gone to the dogs

As it turns out, the word "no" was pretty easy to ad to the daily parental vocabulary. And, I sure have been doing a lot less driving in the last week. Pretty sweet. That isn't to say that the kiddos didn't get to where they wanted to go, it's just that I didn't have anything to do with it. You see, we are a two parent household. There's a "we" here and the other half of the we has been driving all over. I am curious to see when this will end. A man who commutes to the Bean daily cannot be expected to then get in the car as soon as he arrives home and all weekend long, too. I saw a look on his face last night, just before the trip to Rutland, that I have seen on my own time and time again. Dread, keys in hand.
See, man, that's why I quit. Nobody should look like that on a Friday night.
This was a very interesting week for me. On Monday, I adopted another American Bulldog. Her name was Sasha, now Zsa Zsa, and she is about 8 months old. She's sweet as pie and has the squishiest bulldoggy face I have ever seen. Adding a dog when there is already one takes some work. Pack order has to be determined. I am the leader and I expect Mena to take the roll of #2 and Zsa to be #3. For now, I have to be vigilant and ready with corrections and praise so that I will have good, obedient dogs. Sounds easy. I know better.
I do love a challenge... and, I am on this mission to be good and do good. What's one more dog? Ha!
Last year I made so many changes... mostly to my diet. And, of course, to my wardrobe. No real need for purple suede boots when you're lugging firewood through the snow. I started last year in that dusty old building, stuffed in the windowless corner with a shanty of an old metal desk. Toxic environment all around. Now, I breath the freshest fresh air every day and I am my own boss. The last decade was hard hard hard, but it ended on a positive note and I am ready for more. This year, I will continue to eat well. We're going to be eating local, grass fed beef instead of the shit at the grocery store. Shit... it's what's for dinner! There's a farm in Barre that we plan to visit this weekend. Another in Gardner. We will have a garden this year, but I also want to buy shares of a local organic CSA for spring crops. We are moving in the right direction! (although, some of us wish we could just visit the chips and soda aisle like everyone else. Sorry, kids)
I am also going to try to let myself be and stop being so critical of every little thing I do. Awareness is one thing, but that was a resolution eons ago and I have taken it way to far, as usual.