I like to decorate for Christamas. I put up two trees. One in the living room and one in the Gone With The Wind room. That's another story. Needless to say I tend to go overboard and both of our daughters go the other direction. This year I was worried about Hunter and how he would react to all of the things that get put out and up, most of which can not be replaced. I have my mothers nativity set, a nativity my son-in-law brought me from Iraq and one of my own. They usually end up on the coffee table. I have angels I have collected from all over and some are old and fragile. It caused me more than a little anxiety worrying over their safety. I did modify my plans and just didn't risk losing any of the ornaments or sets that mean so much to me. That being said we did have two beautiful trees this year and next year maybe we can build on that to include more. Enjoy.
Hunter gets a toy for Christmas
Things around here are nice and pleasant. We have a routine that I like and I am getting to know the neighborhood. All is well. A few weeks go by and things start to change. Grandma starts rearranging the furniture and all the stuff on the tables in the living room. It's weird but maybe that's just how she is. Then she has grandaddy bring in this big box. She opens it up and pulls out a tree! A tree in a box! I know about trees but had never seen one in a box before. It looked sort of funny. It was in pieces. Grandaddy pulled out this metal part and set it on the floor then they stuck the biggest part of the tree into it and it stood up. Branches fell all around in a circle. They did it again with another piece and another. Each time branches would fall around in a circle. I was amazed and had to check this out. " Back up Hunter you are in the way." grandma said. Alright but let me get a good sniff first . " Hunter! Back up!" grandaddy said as he almost tripped over me. OK, OK I will. I sat on the couch and watched as they made this funny looking thing look like a tree. They fussed and fluffed and turned and twisted until they were satisfied with the shape. Grandaddy stepped back, looked at it and said "whew, I'm done." Grandma said " No you're not. There is a lot more to do." "Honey" he said " my job is to set it up and your job is to decorate it." he said smiling . Grandma put her favorite Christmas album on the record player and started to work. There were lots of twinkling lights and glass balls. Piles of crystal ornaments and a multitude of angels. There were so many. Grandma would take one out and look at it then put it back, shake her head and take another one out, put it back and another. Grandaddy finally asked " What are you doing? Why are you being so choosy about the angels? I know each one has a special meaning to you but you normally put them all on the tree. That's why we need such a big one." Grandma looked at me then, hard. My heart skipped a beat " I don't know how Hunter will react to the tree and I don't want to lose any of the them. Some of these can't be replaced and I don't want to take the chance of them getting broken." " I understand" he said. I tried to tell her not worry, I wouldn't break any of them. Grandma kept at it until finally grandaddy stood on the step stool and placed the big gold now on top. Wow! It was beautiful! I got off the couch and approached the tree. "No Hunter, not for you." she said. Grandaddy said " Let him go. Better to do it now while we are here than when we are at work." "You're right." she said. " OK Hunter, be careful." I will. I slowly walked to the tree and sniffed. It didn't smell like any tree I knew. I walked around it, kept my head low and my tail in check. So far so good. " Good boy Hunter! That's right just sniff it. Now you leave grandma's tree alone, OK?" Sure! I had passed the test and was so happy my tail got to wagging real fast and CRASH! I had knocked the candle and the candy dish off the coffee table. "Oh my!"grandma said " at least nothing is broken." Whew! "I guess I won't put my nativity sets out this year. Don't know if we can control that tail well enough to keep from breaking them. They certainly can't be replaced." She sighed heavily.
The next night grandma and granddaddy's other daughter and her family came to visit. They have 3 pups and all are bigger than Elyse. Two girls and a boy. The boy, Lee was very happy to see me. " I love big dogs!" He says wrapping his arms around grandma in a giant hug. "Can I pet him?" "Sure." she says "remember though, he's not been around big kids before so go easy with him" Lee nods his head and comes to me slowly. I try to be very careful and let him pet me. He pats my head and grins real big at me. Nichole, the oldest comes by and let's me sniff her hand and gives me a gentle pat in the head. I wait for the other one, Alexis to come by but she hides behind her mom. I figure that she is just shy and I need to go to her. So I get up and approach her and she bursts into tears and runs into the other room. Well that was rude. I didn't do anything to her, I didn't even bark. Well I did when they first came in the house but I was excited to see new people and grandaddy made me sit still and be quiet. Grandma stands up and goes to the kitchen. When she comes back she has Alexis with her. They have one of my favorite snacks in their hands. Cheese. Grandma says to Alexis " Honey you will have to get used to Hunter being here. He will be here for a few years until his family comes home. I don't want you afraid to come visit us because of him, so you need to make friends with him." I waited until she looked at me and said my name, then when she held out her hand I took the piece of cheese very carefully so I didn't scare her. She giggled and patted my head. The other kids came up then and told her what a good job she did giving me a treat and they wanted to as well. Great! I like it when I get treats. We all played together. I had to be careful around them and the tree. It was hard but I did it.
Later on that evening another tree in box was brought in (Yikes!) and grandma and the kids decorated that one. It had colored lights on it and lots of mismatched ornaments and ribbons and bows. Everyone laughed and had a good time. The very last thing they put out was a musical carousel. Finally it was time for the kids to go home. Hugs and kisses were given and Lee and Nichole both hugged me as they went out the door. Alexis timidly patted my head as she went by.
After everyone had gone grandma says "That went pretty well." Grandaddy says "I almost forgot! I got Hunter a toy today." Yay! I love toys. He gets out a bag and pulls out a tug toy. One where he can hold one side and I can hold the other and play tug of war. I like to play tug of war. It was a favorite game I played with my dad. We started playing and it was so fun! I didn't want to stop but grandaddy and grandma had to go to bed. They were going to church the next morning and needed to get up early. "Goodnight Hunter. Sweet dreams. Merry Christmas. You did well ." and up the stairs they went. I got my new toy and jumped up on the couch to go to sleep as well. I decided to practice the game grandaddy and I played so when we played again I could win. I practiced and practiced. The next morning I didn't feel good so I went up and laid on the floor in their room. Grandma said " Good morning Hunter. Did you sleep well?" Actually I didn't sleep too well. I don't feel good. " Urkk"" I said. Grandma turns around and looks at me and says " What's the matter boy? Too much excitement last night?" No, not too much excitement. Too much toy. Uh oh! Here it comes! "Blech!" Oh no! "Grandaddy! Come quick! Hunter is sick!" " What happened!" " I don't know he just...well you can see what he did." Oh great now I have really made a mess. "I'll get some towels." Grandaddy said and brought back some towels and cleaner too. "Wonder what brought this on?" Grandaddy said " He was fine last night." It's the toy I said, the toy. "What's this?" Grandaddy says. " it looks like part of the toy I got him. Hunter did you eat the toy?" Not all of it and I didn't mean to. It started to come apart last night while I was practicing and I swallowed part of it by mistake. " Hunter, I'm sorry. I should have gotten you a better toy. " Actually, I feel a little better now. " Is that all of it?" Grandma asks. "I hope so." Grandaddy says. Me too! Uh oh! "Urkk!" Oh no! "Burp!!! Yep that's all of it. "I'm sorry buddy, I'll get you a safer toy tomorrow. Lets get you cleaned up." Grandaddy said. The next day true to his word grandaddy came home with a safer toy. A great big bone. I like bones. Especially big ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment