Love is a many splendored thing….

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

–Morrie Schwartz

Well, it’s happened.  We knew it was only a matter of time.  The Beaumeister is in love.  That’s right, our little man has a girlfriend.  Her name is Gracie, and she is a cutie.  8 months old to Beau’s 17 months, full of spunk and able to give our boy a run for his money. Indeed, judging from Beau’s adoring gaze, her 100-yard dash not only won his heart, it is infinitely more impressive than mine. 🙂

The weight of love

“Who, being loved, is poor?”

–Oscar Wilde

It’s no secret that I’m crazy about my dogs, Beau & Lola. They return my love tenfold, and I am definitely the richer for it.  And while they’re each special in their own ways, many are the times here at Chez Feinberg when our Chocolate Lab Beau dominates the stage.  He’s bigger, younger, goofier, and frankly just more ‘in your face’ most of the time than Lola, the lady of the house.

Last week, however, was different.  Last week Lola Bug was center stage.  Miss Thing had to go ‘under the knife’ to have her teeth cleaned and, unfortunately, several extracted, and I was as nervous as any mother can be.  Lola is generally a love about most anything I ask of her, but she *hates* having her teeth brushed, so it’s an ongoing battle to keep those little chompers clean, and it’s one that I was losing.  So….I (somewhat nervously) made the decision to have her teeth cleaned by our vet.

It’s not that I don’t trust our vet, I do.  But Miss Thing is a *little* thing, and the idea of subjecting her to general anesthesia always gives me pause.  I adore this little girl, she is my shadow, and the thought of anything going awry during her procedure gave me a lump in my throat I could scarcely stand.  Who knew that a package weighing just shy of 14 lbs. could deliver such a dollop of love?  But this little girl does.  She loves me like no other, and as long as I’m within her field of vision, she’s happy….and so am I.

I’m happy to report that Lola came through her cleaning with flying colors, bounced back from the anesthesia without incident, powered through a few days of painkillers, and is now once more fit as a fiddle and ready for love.  She’s small, but she’s mighty, and boy does she deliver.  As her idol Mae West was wont to say, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

THANK YOU!!

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.”

–Gladys Browyn Stern

I recently received word from my friend David Kanigan, creator of the fabulous blog Lead.Learn.Live , that he had nominated me for the “Blog of the Year” award.  This is my second nomination for this award; I was also generously nominated by Cristi of the delightful blog Simple.Interesting a short time ago.  Suffice it to say that, in the words of my Aussie pals, I was ‘gobsmacked!’

As I read through the list of my fellow nominees, my anxiety grew. Not only had I been included in prestigious company, but  many of the blogs that I admire and follow myself were recognized as well, thereby narrowing the field for my own nominations.  Fellow nominee, Mimi of Waiting for the Karma Truck quickly revved her engine and fired off her acceptance speech, pulling yet *another* chunk of my favorites out of play with her nominations. My panic mounted–how to properly acquit myself and do justice to the award–that became my challenge.  And time, obviously, is of the essence.  So without further hesitation, I offer up my nominees….

• Inga’s Angle:  A wonderful photo journal of New York City.  Inga has an unerring eye and always gives one a new perspective on the Big Apple.
• The Jolyn Project: This remarkable young woman again and again hits the mark–whether evoking a smile, laughter or tears, her posts never fail to move me.
• The Book of Alice: Alice, a.k.a. The Kidling, is one bright little light with observations that are by turns remarkable and risible; fortunately The Mama is on hand to capture the moments and provide ‘color commentary’ as needed.

All of these delightful blogs (and so many others), bring inspiration, laughter, insight, knowledge and wonder to my world each day, as do each of you who follow this blog and take the time to ‘like’ and comment upon my posts.  Thank you for sharing a bit of yourself with me. The rules for accepting this award and sharing the wealth may be found at The Thought Palette.

Grateful….

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it

is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

–William Arthur Ward

 Thanksgiving is a bountiful holiday–lots of food, family, traffic, turkey, sugar, shopping–you get the idea.  It’s also one of my favorites, a time to snuggle in with friends or family, sharing laughter and love, continuing some traditions and creating others.

