My Beasts & Thank Yous

I consider myself a pretty typical pet owner.  I love my beasts.  I think just about everything they do is adorable and sweet and lovely and brilliant.  Well, except for what the cat does.  He's cute, but seriously lacking in the intelligence department.  I talk about them to my friends like they're my children.    I talk to them like they're licensed therapists.  I woke up this morning as big spoon to my dog and little spoon to my cat.  All pretty typical pet owner habits, I'd say.

Now, I'd like to shamelessly link up to my dearest husband's Youtube page.  What does this have to do with my beasts?  Everything.  Just go. Look. Do it.  Soak in the adorable-ness.  Now.

I have more videos to post to the Youtube page once I get around to it.  The fights take on new venues and obstacles.  Get excited. Do it. Now.

Finally, a big thank you to our good friends for letting us borrow their stylish yellow truck to bring our mound of leaves to the dump.  Shadow really enjoyed the leafbox (similar to a sandbox, but way more awesome).  AAAAND one more finally, thank you to my father who spent part of his Florida vacation raking the leaves in our backyard.  Ask him about his raking system.  He'd love to show you a little trick.

More Thank Yous!

When I was younger I used to loathe the days following Christmas and my birthday because my mother would force me to sit at the kitchen table and write endless thank you notes. At the time, I felt like they were completely unnecessary; hadn't I thanked Grandma enough at Christmas dinner for the check? Hadn't I given my aunt a big hug and kiss on the cheek after opening my beautiful sweater? What would a note card with "Thank You" printed on the cover and the same 3 sentences I wrote for every other thank you card on the inside actually accomplish? I bet Grandma didn’t even read these! Child labor! I should call child protective services!

----Whoa. My whiny teenage-self just reared its ugly head. Back to the mature, intelligent, controlled me. ---

Now that I'm older and have a firm grasp on manners and etiquette, I find it is crucial to send a thank you note. Not only does it let the sender know that their gift was received, but it lets them know that the thought and care they put into choosing a gift for you is appreciated, even if they only sent a check.

Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned, but thank you notes are simple and easy. You don't need to spend 15 minutes on a single note, but making sure that you don’t repeat the same three sentences on every note is important. After writing nearly 100 thank you notes after my wedding, I know that it’s surprisingly not hard to change up your notes for a large group of recipients. Always mention the gift given and how you plan to use it and you have a personalized thank you note.

What brought me to this tangent? I’ve had an influx of friends tell me they’ve been reading and enjoying this here blog and I want to thank my friends and family for supporting my babblings. So, thank you to everyone who reads this blog and sends it along to others to check out.

hahaha the frog moves