How My Dogs Determined My New Years Resolution

I'm as guilty as anyone.  Every NYE, I come up with resolutions that are mostly forgotten by January 2nd.  Maybe sometime around April, I'll think "Oh yeah, that was a resolution of mine wasn't it?", and then I go back to whatever I was doing, quickly forgetting about it.  Lose weight, keep my house clean, read a certain book.  Pretty generic and probably the same things that everyone else comes up with and I follow it with the same focus as 95% of the world.

The other day, Andrew and I had gone somewhere and were maybe gone for 10 minutes.  We came back and both dogs were staring at us through the windows.  When we came in, they were ridiculously excited to see us.  It was as though we'd been gone for a week.  Andrew's father gave the dogs a chew toy shaped like a bone with a Union Jack on it.  It's not edible, it doesn't do anything fancy but the way Molly carries it around and sleeps with it, you'd think that it was stuffed with Milk Bones.  The dogs are excited about everything, no matter how small.  I'm envious of their attitude towards life.

I've been thinking about that for a few days.  What it must be like to be happy all the time and content with the smallest goings on and surprises.  Actually, content isn't the right word.  They celebrate everything.  If they could, they'd probably throw a party every time they pooped.

Over the last few years, I've noticed this "half birthday" trend.  I definitely think it's silly and at times it irritated me (and this is coming from someone who lives for birthdays, believe me).  I noticed that instead of a basket of candy for Easter or a heart shaped box of chocolates for Valentines, parents started giving their children gifts as though it were Christmas.  Don't get me wrong, I still don't like this over-giving and I'm afraid our children are getting entirely too materialistic, but I like the idea of making a big deal out of things.  Even something stupid like a half birthday.  Life happens once, and no matter how small or insignificant the occurrence may be, why not celebrate everything?  As a whole, life IS a big deal and we are so lucky to be here. 

So that's it.  My one resolution for 2011 is to slow down, appreciate my life and celebrate everything that happens.  I have so much to be grateful for.  

Happy New Year everyone!