Happy New Year!

Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you've always wanted to do but couldn't find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Vow not to make a promise you don't think you can keep. Walk tall, and smile more. You'll look ten years younger. Don't be afraid to say, 'I love you'. Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world. ~ Ann Landers

Happy New Year, Everyone! My hope for each of you who take time to read this post is that you will find peace, happiness, and prosperity in 2010. (Actually I hope that for everyone I know, whether they read this post or not!)

I've posted the latest pictures of the puppies and find it hard to believe they are already 7 weeks old! On Christmas Day our 3 year old granddaughter decided to name the small puppy, "Cutie." (She is pictured by herself.) So far, she is the only one with a name. Since I am not sure which puppy I want to keep, I have been hesitant about naming them. Names have a way of sticking and generally it takes me a long time to decide what to call a puppy I plan to keep, so I don't want him/her to get stuck with some random name! It's easy to have "nameless" puppies now that the kids are away from home. When they were young and lived at home, the puppies always had names – and not necessarily clever ones. Trevor especially came up with some odd names for the pups and I had to quickly come up with something else so his odd name would not "stick!"

One of our black dogs, Bert, was born when we lived in Nebraska and the kids were 10, 5, and 2. Bert was a chubby little guy, definitely adorable but I certainly had no plans to keep him. The kids started calling him "Fat Albert," after one of the characters on the Bill Cosby cartoons they frequently watched. Fate intervened and "Bert" became a keeper. His registered name became Ch. Joyslyn's Masquerade, but we all knew and loved him for many many years as plain ol' "Bert!"

Last year when we had Christmas puppies, the names came easily (Holly, Spirit, Bell, Decker, and Nick). This year we are back to referring to the pups as the "little puppy (now Cutie)" or the "light girl" etc. Of the 4 boys, we had so much trouble telling 3 apart that one got red nail polish on his right ear, another got it on his left, and the third remains unmarked! The fourth male is darker than the others so he is easy to spot!

I thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas break. One really nice thing about working at the university is the lengthy Christmas break we get. The weather was cold and snowy so it was nice to have time to stay inside, play with the dogs and puppies, watch some TV, and curl up with a blanket and good book. I admit to being ready for it to end though. I was becoming a slug!

One interesting thing that happened was visitors from Mexico! I received a phone call late one afternoon from someone in Macomb who told me he had relatives visiting from Mexico who owned a Lhasa and who had seen my website and wanted to come to visit and see the puppies. We ended up with 11 people in our family room and had a great time talking about Lhasas and playing with puppies!

A memorable moment came early New Year's Eve morning when I happened to look out a bedroom window and see four deer curled up sleeping in our backyard! I watched them bed down in the same spots that night and on New Year's Day watched them walk leisurely across our lawn, across the street, into the neighbor's yard and disappear behind the neighbor's house. We have not seen them since. I guess they found a better place to sleep. Not being a person who is fond of deer, mostly because the tend to jump in front of cars around here, I was still a little awed by the sight of them in the backyard. They are pretty when they are not standing on the shoulder of the road threatening to bound across the highway!

If you don't already have a Lhasa to love, may you find one in the New Year! Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce