Dogs.

I've always been a cat person, so I'm as surprised as everyone else that I have completely fallen in love with this 8-year-old, stinky, stubborn, drooly basset hound that we adopted in July.  I have no explanation for why this has happened, but I do think that becoming a dog owner has made me a better person.  I'm spending more quiet time outdoors, walking in the field across the street.  Just sitting with her on the couch and petting her feels like meditation, which I've always been too hyper to do.  She loves me even when I'm feeling and/or acting horribly.  Here she is on the kitchen table!

 

 I had to help her get down.  But can you see how her tail is wagging furiously?  She just kills me.