Hunter update

Just a quick post to say that we met Hunter last night, and we loved him. He is super sweet and friendly. He and Sebastian got along great; in fact, Hunter seemed to prefer Sebastian to any of the other dogs at the dog park with us.

Hunter is more obedient than Sebastian. It was impossible for me to tell that he was living in the yard full-time until a month ago; he's very people-oriented. Hunter is also a little bigger than Sebastian: just a smidge taller and with a stockier body type.

We will be picking Hunter up on Saturday afternoon when we return from Tucson! Yea!!

I will post some photos of the boys together once we get him home and settled in.

5-month anniversary

Today has been a "bleh" day for me, for no reason which I can readily discern. Things are steadily, but not crazy, busy at work, I am mildly nervous because I am defending my first deposition on Thursday, but that's not the cause of my "off" mood. I feel physically well and am not tired, as opposed to yesterday when I had some mild nausea on and off and felt exhausted all afternoon. Everything in my personal life is fine. I even have some things to look forward to: we are meeting Hunter tonight at 7:30, and we are going to Tucson Friday night for friend K's birthday.

Anyhoo, in an effort to focus on the positive, I wanted to note that today marks five months since MM and I got married in Maui. Sometimes it still feels weird when I think that this time two years ago, I didn't even know MM. . . . and was in fact still dealing with a lot of emotions related to my break-up with SL. Only a little over 18 months ago, MM and I had only been dating a few weeks and I was debating the morality of my decision to sleep with him, knowing that the relationship might never be more than casual. Now we are married. Crazy.

MM is not without his faults or quirks, but I am still glad that I married him. He still makes me laugh almost every day, and the good far outweighs the bad. I may sometimes wish for fresh flowers more often or more sympathy from MM, but on the whole, he is a good husband.

He doesn't read my blog (thinks blogging is "weird," as a matter of fact--not very into the interwebs), though he knows that I write one (and sometimes mention him). He doesn't need to read this entry to know that I'm happy he's my husband; I tell him almost every day.

Sebastian is no Chuck

If you've read the blog dooce.com, you have probably seen the Daily Chuck segment where the blog's author takes a photo of her dog with various props. I love the Daily Chuck! I thought it was especially clever when the author announced her second pregnancy by posting a photo of Chuck balancing the positive home pregnancy test on his muzzle.

I've often thought it would cool to do a similar thing with Sebastian. I wouldn't do it daily, just because that's too much of a commitment. Maybe the Weekly Sebastian? Unfortunately, Sebastian is neither as well-trained nor as a patient a photography subject as Chuck. . . . and I lack the creativity to think of enough ideas to make this a regular part of my blog.

Nonetheless, I do enjoy sharing photos of my boy. I have always given Sebastian a good deal of attention, and now that we are in the process of exploring getting a second Golden, I've felt inclined to give him a little more one-on-one time than usual.

Oh, and speaking of our quest for a second Golden, we are meeting "Hunter" on Tuesday evening. If all goes well with the boys' meeting, he will come home with us that night as our foster dog ("Foster with intent to adopt"). And if he fits into our household we will have the option of adopting him! So that's exciting.

The following are a few shots I took of Sebastian (and his toys) before and after work last Wednesday. Notice how much happier he is after work than before.



Sebastian getting pets from MM in the evening




Resting his head on a paw as I'm about to walk out the door to work




Waiting in the hall as we get ready for work (after sunning himself on the patio for about 10-15 minutes)




Sebastian's current favorite toy, his "big dog" from Ikea (actually a child's toy, not a dog toy), and his three Nylabones in three different flavors. He likes to have the whole assortment available and gets bothered if you put any away in his toy basket.

Golden update

Less than one day after being approved to adopt a Golden from RAG of AZ, we have already ruled out all the possibilities about whom I posted yesterday, plus one other dog.

As noted by Emily in the comments, Greeley is in the process of being adopted. Our GET member confirmed last night that a family who met him this past weekend has decided to adopt him. (Too bad for us, but great for Greeley!)

