New Year's Resolutions - Part 1

So I'm starting to think about my New Year's resolutions. While I don't have a complete list yet, one thing I would like to accomplish is to read more books. I am not a reader. But I will say that I have genuinely liked (loved, even) every single book I have ever read. I'm not quite sure why I don't read more. Maybe it's because I'm a slow reader. I figure that if the author took the time to choose each word carefully, I should take the time to read each word with intention. Nice thought, but it takes forever. Which brings me to my next point... reading makes me sleepy. I'm lucky if I get through one chapter before I need to take a nap. That being said, I do like to read. Fiction, non-fiction - I like it all. My daughter is even named after the author of my all time favorite book. So, this year I resolve to read more (and by more I mean at least 2 books - hey, I'm trying to be realistic). Stay tuned for the rest of my New Year's resolutions. And if anyone has any suggestions for what I should read, let me know. 

Monday Morning Confession

I'm a firm believer that everyone's got their thing. And by thing, I mean, their issue/hang up/bad habit etc. My thing is that I get speeding tickets. Regularly. The latest addition to my collection came yesterday morning. I really don't get upset about getting puled over. I speed. I know that the penalty for speeding is a speeding ticket. I don't try to get out of it - although I used to. 

* Tangent Alert * The first time I got pulled over, I was 16 and had been in possession of  my drivers license for about 30 seconds. I knew that if I got a ticket, my parents would revoke my driving privileges. So... as the officer was explaining my ticket to me, I interrupted him and asked if he could write his home phone number on the ticket (he was young and cute). He started laughing and ripped up the ticket. But he warned me that my tactics probably wouldn't work in his district anymore because he was going to tell all of his buddies on the force about the little 16-year-old girl that just hit on him. * Tangent Over *

Yesterday, when the officer asked me why I was in such a hurry (after referring to me as sir, twice), I just said that I was anxious to get to church (not a lie or an excuse - I really was). He gave me the ticket and explained to me that I could either pay the fine or complete an on-line version of traffic school. Ummm...it's a tough choice, but I think I'll take the traffic school. 

So, there it is. I get speeding tickets. What's your thing? Come on. Confess it. You'll feel better. 

Baby Snores

She gets it from her dad. 

Baby Steps

Who needs one of those fancy baby walkers? My baby's an improvisor! 

Science Friday - White Edition

There will be a Harper's moon in the sky tonight. In fact, it will be the biggest Harper's moon of the entire year. The moon's average distance from Earth is about 238,855 miles, but tonight it will be only 221,560 miles away (due to the elliptical shape of it's orbit). This means that the moon will appear approximately 14% larger and 30% brighter than the other full moons of 2008.

On another note, I think God reads my blog. It snowed in Nashville last night. While it was only a dusting in this Yankee's opinion, I'll take what I can get. 

These pictures were submitted by viewers to the local news station.

Double Trouble

Let me tell you about the dogs we used to have. A couple of weeks after Rob and I got married, we decided that it would be a great idea for us to get a dog. He wanted a big dog and I always thought that Weimaraners were beautiful, so it was a pretty easy decision on what type of dog to get. We found a breeder and went out to his farm to visit the puppies (visit being the operative word). That night, we came home with two adorable little puppies. Why did we come home with any dogs, let alone 2, you may be wondering? Well, when we got there 1. the puppies were adorable (there was no way that we were leaving without one) and 2. I liked the girl puppy and Rob liked the boy puppy, so we got both. Great decision making. Anyway... we brought them home and they were wonderful. They were cute, calm, and well behaved (we didn't know it at the time, but they were calm and well behaved because they were sick - full of worms.) 

As most puppies tend to do, our puppies started to grow. And as they grew in size, their energy reserves grew as well. We did our best to tire them out. We walked them. We took them to the dog park. We encouraged them to wear each other out in the back yard. They were good natured dogs. 

At that time, Rob and I were working a lot. Our dogs spent long hours in their crates. Even though we tried to exercise them, it wasn't an ideal situation. In addition, by this time it was late fall. Our back yard was a mud pit. Every time the dogs went outside, they brought half of the yard back in the house with them. We were fighting a losing battle to keep our house clean. We had dirt and hair everywhere. I think that the air quality in the house was so bad that our house plants stopped growing. In addition, our sweet cat, Sage, was totally traumatized by the whole thing. I'm pretty sure that the only time she ventured down stairs was when the dogs were outside. 

It finally came to a point where I just couldn't take it any more. The dogs weren't living the kind of life that they should have been living and Rob and I were constantly bickering about the state of the house. The solution? We needed to find the dogs a new home. We called the breeder that we got them from. He said that he would be happy to take them back (long story short, he just got a divorce and his ex-wife took all of the family pets). Problem solved. The dogs would be able to live happily on a farm where they belonged. 

While I came to resent the dogs more than I liked them (I still have to be careful not to swear when I talk about them), Rob was really attached to them. It was difficult for him to let them go. Some day we'll probably have to get another dog. Rob is already plotting how he and Harper can gang up on me. Hopefully we will make better choices next time. Until that time comes, Sage and I will stick to our guns. 

Let It Snow

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

This Robert Frost poem is one of my all time favorites. While I am enjoying the mild Nashville winter so far (it was 59°F yesterday, and yes I know it's not officially winter yet), I do miss the lake effect snow of my youth. These pictures were taken (not by me) in Mill Creek Park - one of the best things about the town I grew up in.