A Gift I Didn't Know I Wanted

If you've been reading a long time, you know that I have experienced some frustrations with my pets. I have one sweet cat and one rather mean cat, and both of them are very, very naughty. Their main vice is stealing food--sometimes right off our plates--and they have many other terrible habits, like clawing the furniture and occasionally even peeing on piles of laundry... which may or may have been lying on my bed for days waiting to be folded. 

Sometime last spring, Allyson asked if I might think about getting a dog. My first response was that we already had two pets too many, and my second was that I really am not a dog person. But she said having a dog at my house would really make her happy, so I promised to think about the idea. We prayed about it, and I promptly forgot all about it. 

In April, Allyson's former stepsister Morgan asked if we could keep Olive for a couple of weeks while she looked for another home. I agreed readily, thinking it would be a good chance to try out having a dog with no strings attached, and if it didn't work out, we could put the whole thing behind us.

Olive had been Allyson's dog, too, at her dad's house. They'd decided to get a puppy after Lola passed away, and they chose Olive because she looked a lot like her. (Lola had been my dog, too, until shortly after the divorce.) If you've been reading a very long time, you may remember that my fondness for Lola was tempered with aggravation over her perpetual mischief, such as the time she ate my favorite cloth diaper with the duckies on it right off the clothesline or the time she murdered my tomato plants. So I was surprised at the surge of tenderness I felt when I first met Olive. She resembles Lola so much that I often accidentally call her by that name.

Lola on Left, Olive on Right

Simply Wonderful

Last Saturday, the day of Ethan and Sumer's wedding, dawned chilly and overcast. Though it had seemed quite bearable when I arrived late in the morning, the temperature began dropping as sunset approached. By four o'clock, it was cold enough to set my teeth chattering despite the beautiful winter white coat I'd borrowed from my sister Emily, but I was grateful that at least it wasn't raining.

As Sumer slowly walked from the bridal suite toward the outdoor ceremony area, I asked to carry her train. I'd already extricated a leaf or two from the lacy hem, and I wanted it to be pristine when she walked down the aisle. At my side was Ethan's stepmother, Erica. Tottering over the paved walkway on numb toes in my unaccustomed heels, I alternated between worrying about breaking an ankle and savoring the gathering of in-laws, exes, and ex-laws to honor and celebrate with two young people whom we all loved.

At that moment, Allyson hurried around the corner in her own unaccustomed heels and a beautiful full-length, velvety green dress. "Mama," she called urgently. "Where have you been? You're the first to go down the aisle!" 

"What? I'm part of the procession?" 

"Yes! Ethan is walking you and Sumer's mom down the aisle first. Hurry up!" 

Procrastination, Preparation, and Anticipation

Last Saturday my boy became a husband! Although Ethan and Sumer were engaged for over a year, it still sort of crept up on me. I found myself scrambling at the last minute, as I do for most important events in my life... and the unimportant ones, too.

It began with Sumer's bridal shower, the first I'd ever hosted. I was nervous about all of it—the games, the decorations, the food—so I procrastinated about planning it until I'd nearly run out of time. But thanks to Pinterest and some advice from my boss and a coworker, it all came together nicely! I made way too much baked potatoes, grilled chicken, vegetable soup, and salad, but that was okay because we sent quite a lot home with my mom, who has been unable to cook since a fall on Labor Day weekend. 

For dessert we ate pumpkin-spice Nothing Bundt cake with thick cream-cheese frosting and my sister Emily's pineapple-sherbet punch, which she graciously made for me when she arrived, after picking up both the cake and our mother.

Allyson was in charge of decorations, and she made the party beautiful with a cute little marquis, a big banner, giant balloons, three little bouquets that doubled as prizes for the games, and a pink sparkly sash for the bride-to-be.

Allyson and Sumer

Precious in Our Sight

On Monday morning, I started my day the way I usually do, with prayers for my children. 

Ethan and His Fiancée, Sumer

Allyson - Dec 2021

In the last minutes between my daily mini trampoline workout and logging on to my laptop, I continued the prayer I'd been saying aloud for Allyson. "Help me love her like You do," I concluded. "I know you love her even more than I do. She is precious in your sight."

Mi casa tica / My Costa Rican House

EN ESPAÑOL ABAJO

In November, I visited Costa Rica for the third time. I had planned to share many stories, but time got away from me. Here are a couple of stories that I've been working on here and there for weeks, and I hope to find time for more soon. As usual, I will write my stories in Spanish and then translate them to English so you can see my progress. Note that all grammar errors in the dialogue are mine. If you speak Spanish, you may also notice that I use the informal verb forms when I talk with Zeidy even though I call her usted (the formal word for you). This is the custom in Costa Rica. Everyone there is usted, even spouses, babies, and dogs. This is seen as a sign of respect. Yet most people use the verb forms and pronouns for tú in conversation, probably for clarity because the subjects of sentences are almost always omitted. This mixing of usted and tú used to drive me crazy and keep me confused, but I've learned to just go with it. (Honestly, I make so many other errors that this doesn't matter anyway.)

ENGLISH TRANSLATION AT BOTTOM

En noviembre visité Costa Rica por tercera vez. Tenía planeado compartir muchas historias, pero el tiempo se me escapó. Aquí hay unas historias en las que he estado trabajando durante unas pocas semanas, y espero encontrar tiempo para más pronto. Como de costumbre, voy a escribir mis historias en español y luego las traducir al inglés para que las personas que no hablan español puedan ver mi progreso. Si hablas español, probablemente puedes notar que uso las formas verbales informales cuando hablo con Zeidy aunque la llamo usted. Esta es la costumbre en Costa Rica. Todos allí son ustedes, incluso esposos, bebés y perros. Esto se ve como una señal de respeto. Sin embargo, la mayoría de la gente usa las formas verbales y los pronombres para tú en una conversación, probablemente para mayor claridad porque casi siempre se omiten los sujetos de las oraciones. En el pasado, esta mezcla de tú y usted me volvía loca y me confundía, pero he aprendido a dejar de seguir las reglas gramaticales. (En verdad, cometo tantos otros errores que esto no importa.)

[Todos errores gramatical en el diágolo son mios.]

Durante este viaje, no asistí la escuela de español, pero ciertamente aprendía a través de la inmersión.  Me quedé por dos semanas con mi amiga Zeidy, la hija de Doña Macha, con quien me había quedado durante mis otros viajes. Aunque dos años habían pasado, inmediatamente este lugar me sentí como mi hogar. Que extraño, porque toda allá es tan diferente, un mundo separado. 

Doña Macha, yo, Zeidy

La casa de Zeidy está un poco grande en comparación con otras, con tres habitaciones, una grande sala, una cocina pequeña y dos baños.  Cada cuarto tiene ventanas con pequeños rectángulos de vidrio que giran en bisagras como una persiana veneciana, y estas ventanas están siempre abiertas, aún cuando hay lluvia.  

No hay mosquiteros, y los bichos y las iguanas entran libremente. A veces, también entran los gatos pequeños como esta dulce gatita que se llama Cat (el apodo para Katerina). 

Casi todas las noches, Cat salió a través de la ventana de Zeidy y entró a través de mi ventana.  Se sentó en mi pecho o envolvió alrededor de mi cuello y durmió conmigo hasta la mañana.  Aunque usualmente prefiero no dormir con mascotas, me sentí tan cómoda con ella. Me recordé de mis gatas Arwen y CiCi, y me hizo que sentir como en casa.  En verdad, Cat era casi tan traviesa que CiCi: a ella le gusta que comer las flores artificiales y que cavar en el suelo de las muchas plantas verdes alrededor de la casa.