Doggie Treats

I just caught myself rewarding some good 'housecleaning' behavior with a cookie.  Like I used to reward my beloved, late Golden Retriever, Brandon for every damned thing he did.  Sit. Treat. Come back in the house from making potty outside. Treat.  Not killing the UPS guy at the door. Treat. Sit adorably next to me on "pizza night" and not drink mommy's wine. Treat. Treat. Treat.

But really, Val, a cookie?  A sugar-free cookie?  The same cookies that you eat by the fistfull throughout the day, dragging them through creamy, dreamy Stracchino?  This after a week of drinking favorite wines, munching artisan cheeses, drinking chocolaty-boozy-spicy concoctions?  And oh, by the way, didn't you just return from a hedonistic, indulgent holiday in Venice? Way to finally get around to doing chores, Val. Have a cookie.

So yes, a cookie.  It's not the size of the treat - it's what it represents.  Maybe it's just a positive way of acknowledging your little victories.  Whatever they may be.  Yay! I mopped my floors!

My treat for giving up facebook this week has been much more immersion into my wine world, homework, readings, movies, research for an upcoming workshop I'm presenting, and, "Sure, I'll do some extra research on Tortonian sandy marl soils versus Helvetian sandstone clay and what characteristics the Nebbiolo grape exalts from each."

NOTE:  OK, I was going to look it up anyway, and I love sharing tidbits with people who really are interested in why a Barolo from La Morra or Castiglione Falletto is different from Serralunga d'Alba. 
 
RANT:  And while I'm at it, let me just go there for  minute. With respect to facebook, and my dear friends with whom I won't be sharing daily bantering?  You can thank your fellow farmville inviters who somehow kept getting past my firewall of blocked apps, blocked inviters, hidden friends, and repeated rants to "Keep that farmville/zoo/pet/fish crap on your page and quit sending me this stuff."

Furthermore, I believe the Information Technology (IT) culture (or so says my Master's thesis) has really made us lose our damned minds with respect to etiquette, if it still exists.  Haven't been in contact with someone for 26 years?  Sending a friend request? Hey, how about, "Hello, I remember you from xxx.  How have you been?"  Very simple.  Say hello.  Don't make me get out the yearbook and e-mail mutual friends asking, "Who the hell is ____?"  It has been almost 3 decades, people.  We are getting old.   Yes, facebook and all the junk cluttering it up now, not only is no longer fun, but has become downright eye-rollingly annoying.

You know what they say, "If you're no longer having a good time, it's time for a change." For those of you that didn't get my mass e-mail explaining why I deactivated my account, I'll try again in the spring or summer, as I don't want to lose touch again, that is if you aren't fed up with facebook by then too.

That could explain why I'm living in Italy, yes?  Some would consider this one big treat, I know - as does my bank account, but it also symbolizes a new way of living the rest of my life.  I'm still exploring, even in my mid-forties, and learning so much! 

I will continue to write about these things - things that I believe bring me alive, more and more, every day I get to wake up to church bells; experience a new wine; discover something new about dirt (I knoooowww, but I love it!); sit on a medieval wall with my face toward the sun; or sink into an Italian movie, and walk the 2 blocks back to my flat realizing I actually understood about 90% of it!

And all this from a sugar-free cookie...and memories of one very special dog who found the greatest enjoyment from even the smallest of treats.