Woo hooo!! I made it! 31 straight days of blogging! It was much easier than I thought. And I really enjoyed it! Hope you did as well.
To celebrate, I’m actually talking about the dog today!
(ha! You knew I would get there eventually!)
This is not the dog. It’s my Godson Peter. Isn’t he cute?
Five things I’ve learned by having a puppy
1) Routines help maintain sanity (mine and his!). He sleeps from 7pm-10pm and then I gently awaken him to go outside for an evening poo. He’s happy that I am on a schedule.
2) Socializing at the dog park is actually fun! It helps that he’s so cute that everyone is happy to see him (and me, by default).
Not as cute as the Godson but cute just the same
3) I have enormous compassion now for working moms who struggle to get out the door in the morning making sure everyone is dressed and has all their stuff. And I only have a dog on a leash. You can’t put your kids on a leash (can you?).
4) When I run out of small talk (30 seconds into any conversation because I abhor small talk), I can always default to discussing Brogan. People love talking about their dogs. Dog people are really nice.
5) Love takes time to build. The hubs is totally and madly in love with this dog. Me? I love him, yes, but it’s not like it was after 16 years with Max. Max was so like my child, I knew him inside and out. Brogan is like a little maniac who has come to stay with us for a while and I care about him but I’m waiting for that love to grow and deepen. I know it will. (I still really, really miss Max. Like big time.)
Thanks to everyone who left comments on all the posts for sharing your thoughts, for sharing my journey this month to step into the light more and for all the love and support.
It makes me really happy to know you are reading the stuff that’s in my head.
(Well, the stuff I put on here. You probably don’t want to be around there when I’m cleaning cat barf and whatnot!)
Lovely post Lisa, give yourself some time you probably feel unconsciously disloyal to Max if you love Brogan too much.
Congratulations on completing the challenge. Thanks for sharing a picture of Brogan. Adorable! We only had Riley for a week or so and it felt weird wanting another dog so soon after she passed. Johan wanted to wait a year. But something was pushing me to get a dog and each week the push was stronger (louder) and then I found Blue. Johan is so in love with Blue and I’m finally seeing a wonderful side of my boyfriend and our dogs. He’s not leaving the work to me, we share it and it’s fun!
I absolutely adore you! More podcasts please ๐
Brogan’s a cutie for sure. We loved going to the dog park, and while the dog still enjoys going to run, she seems less into going to socialize with other dogs, so it seems not as worth it to us (our parks have a daily or annual fee). But I agree with you on pretty much all points. The only one I differ with you on was that love takes time to build, but maybe that’s because Trixie was my first dog that wasn’t a family dog (I grew up with a dog), and because I fell in love with her the second I saw her picture online, and more when we went and saw her at a shelter. By the time I’d brought her home, I was in deep, much like your husband. I imagine when the time comes and we get a second dog, I’ll feel similar to you about him or her.
On another note, I love that you gently wake the pup up to take him out at night. Just the other night, I carried Trixie to bed. Aside from the leash thing, they are very much like kids sometimes, aren’t they? ๐
Lisa, congratulations on completing the blog challenge. I have really enjoyed reading your pieces every day. I am still too worn out on a daily basis from dealing with my son to even think about getting a dog right now (and my son is 9). Kudos to you for dealing with a puppy. And thanks for sharing a picture of his cute, furry self.
Congrats! You did it! I read every one ๐
Yes I do accept awards for getting out the door with a 4 and 8 year old (and all their stuff and homework and projects, lunch and breakfast, blankies etc) plus not letting the 3 dogs or 3 cats out at the same time. I may be nominated for sainthood any day now! And I even sometimes remember my coffee…
Congratulations! Such a cute doggie! And yes, you can absolutely put kids on leashes. I recommend it, especially at the mall. But letting them poo outside is probably frowned upon. ๐
Congratulations Lisa on stepping up to the challenge and then completing it! It was fun to read each post and see things from your perspective.
Both Brogan & Peter are cuties!
Your puppy is very cute! Sounds like an adventure!