Thanksgiving and Spilt Milk

Meme says it all the time ... "don't cry over spilt milk"... and "what's done is done". She has a ton of these sayings and none of them really make a whole lot of sense. But I do know something about "It is what it is". That's her favorite right now.

I love routine and I especially love mornings. They're the best because they're almost always the same. I'm up before everyone else, I jump off the bed and when they still don't wake up I let out a tiny whimper and it's just enough to wake up Meme. And so my day begins with a walk around the neighborhood just to make sure everything is the way I left it the night before.

Then it's back to the house where I run as fast as my little legs will take me into the bedroom where Poppy always has a biscuit for me. Then back to the kitchen where always, always, always my dish is filled with my breakfast. Then I go back to the bedroom, get lifted up on the bed and have my medicine treat that keeps my joints working as best they can. They drink coffee, watch TV, I sleep ... it's just a super time for all of us.

Another favorite I can depend on is weekend breakfasts. On the weekends Meme and Poppy have a special breakfast at the glass top table on the patio. When that refrigerator door opens I know the fruit is on its way to the counter and it will be no time at all before they have their breakfast.

You might not think this would be a special time for a dog, but over the years I have taught my people well and they can't resist sharing their fruit with me. I sit between them at the table and gaze longingly up at them. There's a trick to this. I have to look needy, but loving. As soon as I hear the knife on the plate I know Poppy is cutting the fruit and in a minute a juicy piece of melon will be coming my way. Yup! Got it!

So then I turn to Meme with the same drill. If nothing happens, I make the tiniest soulful sound and it works every time. I just love things I can depend on.

We dogs will wait for treats. I must be patient because for some reason all the yummies in the world were not put in a place I can get my paws on them. And when I don't get my treat immediately, I bide my time because sooner or later the good stuff always comes. If nothing else works, I stare them down and they eventually give in.

This is life's order for me. But sometimes I'm disappointed and things don't go my way. Some days all the good things I depend on just aren't there.

There's no point in looking back at that imperfect day and moping about it, no reason to "cry over the spilt milk" because we can't go back and change anything. So we plunge on with hope for the next day ... hope that it will be better than the day before.

But sometimes, when life just knocks the you know what out of us, it takes more than usual to build up our confidence in tomorrow. We have to dig deep in our souls reaching for our faith that things will get better, that our treat is on its way.

And that brings me to today. We rode so high on our Cape Cod trip, but when we came home I just knew all was not well in our house. I sort of figured out that Meme and Poppy's order was out of whack and things just weren't happening right for us. There have been sad days all over the world recently.

But we just can't let this get us down. We can't go our whole lives with a great treat every single day. There are always going to be days with no treats.

We're hopeful again. We're getting a little confidence back because it doesn't do any good to be sad all day wondering where our treat is ... doesn't do any good at all. The important thing is to hold on tight to the things we can count on.

For me that's the sun coming up every day, it's the walk down our street that promises familiar smells, it's knowing my Meme and Poppy love me more than anything, it's sleeping between them on our bed. These are the important things that I can always count on and if one day I don't have all the treats I want, I just remember all the good stuff I do have.

Meme calls that "counting our blessings", something we especially must do in times of stress and hardship and certainly this Thanksgiving Day before we get any turkey. When we do that, it gives us the strength to deal with whatever is tossed at us no matter how scary.

And from that strength we begin to feel hope. With that hope eventually comes confidence. Once we've built that confidence inside us again, all things are possible.

'Til Next Time ...

Molly

A Perfect Dog for the White House ... and other thoughts

Well, I didn't win. You probably heard but just in case you didn't, I didn't. I'm not disappointed because I think it would have been tough and even though I have some really good ideas, I'm just not sure I was up to the task.

So Mr. Obama is going to be our President and I wish him the very best. Our country is in a bit of a mess right now (and that's an understatement if ever I heard one) and we need someone strong to take the reigns and drag us out of the muck. I hope he can do that, but I have a few good ideas I thought I'd pass along for him. I have to be honest ... I only get 15 or 16 years on this earth and I don't think it's quite fair that I had to land here now!!!

