Royal Wedding

Why was my DVR recording from 4 am- 10 am....Why was I 20 minutes late to work this morning?
Royal Wedding!!!!!

Happy Wedding Day, Prince William!




I still love the images of William as a boy with his mother...

7.

Can't I go back to when I was 7? When the only thing medically wrong with me was that I was nearsighted with huge dorky glasses. When the only thing I was getting in trouble for was for sneaking chocolate chips from the drawer? When my biggest worry was if I was going to miss Aladdin. When I could wear my princess dress all day. When the only money problems were in the board game of Life. I miss 7.


Maybe in a few days I will want to be 24 again. But for now, I want to be 7 again. 

Playing With Her Prey

Another great Roxy story:


A mammoth fly was zooming around the house. Roxy heard it and began hunting it. She finally cornered him at the screen door and then paws and nose- she trapped him and got him! She caught him in her mouth, and then ran down to the basement. A few minutes later I could hear her running back and forth. She was tossing the fly into the air and catching it. Playing with her prey. I couldn't decide whether to be proud or mortified.

Did I teach her that?

Roxy funny: I gave her a little basket to keep all her toys in last week. Today she was tossing her squeaky ball around, catches it in midair, then walks over to the basket PUTS THE SQUEAKY BALL BACK IN THE BASKET, and picks up a different toy! Such a neat puppy! Now, if I can pull that off with our children, life will be good.  I love my Roxy so much, but this has just increased my love for her :) 

Roxy, an empathetic dog

So I decided that since I have no cute baby or pregnancy stories, I am going to post about the closest thing I have to a baby now: my Roxy.  


Today Miss Roxstar did something so adorable.  I was flipping through the TV and turned to Animal Planet.  "It's Me or the Dog" was on and I usually learn a good tip or two from it, so I watched a few minutes.  A Long Island family had a hyperactive dog who struggled with new places.  They took the dog to some play area and the poor thing was lost and confused and running around hyper-ventilating.  So the dog is whining, and Roxy instantly perks up her head from the couch.  Her little ears are bolt upright and she jumps off the couch and runs towards the TV.  Matt and I both just gape at each other; she's never done that before.  She is inches from the TV and is whining too; she is sad for the dog on the TV that is whining!  So sweet! 
Matt had to call her back from the TV as he was worried she might jump at it.  Silly boys and their TVs- I was just worried about my poor puppy getting distressed at the dog on TV!  She is such a caring little pup :) 


Side note:  Roxy hasn't been herself for weeks, due to infections in her paws, etc.  But this past Monday we got tactic dip and antibiotics from the vets and VOILA! our energetic playful girl is back! :)  Suddenly on Tuesday she was running around and jumping off furniture trying to get us to play.  We looked at each other and just smiled as the Roxy we know and love had been gone for almost and month, and now she is back.  


Thank the Lord for our vet.  We love our puppy!  :) 

Running adventures.

hilarious. My GPS watch was dead, so I ran to the park so I could use the loop to measure my distance.  Child #1 that stops me is holding out a box, "Do you want to buy a cookie for my school?" "Uh, sorry bud I dont have any money on me." At the top of the hill, child #2 is walking towards me screaming something and pointing. I turn down my Ipod and he's screaming, "DEAD FISH! DEAD FISH!" ok....thanks?  I love kids. 

Book Critique- Tribes by Seth Godin

Godin, Seth. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2008.

Summary

            Seth Godin’s Tribes is a motivational speech in paper format.  In short spurts, he attempts to motivate the reader to be a leader.  He thoroughly defines what a tribe is, and further explains that tribes will not exist without a leader.  He then describes, using examples of successful business leaders, how to begin your own tribe and lead it. Godin tells us that must people do not become leaders not because they cannot, but because they are too afraid to take the first leap.  He explains that leaders must not only be unafraid of failure, but also to except and welcome it. He presses the importance of having followers when you are leading, and details the importance of and strategies to maintain your followers and fan base.  One of the most beneficial things he outlines is that in order to become leaders, we must stop following. He says that we cannot always do exactly as we are instructed, and that those who go against the grain are the ones who make the movements. This book is beneficial for anyone who wants to start a movement, but who either lacks the confidence or harbors too much fear to step out and make a statement.

Critique

            I enjoyed Seth Godin’s writing style; his short paragraphs and grouped ideas made an excellent read for someone who does not want to put a great deal of time into reading it.  I was able to pick up the book, read a few short paragraphs, and then pick it up a few days later and repeat the process.   Seth Godin writes like a motivational speaker talks.  Reading this was like being at a leadership conference, only instead of listening to someone speak for an hour, I had to read for a few hours. His style is to make very bold statements about success and leadership, and then follow them up with an example.  This style could be effective; however, I found at times the examples did not sufficiently relate to the statement. Some of the examples were either underdeveloped, or weak. If he is going to make such bold statements, he needs to have sufficient evidence and detail to support.  I enjoyed his short paragraph structure, but I did find it to be a little unorganized. I said in my summary that this book would be beneficial for someone who wants to start a movement or take things in a new direction, and I do believe it would be. However, I did not find it all that motivating for me.  Most of the recommendations he offers are things that I have already been told, or learned on my own from successes and failures (i.e. accepting criticism, don’t just go along with the crowd, etc.)  On the other hand, I am glad I read this book. I am making crucial career decisions right now, and this book was a nice reminder to me that I can make bold moves, and I can attempt to make positive changes at my school. I sometimes worry that I am too young, or too inexperienced to make suggestions or start new things at my school, but this book reminded me that this is not the case. I need to stand up and stop being a follower, because as Godin reminded me, I should not be afraid of criticism because criticism means that someone has noticed what I am doing.  Isn’t that what we all want in our careers, to get noticed?  I would recommend this book to creative people who have the right ideas, but just need that extra little push.