This F*ing HEAT

rant

What is with this freaking heat?! I'm ready to spontaneously combust, I swear. I really, really look forward to the crisp Fall temps. I suffer through Summer with the thought of the lovely relief that comes in September. Well, we've spent the last week (really, since last Friday) in a 89 - 91* hot & humid HELL. First the temperature was supposed to break by Wednesday. Nope. Then Thursday. Nope. Finally, this morning I was convinced that I was going to finally wake up to my cool Autumn morning -- NO! Not so much. Ugh, I really hate this weather. HATE IT. Swampy and sticky and completely uncomfortable. I'm sick of having to run an air-conditioner, I'm sick of running around in the morning, only to over-heat so much that sweat slicks off my face and pours through my freshly washed hair. I have to bring papertowels into the backyard with me in the morning so that I can mop up my face while the dogs do their "chores". Ugh! I hate it, hate it, hate it.

/rant

Obsessed with Boxer Rescue!

Why, oh WHY? Can I not stop checking in at the Boxer Rescue site??? I now have my perfectly wonderful rescue dog (who is doing wonderfully, btw), but I'm still obsessed with checking their site (particularly the "Available Dogs" section) a couple of times a day. Someone please save me from myself! Sheesh!

Life in the "Country"

As much as I really have been enjoying living in the "country" (well, I'm not exactly rural, but where I live is not the type of suburban as one would encounter in metro NYC), once in a while I am reminded that perhaps I had lived in the City for far too long. I can handle the moose & bear sightings and sitting out on the deck at dusk and watching the bats come out and fritter above eating mosquitoes (I actually find all of that pretty cool). But last night when Fitz wasn't waiting right at the back door with the other dogs after a pee break, I knew that something was up. I went into the yard with a flashlight calling him and there he came shooting out from under the deck looking guilty and carrying something in his mouth that I immediately knew he shouldn't be carrying. As I chased him and got closer I realized that it was a dead chipmunk -- ewwwwwww! So there I stood in my backyard screaming & yelling at him and swinging the flashlight as I freaked out (the neighbors must think I'm insane). I finally managed to grab a hold of the dog and carry him struggling inside. I then had the lovely job of going back out into the yard with a papertowel so that I could pick up the corpse and deposit it over the fence -- ICK!

More Dog Pictures

Today's Dog Walk

Tig is doing well ...

Wow, we're about five days in at this stage and everything is going very well with all the dogs and especially with Tig. He seems very happy and well adjusted here, I have not noticed any anxiety or fear from him at all. Tig has been sleeping in the bed with Lola (older Pug) and me and has been wonderful, except he sure does like to take up a lot of real estate! I think that he finally figured out sometime last night that he didn't have to get up and come with me to the bathroom during the night, at least not every time. He still seems to want to keep an eye on me though.

Today was my first day back to work since adopting him, so I was really curious to see how it would go. I've decided that I'm going to return the ginormous crate that I bought and so I took a chance and gated him in the kitchen (using the ridiculously short, pug-sized gate that he could have stepped over at any time). Today was an unfortunate day too, one where I had six(!) meetings and plenty of work and thus no time to run home during the day or even to come home a little early. But when I finally made it home he was still in the kitchen, nothing was chewed, nothing had been pulled off the counter tops, no accidents, nothing. Just a happy, excited Boxer who was over the Moon to see me. So, I'm thinking that maybe a crate won't be needed for him after all, which is especially nice for him, considering how much he has been crated so far in his young life, I am happy that he can probably say goodbye to that now.

This morning I took all three dogs for a walk before I left for work (probably a little over a mile or so) and then for another walk after work (about two miles) all dogs walking nicely beside or behind me -- I continue to be: Master of the Dogs -- heh. I think it will be best for all involved if I can continue this routine.

So anyway, Tig continues to be a truly wonderful dog. I am really glad that I decided to give the rescue thing a try, it was definitely worth all the hoops I had to jump through and the months of waiting.

Some Tig Pictures

they're not all that great, hopefully I can get some better ones soon ...

As you can see, wherever Tig is, Fitz is always somewhere close by!

