Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ten pounds of love

As if gifted to me by the calling I had after I lost my 75 pound Weimaraner dog, I knew like a person, a loved pet can never be replaced yet I ached for another dog to love and to be loved back unconditionally.

You would think that a dog is a dog right ? No, in every case no. This small 4 pound yorkie was more like a cat. She jumped high off the ground and pulled off the scarf I was wearing when we first met. Never still and in constant motion. Yet, I found myself still making the decision to  keep her after her owner found her more than she could handle and was ready to give her up. I spent two weeks wondering if I had made a big mistake with this little dog.

But slowly she came to me and looking up at me as if to ask "can I trust you ?"  One day she leaped up into my lap and stayed there. We finally made a connection. The kind that is comforting like one's favorite blanket or old worn slippers.  I gave her a name I thought suitable to her personality, Sasha, she follows me room to room, even knows the time of day and night when she will let me know that its later then ususal for anyone of our routines.

 She is 10 pounds of willful independance and tucks herself into any suitcase or box that she thinks will leave without her. She also has her own travel bag and doesn't mind being tucked under the front seat of an airplane, in spite of her ticket being as costly as mine. She never barks in public and is used to the attention she gets when I have to take her out of her bag going through security. And me, clumsily like any barefooted, laptoped,  dog traveler I think most of the time it goes well.
Much of my budget includes a pet sitter that cares for her when I travel without her. But I would never have it any other way. Because she is the first one to greet me when I return. And I yell to her " Sasha, Mommy's home" And I know it matters to her. 10 pounds of love that fills my world unconditionally, just one of the many I love in my life.

Monday, December 5, 2011

The way the Christmas cookie crumbles

Every year my preparations for Christmas has included making cookies. All kinds of cookies, using an old fashion cook book. I begin making a different batch every day right after Thanksgiving. But I finally have fine tuned making Christmas cookies into an art form. I usually make only one batch a day in order to not get "cookie fatigue" . One day this week one of my batches didn't turn out well, they stuck to the cookie sheet , in the end when I finished them they were a pile of crumbled cookies. Feeling disappointed and while eating far too many of the pieces that tasted good , a light bulb went off in my head. "Make cookie crumbles to put on ice cream" it said. So I crumbled the rest of the broken cookies into smaller pieces and packaged them in  colorful Christmas boxes and then labeled them Christmas crumbles for ice cream.Then I put a colorful bow on the top. Needless to say my misadventure turned out better than I could have imagined. 

There is so much in life that turns out to be like crumbled cookies. It has become a pass time  for some of us to see just how creative we can be with our lives. Sharing the struggling economy, fractured relationships,or the pain of loss in our lives. However, if we keep focused on what really means the most to us, even our crumbled cookies can turn out to be a gift. Especially,if we can remember that the most important ingredient is love.