Ponder this:

Sunday, December 25, 2011

'T'is The Day!

How much do you know about Christmas? A quiz.
I am unaccustomed to doing so poorly on quizzes that I choose to take for fun. 55%? Come on!


Yesterday the vet gave me a good gift. She pronounced Maxie "not ready to give up yet."
He has a little UTI and some antibiotics to take care of that, and he has some muscle relaxer medication to make his back feel better. He hasn't complained, but he's been walking around hunched up like an inchworm. Medicated, he seems to feel much more comfortable, and he's very nice and quiet: he's sleeping a lot. Maybe it's so very restful to have some relief from what has apparently been ongoing discomfort. Dogs are stoic. Even the ones (Max) who seem like crybabies . . . they're stoic. They bear things that they don't need to bear . . . if only they would tell me!
On Friday night I moved something and a lost tennis ball rolled out; Max was all over it. Not quite up to Fetch, but very happy to see Good Ol' Tennis Ball. And outdoors, he's still prancing like a Saratoga thoroughbred. So the vet's pronouncement was not unexpected, but still very welcome. I guess we'll have him for a while. 
Nice gift.


So here I am, up at 3:00 on Christmas morning, watching my fire in the woodstove, listening to Angus snore next to me. Max never got up out of bed to come downstairs with us . . . he is still a small lump under the blankets upstairs in the bed. MiMau is toasting nicely in her spot in front of the stove. 
Later Husband will fix the prime rib. I'll make whipped potatoes, or maybe twice-baked, and some salad, and we will feast and give the dogs bits of beef, and then we shall all nap at will. 


I have no desserty material, unless I make another chickpea/chocolate cake, which I could whip up in five minutes or so. Honestly, it is an absolutely delectable item, which must be eaten in small portions. Chickpeas are just chockful of fiber. Trust me: I know . . . now, after having eaten two-thirds of the cake in one sitting. I was so annoyed, last Monday night, that I was required to go back to work for a meeting that promised to be long and awful (and turned out to be, in fact, four long hours of tedium and tension) that I scarfed down, in one of my more memorable eating binges, what was left of the cake. I was . . . uncomfortable . . . for three succeeding days and nights. I cannot stress enough how important it is to control one's portion size of that particular delicacy. 
Wow. The memory alone is enough to give me chills.


I hope you all have the kinds of Christmases that you want, whether that's peaceful, exciting, child-wondrous, spiritually rich, or some variation/combination thereof. May you be blessed today in whatever way you wish to be blessed, and may you have the kind of joy that is so evident in this video from the Richmond, Virginia Animal League: Operation Silent Night.
Operation Silent Night
Merry Christmas.

15 comments:

esbboston said...

I'm getting Cooper a can of tennis balls for Christmas. I hope he doesn't have secret abilities of getting on the Internet, or this comment might spoil the surprise.

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Sounds like a lovely, peaceful way to spend Christmas. Thanks for the link about homeless pets finding homes. Gave me a sweet Christmas tear. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

threecollie said...

Merry Christmas! Such good news about Max, I am glad for you.

schmidleysscribblins,wordpress.com said...

My husband walked by as I read your blog post today and saw the cake and said, My that looks good. I read him the aftereffects, although he laughed he got the point.

Chickpeas are also full of protein I think, and I am always trying to increase our intake of protein. Dianne

PS Great news about your Max

DJan said...

How wonderful that Max has been pronounced "well enough" to stick around. It was a great gift. And I do wish you and yours the very best of Christmases. And I did have to laugh to consider what that overindulgence did to your insides... :-)

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

So glad Max is doing a bit better.
As for the quiz, I didn't do much better at 59%. Usually I do quite well at these things since I am so full of useless trivia knowledge.

Linda Myers said...

I thought about making that chocolate delight. Thanks for the warning!

I posted the Silent Night video to my Facebook page. It's the best one I've seen all season.

Merry Christmas!

Carolynn Anctil said...

Such good news about Max! The video was heartwarming and brought tears to my eyes - so awesome! I think I'll be staying away from that cake...

English Rider said...

Awesome news all around.

Frank Baron said...

Hurrah for the success of Operation Silent Night! Those empty cages were a wonderful sight. Thanks for sharing.

And I'm glad your buddy will be keeping company with you for a while yet. :)

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Sorry ... I'm so late that , really , it's a case of " 'T'was the day ".
Hope your day was every bit as wonderful as it sounds .

Russell said...

Stop by and wish Johanna a Happy Birthday on Tuesday, December 27!

Morning Bray Farm said...

A belated Merry Christmas to you June. So happy to read that Max is not ready to give up yet. That was a very good gift.

Your Christmas dinner sounded divine... and OMG, I can relate to your cake story. I'm embarrassed to tell you what I've eaten over the last four days - I think I may have eaten more than Don!

Merry Christmas to you all.

Lord Wellbourne said...

I am grateful for the news about Max! There's a lot we could learn from the stoicism of our pets. They put up with us far more than we put up with them.

Olga said...

Oh, no...sorry that my cake made you run like that. Although...Now I can add physical exercise to the list of health benefits.