As I settle in this evening in front of a delicious fire with my honey and my two canine “partners in crime,” my heart swells with gratitude for my many blessings.

Beau & Dad

La Lola

To all those who so generously share your light, laughter, compassion and love with me each day–THANK YOU.

Save it for a rainy day….

“Sometimes the  most urgent thing

you can possibly do is take a complete rest.”

–Ashleigh Brilliant–

Chillin’ with my crew…

It’s been a rainy day here today in the Granite State .  There’s a chill in the air and the leaves are trumpeting their last hurray in red and gold before winter sets in.  It’s the kind of day where, as my dear friend Mimi wisely observed, you toss on a pair of sweats, throw dinner in the crockpot (“Set it and forget it!” ;-)), and then kick back and let the luscious scent of autumn fill your home (I’m already catching a whiff of beef stew…)

Bug and Beau and I took the hint and snuggled in for a day of relaxation–reading and snoozing as the rain tapped softly on the windowpanes and the snores of the dogs sketched a lovely contrappunto. It was, in a word, a perfect afternoon.

As we drift into Friday evening, I leave you with the dulcet tones of singer-songwriter Melody Gardot (a personal favorite) singing “The Rain.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQA4EoE2cOM

Happy Friday all….

They like me, they really, really like me!

Let me begin (with a shout out to Sally Fields for the intro) by offering abject apologies for my delayed response to a series of wonderful blogging awards that have been bestowed upon me of late.  The tardiness of my response is by no means a measure of my gratitude, but rather a reflection of the fear that I will not be able to adequately fulfill the mandates of accepting said awards.  And now, with that disclaimer issued, I will get to the meat of the matter…

In order to accept the “Very Inspiring Blogger Award,” I must do the following:

Link back to the person who nominated you:

Thank you very much for deeming me worthy of this award, Maureen @ http://magnoliabeginnings.org/.  Magnolia Beginnings is itself a wonderfully inspiring little corner of the web, and if you haven’t had occasion to mosy on by and check it out yet, I would strongly encourage you to rectify that immediately.  Ya never know what little insight or spiritual boost you’ll come away with!

Post the award image to your page: Check!

Tell seven facts about yourself: Wow, this is tough (these sorts of lists are one of the primary reasons I’ve been procrastinating about my ‘acceptance speech’). That said, here goes….

1.  In high school, I was an active member of the Latin Club.  My teacher was beyond amazing and was always coming up with inventive methods for stimulating our minds and making learning more interesting.  To wit: one of the coolest projects we ever did was translate instructions on the mummification process and then carry them out on a cornish game hen.  Girlfriend was tough as an old leather shoe by the time we were done with her, that’s all I’m sayin’, and she was most *definitely* not deteriorating….At the end of the exercise, she even had a custom made sarcophagus…
2. For my 16th birthday, my parents gave me a cherry red 1966 Mustang convertible.  (One of the perks of being a Ford dealer’s daughter, thank you very much!)
3. I have always loved languages and have been blessed with a certain facility for same–as a kid, my heart’s desire was to be a translator at the U.N.  (a desire viewed as decidedly bizarre by many  inhabitants of the little Midwestern farming community where I grew up).
4. I graduated in the top 2% of my undergraduate class at the University of Illinois and have my name engraved on a bronze tablet in the library. (Yikes, I’m sounding increasingly nerdy here, aren’t I?!)
5. I LOVE to travel.
6. I’ve been to Tasmania and seen those little devils with my own eyes (no, they are not just cartoon characters :-))
7. I love working out and feel odd if I don’t head for the gym each morning.

Nominate 10 other blogs (I”m sorry, but this is where I fall down.  Having excluded several of my absolute, ‘go-to’ blogs because they’ve already been honored with many awards (‘Waiting for the Karma Truck‘; “Lead.Learn.Live“; and “Help Me Rhonda“, I have 7 others that I’d like to highlight. N.B.: I know that some bloggers don’t ‘go in’ for the awards process.  If I have unwittingly gone against your wishes for recognition with awards such as these, my apologies in advance!!  Please feel free to disregard this award if it’s just “not your thing.”)

