Dog Business

A year and a handful of months ago, we lost the dog love of our life.  Chassie-girl, yellow lab only by breed- but in reality a four legged friend with the sensibilities of the best kind of human, was one of a kind. We originally brought her home to cure Caitlin and Matthew (2 and >1 at the time) of a fear of dogs.  What we did not realize is that she would create a love for dogs in those two that I feel certain will be life long.  She was our companion; she knew all the best playgrounds (the limp she developed late in life I am certain, was a direct result of her trying out all the slides that the kids went down); she tolerated the leg & ear tugging from four toddlers and she kept our floors spic and span.  Her only flaws were in the early days-firstly, a predilection for chasing our lovely next door neighbors (who happened to be African American...I don't think I was ever able to convince them that she was color blind) and secondly, for chewing exactly one half of every pair of Matt's dress shoes.  But really, every day we had with her was a gift.  When I started working full time she never held it against me; after a long day of being alone in the house she never ever failed to greet me with a grin and that powerful tail knocking over everything in sight.   I will always be thankful that just a few days before she died, we took her for a swim and romp at one of her favorite places. 
After she crossed over the rainbow bridge our hearts were broken.  Never, never could we do this again...the pain of losing her was too much and there was not a dog in the world that would replace her.  So we swore off dogs. 
Several months went by and then slowly, slowly...the little seed that Chass had planted in the kids began to grow.  She had made us dog people!  Of course we would never replace her-she was something special; but now we had a void to fill.  So we went dog shopping.  Right around Thanksgiving of the same year, we stopped in at the local humane society and fell in love with a tiny, copper colored squirrel of a dog.  We knew (though Matt took a little more convincing) that she was the one for us.  Different in every way from Chassie (after Chass died we all mentally retired the breed in the way that sports teams retire the jerseys of the best), this little firecracker puppy came home and made our hearts happy again.  So much energy!  Enthusiasm!  Love of food! (okay so not totally different from Chassie).  Our new Penny was perfect for us.  And she has loved us tremendously, but... she has her own void.  When we adopted her, she was in a pen with her brother.  Now mind you, brother was NOT the one for us.  He was very aggressive and the shelter folks said that he had to be separated from Penny at night because he was too rough and they worried that he would have hurt her.  So there was no question at the time, of us adopting both.  But Penny has never quite gotten over having a constant playmate.  Every dog she sees is her best friend regardless of size.  Her closest friend right now is our neighbor's giant German Shepherd...he tries to herd her and she plays along because ITS SO GOOD TO HAVE A FRIEND!  But this is only for occasional playdates and Penny needs something more.  She needs a lifelong buddy.  So, after lengthy consideration, Matt and I decided that it was time to find a friend for her.  So off we went; this time to the local animal control shelter.  So many dogs to see; so many that we could have brought home and saved from one more day in a shelter.  But when we saw #45362829 (poor buddy did not yet have a name), we fell in love.  This guy was a gentleman through and through-shy, sweet and super playful.  Tuesday of this week we will bring him home and Penny will finally have a friend.  I cannot wait to see them play together!  I can only hope that Chassie is smiling down on us; happy that she paved the way for two pups to leave shelters and find a home in our house and hearts. 

Schoolday Weekday

5:49am on a Monday.

Matthew's unnaturally loud alarm goes off exactly one minute before my own.  Wake up, get moving time to start the school day.  Shower followed by the uncomfortable task of figuring out what to wear, fashion always fighting comfort; fashion rarely winning.

"Morning, Ben!"  I cheerfully call, all the while praying to hear the 'Morning mom!" which means I don't have to go in and roust him out of bed.

Most mornings he is up and feeding the animals before I get downstairs.  Hannah is sitting at the table eating breakfast and begging me to help her fix her hair, though usually it is up in her signature slightly-to-the-side ponytail with the top crispy from an abundance of aqua-net.  I make a turkey sandwich-half for breakfast, half for lunch; kids lunches have been made the night before (a responsibility we added to their chore list this year.) 

Caitlin stumbles to the kitchen, grabs the box of smart start and eats breakfast while shaking the cobwebs left over from her 6 hours of sleep-she remains the child that needs very minimal sleep.  Matthew, who is the opposite, usually heads straight for the coffeepot-which we exclusively share since Matt replaced coffee with a healthy caffeine alternative.  

Matt comes down and peels a hardboiled egg and cuts up an apple-we all chat about the day ahead and usually someone will remind us that the weekend is only x number of days away.  This is a great comfort.  Quick check of the clock and then "Ten minutes, Matthew".  My timeline is strict...being on time is my obsession-being early is my drug.  Matthew understands and is in the car and ready to leave at 6:40.  Mugs of coffee in hand we roll out of the driveway and pray a bit on the way to school-for safety in the day, for the people we love, and for ourselves.

6:45-2:45-school and work for all of us.  After school the big kids do intense cross country practice  under a coach who is known for having trained an olympian.  Yes, they are tired when 5:30 rolls around.  They come home, and the littles are ready for their cross country practice (for Hannah this only applies when there is no volleyball practice.)  Matt heads to cross country with the littles to get his run in; I've got dinner going and everyone ends up eating in shifts.  Breakfast as a family is a blessing; dinner is just grab when you can.

7-8pm means enforced study time for Matthew; Hannah and Ben settle in with drawing pads and images to copy from pinterest-their new obsession.  I must remember to find frames for their works of art.  Caitlin studies and watches The Office.

Family prayers, tuck ins for the littles (the bigs tuck us in these days) and then its lights out...and off to bed before another day begins.

Snapshots of our days.  I can feel the change coming-Caitlin has college on her mind-she has friends in college and she will be driving soon.  I can't hold these moments with them.... I just want to be able to remember them as authentically as possible.  No frills...just the memory of the peace that every day with my people brings.