life with my dog

Delsie sleeps in a toddler bed next to me. For whatever reason, I have been going through a phase of relishing who she has become in my life. This plays out with the number of photos I take of her (I have been called "mom-arrozi") or laugh hysterically when she does something funny or even shed tears when I reflect on the support she gives me in life. Last night was no exception as I tucked her in bed and said our prayers. These can be heard as something like this, "I love you, Delsiemeister. I am so glad you are in my life. (massaging her) Give mommy some lovin'. (she rolls her eyes and licks my face) Aw, thank you tootie. You love your mommy? (no response) Cuz your mommy loves you." At this point she has checked out and I plug in my chair and climb into bed. It's a ritual. And I am sure about now you are reading in disbelief and maybe chuckling while shaking your head. I am okay with that because there are things that happen in my life that cause me to react this way as well...
like the other night...
now that the weather has been nicer, Delsie and I go for a lot of walks. On this particular walk, I heard the engine of a diesel truck over my blaring iPod parked on the opposite side of the road. When Delsie and I were parallel to the truck, a slender gentleman in running shorts and a sweaty t-shirt opened the car door. He was walking towards us and because of Jack Johnson bellowing in my ears, I couldn't make out what he was saying. I stopped and removed my earphones from my ears.
"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."
He handed me a business card that had a name (apparently his) , address, phone number-cell and home, email and fax number.
"I am not selling anything. I saw you last year and just wanted you to know you're an inspiration."
Even now, as I re-live this encounter, I am shaking my head and chuckling.

He likes to email people so I would be happy to pass on your email address to him if he should stop me again.

...you can stop chuckling now...

let summer begin

work day is not official until Dickie adorns his "onsie".

Sometimes in life I need to take a breath and inhale deeply, taking it all in. And today was one of those days even though I had to set my alarm for 6:15 AM. It was worth lack of sleep and getting dressed in the dark, as once again, my parents small group invested in the community wide "Plunge" at my house for four hours. From painting walls, doors;cleaning windows; hauling out my deck furniture; trimming bushes; placing my flower box and cleaning my garage...my cup overflows.

he's some dad...

We are all someones child. Facts like this one are simple yet universal. We all come from a mom and a dad. Stop and think about it. It's rather bizarre. And this "simple" fact makes us all quite complicated, suffice it to say, a bit messed up. No one is spared from this. It's true. All of us have a dad.

And my dad turned 70 yesterday. 7-0. Typing those numbers made me shudder a bit. 70 is old. But my dad isn't. He never will be.

Today we had a surprise party for him with our family at McDonalds playland. You would have thought he entered the gates of heaven when he opened the door to find us all adorned with party hats and blowers. I, personally, would describe this with another word that starts with "H" but it warmed this southern mans heart.

As I think on my circle of friends, I know part of their story includes their dad. Some died way too soon, some are making poor choices, some are rejecting them, some are loving them, some are just angry, some are fighting cancer, some are working a lot, some are married over and over, some are not even known and some just turned 70.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

You are loved.