Miser Family update: Pajama party

Life continues to be rich and full in the Miser Family household.   This week, we hosted a virtual, asynchronous slumber party.   Hey you upstairs!  Quiet down!  People downstairs are trying to sleep! 

In hosting this party, we learned . . . 

• The dog "doesn't wear pajamas; he is just naturally ready for any naps"
• "For the record: it's not easy to get a good pajama selfie..."
• A pajama party can create great memories.  My sister-on-law writes, "This is from the last pajama party I went to. That’s my late mother in law with me and we were watching the stunning season finale of her favorite show, Dancing with the Stars. I still have the PJ’s."
• L2, having heard the good news that she made it into round 2 of interviews at [prestigious job] is "Flying high in my new apartment in my silk kimono blazer "
• Y wakes up refreshed; "Sleepover in Arizona for 2 months..."
• And cows are not allowed on the furniture, silly.

This was a great week to host a pajama party, at least for me, because my college is in between modules.  So for two days in a row I got to sleep in late.  On Thursday, I slept until 7 a.m., and on Friday, I slept until 6:45.   It felt truly luxurious, which I know sounds strange for most people, but for me it was heavenly.  From now until almost Thanksgiving, though I'll be waking up in the dark and seeing the sun rise as I teach my Shanghai students from the comfort of my Command Center.  

And now, on to the second interview in our family interview series.  

When L1 was a young child, because of her persistent requests, her parents promised her she could have a dog when she turned 8 -- even though neither of her parents was particularly fond of dogs.   I'm quite sure her parents didn't divorce just for the sake of getting their daughter a dog, but somehow it turned out that shortly before her 8th birthday, L1 became my step-daughter, . . . and I am a dog lover, so they kept their promise to her after all.  Since then, she has far eclipsed me in terms of doggy devotion.   From here, I'll let L1 describe her current life in her own words.  

What things were you doing a year ago that you're not doing now?

A year ago, I was letting the VA’s nonsense bring me down and really struggling over our director’s decision not to move forward with a service dog program on the mental health unit where I work. Today, I have let that anger and frustration float off into space and forged a strong relationship with my supervisor, which has lead to additional exciting opportunities, including having a masters-level social work intern for the fall and spring semester, who I am really enjoying teaching. It’s also kind of reinvigorated my love for social work in general. 

I am also going to church more now (in person and virtual, depending on the week and month) than I was a year ago. Growing in my faith, slowly but surely. 

What occupies your days, nowadays? 

My days are occupied by work [L1 is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), who works as an inpatient psychiatric social worker in a VA hospital], three dogs, my husband, exercise, time with friends, working on a children’s book, spending time outside and getting set up for a second part-time job doing some consulting work.  

Tell me a bit about your hobbies

• Fostering dogs for Lu’s Labs, which has lead to our first forever foster, Amelia. She is a spunky, 14 yr old chocolate lab who has limited time due to a tumor on the side of her head with no treatment options. We are enjoying spoiling her for whatever time she has left.  To that end, Amelia and our two boys have quite the social media following on Facebook and Instagram, their Instagram handle is: Guinness_Watson_and_friends, if you want to follow them, too. Ensuring their social media and the Lu’s Labs Facebook pages are filled with posts about all their loveliness may be a part time job in itself. They write as themselves, if you start to follow along, and discuss the difficulties they often face in training the humans . 

Here is a sample post:

Rolling into Wednesday ready to share some wisdom with my pup friends #wednesdaywisdom . As we’ve discussed, training humans is not always easy, in fact, it takes diligence and finesse to truly succeed. Pictured here is my three-step tutorial on faces you can make to both get, and continue to receive treats. 

Step 1: when the human is far away and considering giving you a treat, look at them longingly.

Step 2: as the human nears, give a slightly perturbed but still adorable look, as if to tell them, I’m adorable, but could get angry if it takes too long to get this treat in my belly.

Step 3: after getting the treat from the human, give a smile. This is the positive reinforcement they need so they want to keep giving you treats.  

Let me know how my three-step plan works out for you, guys! 

Love 

Amelia

In addition, Amelia has a senior suitor, a 14 yr old black lab named Frederick, and there are a litany of people invested in their budding long distance relationship, which is taking place all through posts on the rescue’s alumni page. Fremelia is their couple name and maybe there will be bow wow vows one day .

• Through all these posts, a new hobby emerged, Amelia (or me lol) wrote her first children’s book. The manuscript is complete and I am working with an illustrator named Ruth; who is doing the illustrations for the whole book for nearly nothing, because she loves the story and rescue animals, and then I’ll be exploring the world of publishing. It’s been an exciting unplanned adventure. 

• Exercise, i think it’s the only reason I didn’t gain the COVID 20. But exercise has been and I think will always be a major part of my health and well-being. The dogs join in too sometimes 
  

• Writing / penpal-ing with friends and family. It began with just letters back and forth with I-daughter, and now there are a few people I keep in touch with with old fashioned snail mail. I also continue Miser Mom's tradition of writing thank you cards for gifts. Thanks for teaching me well .

When you treat yourself to a bit of "me" time or special indulgences, what does that involve for you?  

Me time: painting my nails, a nice glass of red wine, watching episodes of some show I’ve been into, a sweet treat, a walk on a nice day. 

Five years from now, what kinds of things do you hope you'll be doing that you haven't done yet or aren't doing now? 

There is consideration for children to emerge in the next 5 years, but I also hope I’m doing a lot of the same things too, I’ve been feeling quite happy and blessed and I hope it all continues! 

Describe some of your favorite household gadgets or treasures.

Our coffee maker; it isn’t fancy, but I sure do love my time in the morning with the pups and a cup of coffee. 

Are there any questions I should have asked you, but didn't? 

"Any new tattoos?"

Yes, sorry Aunt J, don’t hate me too much; back in Jan of this year I got my first and only tattoo. But Aunt J, see I’m wearing the Vegas dress you gave me in the pic with it... does that help? It’s Watson reaching out touching his paw to my hand ️.

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And that's the news from our family, which continues to be wealthy in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.