Gavin's foster mother contacted me this morning in response to our request to set up a "meet and greet" with him. Her email said that Gavin" is extremely active and will want to play with your dog non-stop. I have 3 dogs now and he drives them nuts."

One concern that MM has expressed about getting a second dog is whether the new, younger dog might overtax Sebastian. With his mitral valve insufficiency, mild though it is at this point, he needs more rest and can tolerate less activity than before. However, Sebastian doesn't know that he's sick and still thinks that he is a puppy himself. As long as there is another dog around who wants to play, he will continue playing.

We think that having Gavin in the house might not be good for Sebastian. He might overdo it and make himself sick. On the other hand, it might be OK, but we need to think of Sebastian first and foremost. Given Sebastian's health, we don't want to take a chance.

Our third possibility, Buddy, would not be a good fit either. His foster mother reports that he has separation anxiety and needs to be placed in a home where the owner is home most of the day. Because we are away from home for at least 6-7 hours a day for work, Buddy would be alone a lot (with Sebastian, but no people), so this would not be the ideal situation for him.

One other possibility I saw on the RAG of AZ website yesterday was Nathan. But when I asked about him today, I learned that he will be having a surgical procedure to treat cardiac stenosis in the near future, so he is not available for adoption just yet.

So it looks like we won't be getting a Golden any time soon. Our current plan is to just wait and check the RAG of AZ website periodically. Given that this organization has rescued over 2300 Goldens in the past ten years, I feel confident that the right dog for us will come along soon.

Especially given that we already have Sebastian and that he is our primary concern, it makes sense to wait for a dog who will be right for us. We are in no hurry.

High school craziness

At last I am blogging about "something crazy" I did in high school. Leave it to my younger sister to call me out in the comments on my blog and remind about something I haven't thought about in close to twenty years. . . .

Yes, now that V has refreshed my recollection, I must admit that I did do at least one crazy thing in high school. (And there may be others. . . V would likely be better able to tell you than I, as I have inexplicably forgotten--or blocked out?--portions of my high school experiences.) Interestingly, this little incident is something that, to this day, my father doesn't know about. Not much got past the old man, so it's pretty surprising that this one did.

In June 1986, when I was 15 years old, I had a mad crush on a guy I'll refer to as "Thayer" (not his real name). Truth be told, I was basically obsessed with Thayer for about two years. He actually was interested in me first, but then things changed. Our "relationship," such as it was, is not particularly important to this story except in explaining my motivation for what I did.

Thayer was three years older than I, so 18 at this time. He was your basic man whore and actually not even all that attractive, so Lord only knows what I saw in him. Though we attended the same high school--two years apart--Thayer's parents were farmers, and he lived about 30 miles out of town. Thayer had graduated from high school the month before this incident, so it had been a while since I had seen him.

In the summer of 1986, I had a few girlfriends with whom I hung out regularly. All my friends were a year ahead of me in school and two years older. Even so, they were generally good (or at least neutral) influences. Unfortunately, my two more sensible friends were away for summer activities at the time of this incident, and my remaining social link was a girl I'll call "Nan." Nan was your classic bad influence: quite wild herself and with a penchant for encouraging her friends to engage in inappropriate and/or risky behaviors.

Nan's job at the local movie theater (one movie, one showing a night) kept her in town during the summer. It also afforded her a good opportunity to interface with high school classmates and catch up on the latest gossip.

On this particular evening, Nan called and told me that she'd heard that Thayer was going to be at a dance at Lake Valley. Basically a ghost town, Lake Valley had an old, one-room schoolhouse where monthly dances were held. Although located within the sprawling county in which lived, Lake Valley was actually about a 60-mile drive, one way, from my house.

At 15, I didn't have a driver's license. And although Nan was 17, she only had a learner's permit. Neither of us had a car. But we decided that this would not stop us from going to this dance.

As fate would have it, my beloved granny was in the hospital at the time and thus not home to supervise us (a rare occurrence in itself). My father had left for the weekend on a pre-planned trip with a friend of his. Given that V and I were at this time 13 and 15, we were trusted to be on or own for a couple of days. (Now that I think about it, the fact that I did this while my granny was hospitalized makes it even more terrible of me!)

