To Do

I woke up feeling somewhat un-rested (is that a word?) this morning, after tossing and turning a good portion of the night. I realized that most of the feathers from my down comforter had migrated to Rusty's half of the bed, leaving me sleeping under the equivalent of a sheet. So the first order of the day is re-plumping my comfy comforter.

Next up is making a complete list of all the things that are nagging me to be done; calls to be returned, school applications to be mailed, and credit card charges to be disputed. All minor, yet when carried over on my mental to do list for several days (or weeks- yikes!) causing me stress and sleepless nights.

After that, I am headed (with some chai tea) to my cozy spot on the sofa, where my ottoman is already covered with my current study materials, highlighters, and pens. I'm hoping that some time focused on God's Word will change my perspective on today and give me the encouragement I need to tackle that to do list, and maybe even get some work done, too.

Puppy Talk

The girls needed some current pictures to submit for a contest, so we had an impromptu photo shoot, one night last week in our old standby, in front of the fireplace in the living room. Of course no picture is complete without a shih tzu puppy, so Sadie tolerated the flash in exchange for some extra loving.

She will pretty much do anything for attention, being the most social dog I have ever seen. If this dog were a girl, she would be a partier for sure! As I write this she is doing her best to talk to me as she coos, nibbles on my laptop, and drops her slobbery ball at my feet. She is as jealous as a toddler of me being on the phone or at the computer, which means she spends a good portion of her day trying to distract me. Chewed up tissue are a favorite tactic, followed closely by chewing on Daddy's house moccasins and my going out flip flops. (As in "taking the dog out, not going out-out").

When all else fails, she simply starts biting our toes, and nothing will stop her except going to purgatory, the crate. Actually, I take that back, the sound of Rusty's reverberating "No!" also stops her in her tracks, but unfortunately has the added bonus of making her tinkle, not good, especially when he is holding her. In fact, until the last few weeks, if she thought he was going to take her out she would cower and soldier crawl to the door, which made me laugh, but didn't really encourage him to take her out, a habit of which I am a great fan of. So I started attaching her leash, taking her to the door, and then doing the old bait and switch with daddy as they headed out the door. We'll show her who's boss around here!

At 6 months old, I guess it's high time to start teaching her manners, otherwise she will never be the true southern lady her big hair suggests she might be. A bow can only cover up so many indiscretions, you know. She is loving and fun, but doesn't understand "sit, or stay, or come, or down", so she pretty much runs around like a ping pong ball in a tile room, until bedtime when she collapses in a blessed heap on the floor.

So that's how our (Sweet Tea) Sadie is doing... she's pudgy and feisty and has some serious hair. Hmmm, I guess it is true what they say about dogs and their owners!