dog knows best.

Meet our dog, Casey "Quesadilla" Rennie. This photo was taken by my stinkin' talented employer Katie Stoops during a work session/play date for our pups.

Casey takes after me. She loves her bed, will snuggle all day long if someone is willing to snuggle back, yawns extremely loudly and goes nuts when someone gives her a present. She enjoys my new sandals almost as much as I do, except instead of wearing them she has been using them as a pillow.

Today I was supposed to go to the Maple Festival in Monterey with some friends, but plans fell through. I was feeling frustrated and antsy and stuck. Casey suggested we go in the backyard, so I followed her outside with a book in hand and we spent a lovely hour together in the sunshine.

She sat, very prim and proper, with her ears cocked slightly and her tongue out, listening to the conversation that was going on a few doors down. Every now and then she would lean her head through the fence and rest her chin on the horizontal beam.

Life is pretty simple for Casey. She doesn't need much to be happy. Today, with the sun spilling on the pages of my book and the happy realization that Heyyy I'm getting use out of my patio bistro set, it didn't take much for me to be happy either. There's something freeing in knowing that disappointments can be simply that and nothing more.