A Dog's Life

While hanging out with friends tonight Daniel and I confessed some of our craziness. Everyone has quirks, eccentricities, and moments of crazy. You don't realize they are crazy until you discuss them with others and they respond to you with, "Really?" Our friend Kate was talking about her issues with dirty floors and socks. I can't clearly describe her issue because it was well, crazy. You could watch the realization of her craziness wash over her face as she gauged our reactions. "I thought everyone thought this way."

I told the room about our completely crazy relationship with our dogs. A lot of people talk to their dogs like they are people. A lot of people pretend that their dogs talk back. A lot of people give their dogs nicknames. But we have taken this interaction to as our friend Molly says, "A whole new level".

We have created entire lives for our dogs complete with friends, extracurricular activities, and the canine equivalent to the high school ministry of Young Life: Dog Life (oh and don't forget the middle school version Wyld Life: Puppy Life). Since Daniel and I are YL leaders, we have given Toby and Penny a Dog Life leader. His name is Ronnie and he is the Doberman that lives around the corner. Daniel selected the Doberman since he looks like a giant version of Toby. Their favorite sport is Basketsballs. (This is where it gets really crazy as I reveal the imaginary game we have crafted for them.) Basketsballs consists of multiple goals placed on the ground where two teams try to score using multiple balls and defend their own goals. The dogs have sleepovers with their friends where they play "jump" and "bark" and sing songs. We have created friends for them. Some of Toby's friends are Max and Alex; Max is a Jack Russell Terrier. Penny's are Sammy and Bella; Bella is a Pomeranian.

The most common occurrence of delusion is in the day to day conversations we conduct with the dogs. For example this morning I informed Daniel that Toby wanted to start being referred to as "Slick Rick" and Penny wanted to start going by "Little Rascal". I'm not sure when all these delusions started, but I am sure of two things: we are very creative and I married the right person because he goes right along with it never once flinching at the absurdity of it all.

I think this is just a product of not having children who are active and busy and have lives of their own so instead we fabricate lives for our pets. "A whole new level" indeed. Sooner or later my friends are going to read one of these posts and declare me legally insane.

Penny or "Mop Top" or "Little Rascal"

Toby or "Tobo Tebow" Daniel isn't a big fan of Tim Tebow, but Toby loves him. He thinks he's a great role model.

A Trusted Friend

This little pink potion is my faithful companion when anxiety takes it's toll on my tummy. Out of all the weapons in my medicine cabinet arsenal, it is the most trustworthy. I may have been carrying it in my purse the past few days.

The Doctor is In

The past few months I've found myself in the middle of a lot of family conversations acting as the translator for each party. Because I've sat in the counselor's office my fair share of times, I have knowledge of the interplay between different relationships. Though I may not act on this knowledge, I at least know the right things to say even if I'm not doing those things. There's been a lot of, "She didn't mean it to come out like that, what she meant to say was _____, here's where he's coming from, what he heard was ______" and on and on. I don't mind playing this role. It's kind of nice to be able to hear all sides and know what each party is thinking. My family loves each other a lot and gets along really well. We are learning how to communicate even better so that we can continue to support and encourage one another through the different stages of life as all the siblings work our way through adulthood. I'm glad to provide my services when things get lost in translation. Who knew the crazy sister's therapy could come in so handy?

Here's the Hogan gals at A Chorus Line from tonight. Oh wait that's not Amy in the leotard! She couldn't make it. I'm always mistaking her for show girls.

"Just Claire"

Claire is one of my Young Life girls and I just love her. She's a kid that will become one of my friends after she graduates. She's a lifer (whether she knows it or not, but I think she knows). Tonight after club she grabbed Daniel's guitar and starting playing and singing. This was a big deal because she's never played in front of her friends before and she played for a group of 10 at once. She's been taking lessons this year and was showcasing all she has learned for the first time. She was so brave! I've been really inspired by her picking up the guitar. When she was on vacation with friends, the group met some boys (of course). When they were introducing themselves there was an activity attached to each girl: "This is ____, she plays volleyball. This is _______, she sings in the choir", etc. When they came to Claire she was "just Claire". Which in my book and everyone else's was enough. Being "just Claire" is pretty great when you know and love who Claire is. She doesn't need a thing. She's enough. But being "just Claire" really bothered her, so when she came home she landed on playing the guitar as her thing. Though she is enough on her own, I was really impressed by her skill. She plays very well. I was more inspired by her bravery though to play and sing in front of her friends. "Just Claire" is special for so many reasons and now she can add guitar playing to that list.