My father owned a 1977 Datsun 280ZX. It was a standard transmission; actually, it was the car in which I learned to drive a standard transmission. The car was in excellent condition, despite being several years old, but my father rarely drove it. He'd bought it on a lark, and it was now sitting mostly idle, awaiting the time when I would get my driver's license and start using it. (I later wrecked this car, two days after becoming officially licensed. . . . but that's another story.)

Nan and I decided that there was no good reason for us not to take the "Z car" (as our family called it) to Lake Valley. We figured my dad wouldn't be checking the odometer, given that he was the only licensed driver in our household. We planned to refill the gas tank and wash off the dust, and Dad would be none the wiser.

My sister was against our plan, but what could she do about it? As I recall, I had to pay her a cash bribe to ensure her silence. (I think she made quite a tidy sum off me in high school just for keeping her mouth shut; I remember paying her to keep quiet on other occasions as well.)

Our plan and trip were a success. Not only did we successfully make the 120-mile round trip to Lake Valley, I got to see Thayer at the dance and spend lots of time with him. He even kissed me! We also picked up another guy (a friend of Nan's), and upon returning to town, the three of us drove to the nearby lake. We stayed out until about 4 a.m., and then gassed up and washed the Z car and returned home.

Looking back from the vantage point of adulthood, I now realize that this was a really stupid thing to do. Not even addressing the fact that Thayer was definitely not worth all this effort, what if we had wrecked the car? We could have been injured or even killed! And our parents didn't even know where we were!

Ah well. All's well that ends well, I guess. My dad kept a pretty close eye on us, so this is one of the few stunts I pulled in high school without his knowledge.

Will's baptism

As promised, photos from C's son Will's baptism on Easter Vigil. Isn't Will a cutie?

Give me your opinion. . . .

As I've written before, MM and I have been considering the idea of getting a second dog for some time. I blogged about our plans to adopt Darius (which later fell through). We also made contact with a local Schnauzer rescue group before MM decided he didn't want to get a Schnauzer anymore. (Despite his staunchly maintaining the status of his childhood Schnauzer, "Samuel von Woofer" aka "Sammy Schnauzer" as "the best dog ever," MM has grown to love large dogs more since living with Sebastian.)

I have long wanted a second dog. . . . a second Golden, to be more precise. I've loved the breed for years, and after having my very own Golden for nearly seven years, I only love Goldens more now. So there has been no back and forth or true consideration on my part; MM is the one who hasn't been sure.

MM has at last come around to my way of thinking (LOL), and we have submitted an adoption application with Rescue a Golden of Arizona, the same organization through which I adopted Sebastian back in 2002. Tomorrow night I have a home visit from a member of the Golden Evaluation Team ("GET") to see if our home is a suitable environment for a Golden.

Once our home visit occurs and our home is approved (to me, a foregone conclusion, given that I know what they are looking for: mainly, no open pool that is accessible where the dog could drown, a fenced yard from which the Golden could not escape, and a doggy door), the next step will be for us to choose the dog we would like to adopt. (In regard to our home, I might also add that Sebastian has been living here safely and happily for seven months.) Once we choose the dog, we--MM, Sebastian, and I--will meet him in a neutral location. If all goes well with the meeting, after a 24-hour waiting period, we could adopt the dog.

MM and I have looked at the "Available Dogs" section of the RAG of AZ website and have narrowed our selection down to three dogs: Gavin (09-046), Buddy (09-050), or Greeley (09-071). All of the Goldens look absolutely adorable, and I would be up for adopting any of them. MM helped me narrow down our choices, though, by expressing a preference for a dog aged 1 to 3 years (not a puppy, but still young), a male (so we'll have "two boys"), and a dog who is housebroken.

I am having a really hard time choosing among the three dogs! Aside from the information available on the website (http://www.golden-retriever.org/available_dogs/list/), I only know a little something extra about Gavin. When I set up the home visit, I asked about him specifically because MMhad remarked on how cute his photo was. Apparently Gavin had a "meet and greet" with a family this weekend who decided that he was not for them because he is "too active." (Not sure what they were expecting from a year-old Golden, but anyway. . . . )

I plan to ask the GET member for more information about Buddy and Greeley tomorrow night. It might help to learn a little more about each dog and his history than is posted on the website. MM has said that he would like to meet all three dogs so that he could compare them to one another, but I'm not sure that RAG of AZ would permit this, and even if they would allow us to meet all three dogs before committing to one, they'd likely think we were a bit flaky. And logistically, it would be much more complicated to set up meetings with three different dogs in three different foster homes all over the Phoenix metro area. Another issue: one or more of the dogs might be adopted by someone else while we are debating among them.

Without having any more information than I've provided, though. . . . which Golden would you choose? Please leave me a comment and let me know. All opinions welcome!!

Meme Friday

You can do this, too, if you wish.

1. Join me in writing a lazy blog post!

2. Put a little spice in your day!

3. Happiness is elusive but wonderful.

4. Tired and confused.

5. I'm waiting for parenthood.

6. Chocolate is hard to resist.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to taking a nap; tomorrow my plans include lunch with KC and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Negligence

This blog has been sadly neglected of late! I attribute this to the fact that work has been busy and I have had (another!) head cold since Saturday evening. Between feeling generally ICK and reserving my mental energy/concentration for work-related writing projects, there just isn't much left for the ol' blog.

MM and I had a nice Easter weekend. Saturday morning I got a haircut (taking a break from coloring because my hair is VERY dry); had acupuncture (as I do nearly every Saturday); and then met KC for sushi (yum!). It was a rainy, gray day. . . . very unusual for Phoenix! (I actually like days like that once in a while for variety.)

After sushi, KC and I went shopping at Lane Bryant; I needed a few new, spring things for work, and I had a coupon for LB, as well as a $50 Visa gift card from my birthday, thanks to my in-laws. I successfully found two pairs of slacks and four tops and also bought some lacy underwear because it was on sale. (I'm sure MM gets tired of seeing nothing but cotton hip huggers all the time, lol.) By the time I got home, I had only a short time to relax before MM and I headed out for C's son's baptism.

I very much enjoyed being godmother to C's little boy! My first time as a godmother. (Though I hear plans are being made for Rowan to be baptized when we visit in September.) The church was an Episcopal one, so the service was very much like the Catholic masses I am used to. Familiarity is always nice! The church looked especially lovely, being decorated for Easter with many fragrant lilies and other white flowers. MM kept giving me surreptitious eye rolls because the service lasted an hour-and-a-half, but that was to be expected. (MM hadn't been to church in many years.) Poor MM couldn't even sit by me because I had to sit near the other sponsor and the parents.

I really should post a few photos from the baptism. MM took a few cute ones of me with the baby after church. Will have to check with C and ask if she minds my posting her baby's photo on my blog. ;-)

Sunday I slept in (restless night due to coughing and congestion) and then just vegged out until going to my in-laws' around 2:30. We spent the afternoon/evening with them and were home by 8:00 and watched "Yes Man." (We enjoyed the movie but were glad we rented it instead of paying to see it in the theater.)

Had I not gotten sick, it really would have been a darn-near-perfect weekend. Ah well.

After watching Yes Man, MM decided that we needed to take a spontaneous trip somewhere. But MM being MM (and me being me), instead of actually taking a trip somewhere spontaneously, he told me that we are going to visit San Antonio the second weekend in May. (He's not much good at surprises.) MM has never been to San Antonio, and it's a city I've visited several times and really enjoy, so the trip should be fun!

Much to my relief, one of the partners with whom I work a lot ("T") settled a big case of ours last Friday. Not only was it a case that really needed to be settled from our client's perspective, it also was coming up for trial in June. . . . at the same time that another partner will be in trial on another case of mine. I was not looking forward to spending the next 6-8 weeks doing pre-trial preparation for two cases basically simultaneously--in addition to handling all of my regular work, including several new cases that will soon be entering discovery--so I was glad T settled his case.