"Tigger" Update

Well, I brought him home! He really is a wonderful & sweet dog. He already is quite affectionate and attached to me, not reserved at all. His story is a bit of a strange one, his former family got him out of a shelter last October, he was only a couple of months old at the time! Just so odd to think that a purebred dog like that was in the pound that young, no one seems to know how that happened. Anyway, the former family basically kept him crated day & night and finally gave him up to rescue a short time ago when they faced the fact that they were never going to be able to give him more than that. He's amazingly happy and outgoing for a dog that hasn't been offered a lot of socialization or affection up until a few weeks ago.

I have to say that I am just so happy & excited about this dog! Tig (not crazy about the name "Tigger", so I've been calling him "Tig") is wonderful. I was slightly concerned at first about how Fitz and he were going to get along because Fitz was a little overwhelmed by him at the rescue house this morning. He wasn't fearful or cowering, but he wasn't up to his usual play & exuberance standards. But once we got home and everyone settled in, it's been great! Both dogs have been playing so well together. Fitz is all over Tig, continuously engaging him in play and in total Heaven because Tig is happy to chase him around the yard. Once Tig catches him, Fitz will stop and roll and then bounce right up again and start all over again. To Tig's credit, when he catches Fitz, he bumps his nose into him almost like he's tagged him, but doesn't pounce hard on him or anything (I was worried how a lively bigger dog would be with a lively smaller one -- I wasn't too worried about aggression, but was worried maybe things could get out of hand with play). With Lola on the other hand, Tig has been completely respectful. He's interested in her, but hasn't bothered her too much. Lola seems happy because more of Fitz's attention seems focused on the new dog, so she is no longer bearing the brunt of Fitz's attention.

Anyway, Fitz is completely enamoured by him, it's almost like he has a big brother to look up to, he's been following Tig everywhere. Tig, on the other hand has been following me everywhere. I took him for a nice, long walk, just the two of us, to start to get to know him a bit, to help acclimate him to our neighborhood and to drain energy also. Anyway, he's an absolute dream on the lead. Loose leash the entire walk, he stayed right beside my side the whole time barely distracted by people and other dogs and squirrels and such. We passed this woman with a fluffy white dog twice (walking the opposite direction of the loop) and the second time she, almost in an embarrassed way, laughed about how her dog was making her do what he wants -- I honestly think she was impressed by how Tig was walking so nicely with me, especially compared to her dog. I wish I could take the credit for it, but it was pretty much all him. So anyway, so far, so good. It seems like a pretty good match!

Dog Adoption Update

I received an email from the President of the Boxer rescue group about a dog that she has been fostering that she feels may be a good fit. "Tigger" is about a year old (about the same age as Fitz) and just sounds like a wonderful dog -- I had the opportunity to have a long conversation with the rescue woman about him on Wednesday night and came away from it very excited to meet this guy. He's a small-ish (on the shorter side, 45 lbs, but very muscular) brindle Boxer who is energetic, but enthusiastic, loving, listens, likes to learn, loves to play and is great with other dogs. He's also completely housebroken and crate trained. So, I'm packing up my dogs and driving down to Bellingham, MA tomorrow morning to meet him. If all the dogs get along and it looks like a good match, I'll most likely be bringing him home with us tomorrow! I will post an update here over the weekend either way.

Crazy

Do you ever get the feeling that you're so crazy busy and going in so many different directions that you're actually getting nothing at all done? Thus has been my life at work lately. It's great, but ... it's nutz.

Email trapped in the SPAM folder since Tuesday morning (sheesh!)

"Congratulations! You have completed all the steps in our adoption process and you are now approved to adopt one of our dogs. We recommend that you become pro-active in this matching process, and work with us to match the right dog to your specific circumstances. Please continue to review our available dogs and contact us when a dog that you believe to be a good match for you and your family is available. Be sure to read that particular dog’s information to ensure you can offer what he/she needs (another dog, a fenced yard, someone home more often than not, etc.) and remember that the goal is to find the best match for you regardless of age, gender, color, etc.

THANK YOU! "

YAY! I'm officially approved! I guess I'm an acceptable adopter, imagine that?

