Monday Madness- It's ALL Tabitha's Fault

I've been promising that I would tell the story of how Lola came to be with the B Family. The time has come.

We had been having a conversation concerning dog ownership for quite some time. I've never owned an indoor pet. Not a huge fan. Didn't have an indoor dog until I was married and that is only because he was my husband's dog. (The story of my house and dog sitting while we were dating.... I will definitely have to revisit that one...). What can I say? I'm just not a fan of indoor pets. Even our fish, Romeo and Juliet, tend to annoy me. I enjoy my space. I've always said that if I needed another living thing to care for, I would have another baby, and I can state with absolute certainty, THAT. IS. NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN.

My son, however, loooooooovvves dogs. For the last ten years, I have been kindly prying him off every single dog that has ever crossed his path. Our neighbors had a dog named Brittany. He played with that dog so much, that when she unexpectedly passed, they were distraught over how they would break the news to my son. He was pretty sad. Not just for a moment, but for days. Then, about 8 weeks later, Tabitha (my neighbor) decided they needed to get a new dog. Meanwhile, I had been looking at dogs on the web, and had decided I wanted a medium sized dog, that did not shed, that was short-haired and most importantly, obedient and NOT YAPPY. So, Tabitha gets on the web and finds a puppy that she falls in love with and brings her home. Her children raced over to share the good news. I don't believe I saw my own Z-kids for the next week with the exception of mealtime. On Wednesday I called her and said,"Fine. I get it. My kids need a dog." I had been watching my son carry that puppy everywhere he went. If her own children were ever going to get any time with their puppy, I was going to need to intervene.

Tabitha laughed at my statement and said,"You know, there are more in the litter." "I know," I replied, " But I'm not sure about it. Oh, what the heck. Give me the woman's number and I'll call and JUST check it out."

Fast forward to Friday. I had been trading messages with the woman who had the puppies. Tabitha decided to bring her puppy over for a visit. (She knew EXACTLY what she was doing.) Once I took that puppy in my arms and she licked my face, and breathed her sweet, stinky puppy breath in my face, I was in puppy love. (Yes, I'm a sucker!)

I am now the owner of a dog that will grow to be about 100 pounds, as well as be a long-haired shedding machine. She still has accidents, and I've spent more money in the last few weeks just getting her settled and we haven't even hit the vet yet!

But the kids are over the moon about her. They laugh and giggle and play. They actually feed her, walk her and take responsibility for her. Had I known they would react this way, I would have done it sooner. (Maybe. I dunno). It's work, but seeing the smiles on my Little Zs faces, I don't regret it. Yet. :)

Yours, getting ready to take my Z3 on a walk,

Melissa

MAKE EVERY DAY EXTRAORDINARY

 I ran across an excellent article by Robin Sharma in Experience Life magazine (the magazine put out by Lifetime Fitness Clubs) and wanted to share it with you.  To see the article in its entirety, click here.  But I’ll summarize for you some powerful ways on how you can live an extraordinary life.

1. Read books by people you respect and admire.  Some of their brilliance just might rub off on you.
2. Put some skin in the game.  The more you fail, the more quickly you will succeed, so don’t be afraid of taking chances.
3. Be happy.  Do what makes you happy.  (Sounds obvious, right?  But how many of us really do it?) Robin’s suggestion is to make a list of your top 10 passions, then schedule one per week over the next 10 weeks.  If you don’t schedule it, you’ll never do it.
4. Listen twice as much as you speak.  You send a message to a person when you listen to them that you value what they have to say, yet so many of us either don’t listen, or don’t actively listen.  We’re usually already thinking about our replies before they are done talking.
5. Make sure your schedule reflects your values.  You may say you value your family more than anything else, but what does your schedule say?  Robin writes, “Your schedule is the best barometer for what you truly value and believe to be important.”  So if that means you have to write in family time, then make sure you do it.
6. Be enthusiastic.  Think of the people you enjoy being around.  Do they love life?  Are they curious?  Do they love to learn?  Strive to be like that, and you’ll find that you’ll handle whatever the day brings to you with a smile.
7. Relax, and you’ll be more productive.  Working harder is not always the way to better ideas.  Sometimes when you chill out and have fun, you can find more creative solutions.  So be sure to take those vacations and get out of the office without your Blackberry sometimes!
8. Take care of yourself.  You need to feel good yourself to be a good leader and be good at work, no matter what that work may be.  Take care of your body and your mind, enjoy your life, and you’ll be more enjoyable to others.

Robin Sharma is the CEO of Sharma Leadership International, a global training and coaching services firm. This article is excerpted from The Greatness Guide: Powerful Secrets for Getting to World Class. Copyright 2006 by Robin Sharma. Reprinted by arrangement with HarperBusiness, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.