Here's wishing all of you a New Year of love, light, wisdom and happy feet!

pottersville

Well, the day was a good one friends! My Christmas surprise was pulled off without a hitch. A little tinsel and one big red bow later, the girls are as happy as a fly on...er..well, while I'm on the subject- man, oh, man. I just wanna say, a puppy's digestive tract is one big assembly line of waste removal. You'd think a couple of tinkles, here and there..but no. The last 24 hours in the Mag casa has been like a festive True Grit. Instead of a couple of six-shooters,
I am armed with my Greenworks and Odor Remover, and just a wee-wee bit trigger happy. Oy. I realize it has only been one measley day, but I will be beyond elated when that part of training is over and done with and I can put my grassy double-lot to good use.

The day could not have been jollier though, despite all the yucky D.Q. soft-serve treats. In keeping with our holiday couch potato tradition- the Disney parade and Alistair Sim's 'Carole were followed by a lovely nosh of what I like to call, Mama's Christmas Chicken (made w/ roasted red pepper & olive..yum!). A teensy weensy bit of snowfall and a couple of Zyrtec martinis later, we all settled in for a good winter's nap. This morning was a joy to find four new eyeballs looking up at me as I made my way to the kitchen. Of course it took me 40 minutes before I even had the time to sip my java & Facebook but..... Big Daddy woke up early to assist, and let's put it this way, his "morning paper" takes on a whole new meaning now.

Yes, we definitely have our hands full on this one but couldn't be happier. The kids are obsessed with their new besties. I just hope the poor furry guys can live through all the squeezing, bear hugs and stalking. It is like an Elvis concert in there right now. In time, all will settle, I suppose. Until then, back to school stories are being bandied about, snow days won't be so darn boring anymore and the dog run will be the happenin' hangout.

Here, here, folks! Let's raise a glass to love, laughter, and memories that last a lifetime. And soft puppy tummies. That is way up there on the list now.

It truly is a wonderful life!

merry, merry

Have a wonderful holiday, friends! May this special eve bring soft candlelight, laughter & yummy nosh your way....and the New Year be jam-packed with all things exciting!

santa paws

It is almost here! St. Nick is all porked up and will soon be ready to lock and load. This year promises to be a special one for the Maglets. Besides the orange & Nerds, there will be a surprise to beat all surprises in their stockings- a kitty! It all began months ago, très loads of moaning and groaning from the both of them- "Mommy, everyone has a pet. Everyone..BUT US!!!" For awhile, I was able to take a big swig and let my well-rehearsed 'our home is too small, my allergies to huge' monologue do the talking but as time went by, Mama Mag's heartstrings began to get plucked like a Glen Campbell banjo...and heck, I dunno- the next thing I knew, Daddy and I were at the shelter checking out a furry orphan. Don't get me wrong. Dad and I are huge feline fans. But, I am busy enough with my hairless rug rats!

I remember my first pet, a dog who took my heart captive the minute our eyes locked. It was around my 10th birthday. I have a beloved pic of us napping on the sofa together...me, awash in puppy breath and bell bottoms, and her on my chest...catching some canine z's. She was smart as whip, that dog- a Border Collie mix. She had an uncontrollable urge to herd the cattle, bless her, which resulted in a lot of yelling from my dad. :) I used to saddle her up with lunch and my journal. We'd amble off on the farm somewhere for a little respite. No D.S.'s or I-Pads in those days, just a girl and her dog, quiet...eating wild blackberries in the sun. It was a hoot watching her curl her lips back, toofies exposed, carefully picking the morsel from its thorny crown. That memory makes me smile.

So flash forward- here we were, looking for a cat. My hub and I had four of the little rascals between us when we first moved in together many years ago. It was a dandered Brady Bunch, let me tell you. But it was a critter we were most familiar with, so we decided it would probably be be the easiest new addition for our fam. A special Christmas morning delivery indeed. By none other than, Amanda, Santa's special rescue elf. I don't have to tell you that I have a sack of camera batteries and a jumbo box of Kleenex for this one. To say their heads are going to twist off their shoulders is an understatement.

I got my Gosselin on and named them already. "Dorian" is our eight week old smokey ball of feline lightening. He is at the pouncing-out-of-nowhere stage. Uh-oh. Strong martinis and moves like that, just don't mix. I figure since he is lucky enough to have nine lives, then he'll be the only Mag among us who doesn't age, so the name will fit him well. Yeah, yeah, I should be ashamed of my mommy self, but I'm not. I simply can't go through the next ten years or so, calling out to a Sparkle or a Cuddles. Another great gray meowy opportunity to drum up the fanfare and open our peepers to the fortune we have in our lives with appreciation and a renewed sense of wonder. All the gifts given me from two amazing little girls.

"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

the variance

Family is a confounding thing. The journey through time that each one makes can run a root deep, provide a foothold in the climb when we need it and shelter our backs when the rains become too strong. But sometimes within its winding history there are byways that separate, and we are left to navigate some of the way on our own. Often by happenstance, sometimes by choice. Its mosaic, a unique, recondite mix of this and that, made all the more allusive when we figure in the karmic tangle of it all.

This last month my baby learned to ride a bike while I was away. The special surprise was given me with a chocolate smile on a cold, dark night after a long, trying day. Her curls trailing in the shadows, the sky filled with stars. The hope and locomotion within that magic impulse infused me and I will hold it dear as I continue to hack my way with kin through a jungle of painful transition, acceptance, old age and fear. Prayer, at this time, is essential as breath as I try to sort word from action and present from past.

Life's journey does come with a compass, however, so now I must ground, suck up a super-sized inhale and reorganize my mystic Samsonite again...finding my way through- remembering it is along the sojourn where we find all the meaning, and not at the end of rainbows. And it is within this purposeful quiet...we hurt, we question, we dig. And if we own up to what we should, forgive when we think we can not, and love when there is nothing else we can do, we can resurface. That's just how it works.