Dad's an Animal Lover

Here's some great stories that show how much of an animal lover my dad is. He may be a big guy, but he's a little girl at heart. We'll start with something I overheard about 2 minutes ago...

Kitties and Customers

I've been sitting in my bedroom reading a book. My room is right above my dad's office, and since he always uses speaker phone, I can hear him talking to his customer. I can also hear my cat, Buffy, meowing and meowing. She wants to go outside. And even though she's made it a good 14 years outside without getting caught by a coyote, we still want her to stay in the house... just to be safe.

Well, all of the sudden, in the middle of a business conversation with this customer, my dad said, "Can you hear my kitty?" The lady said, "Yeah, I can." And my dad proceeded to explain to her: "She's 14 years old, and she comes in here and just sits on my desk and meows. She just wants to talk to me is all. And at night when I'm trying to sleep, she rubs her face on my chin. I used to have a beard, you know? I shaved it off, but she loved rubbing up against my beard. Sounds gross, huh? But she loves it. And then she meows and takes me over to the sink and I turn on the water for her so she can drink out of the faucet. She likes to drink the water dripping from the faucet. She's got me trained." Then he laughed and said, "Yeah, she's got me trained."

I just had to write this down. I LOVE that my dad is such an animal person. Sometimes, our dog Hansel likes to eat things that he shouldn't (trash, kids' toys, underwear, etc.). And he refuses to open his mouth for us to get it out. So I slap is nose or stick my finger down his throat until he lets go. Well, if my dad is in the room, it doesn't matter HOW stupid the dog is being, Dad always says, "Oh, don't hit him. He's just a puppy. Poor little Hansel. They're so mean to you, huh?"

Duck

If you've even just MET my dad, then you know he likes food... and that he'll pretty much eat anything, as long as it's hot. The man will eat snails, squid, raw fish, and moldy cheese. But he will not eat duck. Why? Because he once had a pet duck, who he obviously loved dearly.

Lucy Lu... our Pig

One thing that many people don't know is that our family has a pet pig. We don't keep her at our house because, well, who would keep a 300 pound pig at their house with 4 dogs and 3 cats? So anyway, she stays up North with some friends of ours. A few years ago, there was a little girl at our church, Keiko, who was part of a program where she raised a pig (from a baby) and then sold it in an auction at the Orange County Fair. Well, she was asking people to come bid on her pig, to support her, and so my dad did. And he won it! After the auction, Keiko came to my dad to tell him what people typically do when they win a pig. My dad knew what people normally did with a pig. They sell it for bacon. So the first thing my dad told Keiko was, "I don't wanna kill it." That put a smiler on her face fast. You see, Keiko had raised Lucy Lu from a baby and had become quite attached to her. But she had also prepared herself for this moment, when the pig would no longer be hers and would have to go on and do what pigs are "supposed" to do... become bacon. Well, my dad wasn't gonna have it. He told her, "Don't worry, I will make sure that whoever gets the pig will not kill it." And he kept his promise. He paid for the pig and then gave it to Keiko's family to live with them up North on their farm. Last we heard, Lucy Lu was having babies and the babies were being sold for bacon. But not Lucy. My dad is good for his word.

So Relieved!

I feel 200% better than I did when I wrote the last blog. Chris wrote. I'm not so worried anymore. He's doing well and enjoying the spirit at the MTC. I still miss him, of course, but I'm oh so happy for him and that he is doing what he feels is right. I've written a letter to him almost every day so far. Maybe every day, actually. He's awesome. I am so relieved to know that he is being taken care of well.

Missing Chris

Here's Chris right before he enters the MTC.

I don't even know what to write. I guess I should write about what's been going on in life...

Well, Chris left for the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on Wednesday. It wasn't hard saying goodbye to him. But it's hard now. I'm lonely and I worry about how he feels. Is he happy? Excited? Homesick? I just want to hear from him already! I was so excited to be able to hear from him on Monday (tomorrow) until my sister informed me that not everybody has Monday as their P-day (preparation day... the day they can write home).

Last night we had the ASL sister missionaries at the house for dinner. One of the girls was just in the MTC in November and was in the same branch as the missionaries going to the Washington Kennewick Mission. She said her P-day was Thursdays. So I'm hoping to hear from Chris no later than Thursday.

I miss him so much. He worked for my dad (here, our of the house), so even though we weren't hanging out all the time, he was always close. I always had the chance to see him, hug him, kiss him, talk to him, call him, if I wanted. Now I get bored a lot and don't know what to do with myself. I definitely have enough to do. Who doesn't? I have books I want to read. I have the Spanish language to learn. I have The Book of Mormon to finish. I have Preach my Gospel to study. I have a class to take. I have family to be with. I have exercising to do. I have the piano to master. But instead I find myself procrastinating. Nothing too unfamiliar really, but it's different because I spend my procrastination time laying around doing nothing instead of spending it texting Chris (like I do with my normal procrastination time).

It's not as bad as I might make it sound. I'm sure he's happy. I'm sure he's having a great time. I'll be leaving soon myself. I report to the MTC on February 16th. I guess Heidi and my mom are gonna drive up with me a few days early. Bradley and Hope's brand new baby, Addie, is going to be blessed in Utah. So I'll be there for that and then I'm off. And no, I won't get to see Chris in the MTC. He leaves a week before I get there. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I feel like I love Chris more and more as he's gone. I think that's the whole "you don't appreciate what you have till it's gone" thing. Okay, I'm thinking too much for tonight.

I guess what's most important is that I'm very happy for him. I'm so proud of him. And even though a lot of people think that I have been an example to him, HE has been an example to ME. I love him and I love what he's doing.