My Lie

I have a silly story/confession to tell. It’s about as silly and juvenile as they come. I know a few of the people who read this blog, but when I see how many “hits” this site has vs. how many people have told me they read this, the numbers indicate that I don’t know many of you. But you are now going to know a little bit more about me– me and silly sinfulness.

On Sunday, a few members from our choir were invited to sing in a wedding that took place in Euless at the Greek church. Kind of a funny situation. The couple was from up north (Illinois, I think?) but the bride grew up in this area. She’s OCA, just like our church, but was told that St. Seraphim’s was booked for her date. So she booked the small Greek church down the road from our house in Euless (really quite beautiful, actually, nestled in the woods, a little bridge over a creek…), brought her OCA pastor from up north, and asked for St. Seraphim’s choir.

Kind of a conglomeration, but it worked. I think Orthodox weddings are so beautiful…if you haven’t been to one, you really should. If you could investigate all the words, they are basically taking the attention off of the couple, and placing them in the context of the rest of history. You’d think that this would “detract” and make the couple feel less significant, but it’s so much more powerful, so deep. I think the best part is that they don’t say vows to one another, just humbly petition God to keep them together and keep their commitment strong, because it’s not a human effort but a divine one. The Church is recognizing that no human being is strong enough to keep love alive, just God working through them. They also receive crowns, symbolizing that they are now the king and queen of their own home that God has established for them on this day.

Anyways, lest I get caught up in how tear-jerkingly beautiful the wedding was (even though I didn’t even know the couple!), let me get back to my story. Since the Greek church was less than a mile from our house, I invited all 6 of the people who sang to come over and eat dinner. Everyone offered to bring stuff. Jenny picked up the pizza that we ordered, Matthew and Vita bought salad and icecream, and Nick and Lydia brought drinks and ice.

Before picking up the pizza, Jenny dropped me off at home so that someone could be there to open the door in case the others arrived before she did. Now, let me back up a moment– Jenny and I had picked up her Boston Terrier, Fiona, and brought her to my house in between our service at St. Seraphim and the wedding. This was so that she wasn’t left alone all day in her crate. When we brought Fiona to my house for a few moments before the wedding, all chaos ensued. At first, it was Claire and Fiona who wouldn’t get along. Fiona was fine, but Claire was so scared of her that she was lashing out, barking in a way I’ve never heard before. Once they sniffed each other’s butts, however, Claire made peace with the situation.

But then Fiona found Mirabelle. So scary. You would not believe how brave this dog is. She LIKED the growling and the spitting coming from our demonic cat. She chased her around the house, over and over and over. She found it a huge adrenaline rush, and couldn’t wait to get more of it. I kept saying that it was like “skydiving for dogs”. Afraid that she would lose an eye, or more likely, her entire FACE, we locked all of the animals up and headed to the wedding.

So, as I was waiting for everyone to arrive, I decided to let Clarabelle out of her cage, but not Fiona. I didn’t have the energy to deal with all the animals going at it again. Click here to find out more.

Then, right as our doorbell rang, I heard a crash in the stairwell.

As I was redecorating this week, I had rearranged some of my pictures. This involved putting heavier picture frames on a shelf that has stood fine for over a year now. All it took was a few days of strain…and crash. Glass everywhere.

Now, the animals could have had SOMETHING to do with it. I mean, the new pictures had been up on that shelf for over a week and nothing had happened. And the animals HAD been tearing around the house in a crazy manner right before the wedding.

But I was irrationally mad. Mad and embarrassed that instead of having a welcome front doorway, there I was, standing in the middle of a bunch of glass. In my bare feet.

Luckily, it was Vita and Matthew. Vita ran upstairs for a broom, Matthew went to put the icecream away.

All would have been fine, if I could have just kept my damn mouth shut.

But I didn’t. I concocted a story about how this happened. Why, you might wonder. Did anyone care?? Did anyone ask me?? Or was I just too embarrassed and prideful to let the incident go without a good explanation?

Whatever the reason, I started saying how it was Fiona’s fault. FIONA. The poor dog who had been in her cage the entire time.

Like I said, no one listened or cared. Until Jenny got home with the pizza, where, for some reason, I felt obligated to give her the story AGAIN. Unsolicited.

It was the look on Jenny’s face that finally made me feel the impact of my stupid lie. She felt terrible for me, and was also a little scolding. “Why did you let her out without me here?” I lied again, saying I couldn’t be that cruel to make her stay in her crate while Claire got to roam free.

Oh, no. I really WAS that cruel, and on top of it, I’d just blamed the entire incident on her.

I felt awful about it the rest of the night, but didn’t say anything until the next day, when Jenny emailed offering to pay for the frames that broke. It was then that I called her and confessed my terrible lie. She laughed, but I’m sure she thinks I’m like 10 years old.

Jesse thinks that I should tell my professor that Fiona broke my laptop and ate my Conrad book, just for good measure.