Dogs

I have been thinking a lot about dogs. Dogs are a big part of my life. Or at least this one little dog is. His name is Linus. He is my baby. He has a least a million nicknames:

Little Bear (when he was a puppy he looked like a small polar bear)
Pooperloo
Pupperdoo
Polka Flats (his grifting name)
Linus Dog
Linus Bear (which is actually his whole name Linus Bear White)
Little Dog
Baby Dog
Little Ole Linus Bear
Little Lovin’ Dog (or Lovin’ Dog for short)
Lickenista (the dog LOVES to lick)
Lickin’ Dog

There are some just to name a few…I am sure he has like multiple personality disorder because of it. But anyways for our purposes we will just call him Linus. I got Linus about 1 month after I moved into my house. He was not a dog I ever would have picked out. “I left work that day I bought him to just look at breeds of dogs” …and that is how the Linus story starts…

I left work that day I bought him to just look at breeds of dogs. I pretty much had my mind made up, that I was getting a pug. They were just so cute and wrinkly and fun. It would be perfect, but I wanted to keep my options open so I decided to look at the Frazer Zoo just to LOOK at breeds and decide that I was making the right decision. I took my trusty sidekick and partner in crime Lisa along with me to just LOOK at other dogs. Before I left a co-worker cursed…er actually in this case blessed, me by saying “you know you are coming home with a dog right?” I assured him I would not and was on my merry way.

We walked in…now it was a Friday night and we were having a good time. There were dogs everywhere, running in the pens, out in the open, kids holding them, adults haggling prices, you get the picture. We pick up a couple of dogs and they were all ADORABLE! Lisa had a little Jack Russell that I could have SWORN she was going to end up leaving with, it was SO attached to her and actually she to him…and she is a cat person not a normally a woman wooed by a cutie pie faced dog so easily. So we are walking around and believe me they were all cute and I TOTALLY am a dog person…wooed by even the ugliest dog LOL! So you can imagine my surprise when I turned to Lisa and was like “They are all so cute, but none really grab me.” It was fine. It just confirmed my decision of the pug. I then took one last walk around and heard a whimper.

Now when I say a whimper, I mean the most pathetic whimper I have ever heard. It instantly BROKE my heart and I had to know where it was coming from. I listened at each pen. This place has the little dogs generally on the wall in little puppy pens and the big dogs in floor pens each with their litter. I followed this sad little whine to one of the big pens and looked in it to find nothing. Hmmm…curious, so I banged on the side of the pen and out of the wood shavings falling ass over head was the littlest dog ever! He tripped over his feet fell down at least twice and pounded his way to the gate where he stretched and begged and whined. This little PURE WHITE (bound to get dirty) Maltese (a breed I had long since decided against cause of their silky long hair and whiteness…I can’t even keep a white shirt clean, let ALONE a white dog!) I turned to Lisa and put out my bottom lip and said “I have to have him, I have to have him RIGHT NOW! Quick lean over and get him!” There was a sign that said not to go into the pens but I didn’t want one of these squirrelly little brats to see him and tell their Daddy they wanted them I told her to grab him and give him to me so that I didn’t get in trouble for going in the pen LOL!

I held him…and I knew he was my dog. I am not trivializing parenting at all…but it is kinda like that. When you hold your baby and he looks up at you like you are all you have in the world. That’s your dog. He licks your nose and nestles in next to you and falls right to sleep cause he’s yours and he knows it. And that is what happened, he looked at me licked my nose and he was mine. I haggled price knowing that if he didn’t budge that was my dog, didn’t care if he would have cost a million dollars I wasn’t not going to have him.

When I got that little guy home he refused to leave my side, loved sleeping in my lap, around my head, next to my leg, it didn’t matter where as long as he was touching me. The funniest thing he would be laying down and I would deliberately move away from him and he would stretch out his little paw just to touch me on the leg or foot or wherever was closest to him. And LOVEY! This dog LOVES EVERYBODY! But even more crazy is everyone loves this dog. My friend Mikey HATES DOGS (funny that Linus was born on his b-day September 29th) but when Mikey came to stay with me one weekend who did I find with my little ole dog in his lap…yup Mikey and the dog chilling on the couch watching TV LOL! This is how dogs are.

Dogs have this amazing UNCONDITIONAL love that seems unending. They find the person who isn’t loving on them and they hug up next to that person and MAKE them love them. My Linus Bear is the embodiment of those dog traits. He is a lover! Loves people, loves other dogs, loves toys, loves food, loves to play, and just LOVES! He is my loving dog. No matter how bad my day it all fades away when I walk in the door and have him hide behind the sofa until I call his name at which point he comes BOUNDING (well as much as a 9lb dog can BOUND) out and attacks me showering me with all the love that he seems to have stashed away for until I came home to see him. Once I am holding my pup and kissing his little head it is all gone away.

