I forgot my sweet dog Lucy's birthday. :( She may be ferocious to the rest of the world, but she is still a sweetheart to me. And I forgot her birthday.... It was March 3rd, and I finally realized it around the 7th or 8th. I know what you're thinking ~ who cares? It's just a dog. She doesn't know what a birthday is. Or some of you may be thinking ~ oh my! I can't believe you forgot that poor dog's birthday! Ha! The thing is, before I had kids, I treated my puppies as my own babies. Everyone always told me that would change drastically when I had actual babies. Nah. Not for me. I LOVED that dog. She was my "first born". Ha! Sounds pretty ridiculous now. Yes, I still love her, but it is quite different, as it should be. When I first got Lucy, I would bathe her once a week. No, I didn't take her to a groomer. I'm cheap. Make that 'frugal'. I hate spending money on things that just don't make sense to, and it just didn't make sense to pay for someone else to bathe her when I could. (I should mention here that I DID end up taking my dogs to the groomer once a week after Charlee had been here for several months, but only because I got a good deal!) So, I gave her a bath once a week. The same day of the week, every Tuesday. When we got our second puppy, Bailey, I continued the weekly ritual. Then......along came Charlee.......and......guess what flew out the window? Yep ~ you guessed it! Working full-time AND having a new baby in your life doesn't exactly warrant extra time to give your dogs a bath every week. It was more like every other week. Sometimes longer. My smart Lucy, though, likes to be clean. We had a doggy door at our house in Houston, and she would go outside and literally wallow in the mud or dirt (or sometimes poop ~ yes, I know I could have left that out. Sorry!) and come back in and just look at me as if saying, "Okay, now you HAVE to give me a bath!" Crazy, smart dog. I had flashbacks of those times last week. I was getting Barrett out of his highchair and turned him around where his back was against my chest. He blew chunks EVERYWHERE. Prayers immediately started because I did NOT want this to be the stomach virus again. We've been there and done that and don't want anything to do with it ever again. Luckily, it was a one-time puking. Anyway, the second thought that crossed my mind was that Barrett was trying to tell me, "Hey, Mom, you seriously need to clean this highchair. And the floor? We all know it could use a good mopping." :) This one instance is how I remembered I had missed Lucy's birthday. She has unconditional love, though. Well, most of the time. So she forgives me. :) I've been trying to make it up to her by giving her left overs from dinner the past few nights. I think that'll help.
I have a little over a week left in my twenties. That just seems crazy to me. I think this is the fastest decade of my life so far. And yet, when I look back at where I was in life at 20 compared to where I am in life now, things are drastically different. Mainly the responsibility factor. I mean, 10 years ago, I had zero responsibility. Okay, so in reality it was probably 0.05. I was in college, so there was some responsibility to go to class, I worked to pay my expenses, etc. But, in hindsight, that was the year that I didn't go to class and ended up withdrawing in the middle of the semester, sooooooo. Probably back to zero responsibility. :) Those were the days..... And now? Well, now, I am awakened earlier than I ever would've had to wake up for my first class. I rarely get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Two little lives depend on me not just some of the time, but ALL of the time. I can't just get up and go whenever, wherever I want. Would I change any of it? Nope! Not in a million. Sometimes I think back to how much easier life was back then and I miss it, but then I look at all of the wonderful things and people I have in my life and am fully aware of the way that God has used the added responsibilities and changes in my life to draw me closer to Him. On the verge of turning 20, I thought I could do anything I wanted. I had the world ahead of me and had every belief in myself to accomplish whatever my little heart desired. Now, on the verge of 30, I have been humbled by marriage, kids, jobs, being a stay-at-home mom. You see, I could do none of these things, not even the least of them without God. It is not me who accomplishes ANYTHING, but He who does it ALL for me and through me. I can't even fathom what God will bring me to by the verge of 40..... If he chooses to bring me there. We will see!
So, birthday next week means my day of 30 random acts is quickly approaching! I've got a list made up of my acts, but I'm hoping that some authentic "random" moments will come up. I'm excited, nervous, and anxious about the day. I'm trying to be very careful about directing all of the glory to God. I want to record my day through pictures, but I don't want it to be a "look at me and what I did" montage. I definitely don't want to forget any of it, though. And, I want to share it with you guys ~ all 13 of you :) ~ but I don't want it to be about me. I'm praying about the best way to do that. Anyone that asks what I want for my birthday gets the same response ~ "What I really want is for you to do a random act of kindness in honor of my birthday. No gift. Just email, text, or post a comment telling me what you did." I would ask the same of all of you reading this. It would really make my day if you would think of something to do to brighten someone else's day. You can share it with me, or you don't have to. I can't remember if I ever posted my inspiration or not, but my idea is a total ripoff from this amazing lady over at MixMingleGlow. Her website seems to be down today for maintenance or something, but be sure to try it again later. I hope you'll join me by doing something kind for someone else on the 24th. Or the 23rd, 25th, 30th, whatever day you can. :) Have a fantastic week!
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