If It's Random Is It A Collection

 - We went caroling last night, Sara and I. We tagged along with the same choir we sang opera with this summer. You don't carol for the money, that's for sure. Sometimes people are generous. As we wandered down Montague Street singing along people were generous with their praise and also with their cookies, coffee, and in one case their roses! A lovely florist gave us each a rose, the whole group! That was a pretty awesome first for me. I took this while we were walking home and I think it looks as though Sara is scolding me about the roses. That is not the case at all.

 - Do you remember The Arsenio Hall Show? He had this running gag in his monologues called, "Things That Make You Say Hmmmmm." Today I was walking out of the courtyard with Ed. I had to keep him on a short leash and he was pulling like mad. I thought to myself, "I wish he would heel for this part of the walk. All this pulling sucks." Then I thought, "I haven't been working on his loose leash walking from our training sessions." Hmmmmm, seems like I might have the perfect situation to work on the loose leash walking at least three times a day."

 - I was walking along a wide sidewalk and noticed a white knit and leather glove on the ground. Several steps later I saw it's mate and immediately dragged the dog back so we could reunite them and lay them atop a fence nearby in case someone came looking. How come I wasn't going to pick up the first glove but when it was a pair I considered it a moral imperative?

 - An old friend re-posted a thing on Facebook that was in support of putting "under God" back into the Pledge of Allegiance. It was one of those scoldy pro-religion ones that makes my eye twitch. I remembered that "under God" was a late addition to the pledge so I decided to look it up. I found this concise, interesting history of the Pledge of Allegiance! There are a lot more cool things about it that I didn't know. (It really is short, you should read it.) So I was able both to post the link in the comments and sincerely thank my friend for prompting me to look it up.

 - I celebrate Christmas Day with mostly adults. We exchange a few gifts but nothing big. It's really nice because it cuts down on the freaking out shopping and the Christmas morning chaos. I exchange presents by mail with a few friends and there's a small amount of exchanging that happens in relation to my job and my neighborhood. If I'm face to face with a friend we open things whenever we're together so we get to share the excitement. With all the other ones, though, I hoard them for opening in a big bunch. It doesn't have to be on Christmas Day but I do it all at once. I guess part of me does miss the Christmas morning present glut a little. Still wouldn't change the way I celebrate on the day.

 - My dog is a warm weather dog. He's high energy but a good sleeper. Dude will nap with anyone like a champ. When it's cold and dark out in the morning when it's time for our big off leash walk of the day I often have to go in and wake him up. I'll usually put all his gear on (harness, leash, collar with ID, sweater, coat, light up collar) where he lies in the bed and then invite him to join me under his own power. Most of the time he's right with me. Sometimes...well, my confession here is that every day this week I've carried my dog down to the sidewalk like the big wussy baby he is. Honestly, I kind of like it.

 - Shout out to Our Falnfenix. Her poor pup passed, only 10 months old. Please keep her in your thoughts and shove some treats down the gullets of all the pets you meet.