Carpe diem, etc

Here's Nettie on Christmas morning, with the moose toy that "Santa" brought her...

And here we are later on Christmas morning, after Nettie had played very enthusiastically with the moose...

But if dogs can smile, I think she's smiling.

As of tomorrow, Nettie and I have 26 days left together, and that has me in a reflective mood, I suppose. I think this month will be one of making the most of the moments as they come.

One of the last quotes on my 2007 dog calendar was this: "My dog is usually pleased with what I do, because she is not infected with the concept of what I 'should' be doing."

Perhaps too often in the puppy-raising process -- or in life in general -- it's very easy to get the case of the 'shoulds.' I should be devoting more training time, or I should be more patient .. . I should be getting more done at work or being a better mom or a better wife ... I should have a cleaner house and a more organized approach to dinner.

I realized the other day that, while standards are great, and everyone needs some 'shoulds', that when I started mentally telling myself that I should be better about moisturizing, that maybe the thing I really 'should' do was cut myself a break a little bit. (Although as 40 looms, maybe I'll cut myself a break on the dust bunnies instead.)

I know I've been more relaxed about Nettie than I was with Murphy, and so far -- knock on wood -- it doesn't seem to have hurt her. We worked today in Gorham and went to the local coffee shop after an extended absence, and she walked in and behaved perfectly without missing a beat.

Just 26 more days to keep dancing the balance dance.