the decision

6-25-09

As of this morning, our decision is to let the shelters do their job. They will be able to find homes for the two pups. It sucks that they will most likely be separated, but it is in the best interest of everyone that they get homes that are not the evil lady house.

We went and saw the pups yesterday, so this was my first meeting with them. They were both adorable and sweet, but I was pretty quick to feel less from the girl dog. She seemed more aggressive than I would have liked. A Rotwieller was near by that was being I think put in a cage, and she was barking like crazy and growling at it. I didn’t like how crazed she looked. It wasn’t horrible, but enough for me to feel not great about her being part of our family. The boy dog was a big loveable dope. I adored him. Really sweet, oblivious to other dogs, and happy as a clam just to lick my fingers through the gate. We were not allowed to actually interact with them aside from on the other side of the gate, only because they were still on hold for the owner. But we did hang with them for 20 minutes or so.

We found out that there was an interested party for the girl dog. It means that realistically they are both good candidates for adoption. As much as we would have fun with them, it isn’t practical, and let’s face it, we need practicality right now. We think that tomorrow when they are free and clear, we will just monitor them to make sure they do get adopted. Out busy body neighbor who knows everything, and lives next door to the evil lady gave us the scoop and from what it sounds like, they have no interest in going to the shelter to find the dogs since they don’t want to pay anything. This is what we suspected. Plus, we found out what happened to the last dog. Mike (busy body) pretty much found her a home. Nala, the dog, used to get out all the time. The illegal tenants (they had converted their garage into an “apt” and rented it out) didn’t like Nala, and used to leave the gate open so she could get out. Mike found her once, and brought her home and the evil lady (who apparently isn’t Saturn Bitch, but Saturn Bitch’s sister who lives there, with her 3 kids, her boyfriend, Saturn Bitch, and their mother, all in a 2 bedroom house. Don’t even get me started on that whole back story) accused Mike of letting her out. Rude! So last time Nala got out, Mike was chatting with a neighbor friend a couple blocks away, and Nala came up to them. The man was quite taken with Nala (she was a total doll) and Mike told him to keep her. Yay! So Mike has said that he will not let them know that we had found the pups since he agrees, they shouldn’t have a dog, let alone 2.

We won’t let them die. If no one adopts them, and they are in a situation where they are out of time there, they will come home with us. We have their id numbers, we can visit them, and we can watch to make sure they don’t end up just another sad story. It is the responsible thing to do. We were not in the market for a new dog, let alone 2. Hell, we aren’t even in the market for a new cat for at least another year. This was random. I think the boy would be a fine addition to our household, but it would be better for him to get a home where he got the maximum amount of loving he deserves. If someone goes to the shelter and wants to be that family, we owe it to this dog to give him that chance.

Am I bummed? Yes and no. We discussed it and most of our attachment revolved around making sure they were safe. We have accomplished that. Of course I am a little heart broken since there is the excitement of opportunity and possibility for the boys. But truthfully, if we got the boys a dog (or dogs), they would be significantly younger. These pups are 5 months old. We would want 6 week old pups. Ones that have the maximum amount of bonding time with the kids. Not to say that these pups wouldn’t bond, but there are also other members of our household that have a say. There are 4 cats that although surprisingly tolerant of our current dog, would probably draw the line at another one tromping through the house. And really, the member of the family that would probably be impacted the most is Lycos. This dog or dogs would be her new companions. Would they all get along? Would it be bad? Lycos, although has played with other dogs, is a little set in her ways and might not be as keen on dealing with a rambunctious pup. In reality, it would be fine, but these are things we have to think about.

I feel a sense of relief that puppy gate may be coming to an end. I am tired of the stress.

In other news, I have been working shockingly hard at the Gunners Reunion. With Facebook being this amazing time portal, I have reconnected with several people. Not just friends from high school, but elementary and soccer. Specifically, I have found girls from my club team that I played on for about 5 years. I have now found about 6, including my newest find, which is one of the coach’s daughters! We have been kicking around the idea of a reunion in the last couple days so I went ahead and created a group and the girls are joining it. It is crazy who you can find. What is really funny is that this one girl I knew from AYSO I just discovered was on the Gunners. I had forgotten that she played on the Gunners, too. We had a handful of changes throughout the lifespan of the team, so it is hard to keep track. I found another girl yesterday, and hopefully will find more with word getting out. I need to ask my folks if they remember people’s last names. Of course, the other girls might. I have to admit, as much as I loved being a Gunner, it was a time in which my school friends were more important to me, and I was very shy on the team itself. The girls all knew each other better since they went to the same schools. I was the only one from Costa. Funny enough, I was closest to the other couple of girls who were also singles from schools. The one girl from PV, the one from Redondo, those were the ones I gravitated to. They are also the first ones I found. I am sure they would all agree, I would not be the one they would think of as the ring leader in a reunion. If anything, I think my parents were more memorable than me. I am ok with this, since I will enjoy hearing their stories. These were the girls that tormented me into not liking NKOTB (it is a fond memory now), they are the girls that I remember watching the video for Tears in Heaven with and all of us choking up. They are the girls that I played some great soccer with, and remember fondly. It will be so nice to keep this reconnect up.

It is a shame I am not in that kind of shape anymore. It might have come in handy yesterday. At around 5:30, I decided we needed to go in the pool. We had a good ole time, splashing around. I was tossing Bobby in the pool, which he loved. I started from a squatting position, and then would practically jump from the water and toss him in the air for his eventual splash down. It got him some good air, and he loved it so much. My leg did not. After the 3rd or 4th throw, as my leg extended, I felt my tendon burn. These are the very tendons in my knee pit that make me nervous because I am always afraid they will snap. Don’t ask on that fear. Not sure of the origin, but it has been with me since I was little. I splashed down with Bobby on that one. It hurt, very bad. I had to rest for a bit before I could even try to move. The boys were very sweet, both asking if they could kiss it to make it better. It still hurts this morning, but not as bad as I would have expected. Then again, I am sitting right now. It doesn’t seem to hurt when stationary (although sitting in this chair, I can feel the strain more than when I was reclined or lying down). So walking to the bathroom might be entertaining.

