30 Days of Gratitude

Day 8

"What book are you most grateful for?"

The Harry Potter series. Boring I know, but they helped me to get away from what was a pretty shitty life at the time.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 7

"What memory are you grateful for?"

Hula-hooping my way into 2012 on a stage in an underground rave dressed as Wonder Woman.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 6

"What in nature are you grateful for?"

Bees.

Save the bees.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 5

"What sound are you grateful for today?"

The bird in our garden which sings the same unique tune every morning and night. I've never heard another bird make the same noise before.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 4

"What food are you most grateful for?"

My first thought is always breaded chicken, but after thinking about it, I would have to say the potato. Mashed, boiled, roasted, in a jacket, it's all good.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 3

"What colour are you grateful for?"

Black. It's flattering, it's effortless, it goes with everything.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 2

"What technology are you grateful for?"

I'm grateful for the mobile phone. It's a camera, an atlas and an MP3 player all rolled into one, and I can use it to learn about anything that has ever existed.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 1 

"What smell are you grateful for today?"

I'm grateful for the warm popcorn smell that Penny gives off when she's sleeping.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 9

"What place are you most grateful for?"

Our house. I love coming home to it every day.

Later that night

I held an atlas in my lap

Ran my fingers across the whole

World

And Whispered

Where does it hurt?

It answered

Everywhere

Everywhere

Everywhere

- Warsan Shire

Mop Chop

I'm getting my hair cut on the 7th next month which means that my camera roll is full of beachy waves, Kardashians and near-identical Instagrammers ready for me to show to my hairdresser before inevitably mumbling "just a few layers and some shaping around the face please, I'm trying to keep the length".

But am I Kim Kardashian yet or...

I'm trying to grow it past my boobs before getting it styled so it means that I'm living in haircut limbo. I don't want to get anything so drastic that it messes up the growing process, but I don't want to be left with something so shit and boring that I give up and chop it into something crazy. 

I could pull off the Yolandi Visser, right...?

Everyone Thinks That Their Dog is the Best Dog, and They're Absolutely Right

I just want to take a moment, if I may, to talk about how amazing dogs are.

We have a species who at some point decided that humans would make good companions, and we happened to feel the same about them. Over time, we've evolved together to the point where we have these little furry creatures running around in our houses, completely naked, unable to speak the same language as us, and both parties are completely cool with that.

Dogs are so intelligent, and so intuitive. When Sam is sick, Penny won't leave his side, and if ever I'm crying, she will try to lick my tears away. A few weeks ago she even ran to fetch Sam from downstairs when I had a funny turn and couldn't get up.

And they can be so gentle, even though some of them are built like machines. Sometimes at night, Penny will lie in between me and Sam with her face on the pillow in between ours and we can't help but marvel at the fact that this big, muscular, sharp-toothed animal descended from wolves could easily rip our faces off but instead she licks them before falling asleep and snoring like a trooper.

All dogs are good dogs. I have favourite breeds of course, but they're all fabulous in their own way.

I would say that my top 10 from favourite to least are as follows:

1. Staffordshire Bull Terriers (I'm completely biased)
2. Mutts and crossbreeds. The goofier the better!
3. Chihuahuas. So much attitude in such a tiny animal!
4. Collies of any variety but especially Border Collies
5. Labradors and retrievers
6. German Shepherds
7. Great Danes
8. Borzoi
9. Corgis
10. Greyhounds and whippets

Even writing that list was difficult. It's so hard to choose favourites, I feel like the Doberman and the Rottweiler deserve a place in the top 10 but it would push out Greyhounds and Corgis. Ah well, life is full of tough decisions.

The most important thing to remember is that all dogs are good dogs, even if they eat your shoes or poo on your sofa or something. If you're reading this and you have a dog, give them a pat and a belly rub from me won't you? 

When You Take One Good Photo & Have to Post It Everywhere

I was just really feeling myself and the good lighting in our bedroom yesterday

Hang in There, Baby

My driving lessons have taken over my life at the moment. They're really taking up a lot of time, money and energy that I'd like to be spending elsewhere, including this blog, BUT I'm also feeling really good about the fact that this is the only real "stress" I've got going on in my life at the moment because it's a controllable stress and it's going to have a positive outcome at the end of it all. Here's hoping I can get to test standard sooner rather than later because I seriously cannot be bothered with bus timetables and reverse bay parking any longer! (I am sick at a reverse left bay park though, for the record...)