Better late than never!

I said I was going to post more this year and doggone it I meant it! So here we are, seven months later and I'm finally doing a second post for 2017. I think we're already on an upswing from last year! Let's see how we're coming along on the to-do list I put out at the beginning of this year:

Sheridan's To-Do List (posted 1-4-17)

- read ALL THE BOOKS

- raise $1000 for ACS and Team CMMD. You can help with thisHERE!

- be able to run 10 miles

- complete my yoga teaching certification! 

- plant a better garden than in years past (I'm not good at this)

- meditate every day (two days in a row so far!)

- keep my priorities straight

- look for volunteer opportunities in my community (any suggestions?)

- love life 

Well, to start off I haven't read ALL THE BOOKS. I know, I know. I've been working to make reading more of a priority, but it seems to never be as much as I want. I did recently finish reading a pretty great book called Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. It was funny, insightful, educational and all about a place that is now near and dear to my heart, Peru! More about THAT later. Whether you've traveled to Peru or not, it's a good book. Check it out if you want a good, easy, fish-out-of-water-adventure-story. 

While I didn't read ALL the books, I DID manage to raise not just the thousand dollar goal, but a whole $1500 for the American Cancer Society and Team CMMD! I hit that one thousand faster than anticipated because I have awesome people in my life who were willing to support my goal and give to those that need it so desperately. In addition, I was able to run 10 miles! Not very fast, I essentially hit exactly the same time as I did in 2014 (and it wasn't fast then, either), but I made it across the finish line, only a little worse for the wear. 

At the finish line with my favorite running partner

At the BAR with my favorite badass, Erica

I did complete my yoga teacher certification! I am not actively teaching yet, because it's been a bit busy for me to pursue much over the last month or so, but I'm happy to say that my yoga studies are far from over. I'll be starting a Yoga Therapy Certification program this fall that I'm very excited about to be able to apply to my personal and professional life. 

I did NOT plant a better garden than last year. I didn't even plant a garden. On the bright side, I did finally get around to purchasing and applying Miracle Grow plant food to some of my indoor plants that desperately needed nutrients. So, that's something, right?

Meditating...yeah, I haven't been doing that. I need to do that. Let me add that back to my current to-do list.

But have I been keeping my priorities straight? I think so. I have a LOT of priorities, so I could probably do a better job of focusing myself, but all in all, I've been trying to practice compassion to myself when I don't get to everything on my to-do list. Because I have a lot of friends and family and goals and interests and hobbies and that's a great thing. Most of the time. Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed with everything I have going on, but for the most part my life feels very fulfilling right now. I've got some work to do to get everything settled in place as I've been going through a lot of changes recently, but I feel more or less on the right path. Hey, what's life but a work in progress, right?

Soup is a good food to remind you to slow down or you might get burnt.

And the million dollar question is, have I been loving life? Yes, without a doubt, I have. For all the little frustrations and lack of time and occasional feelings of inadequacy as I try to fit forty hours worth of stuff into a twenty-four hour day, my life is pretty awesome. As I said, I've got an abundance of friends and family and while it's hard to keep up with everyone, it's a great problem to have. I've got an incredibly happy home life with a husband and dog who are my favorite people in the whole world, who are supportive and loving and fun to be with. I've recently started a new job that I won't go into detail just yet on, but it's been a very exciting opportunity and I'm happy to see where it leads me. And while I do still take on too much, the projects and interests I've been pursuing are really amazing and I just need to make a LITTLE more time for some of them. But it's a privilege and a joy to be able to pursue these things at all.

Happy family

So am I a little behind on, well, everything? Yes. Definitely. Am I mad about it? Nah. Life's been busy, but life's been good. I'm happy, healthy, slowly figuring out what it's important in my life and what's just noise, and I know I can't do it all, but I can at least try, right? 

I know I dropped a lot of stuff in here that you might be wondering more about, but I'll get to all that later. Maybe. For now, let's see what's on the to-do list...

Sheridan's To-Do List:

- meditate. No, really, meditate! 

- dedicate more yoga study time (Let's shoot for two readings and two practices this weekend?) 

- run + circuits once this weekend (Tom, I'm counting on you for some help!)

- be present while enjoying time with others (instead of worrying about all the to-dos I might miss getting done)

- pick a new book to start

- sign up for half marathon (yes, you read that right!)

