The Dog Ate My Life Checklist.....Peace Out 2014

I don't remember a whole lot about this time last year, except that I still drove a 99 Pontiac Grand Am, and I wanted my hair to grow out terribly badly after hacking wayyyy too much of it off in the summer. 

I worked as a front desk receptionist, and I had recently discovered Walden Farms no calorie pancake syrup, and cookie dough Quest Bars, which altered my life forever.

Doesn't sound that exciting. Because, it wasn't.

But then came 2014. And I'm realizing now just how much things have really changed for me. 

I'm sitting here typing this at 3:59 on a Tuesday, after a killer leg workout with a good friend. I have a crazy, insane, perhaps slightly possessed 7 month old puppy at my feet. She's chomping away at a pig ear, and five seconds later she moves to a rubber bone, and five seconds after that shes running 4094 laps around the coffee table like Satan himself is chasing her.

Meet Bailey, just one big change in 2014! 

 

I have Photoshop and Illustrator open on my computer, and both contain art files that people are actually paying me to create. I have spreadsheets open with profit and loss and expense statements. (And I did math to get them.) I have a dinner date with one of my oldest friends later. And yeah, I'm wearing sweatpants. 

Unbelievably to myself, I'm not dead! I'm not broke! I'll max out my IRA this year, and I can still afford peanut butter! 

Looking back, I guess this was one of the most "successful" years of my life. This was the year I started making my dream life a reality. But it's been the hardest year too. 

I've said I QUIT to a job with nothing at all lined up. I've met more strangers than I can even count. I've gone to networking meetings, and stood up in front of crowds to pitch my services, and try to explain my passion for design in 30 words or less.

I've walked into more businesses, wearing really uncomfortable pants and blouses and heels to talk to people who've never met me before and sell them on my offerings. I got a lot of freaking no's. And blank stares. And nice brush offs.

And I got some yesses.

I made an idiot out of myself on more than one occasion. I didn't always have the right thing to say, or the right props to pull out to impress them. 

I've sat there in tears because no one was emailing me back, no one was ordering anything. I've sat there in tears because everyone was ordering everything all at once. 

It's been hard.... yet not hard enough. Next year I want this to be bigger, better, faster, stronger. Every single day, I go to sleep feeling like I haven't done anywhere NEAR enough. And I think it's going to be that way for the rest of my life. I think that little nagging voice is what keeps me going where others would stop. 

I think you can find that voice too. 

We don't need a new year to start a new way of living, but its a convenient marker in time. Too many of us simply go through the motions, check off the neat little boxes. College, job, meet perfect person, house, dog, kids, retirement, die. How many people stop to think if it's what they REALLY want? What if you want to move to Bangladesh with your pet hedgehog, stay single and live in a tent? Why not? This life is YOURS. If half that list is already checked, and you don't want to check off any more neat little boxes, rip the thing up and burn it. It's not too late. Put the house up for sale. Start a business training donkeys from your tent on the beach in Hawaii. So what if everyone says you're crazy.

Be crazy. Save money. Do the research. Do so much research. Then do what it takes. 

Stop checking off the boxes and start making 2015 the year YOU go for what you really want. I want even more. More experiences, more meetings, more cool projects, more chances to inspire you, more trips, more huge freaking mistakes and eff-ups that show me what I need to improve upon. Bring it.

Rip up that list. You can't take it with you when you go. You can't take anything. Not the money in the bank, not the house, not the car. Leave behind some cool stories for the people who knew you to tell. 

Leave knowing you used up all your spins around the sun to the fullest. It's like a game show. You only get so many turns before you go bankrupt and the game's over.

Start now.

CUSTOM PET TEES (& MORE) - Why do YOU need to have one?

As a kid, I never had a dog. We had birds, fish, even a frog, but my parents were never quite up for the challenge of raising a puppy. I spent a good part of my childhood being terrified of dogs. We had the crazy neighbor whose dog basically tried to devour me in my stroller as we walked past while the owner just stared. Then we had my childhood best friends puppy, who lept up one day and took hold of my three foot long ponytail to use as his own personal rope toy. Needless to say, I started to think at that young age that dogs were unruly beasts and they knew my fear, and they just took advantage of it and jumped on little nonathletic clumsy me all the more.

