Peace, Love, and Understanding

Blog soundtrack:

Blog Soundtrack Note: When I was growing up, we listed to, eek, LPs. We had this pea green record player from Sears. And, come Christmas time, we'd put this album on that record player; it was an album my Dad got at the local gas station for buying so much regular (ah, before the unleaded days) gas. On it, there was Bing singing this. My favorite Xmas songs were by Jose Feliciano, Bing Crosby, and Nat King Cole.

Peace

After everyone went off to school this morning, I took Plume out of her “temporary” office and brought her downstairs with me but not before wrapping her up in the fuzziest blanket that Nathan owned. I traveled downstairs, grabbed my cup of spicy eggnog coffee off the counter, and then I plunked myself down on the couch.

It was time for Plume to know what Law & Order was all about. No, I really didn’t want to subject her to that. I only wanted to subject her to some loving one-on-one time in my arms when the house was peaceful.

As I stroked her, she purred and then stretched out her paws, signaling to me that she was totally content in my lap watching Law & Order. (That’s my girl!) Just then, I had a flashback to the last time I knew I was going to have a baby in my house.

It was when I found out that I was pregnant with Iz. I was thinking, “A baby? What do I do with a baby?” I feared that I had forgotten how to be a Mom. Plume kept purring, and as she did, Motherhood, well, it all came back to me.

When I found out I was pregnant with Iz, I was rattled because it had been so long since I had a baby, 10 years to be exact. One day, she was a few months old and crying. She wouldn’t stop crying. I brought her outside on the porch, and she immediately stopped crying. It was like I always knew what to do even if I think I didn’t. Ah, and as it turns out, I think that's Motherhood.

Love

When I got home today, I realized that Monty was ailing in some way. Whenever any of us went to touch his head, he’d move away and even yelp in anticipation of said touch. I called the vet’s, and they could see him tomorrow. I knew he was in pain.

I called back to see if there was anything I could give him. The receptionist said that she’d ask the vet. She put me on hold, and then she came back on the line and asked, “Can you come in right now? If you can, she can see you.” I said, “Yes. I’ll be there in 5 minutes!”

She ran every test she could on him. Everything turned up negative. She could not determine what was ailing him. She gave him a shot of cortisone and a pain killer. He was walking fine, eating, shedding profusely, and barking; he seemed so okay! But yet, he wasn’t.

So, $187.20 later, I will just have to wait it out. I was sent home with two meds (one for pain and one for inflammation). I hate to admit this, but it took me 30 minutes to figure out HOW to open the bottles for his meds!

Once the pills were wrapped in Kraft American cheese, Monty wolfed them down without any protest; I hope he gets better soon. While I complain about how his barking drives me crazy, I do love him dearly.

Understanding

When I arrived home today, I saw that Nathan's progress report had arrived. He dropped a full grade in English and Biology. I was upset; however, instead of calling him and being mad, I texted him and said, “You’ve gone down a grade in English and Biology. Is there anything I can do to help you do better”

My parents would have been all over my case if this had happened to me; in retrospect, given my own upbringing, I felt that today I should reach out with understanding instead of creating a lifetime of misunderstanding.

Then, as I drove around, I thought, “This is the first Christmas where I ever felt like I was missing some Christmas Spirit.” That is, I was behind in wrapping presents, I had baked no cookies yet, and above all, I was so behind in enjoying the season.

As I was driving down Main Street after bringing Monty back from the vet, I realized that in the last week, I had experienced the Christmas Spirit a bit every day. The spirit wasn’t about having a gift for everyone, having all my presents wrapped, nor was it about having decorated the outside of my house.

The Christmas Spirit was with me always; quite simply, it was all about peace, love, and understanding 365 days a year. ♥