1) So, the dog. {sigh} Aaron and I were browsing adoptable pet websites one night because our son reminds us weekly how long Elijah has been gone, and how he is still without a puppy. Yes, some of them were super cute, but none of them spoke to me ... until I saw her.
There was something about that goofy, adorable face that grabbed me and tugged at my heartstrings a little bit. That night we went to bed, and I found myself thinking of her, and looking at her online again. The next day, I looked at her several more times, until I finally broke down and contacted the shelter who houses her. A woman called me back and we talked at great length about this little furry girl, her personality, who we are, etc. During that conversation I found out that she has been at that shelter her entire life (she is now roughly 18 months old). She and a few litter mates were brought in as pups, and have grown up there. Initially, I immediately humanized her and thought how awful it was to essentially be in foster care without loving parents her entire existence. Then, the day after I talked to the woman from the shelter, it dawned on me that it wasn't all sad, because the workers there were good people. They have interacted with her and bonded with her, which then made me realize that that is all she has ever known. As sad as I find that environment, she's never been mistreated or abused, she's just never been adopted. The lady remarked about how comfortable she is there, and how good her disposition is, which are all good things, but I was starting to wonder how we could get her to acclimate to a new environment on our time schedule. Basically, since the holidays had just happened, neither one of us could take a week off to spend with her if we brought her home. We would be plucking her out of the only environment she has ever known, what she has known as safe, and thrusting her into a house with three strange humans and two even stranger cats. How unfair of us would it be to do that? Could we be available enough for her to make a not-so-terrifying transition? Probably not. We would have to bring her home, and then still go to work and school each day, leaving her here alone to adjust. And that felt wrong.
The woman from the shelter told us to take weekend and talk it over, and she emailed the following Monday to see if we had any further questions. I definitely wanted to get her thoughts on my concerns, and see if she had any brilliant advice or insight into the transition. Was I making a big deal out of nothing? Didn't want to read into things too much, but couldn't help but think of things from the dog's point of view. I wrote a very concise, inquisitive email, and got zero response back. It's almost like because I had concerns, and the dog wasn't going to be adopted that same day, she didn't have any patience for me anymore. Still to this day, I have never heard back from that woman, and now, it makes me glad we didn't adopt from them. If that is how she gets when people are really considering the situation, and needing to weigh out what might be coming down the line, then I really don't want to have anything to do with her. I was definitely irritated that I was dismissed so abruptly, but I just went with the flow. Everything happens for a reason, and I actually had relief set in once I knew this wasn't going to happen. The thought of having a dog, having to house train (this dog was not house trained, because she had lived her entire life at this shelter), having to be home if I don't want to be, having to make arrangements if we want to travel ... all of that sounded like a chore to me, not fun. I don't get excited at the thought of a new dog yet, it just sounds frustrating and annoying. I know my urge to mother a fur baby will return, but I'm simply not there yet. I'll know it when I am.
2) The car: I finally was able to unload that piece of crap Focus I was driving! There is a God! It started trying to overheat on a daily basis while I was in the drive-up line at Z's school, and I snapped one day. Couldn't take one more minute of driving with the uncertainty of whether or not I'd actually make it home. I emailed Carmax, told them they sold it to me, and now I wanted them to get me out of it & into something more reliable -- and that's exactly what they did. Even though I still owed $3k on that hunk o' junk, they gave me $2k for it, and rolled the remainder into my new loan. Payments only went up $58 a month, and in turn, I am the proud new owner of a 2007 Ford Fusion. It came with only 25k miles on it, and drives like a dream.
They also gave me 3 months of Sirius satellite radio for free, which is pretty cool. Not cool enough to pay $15/month for it once my free time is up, but pretty cool nonetheless. Of course, I flip between the 80's station, the smooth jazz station, and the 40's station.
It's like they know when I'm listening. {smiling ear to ear}
3) The door: We had a bit of random bad luck that turned into good fortune. One night, Z and I were sitting together on the sofa, reading a book, and this gigantic, horrible, heavy noise seemed to rattle our back door. It wasn't a thud, nor was it a bang, it was just a strange, huge sound I had never heard before. Turns out, our backyard neighbors have a young son who was up on their deck shooting his BB gun. He said he was aiming at a bird, but clearly, he's a shitty shot. He nailed the window on our back door, instead.
The point of impact.
Shattered all the way down.
And all the way up.
Thankfully, this family didn't act like jerks about it, and they offered to replace the door and pay for the new one to be installed. Crappy random accident, yes, but we desperately needed a new back door because of the 11 years worth of drooling and scratching that Elijah did to it. Now, I was getting that replacement door free of charge. Yessssssss. The new door gets installed next week. Awesome.
Off now to enjoy my night off. Tomorrow? Elijah's birthday. Boy, that was tough.
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