There's this calendar in the break room at my office that has truly given me a reason to live. It's a dog calendar created by some organization that places therapy animals with people who need them. Every month features a different picture of a dog.

But I don't love this calendar for the pictures. It's the ridiculous quotes printed on the calendar for each month that make my heart sing with joy.

Hashtag, for clarification, I'm not making fun of organizations that provide therapy animals. Hashtag, I'm just making fun of their calendar. Hashtag, please don't send me angry emails about this. Hashtag, but if you do, include pictures of therapy animals wearing clothes. Hashtag, I still don't understand hashtags. Hashtag, twice up the barrel, once down the side.

You guys. This organization apparently went out to the people who have therapy animals and asked them for quotes about how they feel about their therapy animal so they could include those quotes on this calendar. AND I FREAKING LOVE THESE QUOTES.


I love them because they are totally and completely drab and inconsequential. Without fail. Every. Single. Month.

They don't say things like, "My dog once saved me from an explosion and ever since then . . . etc."

Every single month the quote is something like,

"I like my dog! Mandi."

Or "My dog lives at my house! Paula."

Or, "My dog is my friend! Samantha."

And I cannot figure out why they can't seem to gather quotes with a little more substance. Or why they think the quotes they have gathered are worth printing.

I think it seems even more ridiculous because the quote is presented one at a time and is supposed to carry us through an entire month so the presentation feels really dramatic for what it is. At the end of each month, I turn the calendar to the next page and for some reason expect to find an inspirational and well-worded quote and instead I get, "My dog makes me happy. Cindy."

When 2013 ended I was really sad because I thought this would mean the end of the dog calendar. But alas, it was not. On January 1, someone had already replaced the 2013 calendar with a 2014 calendar made by the same people and with a whole new set of twelve AMAZING quotes.

I made a rule for myself early on that I'm not allowed to look ahead at the calendar. I don't want to blow through the quotes all at once. I want to enjoy the calendar all year. You guys. I know I exaggerate a lot on Stranger but I need you to understand that I mean it when I say that it has been a really difficult challenge for me to not look ahead.

And on the first day of each month, I walk to work a little earlier than usual and with a slight bounce in my step. I go into the break room and flip to the new page before I even walk into my office to set my stuff down.

And the feeling I get when I read the quote stays with me for the rest of the month.

It's the little things, Strangers. Surely you have those little things, too.

~It Just Gets Stranger