While in Tucson for work last week, I got to visit M (the child in foster care with whom I've volunteered for the past 5+ years). M is going through yet another transition right now because she is getting to know a couple who interested in adopting her. I was glad to be able to get M's perspective on how things are going--I'm told that the "getting acquainted" is going splendidly from the parents' perspective--and learn that she likes them. There have been several visits between the parents and M now, and things seem to be going well. I am cautiously optimistic that, after over 4 years, 3 foster homes, and 4 other failed adoptions (though M only knew about one of those), she may finally have a found a permanent home.

I also got to stay with my friend (& old roommate) K while in Tucson, and it was great to catch up with her! We don't talk often, but it's always fun to see her. Gotta love being able to mix business with a little pleasure. . . .

Post and dash. . .

I *am* going to post my "crazy" incident from high school. Truly I am. It's just that work has been hella busy this week and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. SO glad that tomorrow is Friday!

Meanwhile, enjoy this li'l meme I found. . .

1. What was the last thing you ate? A green chile chicken tamale
2. I say the color purple, what do you think of? Barney the dinosaur
3. Lamps or ceiling lights? Both, but more ceiling lights.
4. What color rabbit is your favorite? White? I don't know!
5. Your car breaks down on a deserted road and your cell phone has no signal - what do you do? Start trying to flag down cars that pass while walking up the road in an attempt to get a better cell phone signal.
6. What is one thing most of your friends do online that you just can't understand the fascination and do not participate in? Actually, I'm more into online stuff than most of my friends. But I am not on Twitter.
7. What do you need right now? Sleep!
8. The most serious injury you've had was. . . . a deep laceration to my left index finger that required seven stitches to close.
9. What is the most evil thing you've ever done? I don't think I've done anything truly evil. I do feel bad about having gone off on various people in anger over the years, though. If you're reading this, I'm sorry (V, lol).
10. Give us some random fact about you. I attended college for 11 semesters and one summer session and earned 75% more credits than I needed to graduate. . . . all because I changed my major three times.

Why is that. . . .

I have over 50 blogs in my Google reader and have still had nothing to read for the past two hours?

Don't these bloggers know that I need something to read to relieve the monotony of my day? I can't look at work all day long!

Blog, people, blog!

Living life

216.8

Now that my sister called me out in the comments section of my last post, I am going to have to post about the incident that she referenced. I didn't have time to finish a post about it yesterday but hope to some time this week. I think when you read it you will agree that it qualifies as a pretty crazy thing to do.

Aside from being utterly appalled at my willingness to watch the scale creeping up, up, up with no apparent reaction or change in my behavior, I don't really have much to write about. Work is busy but good. Things with MM are good. No news is good news, I guess.

This Saturday I will be a godmother to my friend C's not-quite-3-month-old son. I'm excited! MM is even going to church with me for the event, a first for us!

Tomorrow after work I am driving to Tucson because I have a deposition there on Thursday morning. I will be staying with my friend K, who I haven't seen in a while, and visiting M, the little girl I volunteer with. So it'll be nice to see them and mix a little pleasure with business.

Oh, and I'm still taking my piano lessons, and I really like them! I can play several songs quite tunefully, though I still have a long way to go. And even though I enjoy playing, I still find it challenging to make myself set aside the time to sit down and practice. Yet another example of my lack of self-discipline. . . .

I'm just going through one of those relatively uneventful periods at the moment. I'm living life!

Lazy Friday meme post

216.2

Spending time on Facebook has gotten me to thinking back to high school more often, so I thought this meme might be fun.

1. Would you return to high school life for a week? Why or why not?
Not just no, but HELL NO. I hated high school.

2. Who were/are you in high school?
My high school really wasn't large enough to have true cliques a la John Hughes movies. But I was in band and drama and considered a brainy "good girl." I wasn't particularly popular but neither was I an outcast; I fell somewhere in the middle.

