The Dog

Anyone who knows us gets that we are animal people. We love the yard dogs (see older posts). We love romping with them, playing with them, loving on them--the whole works. In fact, we have a new round of them sleeping in the driveway at this very moment--Leroy, Big Fella, and Sassy.

The beauty of these dogs is that none of them belongs to us, they just come over to sleep, eat, and have play dates. The rest of the time they belong to our many neighbors. It's like having dogs with none of the responsibility of having dogs. The Husband thinks this is a brilliant deal.

I, on the other hand, have always wanted an indoor dog that we actually own ourselves and claim as a family member. So, The Husband finally 'caved' and set forth a list of complicated criteria, that appeared at first glance to be the unattainable dog. (And if you think that's true, you have obviously never met moi.)

Small--under 10 lbs. Non-shedding. Potty trained (or easily potty trained). Cheap or free.

Introducing Mellie (as in Gone With the Wind). She's a shia-poo: a toy poodle/shiatsu mix (this means "mutt" if you're from the country and "designer dog" if you're from the city). Non-shedding, smart as a whip, good mannered, working on her potty training (this means that she hits that pad like a pro 80% of the time and 20% of the time her head is on it with her butt hanging off the back--hey, I didn't ask my toddlers for that sort of accuracy). And I'm in love! So is the rest of the house. Even The Husband. :-)

Chattanooga

Our Grand Adventure to Tennessee...

I wish that I had some thrilling reason for not blogging on a regular, but I think it boils down to this one thing: being at home as a full-time mom is DEMANDING! I was laid off from my job in June and one thing led to another (or yada-yada-yada) and now I can't find time to do anything at all. I'd like to just accomplish one blasted thing and have it done, but no, I keep wandering around starting a bunch of stuff that never comes to fruition. What is up with that?

I think my time has actually dissipated since coming to the house. It's like some sort of weird time warp where you have six hours of home time with kiddies at school and it vaporizes right in front of your face while you keep doing the same activities over and over and over. Lunches, dishes, clothing, mop floors, put away groceries, cook dinner, do homework, go through backpacks. It's like I'm living in that movie Groundhog Day. Same stuff; different day.

On a brighter note, we traveled to Chattanooga and had a big time of it. My plan is to post some photos of our trip (but you know how that will actually work out, don't you? I'll write it in my calendar as a to-do entry, but will never find time to do it. The people at Franklin-Covey are as I type this tearing my face off of their advertisement as Poster Girl for Getting It Done.) (Sigh.)

So, the recap:

June: Disney World. Laid off from work. (Big Month)

July: Swam. Gained four pounds. Summer camp.

August: Became addicted to Facebook. Swam. School started. Began walking again three times a week. (Thought I was going to have a heart attack that first week.) Had to work three full days on the computer updating the church website because it had gotten so far behind. I used to do it before/after/at lunch when I worked. Now, no work, no time. (The Vortex again; it's weird that way.)

September: Started as a part time lunch lady at the kid's school. (Questioned all of my life choices up until this point that caused me to become a part time lunch lady at my kid's school.) Went on a retreat to Georgia with The Husband. Probably gained another five pounds. Kept walking.

October: Loaded up for fall break and went to Mississippi and Chattanooga. (Remembered why we stopped traveling with the kids.) Camp WorldSong overnight adventure. Fall Festival. Journaled multiple entries with the thematic question--how in the world did I get ANYTHING DONE when I worked full time?????

Which brings us up to speed. For now.