We're halfway there! (Also, Happy Birthday, Seth!)

 

It was the loveliest Halfway Christmas celebration, our seventh one! 

As Christmas music played throughout the house and the Yule log burned on the TV screen, I was once again so happy that, thanks to Shulamith's daughter Kennedy when she was barely three, our family created this pretend holiday. The first was in June, 2017.  

It's the perfect way to gather in late June and experience a tiny taste of Christmas when we are halfway there! There isn't much stress to this holiday. I set up my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We draw names ahead of time, and everyone buys a present ($20 limit) for the person they draw. We eat good food, drink lots of Diet Coke (like every other day), open our one gift each, listen to our favorite Christmas
music (Neil Diamond, of course!), and sometimes play games or watch a Christmas movie.

Of course the gift opening is always the most exciting part, and this year was no exception. Here are some highlights:

In addition to "Halfway," we also added Seth's birthday to the celebration. He was in Japan for five weeks in May and has been working nearly every day since he returned, so we missed his birthday June 14th. Glad for the chance to finally celebrate our favorite Seth!

Happy birthday, Seth! And Merry Halfway Christmas to all!

I now have an enemy in the neighborhood. Forever.

I saw an Instagram post recently that said, "A girl in fourth grade once called me a B**** and made me cry. Recently, on my college break, I mentioned to my mom that I was meeting this girl for lunch. 'You're having lunch with HER?' my mom replied. 'I don't like her. Don't tell her hello from me.'"

Rarely has a post resonated with me more fully. I am exactly that mama bear! Seriously, don't mess with my kids. 

But the other day, someone did. Badly. And, fair warning, my claws are out.

Shulamith teaches a livestream broadcast class on Thursday evenings. She was upstairs teaching her class, and her kids were outside playing. Swen accidentally left the gate to the backyard unlatched, and their 90-pound Aussie-Shepherd/Poodle escaped. His name is Woof, and let me tell you about him. Woofie is a very nice dog. He's kind, gentle, and protective of the people he loves: his family and close friends. But he's not a fan of other dogs. He tolerates Waffles because they grew up together, but other dogs? No! So Shulamith always, always keeps him on a short leash.

When he escaped Thursday, it happened that a man was passing by with his three little white dogs all on leashes. Woof attacked. Fortunately, the man was strong enough to kick Woof in the face, so no harm was done to his little dogs. No harm was done to anyone. 

And that should have been the end of it. 

Instead, the man proceeded to scream obscenities at the kids, enough that Swen ran upstairs and announced, "Mom, you said only to interrupt your class for an emergency; well, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" Shulamith excused herself from the broadcast and ran downstairs to find this man still screaming about the incident. She immediately apologized, asking repeatedly if the guy's dogs were okay. A neighbor from eight houses down the street was also there, kindly making sure the kids were alright, but when he saw Shulamith come out, he left, assuming the two adults could handle their business without his interference. 

But this guy was not an adult. At least not emotionally (he is in his mid-20s). When he saw Shulamith, he shifted his abusive language from the situation to her, personally, calling her every foul name you can imagine. He even attacked her religion saying, "Oh, I can see by your clothing that you're one of those awesome Mormons. Great!" The screaming and swearing went on so long and was so loud that the neighbor who had been there earlier heard it all the way from inside his house and came back to make sure everything was okay. Kennedy was so scared that she ran inside crying and called her dad: "A man is screaming and screaming at Mom; I'm afraid he's gonna hurt her!"

At some point, Shulamith texted me what was happening, and asked if I could come over and finish teaching her online class. "Uh, I'm still with Heidi, and my hair is in foils, processing." She'd forgotten about my hair appointment. I felt so helpless! I couldn't leave with my hair in foils, so I had to sit there and visualize this man screaming at Shulamith and scaring her children, and I could do nothing at all to help. The best text message ever came about 20 minutes later: "Matt's home."

Relief flooded my body!! One of the best characteristics of people who enjoy awkward, uncomfortable situations is that they have the amazing ability to stay calm under pressure. And that is a super strength of Matt's. Before he arrived home, the guy had escalated to the point that he called 911 to report Shulamith because she "wouldn't cooperate." 

