Month: December 2015

Disregarded Gifts

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Here we are right on the threshold of yet another Christmas holiday. That is the holiday my family celebrates. I am not nor ever have been ashamed to declare “Merry Christmas” to friends and strangers alike. I cringe when I see the “Christ” part of the word replaced by “X”. That is offensive to me to be honest. And yes, I have read and heard many of the arguments pro and con concerning the use of “X” and pine trees and decorations….and all the other many “pagan” things that have come together to make up our holiday as we know it today in the year 2015.

Also with the holidays comes the influx of charities and usually the “spirit of giving” to go along with that theme. Unless of course your name happens to be Ebeneezer Scrooge. I know a lot of people with his “spirit”. They have a total disregard for anything charitable. I pity those folks really. They don’t know the reality of joy that comes with giving.

For nearly as long as I can remember I have handmade nearly all gifts I’ve given to friends and family for Christmas. Each gift is lovingly thought out and planned for the specific recipient. I receive great joy when those gifts are cherished. Perhaps you have seen on social media the petition to buy local, buy handmade, that handmade isn’t cheap. I support all that as I have an Etsy shop that doesn’t have much traffic. I tend to gift more than I sell. You can find my shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/peabuttonsmom

But what about the gifts that we purchase and gift to others? Are we simply giving a gift of disregard? Are those gifts lovingly thought out and pursued? Did we fight with somebody on Black Friday to save a buck just to give that kind of gift? One that will ultimately be “disregarded”?

Today I rather had a heart break concerning a lesser gift. Given a couple or so years ago. Gifted with love to a family member.  I did not fight for this gift or necessarily save money on this gift. But today there it was, in all its glory, laying in their trash can. I simply was throwing away an orange rind and there the gift was, partially hidden, but still crying out from the recesses of despair. Being the dumpster diver that I am of course I fished it out of their trash. My heart was broken. It sank. I realized that that particular gift was disregarded as trash. Not as the collectible which is what I had bought. Not being regifted nor even being recycled. Trashed. Oh the horror!

Now I would like to interject here that I also had another family member years ago who was notorious for ridding herself of last years gifts. Gifts we gave her often showed up in the yard sale next spring. We finally just started gifting her with gift cards. What else could we do? She made it evident that she would rather have the money.

But how does one deal with the gift that lands in the trash?? Honestly, I do not know yet. I am not finishing the handmade gifts I had previously been fussing over for this person. I just don’t feel like it is necessary any more.  It is necessary that I pray harder about this and forgive this person in my own heart. They obviously don’t see any wrong committed here.

This holiday season I would like to encourage all who read this post to re-evaluate your reason for giving the gift, as well as the gifts you receive. Some of us have spent precious time and expenses choosing those gifts just for you. Or making them. Or even having them specially made.

It makes me wonder how Santa can keep on giving and gifting when he knows he’s only giving gifts of disregard.

There is a sermon in here somewhere.

Bah. Humbug.

 

 

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Dog Sitting in a Chrysalis

As a child in grade school there was a time when the teacher had a butterfly cocoon for us to watch. I seem to recall how hard it was watching that thing for the longest time and wondering if the teacher was just playing a trick on us. I mean really, THAT thing is alive??

Honest! Didn’t the caterpillar in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland spin his cocoon and transform into a butterfly in record time? I saw it with my own two eyes!

Then there were my teen and young adult years when I fervently listened to the musical team of sisters called Heart (or was it Hart?). Anyhow, I remember a popular song about the Dog and Butterfly. Although I can’t recall the words to that song at this moment I assure you if it were to come on the radio I could sing every word and not miss a single note.

Present day. I have previously written about Mosey Cottage and most recently referred to this house as being in the chrysalis stage. Days on end pass and I see more WRONG with the two livable rooms than what I see being done with the rest of the house. BUT I recently had a tidbit of stirring that was made visible to me. The kids had a couple of contractors to come in and evaluate the need for offering their estimates. I met the first man. I liked him. He was excited about his craft and saw the opportunity to work for us and still be able to have a bit of leeway in what he loves to do. My son in law liked him too. I was told that they most likely will go with this man’s estimate. Maybe. The second man I never met. I understand he acted like his work was a drudgery and he could care less. Phooey on the nay-sayer who wants to drag his feet! (I still expect the chrysalis to spin and produce a beautiful butterfly like Alice’s caterpillar).

What does a dog have to do with any of this? >sigh< Cub is a hound dog. A mix breed of hunting dogs. He points and flags. Forget the heeling. He pulls and drags if you fall while trying to manage his leash. Forget the hunting although his nose is always sniffing something to track. And I do believe he’d just as soon EAT a butterfly as to chase it. This is my daughter’s dog. NOT mine! My Daisy is much cuter (wink wink).

My daughter has been roughing it in the front two rooms of my Mosey Cottage for nearly a year now. Family stuff happens and jobs change and now I find myself “dog sitting” so she can keep her job. You see, Cub suffers from severe separation anxiety. He has broken through three windows, two doors, torn up the carpet, shredded a couch…..need I say more? As long as he is WITH somebody he knows he is fine.

He is a bit tamer and a little more behaved since I started keeping him. I usually keep him in Mosey Cottage. In fact I have spent enough time there that I’m beginning to feel a bit more like maybe someday I WILL be living there. Sure keep hoping so!

It is interesting to watch a chrysalis from the inside. It isn’t what I had expected. I mean who would have ever believed me if I told them that this chrysalis is helping to transform a DOG?

I’m still expecting the butterfly….

Merry Christmas Ya’ll!

Cub in his hound dog cuteness….