What does your to-do list look like lately? Any big to-dos you've been putting off that you can try to get to this weekend? 

Another New Year?

Welcome to 2017! Another year come and gone and almost a whole year since I've updated Sheridan's To-Do List! Well, I never was very good with deadlines and this is no exception. Let's skip the formalities and just remember that everyone reading this pretty much knows me and knows what's going on, so I don't need to update you from all of 2016, right? Right. 

Whatchu lookin' at?

First item on the 2017 To-Do List is to take more selfies with our beloved Tigger. Last I updated, we were having trouble getting this little scallywag to the vet. I'm happy to say that three trips, two medications and one muzzle later we did eventually get him all updated on his shots and such. Apparently, Tigger really hates the vet. Oh well, he's been good otherwise. A little attitude, but with a face like that you just kind of let him get away with it. It's easier than arguing. 

I'm extra excited to start this new year off on a healthy and happy note with my sweet Blogilates planner! I don't really follow Blogilates much (but you can here if you want!) but I just really like this planner. It has places for your calendar, to-do lists, meal, water and fitness trackers... all the good stuff that I'll probably fill out diligently for all of January and then intermittently for the rest of the year. But, hey, it's worth a shot, right? I've so far managed to fill out two whole days and did almost everything I wrote down! 

First workout of the New Year. Don't I look excited?

Although I'm just always trying to get myself fitter and more fabulous, I do have a few things that I'm specifically training for in the first half of this year. 

First and foremost, the Broad Street Run! That's right, after a 3 year hiatus I am signed back up for that badass 10 miler. I don't know that I've run a combined 10 miles SINCE I completed the BSR in 2014, so I've got my work cut out for me. So far I've managed roughly half a mile of uninterrupted jogging. It's a work in progress.

But, Sheridan, you may be wondering, how are you signed up for the Broad Street Run when the lottery hasn't even taken place yet? I'm glad you asked, diligent readers. It's because I'm actually running with a very special group called Team CMMD. They are a local group based out of Chester County that brings runners, cyclists and other community members together to raise money and help out families afflicted by cancer. I was introduced to this group by my good friend and badass cancer-fighter, Erica Griffiths, for whom I'm running this long, badass race. 

And just so I'm not coy about it, I NEED YOUR HELP! I'm running and raising money for the American Cancer Society and Team CMMD to help out all our friends and families that have or will one day deal with cancer. Please throw a few bucks at these great causes! I'll do the hard work, running. You do the easy part, sit on your computer and donate. It's that easy. You can do that here: https://teamcmmd.kindful.com/broad-street-2017/team-e-mama-strong- 

Don't you want to see more embarrassing pictures
of me pretending to be in shape? Then donate HERE!

Of course, running is not my favorite thing to do, but I do it because it's good for me and because I can do good things by raising money for these causes. I'll be doing my best to keep everyone updated on my very slow progress. Seriously, I'm no runner. If I can do this, you probably can, too. If you're interested in getting into running or other fitness ventures, let me know! I'm always game to talk strategy since I know what it's like to start from literally 0 and want to get fit. I'm not trying to sell you on anything. I just dig talking about it. It's motivating for me, too. 

Hope to see you this year, Peru! 

Another reason I'm trying to shape up is to prepare for our hopeful future trip to Machu Picchu! The details aren't finalized yet, so I'll get back to this after things are more concrete. For now, just enjoy this badly photoshopped picture of Tom and I with a lama. 

Downward dog? Savasana? Tigger makes up his own asanas

Many of you probably know that my latest venture has been to work towards my yoga teacher certification! I REALLY wanted to start a new blog, or at least better keep up on this one, as I set off on this new adventure, but I didn't. Partially, I've just been very busy. Partially, this undertaking has actually been a much more intensely personal and spiritual experience than I initially expected and I've been better off reflecting on it quietly to myself. Now that I'm more than half-way through, though, perhaps I can start sharing some of what I've learned here. 

Yoga is a funny thing. Did you know that the asanas, or the poses, that you likely think of as yoga is really only 1/8 of all the encompasses yoga? It's a whole lifestyle-philosophy and while I guess I knew some of that before going into it, it's been really exciting delving deeper into it. I won't go any further now, because maybe you don't care much, but I'll try to address this further in another post. If you EVER want to talk yoga, definitely hit me up. It's kinda my thang. As you can see above, Tigger is also a fan. 

