Teachable moments

It is Monday. I still haven’t heard anything yet from the newspaper job three hours away. I’ll e-mail today to see if a decision is in the works. But I have heard from some others. For example, the new editor of the newspaper in Florence received my resume and is interested in talking with me. He commutes from Charlotte to Florence everyday. I think he goes right back my house each day. I also have applied for the position of lifestyles editor at a newspaper.

Yesterday, my son had a teachable moment that no 3-year-old should have. I had to tell him about the death of the mommy cat. Thank goodness, he had spent the weekend with his aunt. I got up early to go buy the Sunday paper. As I waited in the driveway for traffic to slow down, I noticed a bloody lump of fur in the middle of the road. After closer inspection, I realized it was her. We lived on a busy stretch of road with 18 wheelers, dump trucks and tons of cars. Not to mention all the construction to widen the two lanes to a four lane. This poor kitty didn’t stand a chance.

There was a time issue as well. The road by our house is the road that my sister-in-law uses to go to church. And usually, she stops by on the way. So I had roughly 15 minutes to get the cat out the road and hidden at the back of the house before they showed up. I did it. But this is where my husband’s family and my family differ on the pets. In my family, if you are a pet and you die, you get buried. The philosophy was you were loyal to us so we will honor you by burying you. As a kid, I was the gravedigger. We had a lot of pets so as the eldest—my job was to bury them. My hubby’s family either made the animal disappear or burned them. These options were discussed. I buried the cat alone. I knew JJ would want some sort of proof.

I told him what happened. And he took it well for a 3 year-old with lots of questions and trip to the cat’s grave. Then he asked what would happen to her kittens. I told him that we would do our best to care for them. The mommy cat had been working hard to wean them off of her. Now my son is learning true responsibility.

There wasn’t an anniversary meal Saturday. I think my in-laws just wanted to be alone. But yesterday the core group (us, my sister-in-law and her kids and my in-laws) had Sunday dinner. My husband is fixated on this chicken place in Monroe. He has coupons which give him a great deal but to me the chicken sucks. I think everyone thinks it is my ED but no the chicken is not good. It’s just not good. I have given it three tries and the chicken seems to be worst each time. But their baked beans are good. So usually I will eat a chicken wing and a ton of baked beans. Overall, the dinner was nice. The floor looks great in the den. But my father-in-law refuses to let anyone eat in there. So my father-in-law ate in the sacred room, some ate in the kitchen and the rest including me ate on the sun porch.

Overall, it was a nice weekend.

Daily Dose

1. Getting back the ability to think quickly

2. Watching traffic on a rainy Sunday afternoon with my son