Brigid and Her Pets

Brigid has decided that she needs a new pet. Even though we already have two dogs, and two cats, and a whole freak-load of fish that I fought against repeatedly but was overruled by my but-I-had-fish-when-I-was-a-kid husband, she keeps telling me she needs a puppy of her own.

Actually, her exact words were 'Mommy, I want to adopt a puppy for awhile like grandma (Steve's mom is currently fostering a rescue dog for a local shelter), but I also want one that I can keep until it dies.'

So. That's not morbid at all, right?

Anyway, I keep telling her that she can have any of the animals that we already own all for her very own, but she's insistent that she wants to pick one out for herself. She gets her stubbornness from me, I think.

Luckily, I have YEARS of practice at that stubbornness on her, so in spite of her nonstop badgering, a third dog is not in the cards for us, at all. She's just going to have to make due with the animals we already have.

I think she's going to be fine... 

Best Friends

As much of a pain in the rear as this dog can be, she is beyond patient with my baby, so I've told her she can stay with us a little longer.

(Also, she puts off a lot of body heat, which makes her great to snuggle with at all times, because I run cold. BUT! The next time she steals my dinner out from under me? We're having words. Cute and warm only covers for so much, and Tara doesn't share food...)

A Girl and her Dog

Our terrier has always been MY dog. I named her Peyton, after my (former) Colts quarterback. She's always slept on my side of the bed, under the covers, down by my feet. If Steve (or anyone, really, for that matter) tries to hug me, she starts barking her fool head off.

She protects me. She's my dog.

But lately, I've noticed a shift in loyalties.

She protects BRIGID, now, when Steve 'gets' her. She jumps up excitedly on BRIGID when we get home. She lets BRIGID comfort her when she's hiding from thunderstorms that are out and about.




Brigid, Brigid, Brigid.

I'm not so sure I really like where this is heading...

Perspective

I know my poor dog is not the most favorite animal around these parts, mostly because she's the most obnoxiously annoying dog in the HISTORY of dogs, but you know what?

Brigid kind of likes her...


And that's good enough for me.

Because Steve doesn't have a blog...

...I have to do his dirty work for him.

In his own words, via text message I received last night before I left work for the evening:

She won't share.

I'm 95% certain that Steve took this picture a split second before the dogs realized they were bigger/stronger than Brigid, plus had strength in numbers on their side, and mob rushed her for control of the cereal bowl. Because they have NEVER been this gentle and patient with me...

The Plague, Part 2

So, I've recovered from the plague, just in time to see my mother-in-law and husband both go down with it.

Fun times in the household, let me tell you.

And, because when one person is suffering from the plague, we all suffer from it, I'm following through with my threat from yesterday...

Presenting Peyton, the squirrel!





She looks thrilled, doesn't she?

A girl and her dog...

Sorry, one more from yesterday...




And Steve claims that the two dogs currently living in our house will be the last two dogs that we ever own.

I'd like to see him convince this one of that...

Fashion Statement

My poor Riley has a hot spot/callous/open wound type of sore on her elbow that she won't stop messing with, and it's gotten a little gross. We (and by we, I mean Steve) took her to the vet on Friday to see if it was something that we were going to have to have surgically removed, or if we could just take care of it with a topical ointment and some antibiotics. The vet said surgery wasn't really necessary, but we really had to find some way to keep Riley from licking that spot if we wanted it to heal.

So, we found a way...








She looks good, doesn't she?

(Seriously, dogs in t-shirts and massive piles of toddler toys in the background. This is my glamorous, glamorous life, folks!

Exhausted

We were up until midnight last night, watching the 'particularly dangerous situation' (as coined by the National Weather Service) weather warnings develop all around us. I hate storms. The tornado causing ones, anyway. They scare me, hence the lack of sleep.

The girls were not pleased with me for postponing bedtime. Not at all...

NOM!

I promise, Brigid is actually kissing the dog, not trying to swallow her whole. My house may be a wild animal kingdom, but we do feed our child pretty regularly. We try not to leave her to fend for herself that often.

Although, as many times as Riley has nicked food off of B's plate, she probably does owe the poor kid a bite or two...

Best Friends

See, Mom? 

I told you Brigid and Riley were getting along beautifully!

Happy Monday to all!

Bullet Points!

Yes, it’s that time of the news cycle again, when there’s not much going on, but I’ve still got things to say. You know what that means? Bullet points, people! I love bullet points…

• Tooth Watch 2010 continues, with no end in sight. I swear, I can see the tooth (or possibly teeth…at this point I’m expecting about six to come in at once) under the gum, but it just won’t come through. Steve and I are out of town this weekend, and my in-laws are staying at my house with the baby, and I’m starting to get a little concerned about how this whole tooth thing will play out. This might be the first and last time my in-laws volunteer to watch the kid overnight.

Ever.

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• Oh yeah, I am going out of town. Without my kid. For the first time since she made her appearance in this world. Steve and I are heading to Denver for a wedding, which I’m very excited about because I love weddings, I love Denver, I’m ridiculously happy for the people we are going to see get married, and I’m looking forward to a night or two of sleep without the possibility of dog and/or baby wake-ups in the middle of the night.

But still. No baby. At all. For almost three days. Sad.

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• Brigid and the waving at pictures is getting out of control. It's now to the point that a picture of me gets more of a reaction out of her than my actual person does. So while I will be sad to be away from her this weekend, she will obviously be fine.

Not sure how I feel about that.

