thankful for: family.

i am so lucky to have such a sweet family. normally, thanksgiving is the only time of year where we all get together in the same city. my brother sam, sister-in-law jennifer, niece fiona, and nephew liam come in from california, and my sister lisa and brother-in-law todd come in from minneapolis. we do all the normal thanksgiving stuff; eat a ton, laugh, play, concern ourselves over my parent's dog's weight. this year though, a certain hartley wedding in july substituted our family get together for 2010. i am sad that we can't spend this thanksgiving together, but am thankful for all of the thanksgivings we have had and all that are to come!

last year, we had family pictures taken at loose park over thanksgiving, and it was fuh-reezing, unlike this year's eerie warmth.
they're pretty cute.

fiona and liam, picture posers extraordinaire.

all the girls! jennifer, lisa, mom, fiona, amy, moi.

hot tay-lah and chubbs mccue.

another of liam and fiona, they're so cute!!!!

my sisters and i.

my mom in her cute sweater and my dad in his posh turtleneck. (oh wait, it's a mock turtleneck.)

the guys! taylor, sam, liam, dad, todd.

aaand scene. everyone.

my second bui

i have to apologize for my previous post. it's pretty annoying and bossy. the chiefs game was on when i was writing it, and why wouldn't i partake in a brewsky or two during the game?  and then why wouldn't i get bored and decide to blog? this is turning into a dangerous trend. blogging under the influence. sorry....

Cesar's Way

Ok, so I got a dog, and I'm obsessed. exhibit a:

(yes, i look disgusting, and yes, he's allowed on the couch now, but he sleeps on me like that!! how could i say no??)

Anyways, for those of you who are like I used to be, and don't have a dog, or like dogs but are just not crazy crazy about them, you can skip this... because I'll admit, I've turned into a crazy dog lady.

So my dad got me this book:

And I read it in 2 days. Oh.my.goodness. Talk about an EDUCATION. If there were ever to be Cesar Millan flavored kool-aid, I would be chugging it. I will admit, I ate every syllable of this book right up. And learned so, so much. I know there are professionals out there that don't agree with him, but after reading this, that seems a bit dificil. The bottom line is we all love our dogs, and want them to be happy. And this book helps you to do that.

"Cesar's Way" isn't what you would call a "dog training" book. It doesn't give you any specific steps, per se, but instead focuses on broad concepts and generally changing American dog-owning thought. To me, it was all completely logical, but pretty much the opposite (sorta) of how I and most dog owners view our dogs and the relationship we have with them. It starts out with Cesar Millan's own personal history, which is an absolutely amazing story. (Did you know that one of biggest reasons he became so well known and successful was due to Jada Pinkett Smith?) It then moves on to describe his day to day life as the owner of the Dog Psychology Center in L.A., with tons of anecdotes about the rescued dogs he has rehabilitated. The last half of the book tackles common dog problems (agression, fear, phobias, fixations - i.e. going nuts over squirrels and people on walks) and how they are pretty much human created. Dogs live in the moment, and aren't obsessing/dreaming/flipping out about negative past experiences like humans do. So these problems we attribute to their "personalities" really aren't so. We encourage them, and we can also change them.

Ok, it's really obvious that this book had a huge effect on me. I can't stop talking or thinking about it. And I can attest to the fact that Shamus is literally a different dog on our "cesar calm-assertive" walks now. He walks right next to me, doesn't chase squirrels, leaves, or people.

READ this book! Anyone who has a dog or wants to get a dog, it's a perspective that I don't think many of us have, but should. Es magnifico. $8.99 at Costco.

Problems?

I can't get my posts to format normally. Exhibit A : my previous post. (huge space before the post starts, then the font size is all messed up) Blogger just kinda does whatever it wants. Anyone else have this problem?

Zeitoun - ABR #3

Wow. This was really tough to read. Not in a bad way, just because it was such a horrifying story. Zeitoun is the true story of a New Orleanian family's experience during and post Hurricane Katrina. Their story is powerfully recorded by Dave Eggers, who is the author of one of my all time favorite books, "What is the What".

The real life hero of the story, Syrian-American Abdulrahman Zeitoun, is the owner of a successful painting and contracting firm, who stays behind after the storm hits, paddling around in a canoe, helping whoever he can.

And then the shocking stuff happens. And it really happened, in our country. Not going to say much more!