• Charming Trinity: I adore the simplicity of this blog–each post features a triptych of photos based on a certain theme.  I look forward to seeing what Daniela has posted each morning!
• Photo Botos: This blog boasts that it supplies viewers with “one spectacular image every day and the story behind it.”  ‘Nuf said.
• The Book of Alice: Christine may well have the coolest Kidling on the planet–at the very least Alice is one of the most precocious I’ve encountered.  You *never* know what is going to come out of this child’s mouth, but thankfully The Mama is there to capture it for us.
• Anake Goodall:Anake delivers a constantly inventive and provocative stream of images and videos.  I am always delighted when I see a post from him in my in-box.
• Only Here Only Now: I’ve only recently begun following Tom’s blog, but it is AMAZING.  You owe it to yourself to stop by….
• Jane Balshaw: This blog was recently started by an incredibly talented friend–Jane is a textile artist, an aesthetician, and a *wise soul.*  She has just begun her blogging journey, but I know it’s going to be a rich one….
• Simon Marsh: Simon is an Anglican priest from England and, as they say at home, “a real piece of bread.”  He’s kind and warm and wise and I always feel uplifted after reading one of his posts.

Let them know they are nominated:  Will take care of this momentarily!

Link back to the person who nominated you:

I was recently nominated for the “One Lovely Blog Award” by David Kanigan of “Lead.Learn.Live.” David’s was the first blog I followed when I entered this amazing world, and I continue to be startled by his ingenuity, insight and instinctive ability to post something incredibly helpful, heartening or humorous at *just* the moment it’s needed.  If you are one of the lonely few who hasn’t discovered David’s little corner of the world, DO NOT wait any longer.  You owe it to yourself.

Post the award image to your page. Done.  🙂

Tell seven facts about yourself:

1. I can make a chocolate bar last for weeks–I like to eat one square at a time.
2. I do “Jacob’s Ladder” for an hour at a time at the gym.  (cf. #7 above–it’s a bizarre quirk, but there are worse addictions, right?  😉 )
3. I’ve been all over the world, from Turkey to Tasmania, Spain to South Africa, and I’ve never visited the Grand Canyon. 😦
4. I’m totally addicted to detective shows–‘Burn Notice,’ ‘Covert Affairs,’ ‘NCIS,’ ‘The Closer,’ ‘Major Crimes,’ — can’t get enough of them.
5. I’m a voracious reader and especially love books that force me to consult a dictionary at least once every couple of chapters. (As fate would have it, my dear friend Mimi, the gal drivin’ the Karma Truck, recently nominated me for “The {Booker} Award.”  I’ll be fulfilling the obligations of that honor in a future post.)
6. I adore dogs and love reading about different breeds, their special traits, their genetic background, etc.
7. For many years, I’ve owned big dogs–German Shepherds, Dobes, Labs–but I’m afraid of cats.

Nominate 10 other blogs

I’m afraid that I don’t have another 10 blogs to nominate–I just don’t follow that many, and I’ve already tipped you off to most of the ones that I *do* keep track of.  That said, here are several that I’d like to recognize.  As I said above, should I have unwittingly gone against your wishes for recognition with awards such as these, my apologies and please feel free to disregard the notice.:

• Momentum of Joy: Joanna is an amazing, warm, inspiring individual and a lovely blogger indeed….
• Kizzylee: Kizzylee’s blog is so refreshing–always heartfelt.
• Analyfe: Erin is a delightful young woman–intelligent, insightful and wise beyond her years.

Let them know they are nominated:  Will do!

Thank you again, Maureen & David, for acknowledging my blog in this kind way and THANK YOU ALL  for allowing me into your lives through this forum–it is truly a privilege….

Crossing the Rubicon….

Exhibit ‘A’

Yes, it’s happened.  I’m ashamed to admit it, but when it comes to the Beauman and Miss Thing, I have crossed the Rubicon.

