What A Difference A Day Makes

Ok, so I love that song a little more than I should, but it's definitely perfect for my mood change today.  I'm feeling much happier today.  Yes, I can tell my cloudy mood is still waiting to rush in, but today is sunny.  So, what's different?  What changed?  Well, a few things.

First, I finally (finally!!!) got my video ad in for Impawsible Pups.  I been anxiously awaiting this moment since the end of October!  It's absolutely beautiful too.  Ok, so I'm biased, but I'd definitely choose this videographer again.  If you haven't seen it yet, go to my previous post and watch it.  Do you have a favorite scene?  My favorite scene is the one where Cody is jumping in the air after his toy.  He looks so happy!

Second, I have some really wonderful friends, and I don't even think they realize how wonderful they are.  Recently, I have felt utterly alone.  I felt like my only friends in the world were Hans and Cody, and Hans didn't count because he's my husband (he has to like me...or at least tolerate me), and Cody counted plenty, but he still couldn't quite make up for a human interaction.  That said, Cody was one of the few things that brought me solace.  I felt old and tired and alone.  It's not a great combo.

Yesterday, however, I got a message from a friend that made me smile.  That was a help.  Then last night, I posted that video, and I got some good responses from some old friends.  That was an ego boost.  Then, out of the blue (not related to the video at all), Jess called to see if I could hang out.  She said she wanted to see me before Christmas, and I was instantly reminded of what a dear friend she is.  Lastly, I had a brief chat session with my old roommate.  It wasn't much, but it was a good reminder that I'm not forgotten.

All of a sudden, I don't feel so old and lonely.  I'm still tired, but that has other sources.  I know my friends haven't forgotten me.  Sure, we're all busy, and many of us are broke (making get-togethers difficult unless they're free), but we're still there for each other. 

So, let's hope this mood stays this way for a little while.  I definitely like it better than the one I'd been in before.

Receiving This Brightened My Day

The Past Few Weeks

The past few weeks haven't been the greatest for me.  I've been in a serious funk.  While everyone else is gearing up for Christmas and time with family, I feel like Scrooge saying things like, "Bah!  Humbug!"  It really stinks.

I know this is in part due to stress.  I'm still dealing with the accident from Nov. 16th, I'm trying to fit a week's worth clients into 3 or 4 days, and then into two days since Hans and I are planning a trip to visit his family in NC, days are shorter making me tired faster, attractive Christmas food is leaving behind not-so-attractive thighs, and to top it all off I still haven't even gotten out Christmas cards.  Actually, I haven't even gotten presents for most of my family.  That said, I probably won't be able to get them before Christmas anyway, so I should probably stop worrying about that.  Really, my dream right now would be to hire a team of people to do everything for me (including a nutritionist and personal trainer), but that dream isn't happening today.

Instead of devoting my time to the tasks at hand, I'm finding I'm becoming frustrated and giving up.  I don't want to clean.  A nap is better.  That's my mentality.  Of course, this leaves me feeling even more defeated and upset.  It's like I told Hans last night, "I need to be motivated so I feel better, but feeling better would make me motivated."  It's a vicious cycle!  A credit to Hans is that he's been wonderful through my torrential mood swings.  And trust me, I've taken out a lot on him.

I'm hoping I can come out of my funk in time for Christmas, and I am looking forward to Hans opening his present.  That should be exciting.  That said, to any family members who may be reading this, please excuse delayed presents.  To anyone else reading this, please excuse a lack of posts.  I'm  just not in the mood.

Our Christmas Tree

This past weekend, Hans and I finally got the Christmas tree set up and decorated.  It was a little later than we'd have liked, but late is better than never.  Anyway, it got me thinking about how different people I know decorate their tree, versus how we do our.   Some people like a themed tree.  It's all red and gold balls with white lights (or something like that).  If they have kids, they may have a separate tree for the children to decorate, but their tree is the main one.  Some people can't decide what theme they want, so they decorate multiple trees.  Some people don't have a theme, but do have somewhat uniform ornaments (oh, and lots of tinsel).  Our tree's theme is the same every year... Christmas.

One of the things I love about Christmas is the togetherness.  Families come together to spend time with one another.  Memories are made.  Our tree is filled with memories of Christmas past.  It reminds us of family members and vacations, schools and traditions.  This year, we have a smaller tree than last year, so many of our ornaments would not fit on.  Hans and I each, however, found the ornaments that were most important to us, and all of those are up there.

