Dog-gone Good!

Pookadilly.

I AM ALLERGIC TO DOGS. When I'm around them, I sneeze and wheeze and itch my rashy, hivey skin. (Attractive, huh?). But hey, I'm owning it. And over it, to be honest.

So let's talk talk about why I believe dogs (and other pets!) are worth all the pills and nasal sprays and ointments the world has to offer (in no particular order)...

Weird. And yet UTTERLY SQUEALARIFIC!

1) They require one's care and attention. Bishop has to be fed, walked, played with, napped, pottied, etc, etc, etc every damn day. He's a living creature that has needs. And you know what? I've really come to appreciate that fact, because he reminds me that I'm not all there is. He makes me feel less selfish (especially when I'm picking up his monstrous poops), and yet, bigger than I am. Not only does it feel good to be needed, but it's remarkably fulfilling to love something outside myself. It's like all the love inside me has spread outside my body to include him, and in that spreading, I've grown.

Bishy-wishy.

2) They fill up a home. Not saying A and I don't have enough love between us to make our house "home," but Bishop has really added to our living space (That just made him sound like an accessory, didn't it?). Hearing his paws on the hardwood floor, seeing his toys in the living room, and of course, watching him hop down the stairs, slop up his water, and lope around the house is not only !FRICKIN' PRECIOUS BEYOND BELIEF! but also makes our house feel that more "lived in." His playful energy can be felt in every room.

Sweet pea.

3) They promote a healthy lifestyle. Since we've gotten Bishop, A and I have been sitting less and doing more. As said before, Bishop likes to play and be walked, and he needs to learn commands and be fed. Keeping Bishop active has gotten A and I off our patooties, too. Not to mention, running around in the grass, wrestling, and playing tug-of-war is FUN! It's nice having an excuse to goof off :)

let's forget for a second that I'm also allergic to grass...

While writing this, I'm realizing that most extracurriculars (activities/hobbies/pets/etc) do a person good. My friend A, who I've talked about before, is quite the crafter. She sews baby blankets, bags, makes her own greeting cards, bakes--all rewarding hobbies. And maybe that's the key--to seek out those things that make you grow, that make you feel special, that add more love to your life, that make you feel good. Cause lemme tell you, life is too short.

Do you have a pet who brings life to your life? Do you have hobbies or participate in activities that make you feel special? SHARE, PEOPLE!

Oh right...please?!

Here's a bribe:

How funny...Bishop walks like this too.

Cool Things Other People Are Doing

This past weekend, my husband's cousin's girlfriend (confused yet?) told me about her hobby of writing six word stories. I've written short stories and even flash fictional stories of just 100 words, but SIX WORD STORIES?! Needless to say, I was impressed. But what's more impressive than her minimalistic approach to story-telling is her reasoning for why. Most of the time, her stories are snippets of dialogue (like inside jokes and/or phrases and turns of speech with multiple meanings) or things seen in her daily life. Basically, she uses the format of a six word story to track her life's memories! By keeping a journal of these six word observations, she's become more perceptive and involved in her life!

I am just tickled pink at the idea and hope to try my hand at some six word stories in the future...liiiiiike, "Don't bite Mommy's face off, please" (what I said to Bishop this very morning). Your turn!

Speaking of another cool thing somebody else is doing, do you folks follow the blog yes and yes? Well, trot on over there today, because Sarah Von is in the midst of amassing potential photographs for her 2011 calendar! My husband just submitted some of his...

(not including this one...but still whoa on the wonderful, right?!)

...and if you guys are artsy-fartsy like him, too, then upload some pics of your own! Wouldn't your mom just ooo and aah all over you if you got your photo in a calendar?! Best Christmas gift EVER! So yeah, anywho...GO ON! GIT!

My parting gift to you today--another cool thing someone else is doing--a summer Zen poem:

Stormy afternoon--
between peals of thunder,
the ice-cream van's bell.
--Brian Tasker

Enjoy your Tuesday, y'all!

Welp :-(

That about sums up my current feelings.
I've been a little let down and disappointed lately and, you know what? It's starting to poop me out. It's tiring swimming in negativity, don't you agree?

So I'm in the market for some positivity! You too? Let's swap ideas...

As always, strange coincidences are in my cards for today. This morning, still not feeling quite myself, I came across two blogs--one about ways to start fresh and another about how everything works in cycles.

One of the fresh starts that Dragos Roua suggests is changing the way you interact with people. I'm pretty sure that old social habits of mine are responsible for my current state of negativity. See, I have these expectations of people. I expect them to treat me how I'd treat them, or I expect them to offer up their love and support without pause or question, forgetting that 1) I shouldn't put my standards for myself on other people and 2) people change. After being let down, I'm beginning to realize that I shouldn't BANK on others, for they are no more solid than I am. I have to leave the door open on people. And somewhere in that open doorway, come to find that I can always count on myself. There's some serious strength in that.

That's when I happened upon Holly Renee's blog where she talks about the cycles of life, beginning with the example of trees...

