He’s not ours.

He will be going back to his person (who’s currently hospitalized) in about 3 more weeks.

Which one of you wants to tell Talullah?

“Think with your head, not with your heart,” my sister warned me when I told her where I was going today. NYCACC, Staten Island. Listed as a Dutch Sheep Dog, the dog in the picture looked like a doodle to me. “Don’t bring him home unless it’s right.” I promised her I wouldn’t.

We discussed it with our children last night. We have been pursuing so many options. Rescue. Shelters. Craigslist. You name it, we’ve tried. I came across this boy yesterday during my daily sweep of adoption and rescue Web sites. As I explained the situation to them, my children agreed we had to at least try to get this dog with the expressive eyes and the goofy smile Click to continue »

reckoning

Because we love this ridiculous muppet of a rescue dog so much, we want another one exactly like her.

He had been in the shelter since November 22. I was selecting the day I’d take off from work this week to drive the 7 hours (each way!) to spring him from the hoosegow. A gorgeous boy with amber-colored eyes and brown-black fur, the shelter workers described him as round a year old and very, very sweet. “Call us tomorrow between 1 and 4 so we can tell you more about him,” they wrote me. “We’re considering transferring him to another shelter, because other than you, no one has been interested in him.”

An hour later, he was adopted by someone else.

Click to continue »

I’m experimenting with cool fx for the iPhone. It’s a fun, useful app for 99 cents.

Also? If we don’t score another dog for the ‘doodle soon, we’re going to spend the entire winter of ‘10 freezing our toes off at the dog park.

Non-staged, messy reality. Although I did move the muddy boots from this afternoon’s walk out of the picture.

Alpha kitty on the couch. Doodle on the floor (odd) next to her dad (everyone say HI, Paul!). Beta kitty off-camera to the right. Children elsewhere, playing a new video game. Snow man ignoring me since I’ve cruelly placed him so close to the fire. Dirty wool sock in the foreground. Christmas detritus everywhere. Curtains? Yeah. New. After 10 years of naked windows, I’ve been on a tear.

This downtime stuff? It’s kind of nice.

I’m off to eat a slice of pizza and find a bottle of wine that pairs perfectly with contentment.

I am a little overly-pleased with my Christmas Eve badassery.

But now I have a problem. I resent my $12 IKEA curtains.

When we first moved into this house 10 years ago, our kitchen was a minor disaster. Formica and particleboard cabinets. Dull off-white paint on the walls. A flickering fluorescent light fixture. Stairs covered in drab gray paint. No countertops to speak of. A refrigerator in the middle of the frickin’ room. Oh, and the dirt. 70 years worth of dirt, everywhere.

We soon learned I was pregnant, resulting in the famous declaration “No pregnant wife – and no child – of mine will be eating in this kitchen.”

And thus we began the 5 year 7 year 10 year renovation.

I’d be hard pressed to say if the low point was the month we went without a working stove and microwave, or the Christmas Eve when Saint Paul tried so worked himself into full body cabinet-hanging, floor-sanding exhaustion… followed by a bad case of the flu… followed by me hauling 125 lbs of This End Up tables down flights of stairs to set up for the holiday dinner while simultaneously cooking for 18 people and taking care of two toddlers.

Anyway. Click to continue »

january 23, 1996 – october 23, 2009

Healthy children.

Healthy, happy children.

The means to care for an ailing dog.

A job. With benefits. Interesting work.

A computer.

A wam cat next to me, hunkering close and losing his shit (like the rest of the pack) because their canine leader is hospitalized.

New underwear!

A sport I love. An obsession (weight lifting) that’s actually healthy.

Swimming. At all. Regardless of speed.

Perspective. Hard earned.

A stolen 3 day weekend on the beach.

Love. Deeper now than I ever thought it could be when I met him 17 years and 1 day ago.

Steak. Nom, nom.