"911, What's your emergency?

"A dog attacked my dogs."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"No."

"Then, again, what's your emergency?"

"The dog's owner wouldn't give me her dog's shot records. She wouldn't cooperate." (Shulamith had told the guy Woof is fully vaccinated, but she wasn't sure exactly where the records were; she would need to look for them.)

"Is anyone in danger?"

"No."

"So what's your emergency?"

"She isn't apologizing sincerely enough."

"Uh, okay. I'll dispatch an officer when one has time."

By now this had been going on for over an hour, and the guy was still out of control, but Matt was there to respond calmly. "I understand that you're heated, but can we calm down and talk about this?" None of that worked very well until the police officer finally arrived and guess what? The guy had a sudden personally transformation, quit screaming, and behaved respectfully.

The officer took statements from everyone: Shulamith, Matt, the neighbor, and the formerly-screaming guy. In the end, the officer decided the guy was guilty of disorderly conduct, and later that evening, went to his house and issued him a citation. So really, turns out the guy called the police on himself! Karma?

Either way, I now have an enemy in the neighborhood. Forever.

(Note: As we've reflected on this the past few days, we realize that the incident had nothing to do with Shulamith, Woof, or the guy's little dogs. There are so many triggers that could be at the root of it: past trauma, mental illness, substance abuse? We'll likely never know. But we're trying to extend grace best we can. Shulamith is succeeding better than me. No surprise.) 

Coolness! (And why my dog is ruining my life)

Five years ago, Seth was 17 and my final child in high school. He was approaching his senior year, and I was feeling all the feels. It's not easy for me when my children grow up and leave home. I don't like it. I'm happy for them and so proud, of course, but I miss them terribly. So that summer, I made a promise to myself that I would enjoy every single second of Seth's senior year and that nothing would distract me from that time with him. I kept that promise. Seth and I had so much fun! I cherished every choir concert, every awards ceremony, every late-night conversation, every decision we discussed, and of course, both high school and seminary graduations. I even followed his Vocal Ensemble performing group all over the valley! We did all sorts of other fun stuff together (movies, Lagoon, restaurant meals), and just like his older siblings, he evolved into one of my closest friends. 

I've never been great at saying no to my kids, especially when their requests are reasonable and within my power to provide. "Why say no, if you can say yes?" was my motto. But obviously that "reasonable" stipulation flew right out the window with Seth, the baby, the capstone kid. And somewhere in his last year home, he decided he wanted a dog. He talked about it all the time, until finally, I agreed. "I'm not gonna buy an expensive dog, but if you wanna go rescue one from the Humane Society, we can." He did!

This is Waffles. The dumbest dog on the planet. Half Golden Lab and half Chinese Shar-Pei, he's also the goofiest looking dog. But Seth loved him and still does. So why was this not a "reasonable" decision on my part? Because I knew full well that Seth would leave home after graduating, and who would be caring for this dog? Me!! I would be. Less than two months after turning 18 and graduating, Seth left for Paraguay for two years. Paraguay! Then he returned for a few months of COVID quarantine before moving to Orem for college. Waffles became my dog. And can we just say that he is about 1,000 times more in love with me than I am with him. We can. In fact, that's probably an understatement. The dog is obsessed with me. 

He's also ruining my life.

When we first brought him home, home was Angel House, where he had a large, fenced backyard to run freely. He could be outside much of the time, and when he came in, he generally lay on his designated bed in the corner of the family room. Now we live in a townhome, with a tiny back porch, which I paid $1,500 to enclose in order to keep Waffles home. Does it work? Nope! He digs himself out underneath the fence and prances around the neighborhood just so he can get his picture on the Bringhurst Facebook page, captioned "Whose dog is this?" IT'S SETH'S DOG! That's whose dog it is. Ugh!

Second, he sheds like a maniac. Goodness, it never ends. Blond fur everywhere. I only allow him in our finished basement, because no, I can't deal with his shedding all over the upper two floors, but this only works partly, because when we're in the basement, his fur gets all over our clothes and then spreads upstairs. Yes, we have lint rollers. Yes, we use them. No, they never get all the fur.