"Trees go from blossoming in the spring,

thriving in the summer,

losing their leaves in the fall,

and freezing in the winter.

All in one year.

They take it without resistance."

Things happen in our lives that force us to accept that only one thing is constant--change. People change, which follows that our expectations and attitudes about those people change, which follows that our relationships inevitably change. But, Holly Renee says, even that is "going to change in a few weeks anyway, and then it will change again in a few more weeks," so we shouldn't dwell on what's been lost or how things are different. For, "When [we] recognize that things move in cycles, [we are] able to move outside of [our stories] about how things should be." Stories that, for awhile there, I couldn't get outside of! We simply have to acknowledge each cycle as it comes, knowing that it will pass. Which is really less frustrating and more refreshing, is it not? If everything stayed as it was, life would be stagnant. Nothing would grow! And I think Biship would agree that GROWTH IS GOOD!

So, what do you say? Shall we reboot?!

Join the Erins next month, as we participate in another Blog Carnival about vision boards! Ain't nothing like an art-and-writing combination to refresh yourselves!

Whoa. What?!

A coworker of mine suddenly and mysteriously died this week. The news has left those of us at the office feeling "off," like we can't go about things normally because...well, because nothing seems "normal" anymore.

For me personally, I can't stop thinking about how young this coworker was was. And how troubled.

He was chummy and talkative on the outside. Personable. Easy to like. Yet, behind his smiling and lively exterior, we all saw him losing weight, heard him blowing off sympathetic remarks regarding his recent divorce. I'd heard him say before that he was happiest at work, not home...

All of this has put me in such a funk. I'm realizing that there are levels to the human person that are deeper, more hidden, dormant, that are nearly impossible to know. And yet they're there. Which has got me feeling like I let this coworker down. Like I missed something. Like I didn't get to know the bits of him that I should have.

To think that, at such a young age, he died unhappily just makes me sick to my stomach. Everyone deserves peace at the end.

I just hope that when he reaches the other side, he's set free...

I hope he experiences the weightlessness of love...

...the bouyancy...

...the light.

And, lastly, I hope that he is happier than he ever was on Earth. 

*images from:
http://www.helpinganimals.com/photos/240-FreeBird.jpg
http://thoth.kr/files/attach/images/371404/604/414/heart-cloud.jpg
http://www.heartlikewater.net/Images/Oak-on-Pond.jpg
http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/29/2963/7Z1QD00Z.jpg

BISHOP WARE!

It's official! A and I are parents of a big baby Great Dane!

A little potty break, some playing with toys, and BOOM! Bishop's out!

Dreaming of the day he outgrows his puppy bed (tomorrow).

Falling asleep while sitting...LOOK AT THOSE LEGS!

(He won't fit under that coffee table for long...)

Bishop with his daddy, Hogan.

Ain't he a horse, or what?

Now we know where Bishop got his fetish for "love biting."

Mama says no, buddy. No biting her chin and eating her hair, mmkep?

If this doesn't tell us what to expect size-wise...YOWZA!

When I cuddle him on the floor like this,

he stretches his long arms around my neck and puts his paws on my face.

EEEEEEEEE!

The breeders' 4 Great Danes eager for snack time!

Forget about keeping things off the floor, they can grab stuff right from the table!

I suppose it'll be like having another person to talk to at dinner...

My feelings for the new lil' guy :)

25 lbs. and counting...

You wanna come play with our puppy now, don't you?

Hurry quick! While he's pick-up-able!

Possible Pup?

Welp, the Ware family might have a new member after this weekend:

He's a harlequin (spotted) Great Dane that will reach a height of 2 and 1/2 feet at the shoulder and weigh120-130 lbs! He'll be bigger than me! Nothin' like running around ghetto Aurora with a horse at my side!



A's going to meet this lil' guy on Saturday to see how they get along. Hopefully he'll be bringing him home ASAP! I want a running partner! A friend! A cuddle-buddy! A sweet-pea-pookie-shnookum-face! Obviously we need to name him sooner rather than later :-/ Here are some possibilities:

Archer

Arlo
Bishop
Byron
Cesar
Chadwick
Chet
Clark
Colt
Dane (too obvious?)
Deacon
Duncan
Earl
Finley
Griffin
Guy
Harvey
Heath
Homer
King
Kingston
Leo
Leroy
Lyle
Milo
Ollie
Oscar
Otis
Otto
Porter
Quincy
Rex
Titus
Truman
Vernon
Wyatt
York
 
Feelings on the matter? Cause I'd be down with calling the guy "Beb" or "Dilly" or "EEEE!" or any other variety of "I'm overwhelmed at the cuteness and so have lost my ability to speak English" talk. Pray help. And pray that I come home to this shnooka-wooka on Monday (Oh boy, there I go again).
 
It's almost Fridayyyyyyyyyy!

*THIS JUST IN: A told me that our potential puppy's daddy is 36 inches tall at his shoulder and weighs 185 pounds! Maybe I'll just RIDE him around Aurora?!