Some of my biggest inspirations

Finally, this year is all about finding joy in life. I'm a happy person in general, but the political events of recent months have shown me that maybe that happiness was partially because things were going the way I'd like them to in this country. I mean, things were moving slowly and occasionally slipping sideways or backwards, but I thought we, as a country and maybe as a world, were moving forward. Together. For a better, more inclusive, more progressive, global society. And then...., well, you know. 

So, as I've been presented with a country and a world that I'm not nearly so pleased to be a part of, it has opened my eyes to a few things. One, I need to be more involved in my politics. More on that in another post. Two, I need to be more involved in my community because CLEARLY there has been a disconnect somewhere along the way of what kind of people have our citizen's best interest at heart. I'd like to be one of those people that practices what they preach. 

Lastly, and most importantly, I need to be able to learn to have joy and peace in a world full of suffering and strife. It literally pains me sometimes thinking about the state of the world and I know that there is only so much I can do and only so much responsibility I should feel for these things, but it doesn't make the thoughts any easier to bear. Luckily, yoga is fantastic for this practice! As is the book pictured above, which I just started reading. What better start to the new year than the teachings of my boy, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu? I'm looking forward to learning more of the incites gathered from these two spiritual leaders brainstorming secular and scientific methods for accepting joy into our lives. I'll be sure to share any particular gems I find in this.    

Overall, though I'm nervous at the state of the world, I've got plenty of exciting things I'm working on this year. What are you looking forward to this year? Or this week? Do you set New Year's resolutions? Tell me about them! Seriously, I like knowing these things. We can, like, cheerlead for each other. 

Sheridan's To-Do List

- read ALL THE BOOKS

- raise $1000 for ACS and Team CMMD. You can help with this HERE!

- be able to run 10 miles

- complete my yoga teaching certification! 

- plant a better garden than in years past (I'm not good at this)

- meditate every day (two days in a row so far!)

- keep my priorities straight

- look for volunteer opportunities in my community (any suggestions?)

- love life 

Thanks for reading, guys! I'll try to update a little more frequently this year! 

Tigger's To-Do List!

Today was a monumental day since our adoption of Tigger just a little over a month ago. He got shots! At the vet! I know this seems like nothing particularly remarkable, but this was the THIRD time we went to the vet. The first two resulted in absolutely nothing getting accomplished except to stress the hell out of both of us. 

Our first vet attempt. It did not go well.

Looking back on that picture I can see that Tigger did not share my excitement for his first vet visit with his new family. I was so happy to get him to the vet that day! I rushed home from work and got him right in the car, talking the whole way about how healthy he'd be, how we'd get his nails trimmed, how after he got his shots I could schedule him a grooming session... oh, how young and naive I was back in late December.

Naturally, I did a lot of things wrong with that first visit. I made his first appointment for after work, to start, which meant I didn't allow myself time to take him on a nice walk or even just chill with him a bit before we went. I rushed him over and was probably a bit frantic, as I often am after walking out of work with a million things on my mind. How could I expect him to be relaxed about the whole thing when I wasn't?

More importantly, I didn't read his medical records very closely, or maybe I did and it just didn't register. He was NOT a pleasant patient for the vets at ACCT. But, c'mon, who would be? He'd just been dumped at the pound! Of COURSE he was testy. And I guess I didn't know just what a dog who is terrified of the vet looks like. My dog growing up, Leo, didn't like getting poked and prodded any more than anyone else does, but he put up with it. I thought Tigger would, too. 

He did not. Once we got to the vet, he was pacing around the waiting room and eventually barking a bit. I could tell he was anxious, so when the vet tech came out, I told her as much. He was just in the shelter three months ago, he's seeming tense, blah blah blah. I had been fixing myself a coffee when she came out and while I tried to figure out if I should abandon my nearly brewed cup or if she would wait for me for 30 seconds, she said, I'll just take him, and they were gone. 

I shouldn't have let her do that. For better or worse, Tigger is very attached to me and I'm not sure if my presence does calm him down MUCH, but I'm relatively certain that a stranger coming out of a strange room and taking him away from me without so much as how-do-you-do did not bode well with him.

