Does my dog Lucy have a "Bucket List?" She does now!

   Everytime I log onto the social networking site of Facebook, I am greeted with an advertisement for the "Allentown Bucket List." even though I live in Trexlertown. Last weekend, while I was visiting Brown University in Providence Rhode Island, when I logged on I was entreated with a "Providence Bucket List."
    I found it fascinating how that changed by location, I know why, but that is for another blog entry on another day.

     What's bothering me today is that Lucy, my little Black shadow of a Cocker Spaniel, appears to be nearing the end of her life. She will be 14 in October, or about Betty White's age in human years. Dogs can't tell us directly if they are suffering, but her tail constantly wags and she still has moments where she will grab her toy and want me to play with her.
    But the seizures are becoming more frequent. I pick her up and hold her until they pass, and then she acts as if nothing happened, before she lays down and sleeps for awhile.

   I know what's coming, but in the meantime, I have made a Bucket List for her:
       1. Let her sleep on the end of the Bed

       2. Let her ride in the car with me to the bank, so she can get the free dog treat from the Window teller.

       3. Stop at McDonalds/Burger King/Wendys and get her a plain Hamburger on each ride. It's not like it will kill her, right?

       4. She doesn't leave the yard as long as I am in it (Never has, really), so I took off her Invisible fence collar so she doesn't get zapped unnecessarily. I figure at her age, she probably has enough pain, why give her more?

       5. Make sure that her bed is within arms reach of me when I am working on the Computer. Lucy is truly my shadow, she follows me everywhere when I am home, and lays as close to me as possible. We recently purchased a separate, extra dog bed that is next to my chair so I can reach down and scratch her head when I am working. She laid there anyway, so we figured she might as well be comfortable.

     I don't know what five things Lucy would want to do before she goes to the great puppy playtime in heaven, but these are the five I have to offer. Any Suggestions? What would you do for your "Shadow?"

      

Does God need me and my riding lawn mower in Heaven?

I hope so. It occured to me that maybe God didn't need groundskeepers, but that doesn't go along with the whole great plan of giving us free choice.

  As a fallen away Catholic, if the Pope has any hope of ever getting me back in the fold, he needs to let me believe that there is more to do up there than play Bingo, say the Rosary, or Bowling and Golfing with Jesus. Some of us need something else.

  Anyway, what brought up the whole lawn mowing in Heaven subject was a dream I had the other night.

   I was mowing the lawns in the neighborhood where I grew up on my riding mower. Now I know it was a dream, because my Dad thought it was the law to make you push an old mower that took half an hour to start. I would never have had a riding mower in my old neighborhood.
   So there I was mowing away, with a Yuengling in my cup holder and I happen to look over at the big yard on the church grounds. There I see my parents and all these other dead people I knew in real life smiling and waving at me, telling me to come on over, and they will open the gate and let me in. Even all the dogs I had in my life are running around in there.
   The thing is, I realize they are all dead, and I'm wondering if once I drive my lawn mower over, that's it for me?  Or is God just trying to ease my fears, and let me know that one, I'm getting in, and two, he's got a job for me. What do you guys think?