Finally (and arguably most significant), Waffles broke our air-conditioning unit. Yep, he sure did. This last winter, the coldest one in our 12 years in Utah, when we let him outside on the back porch to go to the bathroom, unbeknownst to us, he chose to do his bathroom business against the air-conditioner, apparently enough to successfully corrode its aluminum fins and copper coils. How much does a new unit cost? $6,000. Awesome. 

These are the reasons my dog is ruining my life. But allow me to seek out the grace in this situation. That's where the coolness comes in. After the coldest, snowiest winter (which I actually enjoyed), this has been the coolest spring and early summer ever. So, so nice. We can still walk comfortably any time of day; those morning breezes and evening rain showers create perfect walking weather. We are loving it!

Also, it's cool enough that I'm still not uncomfortable in my non-air-conditioned house. Let's be clear. I like to be comfortable. At all times. I don't like to be too cold. I don't like to be too hot. I don't like to carry heavy items. I don't like to be blinded by the hot sun. The list goes on. By now, in a typical year, I'd be dying. But this lovely year, the cool temps, breezy days, and evening thunderstorms have made it so, windows wide open and fans on, I am just fine. 

I know it won't last. Summer weather will come sooner than later, and I have no idea what I'll do then; really I don't. But for now, grace abounds. As I sit on my bed upstairs and write, a gentle breeze flows softly across by body, and I am comfortable. And happy.

....even though my dog is ruining my life.

Stanley vs. Simple Modern: A very scientific study

I never win prizes. I never win anything. Remember how my skillset is woefully limited? That's probably why I never win anything; I even suck at rolling dice. But last Wednesday evening I was at a party, and by some serendipitous act of nature, I won one of the best prizes: a brand new Simple Modern 40oz Tumbler. 

Wow. 

Anyone who knows me, knows I love Diet Coke. It's just the best drink ever created. What if there were a cup that would keep my fountain Diet Coke ice cold for long periods of time, the ice not melting? That would be perfection. So a couple years ago, when I heard about the Stanley Tumbler which claimed to do just that, I was intrigued. When I learned the cost of said tumbler, I was aghast! Seriously? $40-$50 dollars for drink container? 

Then Shulamith and Seth gave me a Stanley for Christmas. Worth. Every. Penny. I eventually bought a second one, just so I'd have two. Stanleys are game changing. They have a nice handle and comfortable grip. They hold 40+ ounces of fresh, sparkling Diet Coke, and they keep it cold forever. Okay slight hyperbole. Probably not forever. But a long time. Even in a hot summer car, Stanleys keep your Diet Coke ice cold for hours. 

But what about the competition? Like is there any competition? The answer is yes! The company Simple Modern makes a tumbler similar to the Stanley, so similar that I feel like its label should include the words "Compare to Stanley," like store brand products do in grocery stores. 

In the picture above you can see them side by side, the Stanley on the left and the Simple Modern on the right. I decided to do a very scientific study to compare the two and determine which is better. I've been using my new Simple Modern cup for the past four days, and I'm ready to reveal the results!

Here is the very scientific comparison of the Stanley and Simple Modern tumblers on several criteria:

Weight: Empty, the Simple Modern cup weights slightly less than the Stanley, 1.0 vs. 1.21 lbs, respectively. Filled, though, I don't even notice the difference. Result: Tie

Grip: Both are easy to hold and carry, with a comfortable grip. Result: Tie

Lid: The most obvious difference I've noticed with the Simple Modern is the lid. It screws easily onto the cup, but goes deeper inside than the Stanley does, enough that I had a flood over the top and out the straw the first couple of times I used it. Note to self: Don't fill the Simple Modern all the way to the top the way you can the Stanley. Winner: Stanley

Straw: I have two Stanleys, one with a spill-resistant straw hole and one without. The spill-resistant one definitely spills less than the original, but the Simple Modern cup is nearly spill proof. It has a tight seal around the straw, so even when the cup tips over, very little liquid spills out, if any. Winner: Simple Modern.

Price: Stanley -  $40 - $50. Simple Modern: $20 - $30. Winner: Simple Modern.

Overall, you can't make a wrong choice here. These products are excellent, and I'm glad I have both. I will use them well. 

I never win prizes, but when I do, I win good ones!