Despite pretty much living with my boyfriend's dogs, two golden retrievers, I never fully got over my bias towards dogs, and thinking that they just didn't LIKE me, and that they knew I was a dog virgin having never owned one, until last year. Last spring (2011), it was apparent that 15 year old O'Malley, the oldest of my boyfriend's two Goldens, didn't have much more time here on earth. His hips were going, he didn't get up much, his breathing was labored, and he couldn't enjoy any of the things he once loved, such as shoe stealing, running around outside, food begging, and yes, blanket humping. Lots of blanket humping, particularly when company came over.

It was on that note that my boyfriend's father, a longtime golden lover, decided that just one wouldn't do, and now would be the perfect time to get a new puppy, not as a "replacement" but rather as an addition, to help carry on the joys of owning a golden for another 13-15 years. So one frigid March morning we set out to the "quiet corner" of Connecticut, to a golden breeder's farm to pick out the newest family member.

I had never been to a puppy farm, or breeder, or whatever it is you want to call it. When we walked in, dozens of little fur balls came to attention, jumping up with their front paws on the top of their gates to greet us, all wrangling to be first in line. There were all different types of Goldens, big shaggy Nordics, and your basic "standard" golden. There were girls and there were boys. There were newborns (not yet for sale) and older puppies, who hadn't sold from the last litter. All were adorable. There was no way you couldn't love them. We narrowed it down to a type (we chose the standard) and the breeder released them from the pen so they could meet us. In a blur of fuzz and yippy barking, they came to us, not knowing this was judgement day, and that only one was going to get a home. Instead of feeling nervous as I did with past adult dogs, I was surprised when the puppies actually came up to ME (didn't they know all dogs conspired against me, then laughed about it later?!).

Somehow, we managed to narrow it down to two puppies, after at least an hour of playing and seeing who jived best with us. We eventually went with "Dark Green" (the color of the yarn around his neck). I can't remember the exact reasoning behind it, I guess he just called to us.  We paid the adoption fee and got some last minute advice from the breeder, and some supplies. We were then on our way! The puppy went in the back of the SUV for the long ride home. He didn't enjoy it much, and became carsick. The messes were just beginning!

So however, were the joys. I had never seen a dog go from puppy to adult, and I never got what people were talking about when they said their dogs were "part of the family" or "like a little human".  I used to be like okay, they have a dog. Its like having a couch you're fond of, or a stuffed teddy bear, or a favorite pair of jeans. Its there, you feed it, walk it, and so goes life. But dog ownership I suppose, is one of those things you don't get until you do it. Oscar as we called him (his name had to start with "O", family tradition), was no sofa. He really WAS a little "person". He was smart. He found ways to break the rules and get what he wanted, just like a child. He was a mischievous rebel, sneaking out of the house to take a dip in the neighbors pool. He didn't always come when called, and seemed to get a good laugh out of it. He discovered the joys of stick fetching in water, jumping with all four feet off the ground and launching himself in. He didn't like being on his leash, and would take it in his own mouth and rip it from your hands and walk himself.

He also understood quieter moments, he loved to cuddle on the sofa, rest his head on your lap, or lay at your feet. Yep, this was no sofa. This was a little Mr. Personality, the only thing he couldn't do was speak English. He still understood life however, and all the moments and things in it. And he never once tried to devour me. Oh, wait, yes he did. But this time I knew he was just playing around, scared was the last emotion I was feeling at that moment. And he ate my hair too. But I can forgive him because I mean LOOK at that face. He didn't mean it!

So in honor of all the pet owners out there who "get it", I decided to offer custom tees that feature your dog (or cat, never had a cat, terribly allergic! But I imagine the attachment is similar). Below is a picture of the tee design I did from a photo of Oscar. These pet images would also be great on tote bags (full of doggy or kitty goodies of course) or mugs, to have your morning coffee while telling your coworkers about Fido's latest funny actions. Or you may want to remember a lost pet in the same manner, and have your morning drink with him right there with you every single day.

Let me know how I can honor the little love in YOUR life! Request your own at www.youreaditshirts.com/Quote.html, and fill out the form and send your pics to get your very own. I get it now, owning a pet can be some pretty special stuff :) At the beginning of this entry, I said I "just" had fish, birds and a frog. But there are no small pets, only small owners! Perhaps your iguana means the world to you. If he does, let me know! There is no limit to what can go on a custom item. Okay, gotta run, Oscar keeps trying to eat the laptop. And with  those eyes, I might just let him :D