Reunion

I almost forgot to post after all the activity of the day! I'm here. The reunion happened with my sweet Chicago girls. I'm typing away as best I can from my phone while snuggled up to my long lost friend Annie. Sleepovers shouldn't cease in high school. I find them to be an important part of friendships even as an adult. All the girls have been incredible today shuttling me from one location to the next as they whisk me away to meet with the next gal. It's been the best time. The first 45 minutes I was out of breath because we'd been saving up jokes and stories trying to share them faster than we could get them out. Oh these are my favorite people to laugh with. Life should look more like this every day.

I found the Dick Tracy statue in downtown Napes a little strange, but it was actually really cool up close.

I think my face is so weird here because I couldn't open my eyes in the sun, or it's just weird all the time.

Untalented

Yesterday was the 100th post and I didn't celebrate it or anything. I think I was supposed to, just because I've seen so many other sites commemorate that milestone. Whoops. Well hooray. Thanks for reading. There...milestone commemorated...I guess. A perfectly imperfect commemoration: a day late and with no pomp and circumstance.

Moving on! We have been meeting, talking, discussing, planning, strategizing, and prepping for our month of camp in June. One of the activities involves members of the work staff hosting mini "talent workshops". They serve as small seminars where kids are allowed to explore a specific activity. It is outside of the traditional experiences they encounter at YL camp in order to engage all different types of kids. So the question was raised, "Who wants to host a workshop and what talent will you offer." My mind started racing and my sense of humor ran away with me and before I knew it I was joking about hosting the hip hop seminar. Someone thought I was serious and said that would be great. It would be great. I wish I could attend it! I just can't host it. I had to let them know that I really had no dance training, etc. Then it became the joke of our dinner table to come up with a seminar for me to host. I don't really have any practical talents like photography, painting, or playing the guitar (or anything else that starts with a p). I have a lot of interests and hobbies and things I wish I was talented at (like hip hop). We finally landed on something. It's not a talent, but I am an expert at it. It might not be the most impressive topic/hobby, but it would certainly be the most popular with high schooler and middle school campers. And let's face it, popularity is what matters. Who cares if you're a great musician if only 2 kids come to your workshop? Mine may be less legitimate, but I can draw a crowd of 100. So are you ready for it? The Twilight Seminar. We would do character breakdowns, book to movie contrasts, full literary analysis. My thorough knowledge and database of information pertaining to the Saga has to be put to good use at some point. I think this is my calling. I think I could form a new sect at camp. This could be powerful. Just joking. But seriously though I could teach a semester's worth on the subject. I wonder if anyone would want to audit my class and see if the credit would transfer to their school.

Kindred Spirits

I am in Chicago at a Young Life training to prep for my summer assignment where I will spend a month working at one of our camps: Castaway. There's almost 20 of us here meeting together, all from the midwest, all on Young Life staff. I know a lot of them, but certainly not everyone. We've only been here a few hours, but I've already laughed till I cried at least 3 times. Young Life staff is a unique job and a unique call. It's a great job, but really, really challenging at times. So when you put a bunch of YL staff in a room together, there an unspoken understanding. We are kindred spirits. We may not all know each other officially, but we know each other better than some of our friends outside of the YL world will ever know us. And part of that knowing is knowing how to make each other laugh. The comfort and ease in relationships is almost instantaneous. I found myself telling stories and divulging embarrassing tales to strangers. For example I shared in front of the entire group that one of the couples who owned our house years ago grew marijuana in the basement with plant lights. It's a long story. Don't ask how it came up; I swear it was relevant.

We are accumulating inside jokes by the minute. If this kind of camaraderie has developed after one night together, I can't imagine what our month together at Castaway will be like. My June assignment is part of my farewell tour from YL staff and I think I'm going to go out to the sound of lots and lots of laughter.