Skinny Jeans and Fairness

If you have met my eldest, you know why we call him Big T. He has grown 6.5 inches in the last year. From afar, he looks like a double stick popsicle with a head. Skinny jeans are all the rage with the youngins these days. For T, they are a fashion necessity. If he wears normal jeans, they look like bozo pants.

In anticipation of returning to school, we cleaned out T's closet to see what still fit from last year. The answer: nothing. Skinny jeans go for about $50 full price at Kohls or Zumiez. I was bumming.

The Scottish in me took over, however. I found one pair of skinny jeans for $19 at Marshalls, and another pair on sale at Kohls (for which I also used a 30% coupon) so I paid only $25. Now I felt victorious.

However, now that I am back at work, laundry isn't being done with the frequency it has been over the summer. So after many squabbles and seemingly endless bickering, I was back at Kohls with another 30% off coupon.

This was the end for Hayden (who only got one pair of skinny jeans). His invisible, proverbial cork popped and out came, "Mom, that's not fair."

At this point, you might be thinking, "Why is Jenni bothering to blog this story?"

The events of the last 24 hours have been extraordinary. My husband and my puppy were attacked by a German Shepherd. My hubby is fine...went to the doc, was given a prescription and, other than a little soreness, he's recovering fine.

My puppy Brutus, on the other hand, hasn't fared so well. He is a twelve pound yorkie-dachsund, and cuter than that renowned bug's ear. The attack has left him with a 10-12" cut across his entire back. The vet described the injury as "what it would look like if you tried to pull a stuffed animal apart not by the seams." It is absolutely tragic.

I have really been struggling with my anger and grief over the situation. I am an admitted dog freak. And have been since I was about 8 years old. Brutus is an innocent creature. He has never harmed anyone or anything. He didn't deserve what happened yesterday.

That's when it hit me. Fairness is a man made concept. It is an ideal, not reality. If it were real, then my friends on Batey 50 in La Romana (photos above) would have a house as nice as mine and as much food to eat as I do. My friend Samantha wouldn't have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but rather two healthy knees like my boys. Little Macey King wouldn't have battled cancer (and won, by the way) numerous times before she turned 10, while I sit here at 45 still chugging along as healthy as an ox. There is no question, life isn't fair.

What dawned on me is that fairness isn't a God-given gift, but I do believe that justice is. Justice is eternal and not of this world. I am hanging on for that.

Captain Destruction

Hi my name is Brutus. I am a Halloween baby. Right now, I am just over 9 months old. I was adopted by my family one week before Christmas and in addition to offering an abundance of kisses and cuddles, I have reigned a daily dose of destruction down on my home.

Here's the list of items I have destroyed so far:
• I chewed the linoleum in the kitchen off the floor in large sheets...so much so that we now have a new kitchen floor (you can see the beginning of the wreckage in the top right photo). Secretly, I think my mom is happy.
• I gnawed on the hose that connects the toilet to the plumbing coming out of the wall. Mom was having a party. I heard her say to dad, "Is something running?" When she came in the bathroom and saw water spraying from the hose all over the walls she wasn't very happy.
• I have worked steadily on all four corners of the wooden step stool my mom has had since she was a kid. I think it looks very rustic now.
• I also enjoy the feel of the wicker laundry basket between my teeth (I am sitting atop it, above middle). Whenever mom takes the lid off, I am pretty sure she is handing it to me to consume.
• Whenever I am not in my crate, I like to chew on that too...all aspects of it actually: the clips, the sides of the opening (it's all good).
• The toilet plunger was also quite yummy. I shredded that baby!
• My latest project is peeling the wallpaper off the walls in the downstairs bathroom. Not only does it taste good and provide some fun for me, but also I think it is time for a change in that room.