How could you refuse this face?

So, new puppy, so great, so cute, blah blah. But, my God, this poor little guy came with some issues. We love our breeder, and she cares very much for her dogs, but I guess when you're breeding puppies on a farm with lots of other dogs and animals around, it's inevitable that some of them are going to develop some fun health problems. So far, we have ear mites, a skin infection due to either allergies or some type of mange (eek!), and some intestinal difficulties due to, well, I'll spare you. So, total charge so far for vet visits, vaccines, special allergy-free puppy food, and all his medications? Well over $200, and we've only had him for two weeks! But, what else would we do but shell it out for our newest baby? I mean, are you looking at his face up there? Plus, this is a mere drop in the bucket considering our older dog got hit by a car which wrecked his paw and, 3 months later, fractured the growth plate in one of his knees, all before his first birthday, and all on a grad school budget (he recovered completely).

So, are human kids any cheaper? No? Damn.

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

Here is a gratuitous dog picture - steel yourselves...there will be plenty more where this came from. Of all the adorable pictures we've taken so far (um, maybe like 178? in the two weeks we've had the new puppy?), this is my favorite. If I could caption this picture, it would be,"Seriously, people, what the fuck is this thing? It's chewing my toys! And, like, laying on me! Please, God, help me. I will kill you for this, humans."

I am pleased to report that he has now decided that he (mostly) likes his new little brother. Even when his little brother is sinking his tiny, needle-like fangs into his ears.

Why is it that....

...new puppies wait just long enough to convince you that they "get" that they're supposed to do their business outside, lull you into a complacent state of mind, and then wait until your reading blogs to shit on the carpet?

...I complain about my husband being underfoot/bugging me constantly/not letting me get any work done since he graduated from his MBA program in May, and now that he's started school again, I miss him desperately and feel like I'm left with all my "real" work AND the housework (like cleaning up puppy poop)?

...my client had me spend hours and hours, over a matter of weeks, trying to schedule meetings around her crazy schedule for the both of us to attend, only to decide two days before we're due to depart that she doesn't think she needs to go anyway?

...I can spend hours and hours feverishly working on a personal work-out and diet plan/detailed family budget/new blog template, only to abandon said effort 3 days later with nary a second thought?

...I am already falling back on lists, when it's only my second day of blogging?

Entry 2 (in 2 years)

So, let's see what happened in the last two years. Husband: STILL in grad school (though moved on to PhD in education, after graduating from MBA program, so at least he's home more and on the golf course less). Me: STILL working from home. However, at the end of my work day today I am wearing...workout clothes instead of pajamas! That's progress, folks. What else? Different house - actually own this one, v. exciting. Lots more work (our yard is an acre and a veritable jungle, I'm not even kidding), but very fun. And, finally, two dogs instead of one, the newest of which is 10 weeks old, because we're INSANE. Actually, it has been super fun so far, and easier than we thought. Here's a little secret: whereas your first dog is likely extremely (and overly) attached to you, the second dog will attach himself to the first dog, worshipping him and loving him and biting the ever-loving shit out of his ears, nose, tail, etc. Therefore, you can let the puppy torture your older dog while you turn back to the computer. Ta da! Pet ownership at its finest.*

So, life is good - it's been a crazy, often completely shitty couple of years since I wrote that first entry, but we'll get into that later. Tah!


*I am completely kidding - we are those sick kinds of people that treat their dogs like their children. In fact, we are still feeling very guilty that we went and ruined the pampered, solo life of our first "baby." But, he will thank us one day when we have human babies and he has someone to play with...no, really.

Where was I?

It’s amazing what you may decide to undertake when it’s 5:02 pm** and you are so, so tired of the paper-from-hell you have been working on for months that makes you cry.

“Hey, I know…since I already spend far too many hours reading blogs (thus, preventing me from doing the work I get paid for), I’ll start my own!” Yeah, that’s a great idea. Though, I will go to any lengths for distraction whilst sitting in front of my computer in my home office at the end of my working day, trying to forget that I’m still in my pajamas and my hair is in the exact state it was in when I arose this morning.

Side note: The title of this blog refers to said hair. Due to its volume (plentiful) and texture (uh, crimpy?), it has been my most defining feature since it finally appeared at the age of two. Yes, until then my babysitter taped bows to my head, so upset was she that strangers often referred to me as a “cute little boy.” Now, at the age of 29, and having discovered the magical elixir that is Aveda Confixor, I actually receive many compliments. Yeah. Where was I going with this?

So, here I am with a blog. I have always had a love-hate relationship with writing. I came to me easily enough in school, and I now do it for a living (in very dry fashion) as a policy analyst working for a nonprofit organization. I will tell anyone who asks that I really like what I do and feel that I am pretty successful at it. But when I am in the middle of a paper, memo, whatever, you can often find me tearing my hair out and weeping, likely due to my attention span, akin to a gnat’s, and my gift for procrastination. But, hey, a blog? That’s little bits of writing at a time. On whatever I want. Refreshing.

To be honest, what truly inspired me to start this blog was the many intelligent, witty, intriguing, spit-coffee-on-my-keyboard-funny women writers I have found in the blog world. I’ve got nothing on these ladies…nothing at all. But, they’ve inspired me with their very honest, and incredibly funny stories and you, internet, will now have to put up with my ditherings…sorry.

Plus, and let me back off of the cheezy goodness now, I work from home, never see my husband who is busting his ass in grad school, and spend so much time talking to the dog that I’m convinced he’s going to talk back one day just to tell me to, “Can it, bitch.” Let’s face it, I can use all the distractions I can get.

**Technically, it's 4:47 pm, two freakin' years after I wrote this first post. Back then, I published....mmmm.....3 entries? Because that's so typical of me? So here goes take two. Maybe blogging for free this time around will be more inspiring.