About the puppy for their girls. I know he said he needed a hypo-allergenic dog. Well guess what!!! Have I got a dog for you! Get one of my cousins because Bichons are one of the greatest of all and we're allergy free. I should know because that's one reason Meme picked me. Some will say Poodle and they're a good second choice if he can't find a Bichon. But Bichons are just the best. We're great with kids, we're really cute and we strut around a lot. We have that regal look if you know what I mean. I think one of us would be a great choice. We are high maintenance, but something tells me that won't be a problem.

Now on to more important things. I've been thinking a lot about this economic mess. You all know that Meme watches a heck of a lot of television so I think I have a pretty good take on what's been going on the last few months. It's pretty ugly, that's for darned sure. But I think some good old common sense might be just the ticket.

So first I suggest everyone get hold of themselves and get in a more positive mood. There's nothing worse at times like this than being dragged down by fear, worry and depression. Our country has been through some terribly rough times before, worse than this really, and we always come out of it. So we Americans have to show that we have just as good a backbone as those who came before us and get working on this.

Right now no one is really getting the right handle on exactly what to do so they're all sort of floundering around down there in the muck and the mire of the trenches. It's just a mess and nothing is getting done. So here goes ....

Let's just stop right now talking about raising anyone's taxes. I know there's all kinds of good stuff Mr. Obama wants to give out and he needs the rich people's money, but it just has to wait. It's called budgeting in tough times; families do it all the time. The government can't ask for a raise in times like these. We have to first get the economy rolling again. So wait on the taxes. Plenty of time to do that when the money is flowing again.

And people have to stop being afraid. Fear is the worst and I oughta know because when something scares me I jump in the air and then I'm embarrassed I was frightened to begin with because nothing is that scary.

Especially people under 50 should take advantage of this garage sale we have going on here with some of the best stocks out there. If Meme and Poppy were younger, they'd be buying right now. Younger people will do very well for themselves if they get in there and take advantage .... I mean these are like major closeout sales! Buy 'em up!

Next the people who are in mortgage trouble have to get themselves talking to their lenders and get those mortgages refinanced. The bank doesn't want their house. I think we're at a point now where they'll be willing to work something out. And the banks have to realize that, too, and work out something with people. We all have to work together to get out of this.

And the homes were way too expensive anyway. It was just stupid to think that a little tiny house that even I could barely fit in would be worth the kind of money they were selling for. Sure it made people feel good that their home went up in value hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few years, but let's get real!!! If it sounds too good to be true, it is. So people wanting to sell have to get realistic and sell lower. They'll get the difference on the other end when they buy anyway so what's the problem???

It was that stupid housing bubble and those evil mortgage lenders and a whole lot of other greedy guys that started this whole mess in the first place. So that has to get fixed. And while we're at it, how about we go after those guys, reel 'em in and try them for high crimes and misdemeanors.

So positive thinking, getting rid of the fear, biting the bullet and holding tight and not selling off what's left of your funds and stocks is the way to go. Remember that when the market was up and your money was worth so much more, it really wasn't worth anything unless you sold it. And you weren't selling it because it was up and you thought it would go up more. Well, it didn't!! It's the same thing as Poppy with all this stuff in the garage that he tells Meme are "collectibles" and worth a lot of money. She always tells him they're not worth a penny sitting in the garage.

So just use common sense. If your stock is worth only $50 today and you sell it, all you've got is $50. But if it's worth $50 today and you keep it, and it goes down $5 tomorrow, but up $10 the next day you're ahead of the game. The trick we all really need to remember is don't sell low. You sell when you're up, not down. I know how hard it is to hang on. Meme and Poppy some days look like they have their teeth wrapped around a trapeze bar, but they're hanging in. It will get better ... it always does.

So that's my view of how this mess starts getting fixed. Once we get the companies feeling strong again, they can hire people and then we've got jobs ..... and so it goes.

'Til next time.

Molly

There Ought To Be A Law ....