So if you are a dog person I hope you enjoyed my story of my Pooperloo…and if not, well I suggest you give dogs another try. The can fill a life with a love you can’t imagine.

An Old Cowboy's Advice

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks , bankers , and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth. --Mark Twain

The Ups and Downs

Hmmm...I was going to start this blog with, "It has been a rough couple of days." But then I got to thinking and well it has been but there have also been some good ones tucked in there. So it hasn't been totally rough but the bad sometimes seems to over shadow the good and I think this may have been the case. So that is why I wanted to say it has been rough.

So I was going for a new job here at work...and they had this BIG extensive interview process, they sent an agenda, it was timed, etc. The WORKS! So I really wanted this job and I prepared like you wouldn't believe. I worked on it like mad from home to get it just right and I felt SO good about it. Until the day of my interview...the interview went FABULOUS! Every answer was dead on and honest and 100% awesome. I was so proud of myself and my preparation and felt GREAT walking out of the interview! Until lunch...at lunch my one friend said to me that my boss (the man interviewing for the job) told her boss who then told her that MY boss said that the job was "created" for the other applicant. Are you f-ing kidding me? I did all that work and preparation and totally stressed out about it for NOTHING! He had the job even before the f-ing interview??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I can't stand that! Why do that to a person? Why make someone jump through all those hoops and build their hopes just to hand it to someone that you want. I know you have to interview but COME ON--just take me in for a bullshit half hour and be done with it. I can't stand them. This so has me just out of my skin.

-Next

The holidays were interesting...every day EXCEPT the 26th was very nice. On the 26th we went to my hubby's Dad's house where he lives with his girlfriend (now known as that crazy psycho pro-lifer--We will call her CPP for short) Oh yeah nothing like discussing abortion during your Christmas visit. A little background for you. CPP is a republican (not that there is anything wrong with that but whatever) and is VERY involved in her party which is great. My feeling is BE involved. You go you. Even if we don't believe the same thing--at least you can have an opinion since you are involved. I feel the same way about people and their views on the president in my presence you cannot have an opinion unless you voted. PERIOD! You have no say unless you made your vote count. Okay so I have always respected her and we are talking about the degredation of the school system and how parents need to be more involved etc. and I was GOING to say "When I volunteered at Planned Parenthood I saw girls so young I wanted to slap the condom out of their hands and give them a barbie" yeah that didn't happen -- what came out was "When I volunteered at Planned Parenthood..." and she started "YOU ARE NOT A GOOD PERSON! YOU ARE NOT A GOOD PERSON! YOU ARE NOT A GOOD PERSON! " Oh yeah yelling it 3 times! My reaction? "Excuse Me?" I tried to bow out of it by saying "CCP I respect your opinion, but you will not change my mind on this and I know I would not change yours so we should just not discuss it." But no she went on like a MAD woman for about 20 mins and finally I left the room. I WOULD NEVER let anyone speak to me like that. She was out of control and I was done. She said the magic words by saying I was "pro-abortion" and I flipped and finally lost it and then ended the conversation. I told her that in the future there are 3 things we will not discuss politics, religion and obviously abortion. So that was pleasant.

-Next

My washer died...not the end of the world but it sucked and we totally didn't need to spend that money right now BOO!

-Last and worst

My wonderful Ron's pup died. Brutus. I miss him so much. But more importantly, I so worry about Ron and Michael. I can't IMAGINE losing Linus. My baby who I love more than anything ever except of course for my hubby. I just want to grab Ron and Michael and squeeze them tight. Losing a dog for those of you who do not have dogs...is the worst feeling ever. Of course I am saying this knowing Ron will read my blog so I apologize for having to say this...but it is! Dogs leave imprints on your life that no human can ever leave. Dogs love you UNCONDITIONALLY and with a crazed ferver that no human could ever match. They are wonderful, loving, amazing creatures and honestly God really blessed the world by giving us dogs. If you don't have one...and you want one...get one! They are worth the heart ache of losing them just to have them in your life no matter how brief they will fill every day they are with you with love and friendship unmatched in this world.

- The Good

Well to be honest nothing can get so bad...I mean I have the love of a wonderful man and great friends so that changes every bad day because no matter the day or how bad it is I have their love, especially that of my husband and the world is always a better place because of it.

Had a fun New Year's Eve friends of ours came over and we ate like kings and queens and had a fun time just hanging out and having fun!

To wind down the holiday we had lunch with John and Lisa, bought a new washer (bleck), and DRUM ROLL PLEASE! We got to meet Ron and Michael's new pup Rocky the absolute CUTEST fawn boxer EVER! And of course we love him!

So again...not that bad when you put it all in perspective.