Wednesday, April 25, 2012

How owning Boston Terriers is like having children:

If you don't already know, I own (or am owned) by two darling Boston Terriers.  Besides my husband, these are the loves of my life.

There is Jesse, the 12 year old curmudgeon who I've had since he was 6 weeks old.  He was a runt who still needed bottle feeding when my dad brought him home.  The only time we've spent apart were my first two and a half years in college when I lived in the dorms and pets were not allowed.  When I would come home for a weekend visit or a long break, he would decide how happy he was to see me by the size of the bag I brought home with me.  If it was just my small overnight duffel bag, he would just sigh and look at me with disapproving eyes.  If it was my large suitcase, he knew I'd be home for several weeks to a few months, and would leap around and twirl in excitement.  When I was in college, he was my anchor in a sea of anxiety, and in my deepest depression he was a reminder that someone loved me just as I was - imperfections and all.  Dogs have an uncanny ability to do that.

While Jesse is the dog closest to my heart (and usually the dog who is never far from my feet or lap when I'm at home), it is Lucky that is the most well-known by our friends and family.  Jesse is quiet and calm (unless my husband is deliberately annoying him, but Lucky has a joie de vivre that endears him to every dog loving visitor of our home.  He's almost 7 now, which seems impossible to me.  My husband (then boyfriend) adopted him after I rescued him from a neglectful owner for a roommate who then decided she couldn't handle "a dog that hyper".  He was clearly abused - crouching and peeing in fear whenever you raised your voice or moved your hands too quickly when you reached out to pet him - so I couldn't return him.  Jesse did not like this new, very dominant, still mostly a puppy in his space so they fought constantly.  I am very lucky that B took him in - both because I was in school and working 2 jobs, so I didn't have the time Lucky needed to be socialized and trained but also because I fell in love with Lucky from day one.  Even when we were driving back from Forney, Lucky clearly wanted to be in my lap instead of my roommates (and I was driving!).

B taught him how to use the stairs and all the basic commands.  He also regained Lucky's trust in humans.  That was five and a half years ago.  Now Lucky almost runs the house, although I still will put my foot down to remind him, and my husband, that he is not the top of the household food chain.

Lucky gets SO. EXCITED. when we have guests, and I guarantee if you visit our apartment he will completely ignore my husband and I so you can give him all your attention.  He knows we'll be there but guests leave so he needs to get those snuggles and play time in while he has you there.  He meets me at the door each evening and jumps on my legs and paws at me until I squat down and let him put his paws on my shoulder to give him a hug.  It is seriously cute.  He is obsessed with his toys and will often sit staring at them on the highest shelf from his cozy spot at the foot of the bookcase.  He's a climber.  And, he is fat - like was once mistaken for a potbelly pig fat.  He is SO fat that he is notorious for eating Jesse's food after cleaning his bowl because he is so hungry - and this happens often enough that he knows what the command "THAT IS NOT YOUR BOWL!" means.

My husband and I often joke with my bestie (who is the mother of my two godchildren) about how our dogs are so very similar to their toddlers.  We always get worried when they're too quiet - although in Jesse's case it's because we're afraid he's curled up and died somewhere.  Also, much like kids there's little private time or intimacy left in our house - no one can go into the bathroom alone (although Lucky will guard the door if he's locked out), and there's no snuggling unless it's with a dog.  My husband and I are usually separated on the couch or in the bed by Lucky, who loves being in the middle where we can both pet him.

I often think that B and I will be better parents after chasing our black and white furbabies around after all these years, but I know parenthood will be more complicated than that.  Maybe we should just stick with dogs.....





Monday, April 2, 2012

Sorry it's been so long...


Sorry for the delay - I've been SWAMPED!  I promise more posts in the future.

What have I been up to?

Saint Patrick's Day.  For those of you who don't know - Dallas has the biggest St Patty's day parade in the Southwest!  Probably the South too!  It's like Mardi Gras for North Texas.  There's a decent sized parade (but we are by no means competing with the Eastern Seaboard here!) followed by drinking, bar hopping, and general revelry until you get so exhausted you walk sluggishly back home, usually stopping for food and more drinks along the way!

It all kicks off with a 5k that benefits the North Texas Food Bank at 8am.  This was my first time ever runing 5K!  See, I have EIA, or Exercised Induced Asthma, which means that I can breathe fabulously as long as  my heart rate doesn't rise above a certain level.  I've been training to run a 5K since August, give or take, and still only finished at 42:30 - which hey, is 2-3 minutes shorter than the 5K I walked 3 years ago.  I mostly walked this one, but there was some running in there too.  I need to pace myself more in the next one.  It was super hard but I want to keep training so that hopefully one day I can run the entire thing. 