What a Ditz

I don't know whether I'm losing my mind or what, but I swear I had an 8 AM meeting today. I got up early, rushed through my morning routine, got to work by about 7:15 AM so that I could enjoy a cup of coffee and read some email without having to rush around to be ready for the meeting to start ... Well, I just realized that I haven't seen a reminder yet so I checked my calendar and ... no 8 AM meeting! WTF? Did it disappear? Did I imagine it? Did I get the days mixed up? Am I just going insane? Well, at least it's nice and quiet here for a little while, so I can enjoy that before the craziness starts. But still ... SHEESH! It's going to be a loooooong day.

Dog Interview Update

So I had my home visit with the rescue group last night and it went very well. The woman they sent seemed to really like my home and was also impressed with my dogs (who behaved very well, I might add) and said that I obviously love them and care for them well. She brought her 12 week-old Boxer puppy with her to see how my dogs interacted with him and I was just ready to swoon over with love for this cutie! What a face! 12 weeks old and he & Fitz were about evenly matched in height, although Fitz has a lot more girth on him. Anyway, it was fun to watch them romping in the yard and there was obviously no problem with any of the dogs getting along, so no flags there for the group. So, I believe I've passed all the hurdles at this point. As she was leaving she said that she would file her report right away (that night) and that the next step is that the rescue group directors would be in touch with me about dog placement! So ... YAY!

Is it possible to LOVE an appliance?

Because, if it is, I think I truly love my new vacuum. I've come late to the Dyson craze of course. I know many people who have one or another version of this vacuum (I purchased "The Animal") and all have been singing its praises for years. I knew that it was just a matter of time before I caved and got one. There have been a lot of things on my financial plate, however (buying a car, buying a house, buying stuff for the house, or improvements, etc. thousands of $$$ in dental work, and so on) so a new vacuum had been pretty low on the priority list. That is until I broke my old vacuum by sucking up something it wasn't suppose to suck. Then the question is, to cheap out and buy a lesser vacuum to make do with and someday upgrade to the Dyson? Or just bite the bullet and go for it. I went for it. Well, let me tell you, this thing is incredible! I'm almost embarrassed to explain how much dog hair it sucked up. And then today after using it, I realized that I needed to empty the cannister. I was dreading this exercise with the bag-less unit expecting it to be a messy & complicated ordeal, but I was incredibly impressed with how easy it was! I had brought both vacuum and trash can out on the deck, anticipating the big mess when really all that was involved was clicking the cannister off the machine, holding it above the trash and pulling a trigger. The bottom flipped open and all dust and hair, etc. slid easily out and into the can. It couldn't have been easier. So yes, anything that makes my life easier and a dreaded chore a pleasure is worth at least a blog post in my book.

Work is Lovely

I have to say that I've really been loving my job lately. I've been extremely engaged and busy and involved in an ever increasing variety of stuff, all of it at the same time both interesting and overwhelming. I have so much to learn, but I feel continuously grateful for the opportunity to do so.

So Excited

I am a step closer to adopting a rescue Boxer dog. The rescue group with whom I filled out an application contacted me about a month or so ago for an in-depth phone interview and they followed up by contacting my personal & vet references. Well, I must have passed all that because I received an email yesterday from a woman with the group who wants to set up a home visit. After a little back and forth it looks like we're targeting for Monday evening! I had really hoped for a weekend because I would presumably have a chance to wear out my dogs (especially Fitz) a bit in preparation for the meeting, and especially as she plans to bring her male Boxer along to see how my dogs interact, but hopefully everything will still be alright. If all goes well, there may very well be a Boxer out there that will be a great fit for my little canine family.

Seen at Work Today

A woman dressed head-to-toe in plum velour long-sleeved top and matching pants. In August. Didn't anyone tell her it's like 80-something degrees outside?

and now I'm getting sick!

Sore throat, keep sneezing, etc. This is just fantastic news.

(oh yeah and my iron count was too low to donate blood today)

People are so freaking inconsiderate!

So, I get to work this morning and all is pretty quiet except ... some asshat two cubes up who is on an early morning conference call on her freaking speaker phone!!! WTF???!!! Oh don't worry hon, the World truly does revolve around you. Sheesh!

Okay, someone just shoot me!

I have 5 meetings tomorrow. FIVE!!!