Kisses!

My furriest BFF (except when Tom doesn't shave)

Nervous, but happy that Tigger was in the caring hands of the professionals I went to wait in the exam room. After waiting for a minute or less, I decided to run back out to the waiting room and add some creamer to my coffee. I heard some shuffling back in the exam room and again nearly abandoned said coffee, but grabbed it and ran back to find Tigger and the tech, neither looking terribly happy. 

"That was quick!" I said, cautiously optimistic. 

"We couldn't do anything."

Excuse me? What do you mean, you couldn't do anything? She said he wouldn't let them examine him or anything. Since I wasn't invited back there, I didn't see how it went down, so I couldn't really understand why this 140 pound or so woman wasn't able to examine this <14 pound dog. And surely there were more techs back there to help! She said she'd get the vet to come in and see what they could do. 

Well, in the end nothing got done. Tigger was SO stressed by these people handling him that he was lashing out hardcore. He wasn't so much trying to bite them as WARNING them that he had teeth that he was not afraid to use if they got too close to him. It was scary and sad to see. I still feel a little sick thinking about it. No one wants to see their pup that scared. 

Th vicious Tigger and his moose

The vet was a nice guy, if a little standoffish. The techs were... well, I don't want to say they weren't good. They just seemed a bit exasperated with Tigger. And I get it. He was being an ass. And it was towards closing for them. And I KNOW they deal with a lot in their job for not nearly enough pay. But I was also very stressed and very upset to see not just my new dog NOT be able to be treated, but to realize what an uphill battle we might have in order to get him medical attention in the future. And I told them from the start that he seemed very anxious and that this was his first vet visit since being in a shelter. And they had his medical records to see how his LAST visit went. Now, I get that he's a difficult patient. But that day I really needed them to BE a little patient with BOTH of us. 

They asked me to try and get the muzzle on him that they were not able to, but I couldn't. He was too wound up at that point and I'd never muzzled a dog before. After I couldn't get the muzzle on, the vet tried once more, but Tigger was snarling at the muzzle as soon as it came close to him. The vet, probably wisely, said it would be best to call it a day. He didn't want to scare him so bad that maybe next time he wouldn't even willingly enter the building. And I agreed, begrudgingly. I just wanted him to get his rabies shot. 

What did I do?

As soon as I got home (and calmed down a bit) I cancelled the rescheduled appointment I had made at that vet and called a new vet, Creature Comforts, for an appointment. Maybe I just didn't get the best techs or vet at the other place. Maybe I did and I caught them at a bad time. I don't know. But I wasn't thrilled with the way they handled the situation and felt it would just be best to try somewhere else. I had originally wanted to schedule at Creature Comforts anyway, they just book up faster being a smaller clinic, but clearly rushing wasn't in the cards anyway. 

So two weeks or so later we tried again. In the meantime, we stopped by Creature Comforts several times for some happy visits! We let Tigger smell around, the techs came out and gave him treats, we made him familiar in a good way with the clinic. He seemed to like it! We made our new appointment for first thing Saturday morning, so we could be with him all the night before and then take him on a nice walk before his appointment. The techs said if we weren't comfortable getting the muzzle on him that they could do it. Everything was set up for success this time around!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Except that none of it mattered. Well, maybe it did, but not in anyway I could see. We went straight back to the little room and waited. Tigger got anxious again. The tech came in tried to examine him and he flipped out. The vet came in and tried to help and he flipped out. They tried to get a muzzle on him and he freaked out. They tried just to get one of those silly cones on him so they could at least give him his shots and... surprise! He STILL flipped out. Just as at the last appointment, we had to call it a day before we got him any more wound up than he already was. 

This time, they gave us some chill pills for him to take before his next visit. They told us we'd probably have to muzzle him ourselves, maybe before we left the house so he wouldn't make the associations he was starting to have with the vet. We took him home, gave him one of the pills to see how he reacted to it and he slept all afternoon while we worried. 

