First Snow

I love the first real snow fall of the year. The perfect snow that falls straight down....before the wind eventually starts to blow. There's a kind of quietness and peacefulness that comes with the first snow. The freshly fallen snow that makes the world look new. Before the shoveling, car tracks and footprints. I wonder if it's different in other states. In Iowa that first snow covers cultivated fields that look so barren during the winter months. There are certainly things I don't like about it such as driving in it or the cold temps that make it possible, but I choose to enjoy that first snow as much as I can.
Snow in December always makes it feel like Christmas. The newness of the snow reminds me of the birth of Jesus. A new beginning for mankind. The promise of eternal life. I can't think of a better reason to be grateful for snow.

The more the merrier

So much for the empty nest syndrome. As of yesterday, both my kids are living at home again....temporarily. Along with their dogs, which makes a grand total of five dogs in my house. Talk about chaos. It never fails....four dogs will want to take a nap and one won't let them. And vacuuming is interesting with three dogs chasing the vacuum. Thank goodness for kennels and thank goodness my children listened when I recommended kennel training. Little did I know it would ultimately save me. I swear there are more toys on the floor now than when my kids were little. Oh well, on the brighter side of things the whole family will be together for Christmas and there's a dog for everyone's lap :-)

Puppy Tales

Having puppies is almost like having small children. I've had Gus and Henry for a couple of years now. I'm not sure why I thought I needed another dog, but I did. Maybe it's because he needed adopting. I was helping a dog find a home. I don't know, but that brought Gary into the family. And Gary is such a dorky name, but my husband has this knack for placing a name on a dog the second he sees it and the name just stuck. So now I have three dogs of my own.
Then came Dozer, my son's puppy. I'm all for having a dog, but my son is living with us right now while he looks for a house of his own. Dozer is a Newfoundland, so at 9 weeks old he is bigger than all three of my dogs,(he will eventually be close to 160 lbs). I can barely pick him up now if he decides he's gotta go. Another week or so and I'm sure I won't be able to pick him up. But the nice thing about Dozer is he is so slow moving and laid back (like his owner) that he really hasn't had any accidents!
And then there is Precious, who doesn't live here but visits often. She is about the age of Dozer only 10 times smaller. She's a Boston Terrier. She thinks she's a big dog and plays like a big dog. Actually she's pretty good at holding her own with the other four! But she's been very sick with pneumonia and has to take it easy. So she hasn't been visiting as often. But when she does visit it's more fun for everyone. What's one more dog when you already have four.
Like I said, it's like having kids again. When they all take a nap, I tip toe around the house trying to get stuff done. But ultimately one of them wakes up and then they all wake up, so you're better of taking your own nap! The two new dogs get into everything. I turn my back for a second and the kitchen rug is in the living room or the toilet paper is rolled out around the house. So up goes the baby gate and I close off the rooms that I can. I even used my couch to block the doorway so they were contained to the living room. It's crazy. Sometimes I think "WHY????" but they give so much unconditional love that it's worth it.
As I finish this, they are all asleep and I'm thinking a nap sounds pretty good but I'm not sure I can make it to the couch without waking someone up!

Yesterday I put my Christmas tree up. Anyone who knows me knows what a task this can be. I spend a lot of time making sure the branches are perfectly spaced before I add ornaments. When that is accomplished I spend even more time placing the ornaments on the tree. I have to make sure there are no gaps and the ornaments aren't too close together. There can't be a red ornament next to a red ornament and so on. It was really hard for me when my kids were small and they helped decorate the tree. I'd have to stay up late and rearrange everything. I have no idea where this obsession came from. Anyway, this has become a source of entertainment for my family. They like to move ornaments and branches around to see how long it takes me to notice. It drives me crazy! The Christmas tree has to be perfect. There can be a stack of dishes needing to be done or a basket of clothes needing to be folded. This doesn't bother me at all. But if you touch the tree.....
The rest of the year I worry about crooked pictures on the wall.