November 28, 2006
Shop Doxie
When you're a crazy dog person yourself, it helps if you surround yourself with other crazy dog people. It's even better when those crazy dog people are gorgeous, funny and ridiculously talented.
So get on with it and Shop Doxie.
Posted by hannah at 01:39 PM
November 23, 2006
Grateful
It's a gorgeous day in Houston. This morning my dad and I took CiCi to Meyer Park and we walked the track. By the time we were finished, I was so hot that I opted to forgoe the Gingerbread Latte at Starbucks I was craving when I woke up this morning. In Houston, if it weren't for all the commercial decorations and cheesy faux garland strung outside the grocery stores, you'd never be able to tell it was the holidays at all. Certainly not by the weather.
But it is Thanksgiving - I know that by the smell of the (organic, free range) turkey wafting up from the kitchen and by the fact that there were an incredible amount of amatuer travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson yesterday.
So in the great tradition of bloggers everywhere - and in keeping with my own tradition - a list of what I am thankful for.
• My gorgeous, gorgeous Michael, for whom I would scoop out the ocean or stop a speeding train.
• Buckhead Church - a place where I am able to grow, serve, love and be loved.
• Friends far and wide - both those who knew me then and know me now. Friends who don't care what I look like or what kind of mood I'm in, they just care about me.
• Starbucks in CNN Center, where everybody knows your name.
• A great job with great people and new challenges every day.
• Romania - for showing me what it worship can really look like; what it really means to have nothing but your faith; and for introducing me to a part of the world, and a people group, I never would have otherwise known or experienced.
• The ocean - whether it's the green of the Gulf, the shimmering blue of the Caribbean or the sandy, foamy waves of the Atlantic.
• Taqueria del Sol
• Delta Skymiles (Stay away US Air! We don't want you!)
• The smell of Ohio on a hot, summer day.
• My family - all 800 of them. I met someone a few weeks ago who has no first cousins. His mom is an only child and his dad's only sister never had children. My head spun, wondering what I would be like or how my life would have been different without all my cousins. Without knowing I have these connections, reaching out to me and away from me, all over the United States.
• Old Navy tank tops
• My stupid house that aggravates me on a daily basis, but for which I am so thankful. I really, honestly never thought I'd be able to make the leap to homeownership in my 20s and as a single woman. Frankly, I'm still amazed.
• Montego - for the years and years of companionship she has given me. For loving me and protecting me, even though I shook her world to pieces when I took in a crazy, 10-week-old puppy.
• Scout. She is crazy, hyper and too smart for her own good. But she makes me laugh even when I have to hold back the urge to let her run down the street and never come back.
• Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta. It was a whim that brought me to her, but it will take an army to make me leave.
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. Thanks for reading all these years. Thank you for your e-mails and your stories and your friendship. This site has brought people into my life - some temporarily, some forever. But for each of you, I am grateful.
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1
Posted by hannah at 12:49 PM
November 20, 2006
Cure-all
Little seems wrong in the world after you spend a morning with a latte, a few friends and dozens of dogs at the park.
I'm not sure who loves it more, me or Scout. She gets to run wild and jump into strangers' laps, but I get to be outside and laugh and meet new people. It's pretty much my favorite thing to do, and I feel lucky to finally have a dog who enjoys it too and a city that furnishes a well-kept, large off-leash dog area in its jewel of a park.
Posted by hannah at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2006
Birthday Twins!
A happy happy birthday to two of my favorite people.
Posted by hannah at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2006
Chaos
The introduction of Scout into my household has changed my life, and I would be hiding the truth if I said it was entirely for the better. Adding a second dog isn't as seamless as some would have you believe, especially when the second dog is much younger than the first, and it's a dog whose backstory is wholly unknown.
When you add in the fact that Montego's personality has changed since the Attack of '06, it makes things pretty interesting around my house. I've noticed that Tego is slower, less patient and more likely to want to be all up in my lap as soon as I sit down. Scout isn't ready to settle in for at least two hours or so after I get home, so it's challenging, accounting for both their needs and energy levels.
That said, I wouldn't change it.
Scout is entertaining and funny and sweet. There is nothing - nothing - funnier than watching a puppy run full tilt across hardwood floors, with no way of stopping. Yet she runs, every time. Montego was never one for the dog park and I certainly wouldn't subject her to that environment now, but Scout loves it there. She climbs up on boulders and strangers' laps and outruns even the biggest, fastest dogs. I hear people make comments about her, like what a cool dog she is or how cute she is or guessing her breed. People walk across the park to ask me about her and I always just shrug and say I found her on my porch and that their guess is as good as mine. Our wonderful vet, Dr. Drane, agreed with me that she is likely a border collie mix, but whatever she is, she is "100% cute." And perhaps it's pathetic or sad the pride I feel when I hear those kinds of comments. Perhaps my involvement in this baby dog is a mark of Spinsterhood, I don't know. It probably is.
But I love her like crazy and my life feels full - too full sometimes - and when I look at Montego and realize that she has been by my side since I was a fresh 22, it amazes me. She probably won't be around to see me turn 40, but Scout will. And that fact threads us all together, this little hapshod family of mine.
You're either a dog person or you aren't, and never the twain shall meet. Their presence weeds out the non-dog suitors from my life and my mom is terrified that I'll end up with a man with one or two dogs of his own already, and I have to laugh when she worries about that, because all I can think is - I sure as heck hope so.
Posted by hannah at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