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• For my entire life, I’ve rebelled against yard work. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. I’ll dust and vacuum and wash dishes and do laundry, but I will not step foot outside of the house to so much as water a flower. I. Hate. Yard work.

But recently, I’ve been on this kick to challenge myself in my everyday life. To spend some time outside of my comfort zone, if you will (oh, corporate buzzwords, how I love you!). I don’t know if it has more to do with turning 30, or having the baby, or realizing that I’m pretty much settled in house and career right now, so I need to pick up my thrills through a different kind of change, but I’m working on shaking things up a bit. Nothing major, just small things like re-working my work-out plan to include running. Taking Brigid to the big pool in our neighborhood (and forcing myself into a swimsuit in public…) instead of taking the easy way out and plopping her in the baby pool on the back porch. Yard work.

Nothing says ‘I’m old’ like deciding to change things up by doing yard work.

Anyway, I’ve reached the conclusion that yard work really isn’t so bad. In fact, I actually kind of like it. What I don’t like so much is doing said yard work in 100 degree heat, in sweatpants to avoid the bajillion bug bites the bajillion bugs in my back yard are trying to give me, after a night of a couple of drinks. That’s a little miserable. Other than that, though, things are off to a great start…I may even actually fill the empty planters currently sitting out on my porch for show. I feel like getting crazy.

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• If there is such thing as reincarnation, and we get to choose what we come back as, I want to come back as one of these two fools:

That seems like it would be nice.

I'm in better shape than my dogs...so, there's that.

I'm on week seven of the Couch to 5k program, which means I can officially run for 25 minutes straight, without passing out. I know this might seem a little lame to those friends of mine who are crazy, crazy running-type people, but this is huge for me. It also means I've stuck with a work-out program for seven weeks, so I'm pretty proud of myself right now.  But there's a small problem with starting this program in the heat of the Georgia summer.

I seem to have outpaced my running partners.

I took Peyton out last week for two ten minute running segments, with a three minute walking segment in the middle, and she started dragging towards the end.  Then, she came home and stood on top of the register for twenty minutes, using the air conditioner to cool off.  So I figured she wasn't really up for the next stage of continuous running, and I took Riley along instead.  Peyton was pissed.

Now, Riley, with her longer legs, barely put any effort into the run.  She was basically walking quickly next to me, which was pretty annoying.  At least Peyton's short little legs made me feel like we were actually moving at a quicker pace when we went out together.  Riley just highlighted how slow my 'run' actually is.  But even she didn't look so good when everything was said and done...

So, today, I left them both behind, and I just went out on my own.

Wimps.

State of the Union

There is this car.

I really want this car. There is currently a really, really ridiculously good-looking deal on this car. But this car? It's not so practical for somebody with a child, if that child comes with a car seat and a stroller and a diaper bag and whatever else children generally come with these days.

But still...I want this car.

And honestly, it wouldn't be impossible to make this car work in my life. It just wouldn't be as sensible as, say, a four door Honda Accord.

At the moment, I've made the decision to not buy this car. But my emotions, they are fragile these days, and I am irrationally upset by this decision. And despite the knowledge that I am being irrational, it is not making me less upset about things, even 24 hours later. So I reserve the right to change my mind. Nothing like a little emotional binge shopping to get you through the day.

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Brigid seems to be feeling better, which is fantastic. She actually slept through the night last night, for the first time in a week, and I was pretty ecstatic about that. So was Steve, who was on baby duty for the night. Of course, tonight is my night to get up with her, if it comes to that, so of course, it will probably come to that.

Also, there's this.





Babies are gross.

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I'm on week three of the Couch to 5K program. And so far, so good.

Peyton is a huge fan of our new exercise regimen. She recognizes my running shoes, to the point that I have to put them on in a different room, with the door closed, or she will try to sit in my lap while I'm trying to get them on...that's how afraid she is of being left behind. And apparently, Riley, as the one that is left behind, has taken to whining and staring at the door in sadness when we leave.

I feel bad for her. I do. But I tried to take them both out once, and I gave up before we'd made it past three houses. Riley, she is stronger than I am. And I think she knows it. So we're just going to stick with running Peyton for now.

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Steve is still Steve. I'll let you reach your own conclusions on that one...

Happy Thursday!

One week down...

...eight more to go!

I've officially completed my first week of the couch to 5K program, so...woo! Steve and I are going to see Avenue Q tonight, and I can't do my normal evening run, so Brigid and I headed out this afternoon, instead. And it sucked!

Ok, it didn't suck, exactly, but it was a lot harder than it has been, which I think had more to do with the weather today than anything else. Turns out, running in post-thunderstorm humidity isn't great for my endurance. Who knew? And pushing a stroller while trying to run uphill? Also not that much fun.

My new running partner may have made the process a little more difficult, but she makes a fantastic pack mule...




And, she's not so bad to look at, either...




Plus, I didn't have to stop midway through the route to pick up poop, like I do with my usual buddy, who was less than enthusiastic about being left behind today...




Oh well. I'll try to make it up to her next week, I guess.

Week two, here I come!

Reason #465 why having dogs is a bad idea...

So, Brigid has slept pretty well the last couple of nights. She's been asleep by 8:30, and although she's gotten up a little earlier in the morning than we would like, she hasn't been waking up in the middle of the night.

So, you'd have thought this would mean some good sleep for me, right? WRONG! Because the dogs? The dogs have been up at 4am the last two nights, needing to go out.

Seriously. I just can't catch a break!



*Don't listen to her. Does it look like we ever cause any problems?*