And they called it puppy love...

After about three months of hemming and hawing about it, I have finally adopted a dog. His name is Alex, and he's about six weeks old, so he's still pretty tiny. He's a Sheltie mix (basically a miniature collie), and he'll probably only get to be about 30 pounds. He's very sweet and smart, and of course I have a totally unbiased opinion.

Randi's Lab Winnie has taken very well to him, and has actually taken on a very motherly role with him. She's still figuring out exactly how to play with someone so little without hurting him though. But Alex bounces back pretty quickly when Winnie accidentally knocks him down with a big paw--he jumps right back up, tail wagging, ready for more.

Ok, what you've all been waiting for...pictures of my baby!

Sleeping in his Winnie the Pooh chair (courtesy of Winnie).

Hiding by the fireplace--moving into a new home takes some adjustment.

Ok, that's just a teaser. If you want to see my whole online photo album of Alex, click here.

What Love Is

Sometimes I think we all have this notion that love is "like" in an extreme degree. But it's so much more than that. Love is a conscious decision that you will always be there for someone--even when you don't like them. That applies whether you're talking about romantic love or friend love.

Right now, my struggle is with friend love. I have a friend who I love very much. But right now, I don't like him at all. My friend has become a mean, hurtful person and I don't know why. He's hurt me worse than just about anybody has ever hurt me, and he's hurt someone else I care about even more than he's hurt me. I've seen him once in the past four months, for 15 minutes. I miss him so much, but at the same time, I have absolutely no desire to see him. As much as that sounds like a contradiction, it isn't, because I'm talking about two different people. I miss the man he was, and I don't want to see him as the man he is.

I never thought I could ever say that I didn't want to see him, but I don't. And it hurts. It feels like my best friend has vanished.

So this is what love is--if my friend called me up tonight and wanted to hang out, I couldn't do it. But if he called me and said he needed a kidney and I was a match, I'd be there in a second. I have made a conscious decision to love him, and there's nothing he can do to change that.

Raindrops

Please forgive me. I am really reaching. I'm trying to write something on here at least once a week, but for the past week and a half, I just haven't had much to write about. But a friend told me I needed to blog so she could keep up with me, and I'm trying to oblige.

It's been raining all day. When I was driving to and from work this morning and this afternoon, it put me in a foul mood because I hate driving in the rain. Particularly driving in the rain in Charlotte. I love the South, but somebody really needs to teach the natives how to drive in weather other than sunshine.

Ok, I'm about to slip back into a foul mood, so back to what I was about to say. My desk in the new house is located right next to the window, and I can hear the rain hitting the glass. I don't think there is anything more refreshing and reassuring than the sound of rain falling outside. It's like the earth is taking a shower, washing off all the dirt and sins of daily life. It's a reminder--there will always be things that go wrong in the world, in our lives, in ourselves, but there will always be a chance to do it better, to do something good.

There are a lot of things going on in my life right now that I don't understand, and if I try too hard to understand them, I'll drive myself crazy. We work with what we have, doing what we can to make our lives, and the lives of those around us, better. Change the things you can. Accept what you cannot. And be patient to wait for the things that may take a little time to change. Know that tomorrow is always a chance for a new beginning.

And breathe.