Two more weeks passed as we eased him into his muzzle. Two days before his appointment, we were faced with a dilemma. The great blizzard of '16 was a-comin'. The vet didn't know yet if they'd be closed on that Saturday of our appointment. The LAST thing I wanted was to push this appointment off further, but the following Saturday (today) only had two appointments left and I also didn't want to risk pushing it back even further than that. Disheartened, I rescheduled. As it turns out, that was the right decision as our little corner of the world was effectively shut down for the majority of the weekend.

Our blizzard-ed weekend was wonderful, but we STILL had to get him to the vet. So more work on the muzzle, more fretting, more research on how to make a dog like the vet... and then it was today.

Because we had to give him his chill pills two hours before his visit, we were up at 6am (which is still an hour later than we typically get up these days) with a spoonful of peanut butter for him, hiding that magic medicine. Two drowsy hours later and we got his muzzle on him. He DID not like it. Sorry I don't have pictures, but I was feeling really guilty about the whole thing. Holding him like a baby to avoid him pawing the muzzle off, we hopped into the car and got to the vet only two minutes late. 

Without going into too many details, since I've bored you with enough of those already, I can say we had a successful vet visit! Tigger did not like his muzzle. He did not like his shots. I'm SURE he did not like getting microchipped. But he did it. We ALL did it! And the receptionist and tech and vet were all really nice and encouraging. They welcomed us to stop by anytime for friendly visits and freeze dried liver treats for Tigger so that hopefully, with time, these visits won't be so stressful. Fully vaccinated and still totally drugged up, we left for home victorious.

Tigger sitting for his victory egg!

Paw, please!

Victory egg time!

Tigger is now sleeping more or less peacefully beside me as I write this. I know today will probably not be his favorite day to look back on, but he doesn't need a rabies shot for three years and he doesn't need to get microchipped again ever, so hopefully the worst is behind us. And yes, I did just knock on wood after I typed that. Because I do superstitious things like that. 

Now that the first big To-Do on Tigger's To-Do List is crossed off, we can think towards the future and the next things we want to do for him and with him as we further integrate him into our family. The two biggest things? Training class and a fence. 

The training classes we are looking at are at Woofs of Wisdom. The trainer, Nicole McBride, comes highly recommended through Home At Last, the rescue we volunteer with and where we adopted Tigger through. If she's their go-to trainer, I'm sold. And besides, she donates her time to them and that's reason enough to support her business! All the better if she's an excellent trainer. I'm hoping to get in her March class and maybe do a private session before then. I'll talk more about our training struggles in a different post. 

The fence we just really want so we can enjoy outdoor time with Tigger. I like walking him, even at 5 in the morning, so it's not about avoiding that. It's more about in the spring and summer when we want to garden or sit by the awesome fire pit our friend Brian got us or have a bbq with friends that we can let Tigger chill with us OFF the leash. Or just to run around and play with him outside! We've got some other big house projects we're looking into, so depending on how those shape up, we may just rig up some chain link to what's already there from our three surrounding neighbors, but we shall see. 

Some other to-dos include getting some grooming supplies. It has been made abundantly clear that we might as well do everything we can to avoid taking him to a groomer. I can't imagine that he would be that much more comfortable with a groomer than he is at the vet, so I'm just going to try my hand at dog grooming. With regular brushing he shouldn't really need a hair cut, at least not more than us just trimming back some particularly long areas. And the vet suggested not even getting a nail trimmer, but instead a coarse file. I'm not the best at manicures, but I'll sure try to learn! 

There is a LOT of fur to attend to

So that's all for now! Tigger's healthy, we're happy and now I can stop stressing about the dreaded vet visit. I look forward to him, hopefully, getting more comfortable with time, but if he doesn't... we'll deal with it. If him hating the vet is the worst thing we have to deal with, I'll consider ourselves quite lucky!

Do you have any items on your pet's to-do list? What are the funniest things you have or have done with your pet because of their quirks? Share your funny stories with us so the next time our own pet's get under our skin (like going in the trash for the millio

Another Year End Review: A Sad Goodbye and A Sweet Hello

It's that time of the year again! Time to say peace out to 2015 and welcome in our sweet 16. This year has been a mixed bag to say the least. It was my first FULL year working in an office, the last full year of my twenties, the year Tom and I got our first dog together and the year we had to say goodbye to my father. Thank god for good family, friends, food and puppies to make this year not suck as bad as it could have. 

About this time last year, we were being silly at our good friend Meredith's house in Philly, ringing in the New Year and celebrating friends. 

