Its all Relative

Over the past week, Jeremy and I have spent a lot of quality time. Nothing special; just living together, without some expiration date in the near future looming over our heads. Its been GREAT. I have had "pinch me" moments all week. More on that later.

Yesterday I was telling him that some days, it is very difficult it is being a dentist because of how I often have to deliver bad news: "No, mom, we can't save your daughter's front baby teeth" or, "Sorry, dad, he needs 4 or 5 silver caps."

Then Jeremy countered with, "Kara, have you ever had to tell one of your parents that their best option was to go to prison?"

Its all relative, I guess. Which is why we should never, ever complain about anything.

First Communion

My oldest niece, Halle, had her first communion Saturday. It was a lovely, sunny day in Perrysburg, and the ceremony was in the lovely, ornate, St. Rose church. Halle was chosen from her class to bring up the offertory, a special honor for her that was no surprise to me.

Grandma and Grandpa Hoying made the trip, and we all had Eston's cake and sandwiches afterward. Oh, yes, and mimosas.

On my First Communion, I remember--other than have the blessed Eucharist for the first time--that I received from my parents a bag of cat food in a paper grocery sack, a symbolic present to announce the arrival of my new kitten, who I later named Skittles. In Perfect Parent form, it was written on the bag that my kitten's fur was completely white and still too young to be taken from her mother.

What a special, special day.

(Emersyn whispered to me after church: "Do you know that the wine is Jesus' blood?")

Yes, my dear, I do. And I am so grateful for what that means.

I think they do, too.

I Don't Know How She Does It.

My sister, Kelly,

married Mercer County's finest,

has birthed three gorgeous, polite, Godly daughters,

works full-time in IT,

throws fantastic parties, that she plans and prepares for on her lunch breaks,

is a magnificent auntie to these two crazies, plus one more, not pictured,

and lets me nap at her house whenever I want.

Also, she is at total hottie!

And all that was after being crowned homecoming queen at Ft. Loramie High School.

Talk about not resting on your laurels.

She has set the bar pretty high for any motherhood in the Morris house, but really, as far as that goes, I'm just lucky to have her as a role model.

Happy Mothers' Day to the hardest-working mom I know.

Love you, Kelly.

I'm turning 30...

...in a few weeks.

http://www.riceandbeansvintage.com/catalog/item/6710852/8694071.htm

I think I deserve this, don't you?

I have an OBSESSION with fur. Yep, the real, inhumane, PETA-disapproving stuff.

But more on that later. I can justify the obsession, really.

Look at this vintage beauty and try not to drool, it will only make your keyboard slippery.

Which will make you mis-enter your credit card information when you buy it for yourself!

Top Ten Reasons I Haven't Blogged Lately

I know, I know...excuses, excuses...

10. Work distractions. I have been picking up some night and Saturday shifts at the hospital. Its pretty much the best job ever, but it does make the workday a lot longer.

9. Magazines and newspapers. Recently my niece Halle did some fundraising for her school, and well, we really went hog wild. We now subscribe to Real Simple, Vogue, Time, Bon Apetit, and the Sunday edition of the New York Times. That's five total, which is five more periodicals than last month. Keeping up on all that reading is hard!

8. Visit from BFF Kaye. We went to see our old pal Doug, and his great band, at Park Street Tavern. I haven't done that sort of bar experience in awhile; we had a blast and Doug and his buddies really worked the Aerosmith AND the Auto-Tune. So cool.

7. Staging our house in Ironton like I'm on HGTV. Yes, folks, its finally on the market! "Great updates and close to schools! This three bedroom, one and a half bath ranch is full of recent remodels! Enclosed back porch, custom kitchen cabinetry, new carpet and appliances! Wonderful neighborhood. Must see!"

6. This goes along with #7: Celebrating Jeremy's new job in Columbus! HOORAY! He starts May 9th. I am never complaining about anything ever again. I feel so, so blessed. Thank you all for the prayers and support

5. Planning for our upcoming trip to Europe. Jeremy also calls this "stressing about what I'm going to wear to not look like a tourist." OMGoodness. Flights are booked, hotels are booked, trains (!) are booked. Now I'm micromanaging our packing and cramming the French language. Any suggestions on lovely places to eat or in London, Paris or Copenhagen?

4. Seeing lots of great movies. I love happy endings. Check out "Win-Win" and "The King's Speech" for your springtime dose of warm fuzzies.

3. Jammin' out to my new favorite tunes. "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga (better than Starbucks!) and "Generator" by Freelance Whales (featured in a Starbucks commercial!).

2. Finding mates for these lonely socks. Seriously, I cleaned out my sock drawer and NONE of these socks have mates. Does anyone else live like this?

1. Spending the season of Lent in a more reflective place and avoiding restaurant dining as my annual sacrifice. Happy Easter, all!

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."

(John 11:25-27, KJB)

Picture This

(I wrote this post a few weeks ago, but didn't publish it because I didn't have a good picture to go with it. But a friend said that her most therapeutic posts were usually without pictures, and now I feel compelled to post it. Furthermore, I snapped a picture so its REALLY ready to go, therapy and all.)

* * *

Its a dark, snowy evening. You try out the new "Cell Phone Lot" at the airport, pick your husby up from the his long weekend trip. It all starts out very sweet, as he's been gone for a long weekend, and you haven't spent much time with him lately at all.

You are in a hurry, so you bring home McDonald's. Mmm...fries. You have just one bite of his burger, then make a snippy comment about feed lot beef. The dog pees on the floor. He gives you your Valentine's Day present early. Now you feel a little sheepish about the snippy comment.

Its extra snowy now, the flakes glow against the streetlight, making a peaceful scene through the living room windows. You are very happy, but with caution. You have learned how to be happy with caution with great proficiency lately. You know this cozy scene won't last, and he has to leave. Soon. Hanging out is fun, but it doesn't pay the rent. So, you pray together and then its time to go.

He clears off two inches of fluffy snow from his car. Its really coming down now. You sit in his car while he scrapes the car doors. A few extra minutes of together time. You playfully lock the doors from the inside when he's finished scraping, so he can't get in to start the car and to leave. You both laugh at the little joke.

But now its too late to play any more games. You suck it up, let him in, and get a goodnight/goodbye kiss. You both laugh again at how sad this is. You wave goodbye. He honks and waves and turns the corner. You can only see tire marks in the snow.

Then you remember that husby's car isn't front-wheel drive and you shudder to yourself. Or maybe you are shivering from the cold. It doesn't matter. You know you will worry for the next two hours and then some. You feel your tears mix with the snowflakes on your cheeks and are ashamed for crying when your life is so good.

You walk back inside. Its warm and toasty and cozy. You feel bad for that, because you know your love has a two hour drive through the driving snow and an empty, cold house waiting for him and a 6am wake-up call. You feel guilty again for being sad -- you have so much to be thankful for.

Its a pretty tragic story.

But then you open a package from your best faraway friend. You can't help but laugh. You love cute things.

(Cute Asian dental erasers!)

And friends. And snow. And life.

But some days are harder than others.

Some days you're the dog...

...and some days you're the fire hydrant.

Though I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, throughout the winter, we often resort to the not-so-lovely Wee Wee Pad for Peanut's business. Our rule is if its below freezing, or raining heavily, Peanut gets to go indoors.

And as indicated above, sometimes other types of "accidents" happen in the process.