Our Family: Unconditional Love

So, another week has flown by with the usual challenges and rewards. On Monday I came home from work, met the bus and got the girls a snack. At 4:30 p.m., I sat down on the couch and fell asleep. So much for my great desire to get a bit of housework done each day of the week.

On Tuesday, I took Cassie to an allergist appointment. While she was receiving skin tests, she was finishing the book, "Where the Red Fern Grows." This is a classic that we've all read at some point in our lives. I had a vague recollection that the book was sad. But, most animal books are. Suddenly, Cassie leapt out of the chair and threw her book on the floor. She then collapsed back in the chair weeping. The boy's dog had died! I got her calmed down and told her she didn't need to finish the book. Moments later she was composed and ready to ready the last few pages. Oops! The boy's other dog soon dies of loneliness. By this time, I was getting teary-eyed because Cassie was so upset. The nurse started reminiscing about sad animal stories that she's read, and she started getting weepy. The doctor came in and looked at us like we were a bunch of idiots and said, "Oh, my. Are the skin tests that painful?" When we got home, Les was cooking dinner. He dropped a piece of meat on the floor and called for Saki to come and get it. Of course, Saki is no longer with us. Great. Just the reminder that Cassie needed. Missing, misinterpreting or deliberately ignoring my frantic gestures from across the room, Les proceeded to tell about a guy he knows who raises sheep dogs and "puts down" the ones who aren't good workers. By this time, Cassie was sitting at the table weeping. She reminded Les that she still felt bad about Saki. Lacey sat down across from Cassie, looked straight at her and said, "I don't feel bad about Saki!" We somehow salvaged the rest of the evening.

Overnight there was a bit of sleet. So, we had a two-hour school delay on Wednesday. The girls and I used our extra time to take down what was left of our ancient, artificial Christmas tree. Since then, I've been cleaning up fake tree needles from all over the house.

Thursday evening Cassie decided to try sparring at Taekwondo. I looked at her with her face all distorted from the mouthpiece and thought, "This is my little ballerina?!" But, I managed to offer her words of encouragement and praise.

On Friday I took Cassie to a violin lesson. As I slipped off my shoes to go into her instructor's house, I realized that I was wearing Halloween socks. Ahh geez, slightly embarrassing. At least they were clean.

On Saturday, Lacey and Les managed to get all the Christmas ornaments stowed in the attic while Cassie and I did the grocery shopping. I then tackled the unending stream of laundry and Les agreed to fold. He got tired of trying to reach his big hands into the legs of skinny jeans to turn them right side out. So, he decided to return the girls' clothes in the condition they were sent to the laundry. It was a little hard to fold the jeans that were half inside out and half right side out! Won't the girls be surprised.

On Sunday, the topic at church was "unconditional love." The vicar called the children up front for a children's message. She asked if any of them had ever received great news. A couple kids mentioned going to Disneyland. Then Lacey said her great news was when she found out she was going to be adopted. I was still fumbling in my purse for a tissue when the girls came trotting back and plopped down beside me. Cassie leaned over and whispered, "I told her to say that."