Of The Holidays and Pets by Konnie Enos

We didn’t have multiple parties to attend. We didn’t have to do any stress inducing last minute shopping trips. (Okay, I generally plan well enough that I never have to do gift shopping at the last minute.) We didn’t have any company come over, unless you count my son coming home Christmas Eve for a day or two.

My son and daughter finally managed to get our tree up about a week before Christmas. And my daughter took it back down again by this past Sunday. I even got my Christmas Village taken down already. So, it has to be the shortest time we’ve have ever had our Christmas decorations up.

Beyond that, the only things that have happened in the last month are a couple of our dogs needing urgent trips to the vet.

It started with Xavier getting sick and throwing up just before Christmas. It was serious enough that we ran him to the doctor at the earliest possible moment. We didn’t wait for our preferred doctor to be on duty first. (She only works Friday thru Tuesday, and it was a Thursday.)

And, as usual for a vet visit, the cost was several hundred dollars to do some blood work and give him something to calm his stomach. All that and I don’t think anyone figured out what was wrong beyond possibly a cold. After a few days rest he returned to his normal happy self. Though the vet did have us repeat one of the blood tests because the numbers weren’t good. Thankfully the repeat showed they are fine now.

Then between Christmas and New Year’s, my daughter had to run Ivan to the doctor. More bloodwork. They came home again with no issues but within minutes of them getting home Ivan started bleeding again.

Now, when we call the vet’s office they generally ask us if we are having an emergency or if we can wait on hold for a few minutes. I assume because the front desk staff are doing three things at once most days. And in the nearly twenty years we’ve lived here, that was the first time I told them that no, I could not wait because I was positive it was an emergency.

We were told to get him back to the office as soon as possible. Now my daughter can drive, but at that point she was a bit panicked, and someone had to hold Ivan to keep pressure on where he was bleeding from.

We discussed me getting dressed and holding Ivan while she drove, but I didn’t think that was the best solution. One because my daughter was that upset about Ivan’s condition. Two because of the time it would take me to get dressed. And finally, three, because she has the most knowledge and skills to deal with a pet emergency to begin with. (She is a veterinary nurse after all.)

I told Jerry to drive while my daughter held Ivan.

What apparently happened is that the site they drew blood from started bleeding again. They stopped the bleeding and sent him home, but we had to keep him quiet for a few days.

Now we have three pets currently. Ivan and Xavier are both seniors. Lakota is barely fully grown, and still has some of her puppy exuberance. One would think keeping Lakota, our largest and youngest dog, away from Ivan would be the biggest issue. It was not.

Xavier, by then fully recovered from his bout of sickness, was energetic and playful enough that he was the reason Ivan started bleeding again. We were afraid we’d have to keep them apart for a few days, but Xavier managed to be his less than energetic, senior self while Ivan was recovering.

But the trip to get Xavier’s bloodwork rechecked was an experience.

Per his usual he rode in the backseat all the way to the vet but as soon as we parked he climbed into the front seat. And for whatever reason he never went back into the back seat. He stayed in my lap for the duration of the trip home.

Now he is not a huge dog, but having nearly thirty pounds of mass on my basically non-existent lap was a bit much for the roughly 20-minute drive. But the really annoying part was when he switched his position so he could see out the window better. He was pretty much standing on my stomach and completely blocking my view for the last five minutes or so of the trip home.

He clearly enjoyed it, but I wasn’t comfortable.

How are things so far this year, for you?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Happy New Year! by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 As the new year approaches, I usually spend time considering goals for the coming year, particularly in my writing. However, the last few months has been far too hard on me and right now I am half out of it on pain meds. So, let me just say Happy New Year and I hope this year is better than the last!

Happy writing everyone.

Merry Christmas by Konnie Enos

I don't know about anybody else, but I've spent most of the last week or so prepping for this morning and I have plans to spend most of the day with my children. Well, at least the three who actually live here in Las Vegas.

Now, it's time for everyone to go enjoy the day with their loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

What's in a Name? by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Not too long ago, I read an article where this guy received several messages from a young mother and her friends accusing him of identity theft because he had the exact same name as the young mother’s baby!

These nut jobs were serious!

Can you believe it?