What’s that you say?  You want proof?  Ok, here it is.  I breezed through HomeGoods the other day to pick up a few supplies–candles, fancy hand soap, some seasonal Tchotchke, you know the drill.  And then I saw them–*designer poop bags*!  Yes, that’s right, a stylish plastic receptacle for pickin’ up poop (for those who weren’t aware, polka dots are in!)  Of course I had to have them.

Believe you me, the title of “fashionista” is not bestowed on just anyone…. 😉

More kudos for canine office companions…

Another rough day at the office…

Readers of my blog know that I spend most every work day with my dogs within ‘belly-rubbing distance.’  In fact, I recently posted on the joy I get from having Bug and Beau ‘at work’ with me.  This week, Dennis Wilson of Fast Company weighed in on the benefits.  Great article, so I thought I’d share.

Lola relaxes after a proofreading session.

Donna and Diablo PSA

Es ist heis. Fa caldo. Il fait chaud.  Whatever way you say it, it’s HOT out!  Here in New Hampshire today, the mercury’s in the low 9os.  Last week my parents in Illinois reported a temp of 104 at midday–NOT heat index–real temp!– and my brother in Texas forlornly informed me last weekend that “It’s been 100 degrees here for a least a month.”

While these blazing temps may be great for your tan, they are NOT good for our canine companions.  My crew has begun dispensing with their business with great alacrity–a quick outing in the morning, a VERY quick midday tour of the yard, and then a bit longer jaunt in the evening after the sun has set.  In between time is spent sprawled on the cool time floor or strategically positioned above one of the AC vents.

As most people know, dogs essentially don’t sweat–most of their sweat glands are located around their foot pads and are not terribly helpful in dissipating heat.  The only real way a dog has to cool off is panting.  Thus is it critically important to be extra vigilant during these warm summer days to make sure our furry friends are kept cool and hydrated.  The most important things to remember:

• Make sure that your dog has easy access to fresh, clean, cool water.
• Don’t overdo exercise in the heat–Bug and Beau and I walk early morning or late evening (my brother has resorted to walking his dogs as late as midnight in Texas to avoid the heat)
• Offer your dogs a cool place to take a dip–if you don’t live near water or have a pool, kiddie pools work great!
• DO NOT leave your dog in a parked car!!  If you’re running errands, please leave your pet at home.  It takes no time at all for temps inside the car to reach deadly heights.

So pour a cool drink for you and your pet and relax.  As Sam Keen said, “Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.”

For more hot weather tips, visit the ASPCA website.

The joy of ‘woofs’ in your workplace…

“Scratch a dog and you’ll find a permanent job.” 

-Franklin P. Jones

First off, full disclosure.  I work out of my home, so I’m spoiled.  I have Bug and Beau with me every day…and I love it.  If I’m having an ‘off’ day, there’s nothing like a good work break cuddle with my crew to remind me of what’s really important.  When I’m lonely, the gentle whistle and buzz of Miss Thing’s snores (which she would vehemently deny exist, I might add) remind me that I’m not alone.  When writer’s block sets in and my muse, like Elvis, has officially ‘left the building,’ a quick stroll around the neighborhood with the Bug or a raucous game of ball with the Beau man can be just the break I need to get my creative juices flowing once more.

I also experienced the joy and stress relief that dogs can bring to the workplace in my previous life as an employee at Harvard Business Publishing.  We were allowed to bring our dogs to work, provided they were well-behaved, and I have to tell you it really made a difference in the overall feel of the place.  You come to know your co-workers in a new way when, for example, your cube mate’s 140 lb. English Mastiff begins to {ahem} experience the after effects of a treat gone bad. (Yes, the scent is heavier than air….) Or you hear a noise in your cubicle and turn around to discover a distinguished colleague on all fours playing hide-n-seek with your 90 lb. male Dobe.

I was reminded of how lucky I am to share my workplace with my furry crew just yesterday, when NPR weighed in with a story on how ‘punching in with Fido’ can go a long way towards pushing the happiness and productivity meter up at the office.  Let’s face it–it’s hard to be grumpy when the soundtrack to your workday is the soft thwack of a tail on the floor, gentle snoring, or the occasional yip of a dreaming dog.  It doesn’t get much better than that….