Last night the boys went to bed pretty well. Bobby fell asleep quickly (note to self, swimming tires them out!) but Dax was struggling. He wanted milk. So I told Ken to have him come out and have a glass (they had not had their standard glass before bed, so this seemed like it was still in the rules). He stomps out, with a look of confusion mixed with, “it’s about fucking time people.” He has his glass of milk, sprints back to bed, covers himself up and falls asleep. Dude! Can we say awesome?

Unfortunately, he would struggle later. From what I remember, Ken woke me up around 1. He said something about Dax having fallen out of bed around 10:30 and that he has pretty much been inconsolable since. He needed me to tag in. I didn’t question it, and just wandered in a limping stupor to Dax’s room. I got him all tucked back in as he pleaded with me for milk, or water, or a cracker, or just would say, “please mom” over and over again. At first, I just tried stroking his head to calm him down. It didn’t work a ton, but it did stop his thrashing. He then was just kind of crying and yelling. I finally curled up with him and held him, which seemed to do the trick. He had the crazy sniffle cries you get after a big crying session, but he settled. I was concerned that I had committed myself to sleeping in there since he was in fact lying on my arm. But he also felt that it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as his own pillow, and he pulled away to get comfy. I rubbed his back a bit and he settled. I left, and watched me leave, but didn’t say anything. I had some problems getting back to sleep at first, so I know he didn’t cry out for a bit. Ken will have to confirm if it worked, but it seemed like it had. It took about 20 minutes, so not too bad.

Despite being exhausted this morning because of it, I am glad Ken asked me to help. I got to feel all super mommy. It is a nice ego boost at times.

There are days when I wish my hair was a little more straight without so much effort, but I realize my hair wants to be wavy, so I should embrace it. I am truly bummed about the red going away so quickly. Especially since the grays have returned. But it means in a couple weeks perhaps I will do it again.

The ants are coming, the ants are coming! There was some food item put in this one trash bag by out desk, and there was an all out attack on the bag this morning. Even some of the giant fat ants that look like 3 ants fused together were there. I didn’t kill them, but that was mostly because they were everywhere so I had to pick my battle. This afternoon is the cleaning session that will hopefully fix it all. The cleaning needs to be done anyway since I want the place nice again for Sabrina’s visit. Not perfect, but hopefully ant and danger free. I am also thinking that if we do the weekend chores tonight and tomorrow, we are free for the weekend. YAY!

The boss is coming in late today. It means the troops are talky. I can hear them all, not doing a lick of work. Not that I am a fine one to talk, but at least I am being quiet about it. LOL!

Ok, I just found an article in the LA Times from this month that said that the governor is looking to cut funding to shelters, which could mean that the standard 6 day adoption period will be reduced to 3. We will need to call and confirm, but it means that we may need to retrieve the dog(s) earlier if they don’t get adopted. They were unique down there. Most of the dogs were various pit mixes and rat dogs, so they stand a good chance. I hope the little girl’s interested party shows up. I am less opposed to one dog. Besides, we could rescue the boy and find him a home. We will call to confirm. Maybe even go down there since they might have more info.

Poor Farrah Fawcett. Based on reports this morning, I don’t anticipate her making it past 10 am. So that makes 2 70’s icons down in the last month or so. Does Ed McMahon count as part of this threesome? One being David Carradine, two being Farrah. Let’s hope that is all since as depressing as it sounds, I am on death watch for Patrick Swayze, too.

I am always nervous about posting old pics of people now that my a-hole friends (ok, only a couple of them) got all pissy about some of them. So when I found an old soccer pic of a couple of girls I played with on AYSO, I posted it to one of the girls I recently reconnected with. She just sent a note and loved it, and even tagged herself along with a couple of other girls from the pic that I knew! YAY!

Seriously, there are times when I would love the net on my phone so I can check things like Facebook for things I think of, but seriously, I would get nothing done.

LOL!!!! SO they got a real trap here and it just snapped and scared the piss out of Vicki. We went down to check it and it had nothing in it. The best part was the only guy not wanting to pick up the trap (which was now upside down and to me, clearly mouse free) and kept kicking it with his foot. So I shoved him aside and picked it up. LOL! This mouse is awesome, totally fucking with us.

My dad just used OMG in an email to me. Nothing else to say but, OMG!

It is 9:51. Farrah has passed. I didn’t want to be right on this one. I have been checking the news every 5 to 10 minutes. I had just checked, logged off and Tammy got the call from her sister that it was on the tv. She was 62. I wasn’t a huge fan. I am not even sure I saw her in anything. But 62 with this kind of crippling cancer just seems unfair and it makes me so very sad for her and her family. I watched her special a month ago and it broke my heart. Ryan O’Neal had said in a special that is now airing tonight that he was going to finally get to marry his angel. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen in time. RIP, Farrah. You now are not in so much pain. You will be missed.

I seem to have really connected with my old AYSO buddies and a few from a soccer camp I did back when I was little. I posted the pic that my one friend was in and her tagging everyone brought everyone out of the woodwork. Thank goodness for the alerts in email since I have to wait until noon to see them all! I love this! I may need to drag out the old pics that I have not scanned and get to work.

It may be a record morning. When I log into Facebook later, I anticipate something like 30 updates. Boy, post a couple of pics and it goes crazy!!