sadness

After just over a week of cleaning up many misplaced bathroom breaks by Ethel, and several very early mornings, Ethel has had to return home. That is, the home from which she came, not our home here in the basement. Our landlords have decided that they will not allow a dog here. I am not sure if this is a decision they made before or after we got the dog, since we did not do a lot of research in to the subject before brining her home.

I am still debating how I should feel about that. On one hand there is nothing stating that we cannot have a dog here, and I wonder if Ethel were a different breed, maybe a smaller one, if they wouldn't have minded. On the other hand, we should have taken the time to check in with the owners to see how they felt about it.

Either way, we are sad that she was not able to stay. I think the most heartbroken about it is Eleanor, who was overjoyed daily that we had a puppy to care for. I think this is the worst part of the whole situation, that due to our negligence and our landlords unwavering stance, that we have brought her so much joy only to have to take it away so soon after.

I do hope that she will be able to recover from this without any lasting baggage that she will one day have to deal with, because the last thing we want as parents is to damage our children. We are truly sorry baby, I can only hope that one day you will forgive us.

armpit

So here I am this morning, reading blogs and hanging out with the dog. Vanessa looks over at me from the couch, stretches her arm in the sky, and says:

"Come smell my armpit".


Now she is standing over me, waiting to see if I am really going to post this. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow, send the search party.

here she is!

Here is the darling Ethel. Many people frown and ask why "Ethel"? Well, in case you didn't know, we have a cat named Lucy. We want the two to be best friends, so what better to name her. I don't really know if they will ever be friends, let alone B.F.F. but whatever.

Tell me those aren't just the cutest little puppy eyes ever...

the new addition

Well, Sunday is finally here. Vanessa is home from her weekend with the ladies, and Ethel has come to join our family.

Ethel is an American/English Bulldog, with a teeny bit of Pug mixed in. She is quite adorable, and I will be sure to post some pictures soon. Right now I am trying to use all of my energy trying to stay awake and keep her from chewin' and poopin' on everything.

I should be in bed...

bye bye baby

This weekend Vanessa is going out of town for a ladies retreat. I am excited for her, because besides being "off" for the weekend, she will be leading the women in making some jewelery. I know how relaxing it can be to not have to worry about little people for a couple days. Not that it isn't really great having kids, sometimes you just want to get through the day being able to eat your food while it is still hot, go to the bathroom without interruption, or have a conversation without having to pause and explain for the umpteenth time that talking while mommy is in the middle of speaking to someone is rude, PLEASE STOP!

When Vanessa comes home on Sunday, we're off to pick up Ethel. Let the good times roll. And chew. And chew. Just nooooo barking.

interesting reading

Up on "The Blogfathers" website is this very interesting post from Baby Daddy about daddy sexism. It speaks of how people expect dad's to be incompetent at raising babies. As a dad, I have experienced this to, where people cannot believe that I change diapers-nay, changed diapers, my kids are done with them-cleaned up volumes of vomit, mostly from Eleanor.

I will discontinue my rant before it starts since Baby Daddy says it all.

important matters

Last Monday, a friend from our church was involved in a very serious car accident on her way to work. I have just spent a few minutes updating myself on her status here. I don't know her very well, Vanessa knows her a bit better than me. I do know that Esther has touched a countless number of lives in our community, and is very much loved by many.

Then I came over here to give the internet a quick update on our life, or some random story, whichever came to mind. I noticed the last post of mine, the one that rambles on about a computer crash and the headache it caused.

I have to say that I am a bit embarrassed that I spent 20 minutes writing a post instead of praying for our friend that is lying in a hospital bed heavily medicated so she can heal.

Please take a moment to thank God for all of the blessings that you have. So many things we take for granted, like getting to work and back safely. How many of us complain about the jobs we have to wait in traffic to get to, only to complain about the rush hour getting home?

I want to tell everyone to go out and do something good with your lives. Do something that makes a difference. Help people, heal people, lend a hand.

But until I can get out of my own complacency; until I stop being afraid to make a change; I can't really tell anyone else to now, can I?