New Years Eve is here! Christmas has come and gone, 2008 has come and gone, and it's time to start a bright shiny new year. Hooray! Now it's time to start thinking about.....resolutions!
It's hard to avoid making them. Whether they're conscious or subconscious thoughts, this is the time of year that we want to change things about ourselves. Lose weight. Spend less. Budget more. Give more effort towards a goal. Work smarter. Whatever goal one may have, it seems to come from a negative image of oneself. I'm TOO fat. I'm TOO lazy. I'm NOT good enough. Self-loathing goals are probably not a good thing because they don't come from a good place. Instead, my resolution this year is to be the best version of myself. I'm not necessarily changing anything, I'm just tweaking a few things. Abraham Moslow (the educator's hero for his "hierarchy of needs") said "A musician must make music, a painter must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be." I love that thought. In order to be at peace with myself, I must be what I can be. Not what someone else can be, or what I think I should be, but what I can be. Can I eat less junk food? yes. Can I look like Heidi Klum? Sadly, no. Could I be a better writer? sure. Could I be Leo Tolstoy? I can dream. If I honestly think about being the person God created me to be, that person would probably look a bit different than the person I am now. In 2009, I want to figure out a little bit more about who that person is, and strive to live like her.
...all of that to say, "Happy New Year!" I hope this year brings lots of love and hope to you.
I've got a sad Christmas confession. I have never read or watched A Christmas Carol until yesterday. I knew the general premise of it, I knew that Scrooge was a greedy guy who said "Bah Humbug," and I knew that Tiny Tim was some sort of tragic character who said "God bless us, every one." That's about it, though. So on a lazy Saturday with not much going on, I watched the made-for-TV-Patrick Stewart edition. It was not masterfully produced, but it is a GREAT story! Obviously I should have known that; Dickens wrote in the mid-1800's, and for a story and its characters to survive over 150 years is a true literary feat. I love the message of the story; that Christmas is about social justice, about living outside of yourself and living for a purpose. That's the "original" Christmas message that Jesus came to deliver, and that's the message we should remember. I also think it's amazing and rather sad that we haven't progressed much as a species. The same struggles that Jesus talked about in the Bible are the same struggles that Scrooge dealt with in 1850, and they're the same struggles we deal with today. Greed, selfishness, entitlement.
I hate it when people say/think/live by "well, it's just the way things have always been, so it's the way they'll always be." What a lazy way of thinking! I'm not trying to pretend that I'm above this line of thinking, because I'm not. I'm grateful for organizations or people who think in broad strokes to solve some of these human conditions. Several people have mentioned a movement called The Advent Conspiracy, and I'm really inspired by their message. It's actually the EXACT message Dickens was going for in A Christmas Carol, and the EXACT message that Jesus was going for in the Bible. Funny how many times we hear the same simple message, yet implementing the message is so difficult. Anyway, I'm really going to try, try, try to live by this theme. Not just at Christmastime, but all the time. Watch the youtube video promotion, and check them out! Simplify, simplify. That was preached by Jesus and Thoreau...both way before our time. I hope I can follow their advice in a crazy, hectic, fast paced 2009!
We had the family over for the Cowan gift exchange last night. It was lots of fun! We all got some fun gifts, had way too much candy, and went out to eat together. Here's Justin and I chillin by the cozy fire...hah Our little family minus Cleo. The ottoman is the only piece of furniture Buckley is allowed to get on, so he has claimed it as his own. I just didn't want you to think that I've got dog hair all over my furniture...just don't sit on the ottoman!
Jereme and Janae discussing the etymological foundation of Christmas. Just kidding, in reality they're probably discussing their favorite scene in South Park! hehe :)
Poor Buckley has the worst skin allergies right now. He's a mess! Jereme calls him a little nerd dog, because he always has some kind of sickness. Maybe I'll do a nerdy dog picture soon!
The siblings minus David. Poor David is celebrating Christmas with his family in Hawaii!!!! Janae is leaving Sunday. Don't you wish we all had the hardship of having family in Hawaii that we just HAD to visit? Poor them! hehe :)
Dad Cowan! I'm so sad that we don't have any pictures this year of Cheryl, she was there too, I promise!
So my best friend, Martha Stewart, had a really great idea on her show last Friday. So great, in fact, that I decided to try it. She wrapped silk napkins around a ball jar, then arranged a short arrangement of flowers in it. Love it!
