STILL my Birthday?

Last night we saw a moving and powerful performance at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.  Corinne Mohlenhoff did a one-woman show of The Handmaid's Tale, which was adapted from the book by Joe Stollenwerk with Corinne in mind.  It was amazing. 

Having read the book many years ago, I warned the family that it was bound to be a little weird and I really wasn't expecting much.  What I got was a punch to the gut that was both frightening and sadly sweet.  Offred's struggle to deal with her present reality and remain human was touching in a way that really stuck with me.  If you have a chance, go see it.  It's on until April 20th.

The whole family was together again this weekend.  Ally came home so we could celebrate my birthday as a family.  We had cake and presents on Saturday night.  Ally made me a beautiful beaded bracelet and Kate and Jeff, together, got me two sparkling Swarovski crystal figurines, which I collect.  It's hard to photograph them because of all the facets, but one is a little lamb and the other is an angora rabbit.  Kate says it's definitely an angora because it looks a lot fluffier than the other Swarovski rabbits and it does. You can't really see it in the picture, but the lamb has the cutest little face.   Kate also got me a lovely figure of a mother and daughter.  She said it was for me to look at when she's away at college next year.  It goes with the one Mom gave me of the woman holding a lamb. The pictures aren't staying where I put them with the text, so I'm afraid you'll just have to figure it out.

On my real birthday, last Tuesday, I got my big gift -- an atomic solar watch.  I've always wanted one and they don't make many styles for women, for some reason.  I like the idea that it's always set to the correct time and that it won't run out of battery. 

Along with the sweet it seems there's always a little bitter.  Yesterday, while Ally and I were out bargain hunting, the pipe under the kitchen sink disconnected itself.  Jeff -- sweet person that he is -- was washing the dishes full of stew and coffee grounds and other yuck.  He didn't know anything was wrong until the filthy water had filled up a plastic tub of cleaning supplies and spilled over onto the kitchen floor around his feet.  Needless to say, he was not amused.  Kate called us away from our shopping to tell us that he was swearing like a sailor and we were out of paper towels.  By the time we got home, he had cleaned up about half the mess and reattached the pipe.  I emptied the rest of the under sink space, wiped it down with 409 and sprayed it with Clorox.  All the stuff is still on the kitchen floor, waiting for the space to dry thoroughly. 

In other bad news, Sam wet on the floor again Sunday morning.  This time he hit Ally's backpack, an unfamilar object in the family room.  He soaked not only the backpack but one of her expensive college textbooks inside.  She was furious with him, as can be expected.  We decided to try the "diaper of shame" and it may actually work.  He wore it last night, didn't chew it off and didn't pee. 

However, peeing Sunday morning was not the full extent of his crimes.  When we went out to the play, we left him alone for about three hours.  When we came back, he had pulled Jeff's leather coat from a hook in the laundry room and chewed it to bits.  This is the SECOND leather coat that he's chewed up this winter (the first was Kate's leather bomber jacket). 

I'm not sure what we're going to do about his behavior.  It's like a strange new -- and very tense -- dog has joined our pack.  He's not a puppy who's teething.  This is all nervous energy because he gets frightened when he's left alone.  I don't know why he's suddenly so insecure.  He's been a model house dog for 10 years.