Full of family memories...and Cody in the corner.

 And here are some of the family favorites:

A Ukrainian spider web for good luck.

A light house that actually lights up from Hans' grandma.

Memories of our trip to Arizona over Christmas 2008.

An ornament filled with costume scraps from Cirque du Soleil.  Hans and I love their performances and thought this ornament would be perfect.  Hey!  We should do this for TIV!

Memories of our college days and our wedding.

Obviously I couldn't post pictures of all of the ornaments I love or else I probably would have taken pictures of the whole tree.  Just so you know, though, we also have ornaments from Hans' great-grandparents and my grandparents, both of our "baby's first Christmas" ornaments, and my "baby's second Christmas" ornaments.  There are some that have been on my Christmas tree for as long as I can remember, and it doesn't really become Christmas until I see those ornaments.  Oh how I love the Christmas tree!

The Sweetest Thing

I've posted this before, but I feel it could be said again.  There is a reason I enjoy having dogs in my life.  They make me feel good.  So, let me give you an example.

Lately I have not been sleeping well.  Between a bit of stress, a lack in strong physical activity, and a general overall feeling of blah, sleep has suffered severely.  With a lack of sleep, I've found myself cranky and irritable.  I am finding it harder and harder to be in the Christmas spirit.

Well, this morning I was in a state of partial sleep, mostly awake (as I was all night).  I was marvelling a bit at the fact that the fosters had not yet woken, and was worrying that the cats, who were hungry, would start asking for food and step on my bladder.  I could feel myself tensing up, and getting cranky over the fact that I had spent another night without a good night's sleep.  That's when I felt it.  I felt little, wet kisses on my hand.  I looked down, and there was Cody.  Cody was laying on his back, tilted slightly towards me, with his front paws wrapped around my arm.  He was giving my hand little kisses, and when I opened my eyes and looked at him he wagged his tail.

I could feel my bad mood vanishing with every thud, thud, thud of that tail.  With a few more kisses, the bad mood was almost completely gone, but what finally did the trick was when Cody pulled himself up closer and snuggled up under my chin.  All he seemed to say was, "Mommy, I love you.  Hold me."  How could anyone be in a cranky mood with that sentiment?

Cody seems to be great at doing that.  I suppose that's why I don't understand how some people don't like or don't want dogs.  What do they do when they're stressed or in a bad mood?  Who snuggles up to them?  Who has a soft coat for them to run their hands through?  Who amuses them my pouncing after a toy or getting confused by a butterfly? 

Anyway, my bad mood is no longer here, and I have a great smile on my face as Cody tries to decide whether to play with his Kong toy or with the cats (who don't want to play quite as much as Cody does).  Much happiness!!!

A Week in the Hospital

This week has been crazy to say the least.  To be honest, I feel as if I've been pulled in a thousand different directions all at once.  Thanksgiving was fun and restful and wonderful, but Monday started the craziness.

Monday morning I woke up early and went to the hospital.  Dad was scheduled to have a hip replacement, and I wanted to be there for him.  I was in the hospital from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm merely waiting for him to get out of surgery and recovery.  I thought I might leave between 6:00 and 7:00, but as meds wore off and hunger set in, Dad started feeling not-so-great, so I stayed later.  I was probably home between 8:00 and 9:00.  I didn't sleep so great that night.

The next morning, I was back in the hospital bright and early.  Dad was feeling much better, and I was relieved.  Actually, overall Dad has done extremely well.  He's been in little to no pain, and most of the pain he is feeling is simply from the surgical incision.  He's been in good spirits, and was a physical therapy favorite.  It was interesting to compare him to other patients.  There were others who had been operated on on the same day, but who still couldn't walk on their own today.  Dad was discharged today, and was such a trooper.  He's not feeling so great this evening, but that's probably just from all the exertion from earlier.  Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow.

On Another Note...

I am trying to get back into a good work-out routine.  I had one for the longest time, but have failed miserably lately.  To make matters worse, recovery from my fender bender is taking longer than I'd expected, so I have to take things slowly.  Add to that the cold weather, and exercise isn't happening right now.

My doctor has given me a few exercises I can do, and will continue to work with me (I really love her), but I'm hoping to improve more.  So, now I must ask, what do you do to help stay healthy during the winter?  Do you stay indoors, endure the cold, or go to the gym?  Or, are you like I've been lately and simply figure that the added weight is needed for the colder temperatures?  If you have any tips, please let me know!

Thank you very much!