Bouncing Back

You know the phrase, a dog is a man's best friend? Well, now I know why.

This morning, I was just mad. Mad at the alarm for waking me up (even though I had to get in to work), mad that the alarm was louder than usual (it wasn't, however), mad that it was only Thursday and mad that Brinkley was taking her sweet time to get ready for her walk. Her new thing is to start using other people's yards as restrooms, meaning I get the pleasure of carting her "contents" around with us on our 2 mile walk. And she ALWAYS does it a few houses down from ours. So this morning, I thought I would nip this in the bud. Instead of headed for the sidewalk, we took a stroll in big circles around the yard. She was on her leash, and I kept using the command "potty" to get her to go. Her incredibly playful demeanor this morning was not at all welcome by me, seeing as I had woken up, clearly, on the wrong side of my giant, lonely bed. I raised my voice with her and even used a little more force than usual. I FELT TERRIBLE. Of course, I began to cry as soon as I realized I had taken out frustration and anger with my beloved pet who only wants to love me and show me all kinds of affection. I quickly embraced her (all 17 pounds :) ) and gave her love and attention. We began our walk, me telling myself that my punishment for being a temporarily horrible mother was to cart along the poop - without complaints.

And then, when we arrived home, I realized she wasn't mad at me at all. I screwed up big. I hurt her when she didn't deserve it. I yelled when she deserved praise. Despite all this, that cute tail was furiously wagging as she ran as quick as her little legs would take her right into my arms. I felt so guilty I spent extra time in the yard playing with her, arranging my morning ritual to now fit hers. We ran back and forth, up and down, all around the yard. Her tail was wagging, her tongue out, and she always came to me. When she would finally catch up, she sat on my feet, as if it to let me know that she was a little tired and just ready for her love.

Dogs really are man's best friend. They are so forgiving, loving and protective. If someone took out their bad morning on me for no reason, I would be hurt and stay as far away from that person as possible. But Brinkley taught me a lesson today (I know God was up to this one). It's important to wake up and start the day on the right foot, with the right attitude, so as not to affect people around you. Thankfully, the person who received the blunt end of my bad morning was a puppy who had no other emotion to feel but love. What if I had taken it out on my husband?

So, Brinkley, although you cannot read and have no idea how much this morning's incident has been eating away at me, thank you so much. Thanks for being so forgiving and for teaching me a huge life lesson. Who ever knew dogs served such a Godly purpose in our lives?!

A Little Under the Weather

Ugh. I haven't been feeling that great lately, which I absolutely, completely hate. It drives me crazy to not be functioning at 100%, but I really think that sometimes I'm meant to get sick just so I will learn to slow down.

Today I was thinking about the things I love when I'm sick though:

• The morning I wake up and I start feeling better :)
• Chicken Noodle soup
• Snuggling in my bed
• Hot bubble baths
• The smell of Vic's Vapor Rub (not the feel of it, though)

Brinkley hasn't been the biggest help lately, either. She didn't sleep much over the weekend, so I had trouble catching up on much needed sleep and then she went to the restroom twice in the house today. I can't get too mad at her, though, she's just too darn cute!