happy birthday to me!

Yes, my birthday is still two weeks away ... but sometimes when the right present comes along, you just have to go for it! Which is exactly what my husband was forced to do ... because the right present was a puppy! A real live puppy! She was rescued from the streets by a kind woman and her family and brought back to health over the last month, at which time she was ready to be re-homed. So we're giving her a home. We named her Lucy (short for Lucy the Spastic, or Lucy the Teether, or Lucy the Wolf-wannabe, and we're hoping one day Queen Lucy the Graceful). She has a LOT of energy, has to check out EVERYTHING, has no qualms about peeing on the floor (especially when she's excited, which is most of the time), and we've already discovered she can make it all the way up the hill and back on her own. We quickly had to puppy-proof the house, which included getting all yarns out of her reach (and you know that took a while), and we bought a gate to lock her in the kitchen overnight and during the day while we're at work. She's a mutt, but we're pretty sure she has some chihuahua in her (giving her that wolf look). There's a possibility she'll reach 20 pounds, but I doubt she'll get much bigger than 15. She has a few shots left to get, and she will be spayed sooner rather than later.

Its amazing the immediate change something like a puppy can bring into the house. No more quiet nights knitting (it'll be like this ... knit a couple stitches and then "No Lucy!" and knit a couple stitches and "Lucy, I said NO!" and knit a couple stitches and "Caleb!! Get the dog!!" and knit a couple stitches and ... well, you get the picture). And now going out for a walk is no longer a matter of whether or not I feel like it. Its a matter of how much pee I want to clean off the floor. She will have to be considered before any weekend trips or other long outings (though we've discovered she travels pretty well). A dog certainly changes the routine.

But you know what? She's so CUTE! And she can be trained about the yarn, and soon enough she'll be done teething and chewing on EVERYTHING (everything BUT the chew toys we bought, of course), and when she's quiet, and lays down right beside me on the couch, everything is right with the world. I suppose its much like raising children (without the fur, of course), and so might be good practice for the day (some day, no announcement here) when we have those to raise as well.

So, Happy Birthday to me!!