Suggestion: Take the Time to Appreciate Your Pet Today

Our pets are always happy to see us and love us no matter what, maybe this is why it's so easy to take this appreciation for granted. I suggest we all pay it forward immediately and take the time today to appreciate our dogs, cats, fish or what have we! Even simply watching your pet sleep, or watch it watch you, just looking at it and admiring it is guaranteed to fill your heart with love and gratitude - at least I know it works for me!.. 

And as I realize now I don't know how many of you actually have pets, and whether most of you are cat or dog lovers, I'd appreciate it if you introduced the animals in your life to our thankful community!

Video by Matt Wiebe

Mice in the Metro

Yesterday in the metro I saw a guy who was playing with a real living mouse that he held in his hand (or was it a little rat?)... Now I'm thankful I'm not afraid of mice or rats, because I only noticed that sweet couple when I sat down right next to them. I can only imagine how hard I'd scream if I did have a fear of mice (or musophobia, or murophobia, or suriphobia)!

Hold His Feet While He's Asleep

I'm thankful for being an owner to my dog! I'm thankful I can hold his feet while he's asleep (he's a really small dog so this is easily possible), I'm thankful I can tease him and squeeze him until he starts growling cutely, I'm thankful I can shave half his fur off when I think it's too much - he wouldn't quite let anyone else do any of that. And I am thankful that after all of that, he still actually loves me.

Dog Stuff

They say all dogs can swim but you can't really say this about your dog until you've witnessed it - thus I am thankful I've had an opportunity to check for myself and can declare now that my dog indeed can swim!.. He's so funny while he's at it too - when you lift him and he's no longer in the pool he keeps moving his legs in the air...

Countryside Thankfullness

While I'm still here at our family's dacha, I've came up with enough things to be thankful for, but I'll outline just a few:

• I'm thankful for the kind of modern technology that lets you have internet connection anywhere your cell phone would have a signal. Otherwise, how would I update my blog?
  

• And the second good thing to be thankful for is for the fact that Mr. Rhett Butler is still alive and healthy - he ate a bee yesterday and this freaked us all out. Thankfully, the bee didn't bite him on the tongue or throat, because then we'd have a HUGE problem.

Picnic No. 2

Having accomplished our second picnic this summer, I want to say thanks to those of my friends who made it here to my area yesterday allowing me to take Mr. Rhett Butler for a day out with us. My dog is not a fan of the underground traveling so if it wasn't for the gathering nearby my place, he would not be able to join us and would miss all the fun!..

Naomi

Thanks to my friend's new kitten (her 3d day at new home) for being such a friendly little thing and letting me tease, tickle, squeeze and play with her!

Cockroaches Don't Fly

I've always prided myself on not being scared of roaches (even once having one climb up my leg I just shook it off and forgot all about it right away), so upon having a mentally traumatic encounter with one today I was upset my initial reaction resembled fear. Maybe I just really didn't expect this as I haven't seen one in our apartment in so long now I almost forgot what they looked like, or maybe the delayed roach fear has been developed and successfully showcased this morning. I'm definately going to hope it's the former, but while having my breakfast and expecting the nasty thing to jump out on me from every corner, I realized I was thankful roaches couldn't actually jump or fly - now that would make my breakfast experience even less pleasant. Monday breakfasts really seem to be better, ha!..

Horses

So, I kind of remembered that I really like horses. Horses in general and riding them too, which I wish I did more of.. Can't even remember when was the last time I did!.. So today, I'm going to give my thanks to these beautiful creatures that have been serving humankind well for so so long now.

P.S. And because I don't really have a nice picture of a real horse, I thought I'd post a picture of a really nice door handle instead taken here in Moscow (one can guess where) - it's horse shaped, after all!..

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Sea World

I'm not that much of a water person unless we're talking hot tubs and fancy drinking water (I am very into trying new bottled varieties and yes, I do feel how the taste is different), so I can really appreciate the beauty of the sea world once it's so close to the top that one doesn't need to dive anywhere - the picture above was taken standing on a solid surface and looking down on the water before my feet.

Show Off

I love it how my dog is such a show off when he wants some of my attention! Gotta be thankful for this little wonder's creativity - sometimes he'll just keep changing poses until I notice and it always puts a smile on my face. I swear a few times he pretended to be dead too, scaring me major time each time he did.

Swear by Me

Now that I have the photos, I can get down to giving all due thanks to Wendy Brandes for my own set of her spectacular Swear Rings! (Check me out on Wendy's blog for the close up of the rings!) Wendy's awesome to work with and her designs are truly gorgeous: I loved my rings before I even ordered them, but I truly fell head over heels in love once I received the package - they're even better in person!

The rings were sent via UPS and were delivered at the speed of light, wowing both me and Wendy, so thanks go to the UPS people too. Also, thanks to my friend Masha for standing behind the camera, and to Mr. Rhett Butler for adding some cuteness to the shoot! And last, but not least, thanks go to mother nature for the good weather! It was a windy day with not much sun, but it still was warm and beautiful and a great day in general.

Sleeping Cutie

I'm thankful for getting to witness my dog's cute and funny sleeping poses. I wish I had enough of the picture proof, but he's not really into taking pictures!..

Dog Walks

Seeing a dog happily and proudly walking the streets by its owner's side is kind of rewarding. I've always appreciated the experience, especially on nice sunny days like that one in Barcelona.

P.S. The dog pictured is not mine - I just happen to do the most amuzing untouristy things when I travel.

Pug Love

I had such a fabulous morning: you can't imagine how much fun I had and how much satisfaction I got from playing with one of the guest's dog the morning after a friend's birthday gathering I mentioned yesterday. I love dogs. I love pugs. I love dogs who play like dogs, because my dog doesn't. Thank you, Dania the pug, for the morning full of fun. He's pictured below, not to be confused with my most favorite pug in the world named Barcy - the beautiful lady pictured above.

(The glass of wine is not mine. Having read jeune_premier's recent blog post on table etiquette, I want to point out that even it being a house party I don't let people fill my glass more than it should be filled - I like it when everything's done just right.)

P.S. Some of you already know that all sorts of weird coincidences are constantly present in my life. So I just blogged about the most delicious berry dessert I've ever had yesterday in the anticipation of fantastic edible goodies that were to come later... Now what do you think was one of the dessert options? You guessed it, I had the most amazing homemade berry pie yesterday!

Killer Whales Have a Thing for Me

In my dream that night a killer whale licked my hand. In fact, it sucked half my arm and I was told it did that because it liked my smell... I'm thankful for the funny dream because all of that felt quite real and I've never experienced anything like that or even gotten that close to whales. Ah, reminds me how much I want to go to a seaquarium!..

I Think I've Never Really Thanked Animals Before...

Pet photography is not an easy thing, and when it comes to wild animals it doesn't get easier... Coming across this picture in my folders reminded me how thrilled I was to be able to capture this teenage (I think) hedgehog in all it's natural wonderfulness a few years back!! Just look at this little poser! Thank you, little hedgehog, and I'm sorry for blinding you a little with my camera flash...

Mr. Rhett Butler

I have such a stressed out dog, but I really can't blame him... The poor thing had to go through some depressing life situations with me, and sometimes I just wish I could've been a better owner to my little Rhett. Still, it's so heartwarming to see how pets love us so unconditionally and are always so loyal, and I'm very thankful to my Rhett for always being so loving.