Good & Ordinary

Two things.

I just don't get over here as much as I want to, and I hope you're not disappointed that when I finally do, I write about my dog and conversations with my 5-year-old. My life does has some thrilling moments, but what really inspires me is the ordinary.

There are things that I really wish for from time to time. And it's usually something small compared to other things I could wish for (world peace, tickets to Australia magically showing up in the mail one day...). What I wish for today is a dog that sleeps through the night.

We adopted our dog about a year ago. I like to say we found her. She's one of the sweetest dogs ever. The day we found her, we were at the shelter, the girls and I sitting on a couch in a waiting area, anticipating meeting our possible new dog. They brought her in and she immediately jumped up on the couch, laid down and stretched out across our legs. That was it...we took her home.

She attached to us quickly. But she was a Nervous Nelly, afraid of lots of things. We basically had to teach her how to be a dog. Everything was brand new and very curious to her--the car, the beach, going on walks and the fact that carpet is not grass.

She was pretty much potty trained, but we quickly realized how very tiny her bladder was and decided to crate train her, which she took to quite nicely. But she's a big dog and I don't like the idea of her being in a crate. My goal is to not have the crate. Besides being the sweetest dog ever, she has a job. She has to watch over the house and protect us. Which she is also good at. But she has to have free rein. She has to make her rounds. So we've been working on that. She doing great. It is finally sinking in that the carpet is officially not grass.

She's doing so great that I now have a whole new set of issues. She's become increasingly genius at telling us what she wants. She is a talker. I am working on teaching her how to say, "Momma". It can be done. She's trying hard. She can almost say, "cheese", I swear. But what she's really good at now is letting us know she needs to go. She's really good at telling me at 2:30 a.m. She sits by the side of the bed and has so much to say about it. You can't ignore it. She's consistent and persistent. Good dog.

She's also getting very good at her job. She is now officially my alarm clock too. Lately she's been waking me up, not to go out, but to actually get up. Like, for instance today--it's Saturday, blissfully 7:30 (in my world that is most definitely sleeping in) and she's just a talking away on the side of my bed. I get up thinking she needs to go out, and she proceeds to hop on the bed and stretch out. I can see her thinking, My turn...you get up now. Her job is over, my job is starting.

Now I should stop here, cuz this is long, but you know me--I won't.

Next up, a conversation with my 5-yr-old.

I took my girls out to dinner the other night to The Old Spaghetti Factory. Love that place. We're having a nice time out, talking about the day and all. My girls have lots to say, and if you are a parent, you've probably already figured out that everything is a possible teaching moment.

I notice that the restaurant has all of these old black and white pictures out, like from the 1800's. I point out to the girls how different everything looked in those days compared to today...the clothes, how the streets are made of dirt and there are not cars, but horse and carriages, etc...They are amazed, wishing we could park a horse in the garage, instead of the car.

Lately they've had all these questions about Heaven and what happens to us when we go to Heaven, what it's going to be like, what we are going to look like, etc...I love having these kinds of discussions. I love to see their little confused minds working. It's a lot to absorb. I'm still working on it.

The girls are asking me about these pictures and if the people in the pictures are in Heaven now. I'm telling them I hope they are, and that most likely a lot of them are. In our discussions of Heaven, one of the things we point out, is how in Heaven you will be new. There is no illness and no death. There is a lot of discussion on what we are going to look like.

I can see A-girl studying the photographs. Then she looks at me and says, "So, the people in the pictures won't be gray in Heaven anymore?" I look at the pictures, everyone looks about my age, there are children, lots of hats...no one has gray hair. Then I realize that she is referring to how the people in the pictures are actually gray, because the pictures are in black and white, not color. (There is a good pause here where I laugh, cuz you know, it's funny). Then I go on to explain how back then pictures did not come out in color. I can see she doesn't quite get it, but I do feel like she is reassured that Heaven will be "in color". And that our skin will not be gray. Good to know.