Bottom Line: this is an incredible story that deserves to be read.

post i really hope no one reads other than good friends

I suffer from weirdtothepointofdisturbingdream-itis. 95% of them I would never share. However, this one I had the other night was so funny, and one of the least disturbing and share-able dreams I've ever had, so I thought I would entertain you all with it. This is the most ridiculous and poorly written post ever. I just have nothing to do right now before class starts at 12:40.

Soo...we were all back in college, yet at our current ages. It was rush week, and Pi Phi had this new tiny house. It was old, disgusting, and musty, with a bunch of long hallways that no one knew where they led to. We were trying to get ready for house tours, but everyone was just sitting and talking in this gross dusty living room with 70s furniture that looked like it was from my grandma's house.

I was really stressed out that I was supposed to give a house tour in this house I knew absolutely nothing about, and didn't know where anything was. I was really fixated, however, on making sure to tell everyone "if your rushee asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, just politely explain to her that you don't know, it's a new house, and make sure that you do not interrupt other conversations around you and ask other girls if they know the answer!"

Scene changes. I wander off, find that the sleeping dorms are in this little closet that can only fit beds, so you had to crawl in and once you were laying down the ceiling was like 5 inches from your face. But I was just glad I found them.

Then the rushees show up, and they are in the front yard with a bunch of random people just watching. We start giving the house tours, then everything stops, and I watch as everyone takes their rushee by both hands, and starts dancing in a circle around them and singing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. I didn't know this was going to happen, but I have to follow suit. I grab my girl's hand, (not both, just one) and dance around her like everyone else and start lip synching "A Whole New World". I decided lip synching was the better choice since I had obviously missed the practice.
At this point I am in the front yard, so all the random people are watching me. All of a sudden, I fall down, and land in a little bit of well, number 2. (SEE? It always gets weirder than weird)
My rushee tells me it's hers, she had an accident and doesn't want me to tell anyone.
At this point, I start freaking out because I realize I haven't asked her one question, I've just been talking about really random stuff and had forgotten it was rush. So I ask her what her name is, she says it's Amy.

I can't really remember the rest, but it got even weirder.

What I think this dream means:
A. I'm stressed out. All my dreams are really stressful, where I feel a ton of pressure and confusion and have to just throw something together. Themes of "unpreparedness" are always present.
B. I apparently have some issue with the new "number 2" that is everywhere in our yard due to a new canine friend
C. The girl's name was Amy because right before bed I was talking to Taylor about how weird it is that his family named their dog Amy.
D. I can't figure out why I was so adamant about making sure the girls didn't interrupt other people. All I can think of is that I'm wanting to control something.

and etc. etc.

now everyone else post about a weird dream so I feel normal. :)

ABR # 2

Second book I wanted to talk about:
A Spot of Bother, by Mark Haddon.

I read this earlier this year. It's Mark Haddon's second novel, (his first is "A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" which I read a couple years ago and loved as well).
This one is completely different, but I actually enjoyed it more.
It's written from 3 different perspectives, however, the main voice is that of George, a 61 year old hypochondriac, depressed, British man. His wife is cheating on him, his daughter is getting married to a guy he hates, his son is gay and doesn't think his dad (or mom) approves, and George think his eczema, "the spot of bother", is cancer.
It's dark, it's sad, but it's hilarious at the same time. I laughed out loud, I gagged, I cried. It's very vivid. I just loved it. Loved, loved, loved it. :)

first video

we've been waiting for shamus to turn 13 weeks so we could enroll him in this puppy class that came highly recommended, especially for his breed. well, that came, and we weren't able to do it. we're hoping to start one soon though. in the meantime, we had our own improvised obedience class in the living room last night. here is our little man on his first try at tricks! he's surely not perfect yet, but he picked all this up in about 10 minutes!! (braggy mom much?)

(i couldn't get the video to upload on blogger - anyone know why? so i posted on youtube instead....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GYPDUYEyY0

and since i wouldn't click the link if i were you(but it is so cute!!), here are some pics to enjoy from taylor's new iphone SINCE I CAN'T FIND MY CAMERA! major bummer.

he's so cute it's sick!

his ears are so perky! haha.

regal profile.

ABR #1

When I think of the word "hobby", I think of scrapbooking, running, guitar-playing, or photography.While I wish I had all of those hobbies, ehhh, "not yet". But when I have to fill in the "what are your hobbies?" blank, I feel good that I have at least one I'm not lying about: reading. I get through 3-4 books a month, and since I really love getting book recommendations, I thought I'd share a few of my own.

and so begins part one of my personal series :
Molly's Abridged Book Reviews (or ABR) (abridged because i don't think i'm cool enough or proficient enough to give you a full blown review, but a quick blurb is fine from anyone, right?)

