Well its been a long one--between my last journal entry and this one. A lot has happened...some good and some not so good. I hope that looking at the postings of our dog Rock will be enough to sustain us for awhile. He passed just before Christmas, and I think it may have been one of the most heartbreaking experiences to date. Its so weird to come home and know that he isnt going to run to the door and start the evening with the normal routine. I know this is insane, but my husband and I decided that it was so quiet that we went out and got us a new dog. He is bright and lively and full of puppy energy. He certainly has not lived up to anyone's expectations but his own. So, on the positive note...I will have some new subject matter staring at the opposite end of the lens.

I am studying French yet again this semester...and I totally hate it. I prefer to speak in my native tongue. I love to listen and interpret my new foreign language...but to speak it is the worst. I just want to nod my head smile everytime someone asks a question in French. ANd...dont tell me there are not people just like me all over the place. Really!

If thou must love me... (Sonnet 14)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning


If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say,
"I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day"—
For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
Be changed, or change for thee—and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.