and for years I have focused on undoing the straight jump to panic mode and doom and gloom. Believe me, I’m not quite there yet but I am much calmer and more collected than I used to be. Thank goodness I guess because this came in very handy last night when I discovered my rabbit Puff was not a female. I do not have two female bunnies after all but rather the unfortunate circumstance of having one of each. What can I possibly do now anyway? It’s much too late to worry about that now. The ongoing Facebook joke is my rabbits are no longer Cocoa and Puff, they are now Cocoa and Puff Daddy. Very funny. The jokes on me .

Poor Little Bunnies

Seriously, the bunny saga plays on. If any of you were telling this story, I might find it a little bit amusing but well, it’s my story. 

So, yesterday I saved the bunnies from gigantic, black, man-eating crows and today? Are you sitting down? I have been hanging outside watching these adorable bunnies hop around their little pen, when all of a sudden, my dog, yes the tiny chihuahua dog, starts barking frantically. I look up to see a coyote standing in my yard and staring at my bunnies. I can’t take it anymore.

FREE BUNNIES! CAGE INCLUDED!

The Truth About My Dogs

I don’t like dogs very much, please don’t judge me. I’m a good person but I am already overburdened with responsibility and my two dogs are two more things to be responsible for. I looked at them today sleeping next to me on the couch. Why don’t I like them? Maybe it’s because they are so naturally everything that is so difficult for me to be. Loyal, playful, loving, happy, obedient and eager to please. Then I decided if I can’t beat them, why not join them and I grabbed my favorite cozy blanket and put my head down on the pillow they were sleeping on. Maybe I am jealous of their easy, care free spirits. Maybe I secretly want to be more like them. Maybe I just don’t like dogs very much. Who knows. Maybe I just think too much.

Have You Read Animal Farm?

Spoiler Alert! If you have not read Animal Farm by George Orwell do not read this blog because I am about to start it with the last few lines of the book.

“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the face of the pigs, the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

So my daughter had an assignment to read this in her 9th grade language arts class. I figured, since I bought the book, I might as well pick it up and read it myself.

The book is about animals on a farm who overtake the farmer because they believe they will run the farm better. They vow to become nothing like the farmer or other humans who lose sight of equality and respect because they become caught up in the power and greed that being in control often brings. They are going to be smarter and are going to do better.

When I finished the book I admit I was pretty depressed. The parallel to life as I see it is sad and discouraging. But today, something happened that changed my attitude. I was turning into my neighborhood and I passed a truck pulling a trailer of cows. I noticed the cows in a new way and I will confess that I broke out in laughter. I started to categorize the people I know into the categories of animals from the book. The pigs, well they stand out for themselves, and the dogs that protect them are actually pathetic really. Being a dog owner myself has taught me that dogs love and obey. No matter what you do to them, they will remain faithful and wag their tails faithfully the moment you walk in the room. And the horse, ah the horse. I married one of those. I made a great choice.

The more I compare the characters in my life to the characters in the book, the more I see the light. I think I have a whole new understanding of people and will deal with them in a whole new way.

Was this the best book I have ever read? Probably not, but it did cause me to think long after I read the words on the last page. My question is this, can a kid 15 years old see beneath the shallow story and comprehend the depth of the truth that lies beneath? But then again, does it really matter anyway? Have you read the book? What did you think?