A "Boo Radley" Moment...

If you love the movie "Benny and June"  you'll get what I'm talking about.  If not, hang on, I'll explain.

So I've been promising the kids a puppy.  We've been in the new house for a few months and things are sort of settling (in a sort of unsettled way) into a routine.  So I start calling around trying to find Basset Hounds.  Yes, we were inspired by Ree Drummond's blog and we bought the book about him while in Oklahoma.  Turns out a Google search on Bassets comes up as a furniture store more often than a kennel.  But I digress.  I finally found a kennel in Houston that sounded legit and responsible.

Off we went to the Heights in search of our puppy.  She had two litters but we only had eyes for one...

That face was irresistable.

So home we came, the pup howling all the way until finally I put him on my shoulder as I drove home.  He settled down and was quiet.  Oops.  I was hoping he would bond with one of the kids!

It seemed clear I was his soul mate - in Mama terms anyhow.

Naming the dog was fairly simple.  I told the kids I couldn't believe I was doing this and it was a "Boo Radley" kind of moment in our lives.  The albino and misunderstood Boo Radley is a character in "To Kill a Mockingbird" who ends up a hero for saving the lives of Atticus Finch's kids one night as they walk home from a school production.  A great read, by the way.  In the movie "Benny and June," June, who is eccentric and reclusive after a car accident kills her parents, calls any awkward or unplanned moment a "Boo Radley moment." Hence, our name for the dog could only be Boo Radley.  The long version for the AKC papers reads, "Mama had a Boo Radley Moment."

So Boo is now part and parcel of our family and is peeing and pooping everywhere when he is not sleeping or eating or playing.  Those pet pee pads - they don't work if you want to know but they make great chew toys.

Ah Boo, we love you!

Feelings, nothing more than...

Most of you are too young to remember that song spilling out of the car radio on a warm summer evening.  The song begins as mellow and pure as young hearts in love and then escalates to Albert's tenor wailing over "Feelings, whoa, whoa my life of feelings...".   Open a new tab and click below to listen while you read...

Here's the you tube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyBcHUe4WeQ

It sorta made those of us in the throes of youth feel like we were justified in all of our angst and pain over whatever melodramatic chaos happened to ensnare us at that moment.  So my question is, what about now?  I am an adult of almost half a decade and yep, sometimes I just want to wail and sing it out.  I might change the lyrics a little to suit my gloomy mood and make me feel just a little more sympathy for my circumstance.  Of course, I'm the only one who is going to sympathize because in actuality my life is beautiful and God has been very good to me.  But I know even He has a sense of humor and won't mind if I take one verse on the grounds of overworked mother; stressed out on homeschool and housework and Basset Hound puppy training, and sing it loud and long until I giggle myself back to reality.

Be sure to include nasal congestion and sore muscles when you indulge, it really makes for an unmatched performance!

Have a great day!