The house is a home

You know that excitement you get when Halloween comes? The excitement that the holidays are upon us.  I missed the excitement because my mind was on Maika Lee and other things. I found the excitement, officially, yesterday. My entire family joined the festivities outdoors to partake in putting up the lights on our house. It's the first time we put lights up on our own house. We stayed outside and drew on the sidewalk. The kids were covered in chalk but they were so happy drawing and playing.

 The Christmas tree is up and last night we hung the stocking over the office door and put up cool lights in the kids room that flash different colors. Then I spent all night buying gifts for all the special people in my life - online of course.

I don't have Maika Lee this year. I looked at the stocking I made her last year where I spelled her name incorrectly. Made me laugh for a moment then I was sad. I almost tucked her stocking behind mine just so I'd have her with me this Christmas. This Christmas will be a little different. She's not going to be sitting in our family pictures during Christmas but I have another person to fill the spot - Brine. It was kind of cute the other day while having Thanksgiving Dinner, Phyre was explaining to another child that Brine was her adoptive brother. LOL. I love that my girl is so welcoming. I guess I prepared her for an adoption early on for her to think of Brine as her brother. It's lovely really.

So as I sit here writing to you, I tell you that our house is a home. It may be small and we may not have fancy things but we have a whole lot of love and happiness. Where ever you are, make your "house" a home. Bring happiness and love into your home and bask in it like a happy dog rolling in the grass on a sunny afternoon.

Emotions run high

After we put Maika Lee down, I've been an emotional basket case, about to cry on a whim about anything. I'm reading the article about the parents who named their children after Nazis and wanted to decorate their child's birthday cake with Hitler. ARE YOU SERIOUS! So I got emotional now knowing first hand beautiful people who were held against their will at Auschwitz. I'm sitting here thinking how their grandson loved them so much that he wants to get their numbers tattooed on himself. A way to memorialize his beloved grandfather who has recently passed away. His grandmother, also an occupant of the camp is the sweetest person I've ever met. The glow in her face when she saw her grandson perform. These are the people that those terrible mongrels and their even more horrible leader decided to play God. And there are Americans who idolize Hitler and his grotesque team of idiots. If you do, you too deserve the same fate of all those who lost their lives not too long ago.

So there I go again, a basket case.

For you and your family Matt. I'm a better person to have known your grandfather for the short period of time I got to speak with him and knowing your grandmother.

To be or not to be

Things are definitely different in the Kwong house. Everything happened all at once. I can't think of Maika for too long because I'm still very emotional. My little and big loves of my life have been ill. Watching them hurt makes me hurt. I have one thing off my plate, and that is my class. I get to relax for a little bit and enjoy the holidays even if it is without my #1. I'm preparing a photo album for her. I can't express how much she meant to me and many won't understand it - Maika Lee being a dog and all. She was my partner and friend for eleven years.