I'm running for President. It's not too late and you still have time to vote for me ... just write me in.

Yup! Election Day is Tuesday and all I can say is ..... FINALLY!!!!!

When I'm elected (and I do think I have a fighting chance), there are going to be some changes made in the White House ... that's for darn sure.

Here's the thing. As you all know, I'm at the mercy of my humans. What they have on TV is what I get to see. This is a great learning process for me so in a way it's a good thing. It's made me an incredibly smart dog.

Still, I have to tell you that what's been on that TV over the past I don't know how long is enough to make my head spin. I can't make head or tail of it and that's going some because as you can imagine, I'm usually pretty good telling heads from tails.

As far as I know there's no law saying a dog can't be President. As a matter of fact, Meme even told me we've had some dogs in the White House so there you go.

The way I see it everything is completely out of whack and no one gets a pass for the mess we're in and I mean no-bo-dy!!! I mean, speaking for myself ... I'm okay. I heard Meme say she'd let her own hair go before she'd give up on me getting groomed so we're okay there. But we're in a mess, no question about it. And Meme switches channels a lot because she says it's important to hear all sides so I've been hearing all sides, too.

I don't have a dog in this race so to speak. I could care less who gets elected as long as I have a bed to sleep on, walks in the sunshine, snuggles in the nighttime and food in the bowl. That's all I need. Still, I do think I could make some changes that will make everyone a lot happier and everything will go along more smoothly than it does now.

Speaking as a dog, I have to say I think everyone has gotten a little carried away spending too much money they sometimes don't even have. Everyone has too much "stuff". Half of the stuff people have really isn't necessary. Look at me! Like I said, I have food, love, a roof over my head and lots of happy time. That's really all any of us really "need". The rest is just icing on the cake and sometimes we have to do without the icing ... now and then maybe even the cake.

So here's what I think .....

First, no one can announce they want to be President until one year before the election. That way we don't have to start hearing all this stuff before we're even half way through the last President.

And once we announce we're running, we need to come up with a clear concise list of exactly what our plan is. It can't use any trick words that people don't understand. And once we're elected, we don't get to say ..... well, sorry, no can do.

There will be a limit set on how much money a person can spend to get elected and everyone running uses the same exact amount. All the rest of the money that people donate goes into a big trunk for charity and gets distributed the day after the election with nothing held out for "administrative" costs.

When the debates are held, regular ordinary everyday people get to ask the questions. And the candidate has to answer the question. They can't change the subject or repeat the same stuff they're already said a thousand times.

No robots making phone calls and bothering people at all hours of the day messing up answering machines and leaving messages that go on forever and nobody listens to them anyway.

No cutting down trees to print up reams of fliers jamming up mailboxes and being tossed in the recycle bin. You can't even make a decent airplane out of those things.

We have to be willing to take a lie detector test to make sure we're always telling the truth before the election.

Nobody can run for any office if they can't keep their own budget in their own house. Here in our house, we have a certain amount of money coming in. We don't get to force someone to give us more. So we can't spend more than we have. So once you get into the congress, you will not be allowed to budget more dollars than are coming in. No exceptions.

Which brings me to credit. No more printing money and handing it out to people who seem to have somehow blown their own budgets.

And finally, no one can vote in an election who doesn't know the names of the people running. There may even be cause for a test of people's thinking ability, but I'll take a look at that down the road.

So that's just a start. I have a lot of other ideas, but Meme tells me I'm dreaming and none of this will ever happen. I guess she's right, but a girl can dream, right? I mean, why not? There really are more of us than there are of them and I think most of the country is pretty sick of all the debating and the bickering.

We live together in this great country of ours and who cares really who gets it right and fixes everything as long as somebody does. So everyone should just stop blaming each other, start all getting along together and do the job we're paying them to do. Or get out.

That's why I'm running for President. I think I'll make a pretty good one. I can't do it all myself, but if I get some good old common sense in there with me we can get past this mess we've created and get back on track again.

As for me, I have faith in this nation's future. But we're better united than divided and I'm working on uniting.

'Til next time.
Molly