3. What was/is your favorite high school hangout? What did/do you do there?
Sonic Drive-In, simply because it was the only hangout in my hometown. People sat around and talked, played their music too loud, and made plans to meet at various parties at homes or (more often) at the nearby lake.

4. What were/are your favorite three songs in high school?
Hmmm, tough one. I loved music then just as I do now, so it's hard to narrow it down.
I'll say "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran, "Crazy for You" by Madonna, and "Head to Toe" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.

5. What was the craziest thing you did in high school?
Sadly, I never did anything really crazy in high school. I got drunk a few times and wasted a lot of time pining over guys who weren't worth my devotion. . . . but nothing out of the ordinary.

Blah

Today has been kind of a "blah" day. I had a hard time getting started this morning and, although I got a good, full night's sleep, have felt tired all day. I'm working on projects at work that aren't particularly engaging, which also doesn't help my energy level. And I decided to try a new Mexican restaurant for lunch, and my chicken burrito left me vaguely gassy. . . or maybe it was my high fiber breakfast cereal.

I am supposed to start my period today, and it hasn't arrived. I'm not tracking my cycles in any way these days except by reference to a calendar, so I don't think it's even fair to say that my period is "late." I feel no symptoms whatsoever--of impending period or of early pregnancy--and I have no reason to believe that I might be pregnant. (In fact, of all months, this past one was our worst yet in terms of timing.)

Guess I am just having an off day. I even worked out last night and had a nice, healthy salad with grilled chicken for dinner and ate a healthy breakfast of Kashi Go Lean Crunch and lowfat milk. Just goes to show that healthy habits don't necessarily guarantee good energy levels (though, of course, they help).

I would have headed home already and just called it a (mostly wasted) day, but for the facts that I have work to do and I am meeting my friend V for dinner after work. I've been looking forward to seeing V--it's been a couple of months, and she's gotten engaged since the last time we got together--but I'm just so blah today.

Positive news to report. . . . .

I bought some new running shoes over the weekend and tried them out at the gym for the first time last night. I am happy to say that after 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, my right piriformis muscle is not bothering me today. I still notice that the right side is tighter than the left when I stretch after exercise, but the difference between the two sides is less than it was, and both are getting looser and easier to stretch out. I think the new shoes helped!

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful since we returned from NYC. Perfect days: sunny, just a puff or two of cloud, light-to-no breezes, high temps in the 70s. These are the days I will recall with fondness to remind me why I continue to live in Phoenix when it's 110+ outside. MM and I went hiking with Sebastian last Saturday to take advantage of the great weather, and it was so nice!

I finally--after multiple attempts over the past six months or so--made (brief) contact today with my first cousin in Ireland! With the time difference and some issues going on with her house that meant that she and her family had to temporarily relocate (long story), I hadn't been able to reach her on the phone since early last fall. It had gotten to the point where my sister, my parents and I were getting concerned. So it was great to hear her voice today, and I'm looking forward to catching up on all her news when she calls me back on Saturday.

Two friends had baby girls this week. One is a former coworker of mine who is better friends (and still works) with my best friend KC; the other is the girl I used to babysit (yeah, she's nearly 26 now) whose mother has known me since childhood and whose half-sister is a friend of mine since high school. "Mackenzie" and "Camille" and their moms are all doing well.

MM and I are both mad planners; spontaneity is mostly a foreign concept to us. True to form, I have already been doing some research and planning about our anticipated trip to DC in the fall. As we did last trip in July '08, we intend to spend a portion of the trip with my sister and her family and a portion playing tourist. To be fair, we both want to see the White House this trip, and tickets to do so must be obtained about six months in advance. . . . so I'm not totally "jumping the gun" on this one, as I am wont to do.

That's pretty much all the current events here. Oh, one other little update: we won't be adopting Darius the German Shepherd after all. His current owner has decided to give him to the Phoenix Police Department, and he is going to become a canine officer. Exciting for him, but sad for us. In light of this development, MM has once again concluded that perhaps a second dog is not a good idea at the moment. Stay tuned.