This posting should really be Windy Weeks but I liked Windy Wednesday better. The wind has literally been blowing for over a week now. It has blown my daughter's play table all over the back yard, my gas grill right off the patio and rearranged my patio furniture to appear as if a drunken brawl has broken out.
Every night when I get home from work, I restore order to my back yard and hope the wind will let up soon. You would think I would just leave the stuff where it is and wait until the wind stops blowing to pick it up, but then you would realize that this is me you are talking about and that is just not possible. Who can sleep with a backyard full of chaos? I know, I know, I have a call into the therapist right now...
Got the dogs posted out on Petfinder and already have a response for my Charlie boy. I had a feeling he would go first. He has the sweetest little face and the most soulful eyes that make you fall for him at first glance. I have an appointment to introduce him to some possible new family members this evening and have my fingers crossed that they'll think he's adorable.
The upside to this visit is they have a girlfriend for him so I am sure he will be a lot happier not having to put up with stinky-old-boy Peanut anymore. Maybe Peanut will stop marking in the house with Charlie gone? I won't hold my breath on that one.
I shed a few tears yesterday once I saw their little mugs posted for adoption. I felt like a traitor that had given up on them, but then some comments from some great friends helped me to come to terms with this whole situation.
Charlie would most likely have been euthanized if someone else had adopted him only to find he was on death's door and would require extensive veterinarian care ($1200+)to restore him to health. He is the most expensive $10 dog I have ever had! He had also never worn a collar, walked on a leash or played with a toy. Now he loves to go for walks and will even sit near a toy if Peanut leaves one out.
Peanut may have gotten the boot from elsewhere as well because of his food aggression issues. Everyone was trying to take that poor boy's food from him - well, that's what he thought anyways. After some very careful sessions of sitting on the kitchen floor with him while he was eating, moving eventually closer to the point that now I can actually pet him while he is eating and come away with 10 fingers and 10 toes when I am done. Even my 5 year old can do this. She was assigned dog feeding duty for the first few weeks he was with us so he would understand not to bite the hands that were feeding him. At this point, he is very calm with just about everyone but still doesn't like anyone getting right in his face. Who can blame him for that. Get in my face and I will bite you myself!!
I guess what I am saying is that maybe it was my job to rehabilitate these boys so that they could go on to other homes and be happy. At least this is what I am telling myself for now so that I can do what needs to be done. When it is done, I am not going to look back and question my choices. Nothing can be solved by trying to re-live the past. Heck, I am pretty sure there is none of my past that I want to re-live.
Sorry, this is going to be a long one, I am on a roll...
I have a friend with a 15 year old daughter that thinks she should get married to her boyfriend right after high school. I used to say to others that I wouldn't change anything from my past because it has shaped me into the person I am today. Today I say, yeah right! I got married right out of high school and the only thing I learned was how to duck. There wasn't a single thing about that relationship that made me a better person.
I do tell my daughter about some of the dumb things I did growing up. Not to dissuade her from doing her own dumb things because that seriously does not work, but to show her that everything we do is a choice. Some of our choices can be good and some of them can be bad, but every day we make choices that affect the outcome of our lives. I have learned that talking to a 5 year old about life decisions has a highly theraputic effect!
Okay, now I am done...Whew!!
We have lost 5 basket balls in the backyard, and the two person swing has yet again been tipped over. and the vent on the top of the house sounds like it's going to send the roof airborne.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing the right things with the dogs. :)
As for getting married out of HS... my friend always said this... "it worked out well for her, but she'll never recommend it"
We're such different people in HS than we are at 20, 30 and 40+...how can you know that you'll still be in able to fall in love with that person when they become their 20, 30+ "self"?