Pathetic

If I were to use a picture to describe the word pathetic, then this is the picture I would use.

A little over four years ago we (more accurately I) decided it would be a great idea to get a dog. Alex was terrified of dogs at that time. He would literally climb up me to get away from any size dog. What better way to get over a fear than to own a dog?

I did some research and found a litter of puppies that seemed perfect. We filled out the extensive application to adopt him and brought him home. (Sheesh, I thought there was a lot of paperwork to adopt a child!)

He was so cute.

The lady said that he should be around 45 pounds. Not bad for an indoor dog. He had to be indoors. If he was outside, I knew he would not get much attention. What was the point of having a dog if he was not inside; one of the family?

I invested hours into training this dog. There was no way I was going to have an obnoxious dog. In many ways I succeeded. He walks next to me with no leash, rarely barks, and would never run away.

Well, that cute little puppy grew up to be a seventy-five pound dog. He is attached to me like glue. Talk about a dog bonding with his master. DRIVES ME BATTY!

After we brought Lily home, this sweet dog became an annoyance. I would walk around the house with not only a toddler following me, but a dog and a ten year-old boy who followed the dog. I could go nowhere in the house alone. Not even the bathroom!

The moment we came home from China this year, the dog got the boot. Yes, I kicked the poor thing outside. It was one of the best decisions I have made since coming back from China. He now spends his day staring at me through glass.

It's quite pathetic. He will even find me in my bedroom and stare through that slider as well. Poor guy. His only moment of joy is when night rolls around and we let him in to sleep. See..... I'm not completely heartless.


The moral of this story is to get a guide dog puppy. After one year you will be done. Or, better yet, don't get a dog at all! Who wants to clean up all that poop!

Life Without Facebook

Today marks my second day without Facebook. I made the decision earlier this week to deactivate my account. My reasons are many. Too much wasted time is spent there. I turn to Facebook in order to zone out and have some down time. There are so many projects laying around my house that could be done instead of me sitting in front of Facebook. I want to make wise use of time; time that I don't have much of these days.

Facebook also gives me the illusion of friendship. In order to have a true relationship, I need to email or call those friends that are on my list. Instead of making the effort at contact, I assume I know all that is going on by updated status reports. How shallow that seems.

So, I have survived my first few days of no Facebook without too much withdrawal. I hope to get to a point where I can go back to Facebook without needing to constantly look, or better yet just delete my account and spend that free time composing notes to all my friends.

Academics Aren't Everything

The majority of my blog posts are about my adopted children. It's an easy topic to blog about. There is always material for a post floating around in my head about adoption. It may seem that my biological boys are being passed over. That is not the case. So, today, the subject for my post will be my second born.

My passionate, high-energy, fun-loving, quirky kid is such a joy to have around.

He can also drive you insane. Alex turned ten this year and I can hardly believe it. Time has flown by. I'm going to blink again and find him married with kids.

He's in the fifth grade this year and school is tough. I always hear about homeschool kids who are advanced and doing courses ahead of their grade. Not my boy. Reading takes forever. Math is a frustration. Spelling is atrocious.

If he were to attend a public school our lives would be miserable. Unable to sit still, his teacher would be constantly reprimanding him. Who knows what kind of suggestions I would get to "help" him in school.

This boy of mine may not shine in school, but he does shine. He shines in places that the world does not value.

He is compassionate.

He is creative.

He loves with all his heart.

He also has a gift with music. It brings me great joy to hear him practice his drums. Yes, joy. Others may cringe to hear the loud snare and crashing cymbals, but I love it. I encourage him in his gift so that one day he will use it to glorify the Lord. We do not take lessons to be better than the other kids. We do not have him in a percussion group so that he gets to perform. We do all these things to prepare him to someday use his talent to worship his Lord.

Here he is playing drum set for We Got the Beat

You see, academics aren't everything. Alex's passion for life and hopefully his Lord will be what defines him. Not what grade level he reads, words he can spell, or how high he was able to go in math. It's the love that he has for others, his compassion, creativity, and zest for life that others will notice.

What a blessing he is.