We spent the winter trying new recipes, including pho! It was... ok. On the plus side, we got to use up some of those ubiquitous soy sauce packets that everyone has drawers full of. When will the Chinese delivery people learn? We GOT soy sauce, homes. 

I received my last big money paycheck from Legal Seafood and Tom spoiled me on Valentine's Day with flowers at work and a fancy french toast breakfast.

I brought some nature into the office by decorating my desk with lovely flora. Some have fared better than others.

I passed along my old jelly bracelets to the next generation of freaky kids (my friend Dana's daughter, Kylie, sure to be way cooler than any of us were) and had a make-shift high school reunion with the freaky hardcore kids I grew up with at the XIII PFP reunion show.

 



We ventured to NYC to see Hedwig (again!), this time starring it's creator, John Cameron Mitchell, and ate some delicious Italian tapas, courtesy of our great friends, Ric and Mirabai.

We took in the splendor of our local Farm park and discovered a new delicious Chinese restaurant. 

Tom honed his mechanic skills and I won my newest prize possession, signed original artwork from Toejam and Earl! TJ & E is my all time favorite game (for Sega Genesis. If you have a Wii, you can download it and I HIGHLY suggest it. Two funky aliens crash their rocket into Earth on their way to their home plant, Funkotron. Hilarity ensues as they meet earthlings, get presents and eat lots of food). 

They are currently in the works of making a NEW Toejam and Earl (a gift all by itself) and as a thank you to their Kickstarter contributors, the creator, Greg Johnson, and some of the artists did a trivia night where the winners of the trivia questions won original artwork. I BARELY won on one of the last questions after two hours of sitting at the ready, typing as fast as Mavis Beacon taught me. I learned one thing: nerds type FAST. Regardless, I managed to answer a somewhat tricky question first, screamed with joy and scared the bejeezus out of a sleeping Tom. BONUS, I got to e-mail Mr. Johnson himself and tell him how we were presented at our wedding to the original theme music of Toejam and Earl. He replied that that is the coolest thing he's ever heard, which was the coolest thing I'VE ever heard. It was a magical day. 

We attended our first orienteering meet and didn't come in last! For those who don't know, orienteering is awesome. It's sort of like a scavenger hunt, except you just get a topographical map to wander through the woods and stop at checkpoints. Big in the boy scout world, but not so much in the millenial crowd. It should be. It's a fun way to get some outdoor time. You can check out local competitions through the Delaware Valley Orienteers Association website here: http://dvoa.org/. Come March when they start up again, if you're interested in coming along, let me know! 

I entered the last year of my twenties and celebrated Mother's Day with my mom by burning all of the food we tried to make her. 

We celebrated Tom's birthday at Dollar Dog night at the Phillies. It was actually a decent game! They did terribly (of course) but then turned it around for the very last of the game and won in the eleventh inning. We were sitting close enough to heckle the opposing team, which is the only reason I go anyway. And the dogs. 

We also celebrated our one year anniversary with a trip to Gifford Pinchot state park, where we stayed in a cute little cabin on the lake, then spent a night at a nice Marriott in Lancaster where we were spoiled with free cheesecake! Tom gave me the best "paper" gift to commemorate the event, a hand painted water color of our house! 

My nephew, Brodie, graduated high school! We were late to the ceremony (he was lucky, my graduation at North Penn took WAYYY longer, thanks to that years 13, count 'em, THIRTEEN valedictorians. I wasn't one), BUT we arrived just in time to hear his name called. Just like his ol' aunt Sheridan, we Earles had the pleasure of being one of the last names called.

I got to save a baby bird! This little guy was squawking his heart out in Quinn's backyard, so I made several phone calls before packing him in an old beer case to drive him to an animal rescue in Roxborough. What else do I have to do on a Saturday afternoon?

We tried to surprise our friend Mo with a 30th birthday party, but naturally she found out. And then tried to invite all the people we had already invited to her SURPRISE party. But no worries! I had one trick up my sleeve and her name is Samantha (expletive deleted) Jackson! Mo at least got one surprise for her birthday! 

