It doesn’t feel like it’s been seven months since he’s been gone. Last night my dreams were full of our Brodybear. I’m working on an art/design trade with the talented artist Rachael Rossman; I’ll be working on a new design for her and she’s painting a picture of Brody for me. Ash found a ton of pictures of Brody that I had never seen before when we went on a hunt for references for Rachael, and last night I poured over the images and cried and it just hit me that he’s not here. I’ve never really let myself think about it. He was taken from us far too soon. We saved him from a kill shelter, only to let his one dangerous habit get the best of him. I don’t know why he hated cars so much or why he felt he needed to protect us from them, but in the end, he died because we weren’t fast enough and the road was too close to the house, and there was just too much bad timing on so many people’s parts. I don’t think any of us will forgive ourselves.

Brody was the happiest dog you’d ever find. Always smiling, always playing; that dog laughed through life. He was our golden Dalai-Lama dog, from the day we picked him up from the pound one year ago. Has it really been a year? On the fifteenth of January, 2009, he came into our lives, a furry little skittish pup. He quickly took all of our lives by storm. He loved everyone, he loved the dogs, he loved water, he loved camping, he loved the world, even the worst of it. I miss him so much sometimes it hurts, and I try not to let it show, but there are times I feel like my world is caving in. I know he’s with Brandy waiting for us, two golden angels on the other side of the bridge, waiting far more patiently than we ever will. Time heals, but sometimes it’s also a punch in the gut.

I miss you, Brody.

After the devastating earthquake hit Haiti, I was at a loss as to what to do. I’m still at a loss, but I hope that even this little effort will make a difference. I recently joined the livejournal community HELP_HAITI and decided to throat my hat in the game. I’m auctioning up some of my design work to try and raise money for a hurting country. Here’s the info:

You can see things I’ve created at: designcoyote.com (for designs) and (for icons)

I am offering: A set of 20 icons OR a WordPress Design from my DC Shop (either for WordPress or to be modified as an LJ design if possible)

Fandoms (if appropriate): For icons, it can be any fandom.

Additional Info (optional): As with most others, I would prefer if you gave me the images to work with for the icons – they are yours, so wouldn’t you like to have the say in what they look like?

Designs currently up in my Design Coyote shop can be viewed here. If you want a blogger design, make sure to choose one with that option, I won’t be modifying them for blogger for this bid (only to LJ).

Starting Bid: $15

If you’re interested, please go here to comment and make a bid – bidding will end January 20th, so make sure to get in fast. All proceeds that I make will go to the charity of your choice, and (taking a leaf from Leigh), I’ll match the winning bid with my proceeds going to UNICEF. Let’s try and give a little back to the world, shall we? Let’s do it!

In the spirit of the New Year, I have come up with a few resolutions. Generally I try not to make specific resolutions. Instead I’ll say something generic like, “I will be happy this year,” or “I will smile to strangers more,” or “I will come to a full stop at stop signs and not just slow down.” Okay maybe not so generic, but you get what I mean. Anyway, this year I’m going to work on improving myself (and try to stop for stop signs as well). Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Click here to continue reading this article.

2009 will forever be known as the year that Ash and I pulled off two gigantic-move-all-the-stuff-you’ve-ever-owned moves and did not kill each other in the process. One move from the very top of Wisconsin down to the great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, and then the long trek from those large hills to the stretch of vast land that is Texas. We are still together, still in love, and damn if that isn’t the biggest accomplishment we’ve ever had.

Here’s a bit of preview of what 2010 is going to bring to the readers and stalkers of Snailbird:

Happy New Year everyone! See you on the other side of 2010.