So let me clue you in: Identity theft is only when you take the other person’s social security number and birthdate, not when you have the same name. Let's be honest here: a lot of people have the same name since there are billions of other people on Earth.

I mean there are several Bonnie Hamilton’s in this world. I should know since I’ve more than once been told that I am not the Bonnie Hamilton they were used to, but I’ve also done periodic Google searches of my name to have several other Bonnie Hamilton’s show up, including a doctor. I am not any of those.

I admit I am the only Bonnie Le Hamilton, but there is a Bonnie L. Hamilton who isn’t me either.

And while on that track I might point out that my deceased husband was Tom Hamilton, and he was an ordinary everyday kind of person, no one famous, and he didn’t claim to be. His baby brother is George Hamilton. And I promise he isn’t the Hollywood actor George Hamilton; he’s a volleyball coach.

What I’m saying is no one has exclusive rights to any name. Period.

So, to all those people complaining about someone else using the same name you picked for your kid, get over it! You do not own a copywrite to that name.

I mean it. I read one story where Woman A got upset with Woman B for naming her dog Bella. Woman A had named her daughter Bella and didn’t want her daughter to think she had a dog’s name. Woman B is from a different country where Bella is a common name for dogs, even if they are in the same country now, it doesn’t matter. And it is ridiculous.

There have been several stories of siblings and in-laws fighting over who got to use a certain name as well. Something I do not get.

I have two nieces by the first name of Kristina, and they were born about a month apart, one to my brother, and one to Konnie. Have those two been fighting about that? Never! They laughed it off when it happened, and it’s never been an issue since. Nowadays, Konnie's daughter goes by her middle name, and our brother's daughter goes by Tina. It has just never been an issue.

I read one where a brother and his wife named their baby at her gender reveal then their daughter was stillborn, heartbreaking, but a few months later his sister had a gender reveal giving her daughter the same name as the recently stillborn daughter of her brother’s. Yeah, that was heartless. Just don’t go there.

And I’ve read several where people don’t announce the name of their expected baby and or give a fake name for their expected baby so no one can “steal” their real name, or “copy” their real name.

I say it again, you cannot copywrite a name. I mean someone the likes of Cher can claim a copywrite, but not an everyday Joe. Sorry, you’re not that special.

Though I can see hiding the name to keep someone from copying you. But that is just insane that someone else is so insecure that they have to copy everything someone else does.

I even read one story where woman A had a name in mind for her firstborn son most of her life and at one point woman B, someone who was always trying to one-up woman A, overheard her talking about that name.

Years later they both get pregnant, and woman B gives birth first, using the name woman A had always liked; when woman A uses the name too, woman B goes on a rant about woman A copying her, even while admitting she heard woman A talk about that name when they were teens!

Talk about insane!

I just can’t see fighting over a name. If every parent complained about all the other children out there with the same name as their child . . . well, there would be fewer teachers worrying about Tommy A, Tommy B, or Andrea A and Andrea B, etc. But things like that happen.

Admittedly not to me. Now other Connie’s we ran into all the time, but please note the spelling difference. In fact, today there are both a Konnie and a Connie Enos. Both women are married brothers.

Anyway, happy writing everyone.

 

Of The Season and Tree by Konnie Enos

 

Monday, Jerry and I had reason to leave the house for a few hours. When we returned I walked up to our front door and noticed my wreath was out.

Now I had not noticed my wreath being on the front door before then, but we had already been decorating for Christmas. We did not have our tree up yet (still don’t) for various reasons. I had, however, managed to set up my Christmas village and Nativity. Which was a step in the right direction because we hadn’t been able to do that for a couple of years.

Anyway, I noticed the wreath and stepped into the house to both my kids in the living room sitting on the couch talking. I asked my daughter if she’d put it out while I was gone. I also noted that they’d removed some more things from the living room so we could put up the tree.

Both said they’d been working on clearing the necessary space for the tree.

So, I’d been right, the wreath hadn’t been up before I left that day.

Well, after Jerry and I had both gone to our bedroom, and changed our clothes, Jerry went to the front room and was talking to our kids. Apparently, he noticed and asked when our son’s desk had been cleaned off. (It’s in the living room.)