I destroyed another room in our house in order to paint it and provided my poor hands more blisters. I then got to don a semi-goth look circa 2000 to attend a bucket list concert: Marilyn Manson and Smashing Pumpkins! Both were good, not great, but the nostalgia was worthwhile. Unfortunately for both bands, the attendance was so low, that they were literally giving seat tickets away to people on the lawn. And most people didn't even want them. Oh well, we had a good time.

 

I swore off dairy to clear up my skin, which was working until the last few weeks when I said screw it (until after the New Year). To kick off the dairy free lifestyle, we went hog wild at Maggiano's with ALL THE DAIRY. Tom was not excited. 

My mom retired from Super Fresh and we surprised her with a party with some of her favorite work friends, not work friends and family. She was SO surprised. It was hilarious. I think someone got it on video, but I don't know who. If you're reading and you have the video, let me know!

We adopted a yard cat (he / she still lives in the yard, I just feed him every morning), Kylie got a violin and Dana took some of her many bridesmaids to a funky, hipster wedding showcase which was actually really fun and delicious.

I pretended to be Super Woman, took silly selfies with a lion dog, DIDN'T go see the Pope (also didn't get to see the Dalai Lama, a real disappointment) and donned my usual Mask of Magnaminty face mask. Because I love my skin and I treat it well. 

We took a lovely vacation to New Hampshire's White Mountains. We stopped for the night in Albany where we got some amazingly good dim sum (who knew?), then spent a cold, but beautiful few days nestled in the White Mountains. So much gorgeous-ness, it was mind blowing. Not pictured: the moose the welcomed us / scared the hell out of us on a windy mountain road leading to our campground. It was the only moose we saw, even though we spent 7 hours in the car one day driving around specifically looking for moose. Can't plan miracles, I guess.

After our foray into the forest, we headed to Dartmouth to visit with Mr. Michael Butler Brown. He provided a great tour of the beautiful old school, took us to quizzo at a happening Irish pub (we didn't come in last!) and provided us a comfortable place to sleep for the night. Tom and Mike happily snuggled next to each other in their respective sleeping bags while I took to the couch. 

To round out our New England trip, we headed to an adorable apartment in Rockport, MA where we chilled out, slept in (in a real, comfortable bed) and ate all the seafood. We also went on a whale watching trip! It was... bumpy. The waters were rough, I was quite certain we were about to meet our doom on the choppy seas as salt water washed up every side of the little boat. Tom was teasing me for how terrified I looked as scenes from Titanic and Life of Pi ran through my mind... but then the tour guides came over the loud speaker to announce that the waters WERE too rough for our venture and we'd be turning back. We received a refund and got a twenty minute boat ride on the wannabe S. S. Minnow and escaped with our lives. We also spent an evening on a witch walk in Salem, which was corny, but informational and fun, especially being a few short weeks before Halloween.

We celebrated ACTUAL Halloween dressed as Alice in Wonderland and the White Rabbit. It was our first PEX Party (The Philadelphia Experiment) which was a pretty rockin' "rave" at the Roxy. We weren't the only Alice in Wonderland troupe there, but we were the best. Not pictured are our friends Quinn and Shelly, who came as the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. 

We also had our 2nd annual Christmas party as well as some fun times in Philly around Christmas. For pictures, check out the last blog post! 

Christmas itself was pleasant, with too much food, lots of family and friends, and never enough time. I Pinterest failed the hell out of some Christmas Tree Rice Krispie treats, but my spirits were lifted with a gift of a sloth tea mug from my friend and co-worker, Aura. Christmas Eve, as usual, was spent at my mom's. This year featured a rousing game of "Find The Pickle on the Christmas Tree" which took half a dozen adults, one PhD and lots of misdirection from my mother, the hider of the pickle. It was found, at last, by Tom. 

Christmas day had more food (including a pork-filled breakfast a la Marcella), generous gifts and good times with more family and friends.

As I wrap up the end of another year with you, dear blog readers, you may have noticed I left out two very large events from this past year. This year we said goodbye to my beloved father, C. Benjamin Earle, and hello to the newest member of our family, our formerly-foster dog, Tigger. 