I'll start with The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

I'm starting here because a) I just finished it last night and b) I think it's a book that everyone would really like.

I'm sure many of you have read it, it's uber-publicized and a loyal member of most current best-seller lists. Which usually makes me not want to read it. Snobby, I know. However, this truly was a wonderful page-turner, and I really can't see anyone not falling in love with Aibileen, Minny, or even the "white trash" Cecilia.

I coincidentally re-read To Kill A Mockingbird right before this one, which is also set in Mississippi, civil rights era, so I'll admit at the beginning I had my nose-turned at the stereotyped verbiage and lack of all around Harper Lee perfection....but once I got attached I was LATCHED on. I loved the story, I loved the lessons, and I loved the ending. Pick it up next.

hartley halloween

k-state homecoming fell on halloween weekend, so our actual "holiday" holiday plans were non-existent. therefore, a very last minute holiday plan was formed around noon on sunday. we went to first watch for brunch, i ordered egg's benedict "since it was a holiday". at brunch, we decided to invite my mom and dad over for dinner and to watch the saints game. next came the grocery store, where i asked taylor if i could buy some gourds to decorate. he said no, and that i could go in our backyard and get some leaves instead. what, am i seven? still, i went home, looked outside, all the leaves on our deck were gross and searching beyond that seemed like too much work. so i took a nap. :)

i made a baked goat cheese appetizer that was delicioso, and a new recipe for baked pesto pasta shells that had sort of a funny taste at dinner but was awesome left over for lunch. taylor decided to make spiced rum spiked apple cider. and that was that! oh, and shamus sufficiently embarrassed us by showing off his great jumping on the couch, biting, barking and peeing on the floor skills!! but my dad was really happy to not cook for the four of us for the first time in well, ever, and we promised him for every 100 meals he cooks us, i'll make one.

next year i promise pictures, costumes, and parties. but i'm okay with our low key halloween numero uno.

mid-monday adventures.

as i was walking shamus before work this afternoon, i approached a man walking his very small dog. he was a small man, probably my height, maybe in his 40s. and here's our story:

...i walk up, shamus is jumping and visibly excited.
little man: (with what i find to be a high pitched sweet little voice) "hi, look at your dog! is he friendly?"
me: "yeah, he's fine, he's just really hyper!"
man: "oh my, he is so cute. what is your name?"
me: "molly"
man: "i'm sonny. this is new orleans." (pointing to his sort of strange looking tiny tiny dog that i can't quite place the breed)
sonny: (to me) "you are beautiful! what is your sign in the zodiac?"
me: "uhh, capricorn."
sonny: "oh my gosh, that is a WONDERFUL sign!!"
me: (trying to end this zodiac talk) "what kind of breed is new orleans?"
sonny: "he's a chihuahua"
me: "oh yeah!" (feeling really stupid, because everyone knows what a chihuahua looks like but this one is just really bushy and i thought he might be a mix or something)
sonny: "so you must have a birthday coming up in january!"
me: (dammit. he's back on the zodiac stuff) "yeah i guess it's coming up, but it's on christmas day"
sonny: "oh my! the 24th?"
me: "the 25th"
sonny: "is your puppy a collie?"
me: "no he's an australian shepherd."
sonny: "oh wow, they are so cute when they are puppies." "what is his name?"
me: "shamus."
sonny: "oh my gosh, i have never heard of that name before. how unique!"
me: "yeah, it's an irish name"
sonny: "well they are so cute when they are puppies"

...at this point shamus is barking at new orleans and i'm glad i have an out. sonny does not want to stop talking to me.  i start to lead my psycho puppy away.

sonny: "well it was so nice to meet you both!"
me: "yeah, you too"

at the end of the street when sonny and new orleans are out of sight, i think to myself:
"that was the funniest, weirdest thing that's happened to me in a really long time"
"but why did sonny keep emphasizing that australian shepherds are so cute when they are puppies? while i truly do NOT want to run into sonny and new orleans again and have another one of the strangest, longest conversations of my life, i do want to prove to sonny that they are cute as adults too."
"i guess these are the kinds of people you meet while walking your dog at 11:15 am on a monday....most people should be at work"
"i think i want to quit this law stuff and be a professional dog walker"
"no wonder we had 3 trick or treaters last night, sonny lives in this neighborhood!!"

the end.