Here's her example:
And here's how mine turned out:
Not too shabby, eh? Granted, it took her about 3 minutes to do it in her gorgeous greenhouse on a segment of TV perfection, and it took me about 2 hours and a messy kitchen, but it's done, and I was pretty pleased with the final result. The world would be a sad place without Martha giving us ideas.
There are 3 types of domestic animal people in this world:
1. The Cat Fans- They're a pretty unified group. They love all cats. Perhaps this is because cats are all so unique that you don't know what you're gonna get with a cat, so you'd better be prepared for anything, thus loving them all.
Dog lovers are separated into two distinct camps:
2. The Large Dog Fans- They want dogs to hike with them, to go on runs, to wrestle on the ground with them. They want their dogs to have a scary bark, but to be gentle giants. They think that little dogs are yappy, snappy, and too big for their britches.
3. The Small Dog Fans - They want dogs to cuddle with, to dress up, and to take everywhere. They want a dog to sleep with them, to be their little companion. They think that big dogs are dirty, hairy, and obnoxious.
Of course, there are variations of the three types of people. I'm a card-carrying member of the Large Dog Fan Club, but I generally like all dogs, and even some cats. (I'm one of those cat owners who loves MY cat, and that's about it.) I'm basically just a sucker for animals; anything on 4 legs works for me. I really haven't been around too many small dogs for an extended period of time, so when my friend asked me to babysit her Maltese puppy, I was really excited! I'll be honest, Sophie makes a good argument for the Small Dog Fans. She is cute and a half, and is so sweet and easy to take care of. She's 12 weeks old, so she has a lot of puppy energy, but she is so small that her destructive capabilities are minimal. Buckley, on the other hand, destroyed pretty much everything. Clothes, towels, baseboards, remote controls, the boy's jaws knew no limits. Sophie's potty accidents take 1 paper towel and 1 sanitizing wipe to clean, as opposed to Buckley's 5 or 6 towel gifts.
Don't get me wrong, Buckley is honestly the best animal in existence, but I think one of the reasons that he's nearly perfect is because he's rewarding us for not killing him during his two years of total insubordination. He was always sweet and mild mannered, he just didn't listen to a single thing we told him! Now, however, he is the best dog around Sophie. He lets her jump all over him. He plays with her outside (100 lb hunkering dog running around the yard with 2 lbs of cotton fluff! What a funny sight!) He lets her play with his beloved Hedgehog. He checks on her in the chair in the morning. Sweet, sweet, sweet.
Basically, my point is that all dogs can be good dogs. (Sadly, all dogs can be bad dogs too, but that's another story) Big, little, purebred, mutt, it doesn't matter. I'm an equal opportunity pup lover :) And what's an animal post without some pictures?
SOPHIE! Not the sweetest picture in the world, but maybe the funniest! Doesn't she look ornery in this one? Love it! She's completely adorable! A shout out to Cleo, who has stayed away from all Canine action. She's way too prissy to get into that mix! God forbid she get a paw dirty... Buckley: Please, stop taking pictures and help me out here!
Sophie: Huh? I'm not doing anything wrong! Just play, play, play! This is the common scene in the Sophie/Buckley saga. She's almost completely on his chest! Poor boy! Sophie is having such fun, though! A good size comparison shot...she comes up to half of his leg! FUNNY!
As I was reading back on some of my recent blog posts, I realized that they're all pretty melancholy. I had good reason for many of them, I suppose, but the truth is that what I blog about is what I think about, and it hasn't been flowers and sunshine lately, which makes me sad. I know things can't be great all the time, but I've tricked myself into thinking that I'm more joyful than I really am. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it does to me.
Regardless, I've had some fun times lately. Christmastime is here! We finished with all of our decorating last week, and here are a few pictures. I'm especially proud of our outside lights, because I did a vast majority of them by myself, and it was HARD! (and freezing cold!) I can just hear you applauding me from your computer, and I thank you. Thank you very much ;)
We've also had a lot of fun watching our Sooners play football this year, capped off with the Big 12 championship AND a National Championship to look forward to next month! Justin and I both LOVE football, and have had lots of fun having Sooner parties this year. Thanks to our family and friends for coming over and watching with us - it's always more fun to watch your team win with friends :) Watching them lose, however, makes for a bummer of a party, which is why we've had a good Sooner party season! haha. I had to include a picture of SoonerPup in his personalized jersey, because he was also a good party host. He kept the begging for food to a minimum, and faithfully wore his jersey each game.
