Plus ten....

I have been searching for a dog to add to the household.

I think.

I have enjoyed the small dog which I have had for a year and a half, but since he is a rescue, he does have some issues.  He is definitely NOT a perfect dog, but he fits in here.  My husband reminds me that I did not raise this dog and that is why he has some behavioral quirks.  He sure does.

He is a walking list of Pros and Cons, that is for sure.  On the up side, he is perfectly housebroken and usually doesn't bother the cat.  He is smart and polite for the most part.  I won't list his flaws, and I am sure he would not list mine, none of us is perfect.

Now, ever since I lost my dog Bravo, unexpectedly, I have had a great sadness.  He has been gone since October 2016.  I have wasted lots of time on the internet, I have wasted lots of days with this stupid back pain, and I have been searching for something.  I tentatively thought about a brand new little poodle pup.  I had an adult tiny poodle here ONE day around Christmas time. I got him as another used dog, but he attacked Spanky TWICE....full out, no hesistation.  I returned him to the rescue.  I did not want to deal with it.  In retrospect, that wasn't fair to the little guy.  I looked into little poodle puppies at a kennel near my home.  Fortunately, that was right in the middle of planning our visit to Arizona, so I delayed buying one.  I thought I would continue with the process, once I returned. Better yet, I had hoped that the idea would pass.  The winter is long here in MN and one searches for bright spots where one can find them! Anyway, in the meantime, I found a litter of...wait for it....Standard Poodle pups in Owatonna.  

I tried to resist them.  Lots of reasons NOT to get a puppy.  Especially a large breed again. But, I buckled and offered to buy Bronn. He will be 12 weeks old when I get him after work, this week, on Friday. 

I don't know what I was thinking.  Long ago, I decided I do not have the patience for a puppy.  They are usually so stupid.  They need to learn EVERYTHING.  It's hard to teach a baby dog to be an acceptable household member in the human world.  That, and I do not have a tub big enough to bathe him.   We'll see what happens.  I sure hope this was the right decision.

2017 Redux

I think I will remember 2017 as the year I got old.

This isn't exactly a glowing memory for the year. Maybe its just the empty nest syndrome talking, I don't know.  That could be it.  I think that both of my boys are now off making their way in this big, wide world.  I don't think they will be back here to live.  Nick is in  Winona and Joe is in Moorhead. As of now, it's a world I do not trust.  It does not feel like a safe world, but we will do what we can.

As this is written, both boys are home for Christmas.  It occurred to me today that this is probably one of the last times we will all be in our home together, as the family we used to be.  We all have changed so much.  The boys seem to take so much glee in laughing at their old fashioned parents.   Now that is the polite term I have chosen.  They seem much more harsh about it. The first few days are quite tough when they are here, and I wonder if my own parents went through this.  I suppose they did, but I like to hope that I never made them feel this way. I like to think that my kids are special and above acting like savages and things are  finally settling down a but for the first few days it was college kid chaos around here.

  Soon the house will be empty again and the quiet routine will descend upon us for the horribly long MN winter.....

This is the year that I have had back pain ALL  year long.  I have been doing what I can to get rid of it.  It saps my energy, it saps my drive, it saps my ambition.  I have had a few days every now and again with no pain.  That gives me hope that I am going to be able to work my way out of it. This is a slow process, but I think I will be able to build the strength and counteract the effects of the sedentary job that I have.

I am a week away from a failed attempt at giving a little brown poodle a home.  I gave him ONE day here.  In retrospect, it probably wasn't fair to the dog, but I probably didn't need another dog anyway.