Mind you, I had looked in that direction. I had seen something moved from the general area where the tree will go to the area by the desk. However, I hadn’t registered that the desk was no longer piled high with my son’s stuff to the point that the drawers couldn’t close.

I saw it, but I hadn’t registered that it was a change.

My kids laughed and teased me about it because they had assumed that I would notice but Jerry would not.

We then discussed what still needed to be done in the living room so that we could, finally, after several years of not being able to put up our tree. Which was clear out all the boxes stored in the corner. Boxes that had ended up there because the house and garage were full of people and things.

But, in the last year, our older son and his friend moved out, while my youngest son moved into the front bedroom.

We’d also had that catastrophe in the garage which not only forced us to clean it out but forced us to throw away a bunch of stuff that were ruined by the water.

We were able to get rid of enough to make more room in the garage. Not to mention that my daughter is determined to sort through what’s left and get rid of everything we absolutely don’t need anymore. She’s already started two piles. One for stuff we are keeping. The other for stuff we can throw or give away.

All this cleaning up not only means we have room to put up our tree, but my kids were sure they could find it. Something they dove into do yesterday after the living room floor was completely cleaned.

Yes, they found the tree, or at least most of the parts.

The tree is no longer usable.

They couldn’t find the stand. The attached lights no longer work. And it’s shedding, which is a clear indication it’s too old.

So, the kids and I spent some time discussing the benefits of a pre-lit tree over one that doesn’t have lights and looking up the cost of both. We eventually discarded the idea of a pre-lit tree and only partly because of the issues we’d had with an entire section of our old tree going out years ago and we couldn’t fix it. The main reason we didn’t do pre-lit is because all the pre-lit trees we found were all only in white lights. We want multicolored.

So, we ordered a new tree and are going to buy new lights this week. We should have our tree up finally next week.

And before you ask, use fake Christmas tree for multiple reasons.

First and foremost, for many years, while the kids were young, we had to fight Jerry to wait until after Halloween to put the tree up and it never came down until well after the new year. Two and half, to three months is way too long for a now dead tree to be in your living room.

Second, we have family members allergic to pine, and I apparently react to at least fir. (It aggravates my asthma.) So, fake trees it is.

Next we have to dig out the Christmas socks and hang them up. And wrap some presents, which I haven’t finished doing yet.

Anyway, enjoy the season.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Of Colds and Seasonal Thoughts by Konnie Enos

Since it is Bonnie’s turn to post this week, I had not been thinking about what I would write so I spend most of last night, after she told me she was sick, trying to come up with an inkling of an idea.

What I kept coming back to is that’s it’s December.

The time of the year when people stress themselves out by focusing on things, to-do lists, and what they don’t have. How their life isn’t the picture-perfect life. Or they focus on the commercialistic standard that has prevailed in our society for too long.

But maybe that’s beginning to shift.

I have noticed a change in our collective focus since 2020. I’m not seeing the ads about all the things individuals should ask for this year, but I have seen ads about family, togetherness, and helping others.

I will admit that I don’t watch TV, and I can’t remember the last time I listened to the radio, but I’m still on the internet daily. I’ve seen some ads. All about family or giving.

This is a positive change, and we need to help keep our focus on what really matters.

Family, friends, love, acceptance, and the true sense of connection and community you get when you help others.

So, in this season of giving, think about all the ways you can build community.

Find an Angel Tree, a Giving Machine, or a charity close to your heart where you can give not only money, but time to something that you believe in. Contribute and connect with your community in positive ways.

Not just volunteering for important causes, but in your everyday words and actions. When posting on social media or talking to people around you be mindful of the impact of your words. Try to be upbeat and positive.

Spread cheer. Spread love and acceptance. Call family and friends just to express your love. Think about your friends and neighbors who are chronically ill and could use a friendly face. A helping hand. Or a pot of chicken noddle soup.

When you are out and about, smile. Be open and friendly. Help strangers when you see they have a need.

But most of all, fight the negative thoughts, and judgmental attitudes that help no one, especially yourself. We are all human beings, and we all deserve understanding, acceptance and love.

So, in this season, I want you to think of just one thing. Think about what you can do to have a positive impact in your community. How can you spread love, acceptance, and cheer?

I’ll leave you to think about it.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.