On the Surface

Meet our boy Bleu.

He's 5 weeks.

As SEM says, "1/2 dog, 1/2 angel."

I sooooooo can't wait to bring him home January 2 or 3, depending on the weather.

~

All weekend all I did was imagine meeting our puppy. And I read, reread, & reread again our puppy books.

OK, not really. But you get the idea. He was on my mind.

Really this weekend I watched a boat-load of movies & experienced a fantastic snow storm!

But under the surface, seriously almost every minute, I kept thinking about our puppy.

~

Monday we went to the kennel to pick our puppy.

What's funny is Holly, the breeder, emailed us pictures of the four male black labs, & from those pics FD & I picked Red. In his pictures Red always looked engaged and really active.

Yet again I find out that I cannot base decisions/first impressions on looks alone.

When we finally met Red, he was rambunctious, to put it lightly. He was a showstopper, showing off, continually stretching his little body in the middle of the pen--imagine a dog diva. He whined when me, FD, & FD's bro AJ (who found this litter and had first pick) weren't paying attention to him. At first, his charm worked its magic on me. But then I started thinking, "Dude, Red, chill. I want to see the other pups." At that moment, Dan looked up at me & said, "I don't think we want Red. He's too rambunctious & too needy." I agreed. Totally. I kept imaging whining every time we go to teach or go out to eat. I imagined separation anxiety. I started feeling anxious. That wasn't good.

Then Bleu came over, sat down by my hand that was hanging over the edge of the pen. I started petting him, & it was chill. We were just calmly kicking it--that's the kind of dog I want! Bleu was really active too; he played with his brothers & rolled around & murmured a bit. The best was when he came over to me & rolled over so I could pet his belly. I even got his leg going. That was when my heart melted, & all the "things" that have been on my mind cascaded away.

I think having a dog buddy is going to be so good for me--mentally, emotionally, & physically (how stoked am I to have a walking buddy?! BOSS!)

And I have a feeling I'm going to become one of those doggy moms that talks about her angel all the time. You know I've been annoyed by those people for years. Now I get it.

Sorry, doggy-mamas I've been impatient with!

Now I'm going to be impatient, waiting to brag about my buddy Bleu.

~

Bleu will be FD's fourth black lab. He'll be my first dog--EVA. But I've been reading & studying up. And FD & I have talking about what will be like & what I should expect, realistically, & all the hard work we're going to have to do. I feel confident I understand the challenge & am ready for it.

Seriously, I've been setting my alarm for the middle-of-the-night pee & the early morning pee. And I'm preparing myself for puppy accidents, with lots of stain removers & acceptance that the house might not be the immaculate place it once was. And I'm dedicated to spending lots of time training and playing. And each night before I get ready for bed Bleu & I are going to get him ready for bed too with a little grooming session, a perfect time for us to bond.

Why else would I be busting my ass so much this week to complete next semester's course syllabi & new assignments when I have 3 weeks off? So I can devote more time to Bleu, of course!

I'm prepared for the hard work AND the awesome reward that comes with it.

My little pumpkin!

Maybe a puppy will help me be less selfish & a little more open-minded about the possibility of kids...

& maybe one day I'll be willing to grill in the middle of a blizzard for the love of my family.

Keep in mind I said, "Maybe..."