I can't say much about my dad because, well, I'm still really sad about it. I take comfort in the amazing legacy he left behind, being known as one of the smartest, kindest and most well spoken men to anyone that ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with him. His memorial was full of friends and loved ones and, though tears were shed, it was not the depressing goodbye that I hate so much at funerals, as much as it truly was a celebration of his long and eventful life. After a battle with a progressive lung disease, he passed peacefully just after Jeopardy ended, surrounded by loved ones. The timing must have been his last little joke, because he certainly never wanted to miss Jeopardy. Here are the pictures of him through the years that we found stashed in an old box in his office. 

I'm sure he would hate some of these pictures being displayed for the public, but as he frequently told me (especially throughout the planning of my wedding), weddings and funerals are not necessarily held for the guests of honor. My personal favorite is the one where he is wearing sunglasses and wrote on the back alerting the viewer that he was wearing Bausch + Lomb Flying Goggles, just in case they were so impressed with his style that they needed to rush out and get a pair themselves. He was also humble and considerate. 

As I mentioned, his memorial was a pleasant, if sad, celebration of his very interesting life. Stories were shared by friends and family, he received military honors (while they played Taps, talk about freaking water works) and a few months later on his birthday, September 13, we scattered his ashes at his favorite pier in Stone Harbor, NJ. We spent many mornings fishing there each summer and the day we were there to pay our last respects, a girl (well, a woman, but who's counting?) caught what seemed to be her first fish while her family and, presumably, her father cheered her on. It was sad and appropriate. And for a FINAL, final joke, it was way too windy to actually scatter his ashes off the pier without seriously annoying the fishers there by being covered in the remains of my father. Instead we scattered them off the side of the pier in the parking lot. I liked fishing off that spot better anyway and it's all the same water. 

Ok, dry your eyes and let's move on to the HAPPY part of the year. The joy born out of a failure, a foster failure that is: Tigger! 

Pictured above is the first day this little bundle of fluff graced our presence. We had just done our orientation to foster dogs through Home At Last Dog Rescue. Since we were slated to take our vacation in just a week or so, I told them I'd be in touch to take on a foster when we returned. The next day, though, I received a call from Wendy, my foster mentor, asking if I might be able to do them a favor. Tigger was a well-behaved and adorable little Pomeranian, who wasn't faring well with the large dogs at his current foster's house. If she promised to help us with whatever we need would we possibly consider helping out this little, fluff ball? 

Of course. I'm a pushover and I love fluffy little things. Enter: Tigger. 

It was love at first belly rub. For the next three months, we took him to meet potential adopters, spoiled him with belly rubs and lots of walks and generally fell head over heels in love with him. We tried, we REALLY tried to find an appropriate home for him. We even drove all the way to Manhattan! But, we learned after those three months that he found his home as soon as he found us. And the joy he's brought us and our family through what could have been a really tough holiday season is payment enough to provide him the best life we can. And spoil him we shall. As I type, I am patiently waiting the delivery of his new water "pagoda" and designer food bowl. What? It's going to be sitting in my kitchen for the next several years, might as well get a stylish one. 

Here's a round up of some of my favorite pictures of our new addition:

And there you have it. My 2015. This wasn't all I did this year, but it was some of the most memorable. Although arguably the saddest year to date, it has also had some moments that were the happiest. I won't get sappy here, but fill-in-the-blank on my appreciation of friends and family and my mom and my husband. And our new dog. I love you all and look forward to an exciting 2016. Although after the excitement of the past few years, I wouldn't mind a little boring, too. 

Happy New Year everyone! What are your favorite memories of 2015? And what are you looking forward to in 2016? Time will tell, but let's make '16 a sweet one.

Sheridan's 2016 To-Do List

- Yoga, yoga, yoga! (the only thing that truly clears my mind)

- Dog training for Tigger (he listens, but only when he wants to. Let's fix that)

- Get a fence. Because, dog. 

- Cleaning the house. For good. For real. I'm doing it. I swear!

- Painting the spare bedroom and hanging our new awesome artwork, courtesy of the lovely and talented, Shaina Craft. Check out her current artwork here: http://www.shainacraftart.com/ 

- Read ALL the books. I've got a big reading list. Maybe I'll post that next time!

- Study for GREs. I don't know if I'm ready to go back to school yet, but I know I should study while I still remember how.

- Actually start my Phamily Style eating club. Because I like to eat and I like to eat with friends. 

- As always, blog more. I slack, I know. I'll be better this year. Maybe.