The other "eventful" thing on St Patty's was the last, I hope, of the "friend drama".  I know I haven't been terribly explicit about that, but that's mostly because their behavior has been so childish that...well, it's actually embarrassing.  Not "oh-so-embarrassed-for-them" kind of embarrassment...I mean the "oh my God, I'm 28 and there are "friends" who are seriously using Facebook and Twitter to make me feel excluded and make fun of me" kind of embarrassment.  Seriously.  I am almost 30 and dealing with  "friends" who are not inviting us to parties but all posting photos and/or checking in on Facebook, all at the SAME TIME OMG.  Why? So that we'll know they are out partying, and we weren't invited.  They've gone so far as to all go out drinking together at some random bar (and of course posting about it) instead of being at my husbands 30th birthday party...to which they RSVP'd "Maybe" with no further explanation or clarification.  Plus there was the whole incident where I posted a vague passive/aggressive tweet about it, and one of them copied and it pasted it as a comment on the Facebook status update of another "friend" as a "funny" joke. Ok, there, I admitted it. And yes, we are not friends with these people anymore.

Anyway, the point is this little issue started with just 2 or 3 guys and eventually expanded into an entire social group.  We let things go for months thinking that since the guys who had the problem never would address it or talk to us about it, they would eventually get over it and, at the very least, just be polite.  Obviously, that did not happen.  I'm sure that some of the mean girls that they've added to the social group didn't help matters.  But, after St. Patty's Day, we finally cut ties with the few remaining people in that group who have made any attempt at maintaining our friendship for months now.  This included someone that I thought was a very dear friend of mine who I introduced to this group over a year ago.  She had some chemistry with one of the guys and, apparently, felt so strongly about him that his treatment of me mattered little to her.  It is something that I intend to write about in the future, when I have more hindsight into the matter.  For now, let's just say that when you ask a friend of 9-10 years how they can be dating someone who has participated, if not led, this high school bullying at my (and my husband's) expense, being told that friendships are not based on "how long you've known someone" but instead on the "depth of that friendship" as a response that I do not wish even on the worst of people.  As my sister & I would say (in our usual sing-song voice), "Cold Blooded!"

But, on to happier things!  For the 90th anniversary of the Junior League of Dallas, I joined a group of women to dedicate an entire Saturday to building with Habitat for Humanity!  This was a test run for it POSSIBLY being my placement next year, plus I haven't done any construction/carpentry work since I officially moved out of my parents place back in early 2005.  The nostalgia dissipated pretty quickly though, but luckily it was a mild Texas spring kind of weekend (highs around 80) so I didn't get TOO overheated, and got a nice tan while I was at it (thank you sunscreen*).  Will I volunteer with HH again?  Probably, but let's just say my lazy side is glad I listed something ELSE as my first choice.**

Also, a couple other girlfriends of mine have started a cooking club!  We only meet 3-4 times a year, and we had our first meeting a couple of weeks ago.  It was so much fun!  I do wish we could do it every month but right now it's just not possible with our crazy schedules.  And I'd rather do it every 3 months than every month and we get burned out too quickly!  What I love most about this group is that we range in age from our late 20s to our late 60s!  It's only 5 of us, but we all get together so well and since we are all married, or at least living with our significant others, it's a great break from "the boys".  Oh, and the food was amazing!  We did Italian as our first theme, so we had delicious bruschetta, Caesar salad, mushroom risotto, Dijon crusted fish, tiramisu...and lots of wine!  I can't wait until May when we'll have a whole new theme.

Other than that, it's just been work.  Our merger was approved this morning, so who knows what THAT will hold in store for me.  I'm excited and nervous, like everyone else.  Nothing is really certain yet, but hopefully we'll get settled and such sooner rather than later.  I just don't like the nervous energy around me.  Plus, I hate NOT knowing something!  LOL

I might be starting a side business.  I'm still thinking about it and trying to get everything together.  I think it's a brilliant idea, but someone other than me has to buy the product, so we'll see. 

I hope y'all are all doing well.  Hopefully I'll be around a little more.


* true story - the only way I can get any sort of tan is to spend long hours in the sun, frequently applying sunscreen.  My sensitive, pale skin burns easily, but if I apply sunscreen (and reapply every 3 hours or so) then my skin has the time to slowly absorb minimal UV rays without getting burned so that my darker, Native American olive skin starts to darken.  It's a really specific process, and it usually means I stay a weird, yellow pale color for the majority of the time.  Tans, at best, are complete accidents.

**I listed a placement at the Zoo assisting with animal care as my first choice, Habitat as my second, and a few others as my 3rd and 4th choice.  I'll find out in the next few weeks what my assignment will be.  To be fair, I'll be happy if I get Habitat, as it will help me become even more of a handy dandy wifey when we get a house and I'm allowed to buy power tools!