MizzM

Well, I got the dog early, under all the wrong circumstances. And I didn’t get a mutt from the Animal Shelter as I had originally planned. My parents acquired 2 puppies last year, one a Cairn Terrier (male) and the other a Welsh Terrier (female). My mother went into the hospital for surgery in February, and I brought the dogs to my house, installing a doggie-door, so they would have access to the backyard. My parents did not have a fenced backyard, so without my Mom home to take them out every few hours, this was the only viable solution during her hospitalization and recovery.

Sadly, my mother died of complications from the surgery in March. Both dogs remained with me, but they began fighting terribly-to the point where they were drawing blood (Molly is definitely the Alpha and considered Dobby to be a giant pest). We had to give Dobby away to a new home (found a family through the vet). Molly is definitely more-suited to being an “only dog” and couldn’t be happier having “her humans” all to herself. She is never aggressive with the kids, and they love her. I never really saw myself as being one of those people who owned a dog that cost hundreds of dollars and came with “papers,” but I am enjoying having a canine companion again. She is a bit of a handful, though-if you don’t pay enough attention to her, she will snag anything of yours she can get a hold of and destroy it (shoes, toys, stuffed animals, underwear, etc.) She is also quite the little escape artist, so we have had to “fortify” our back walls and watch her around open doors because she bolts and is difficult to catch because she sees it as a game.

But, we love her anyway, and the kids are so good with her! They play with her, take her for walks, try to teach her tricks, miss her when they are away, feed her, spoil her…

She exasperates me sometimes (she is STILL not housebroken, despite having a doggie door), but she is a beautiful dog with loads of personality. I understand now why my mother wanted a Welsh Terrier so much. I am glad we were able to keep her in “the family,” and we can check on Dobby every time we go to the Vet (Dobby belongs to the sister of one of the Vet Assistants).

So, another goal to cross off my list-she’s definitely the 4th member of our little family!

Well, I procrastinated on this goal for so long, I finally resolved it by packing all of my crap up and moving it, so now it’s all in boxes in my garage!

But, I’m still keeping it as a goal, because I eventually need to weed through all of those boxes! I have started boxes for donations to thrift stores that support charities, and I’m also actually contemplating a garage sale. YIKES!

Since I am in the “unpacking mode” for my new house, I expect to get all of this accomplished within the next couple of months. I’m having a big Open House/40th Birthday Bash in September, so that deadline ought to force me get a whole lot done in August!

I was in St. Louis, MO for the last 2 weeks attending a business conference. While visiting the Arch, I poked around in the gift shop and found a DVD on Yellowstone from a National Geographic special. I’m going to watch it with the kids and try to get them excited about the trip!

I am setting aside $50 every pay period in a separate savings account to get ready. I also bought a house, so I’m anticipating I will have a pretty good-sized income tax refund in February to help with expenses. I’m traveling a lot for work, and every time the flights are over-booked, and they are always looking for volunteers to take later flights, offering 2 round-trip tickets as incentives. One of these days, I’m going to take them up on that offer!

I’m leaning towards flying to Salt Lake City or Boise and driving from there to the Park. 4 days of driving just seems a bit much, both for me as the only driver, and for the kids, so I think airline tickets are going to be a necessary part of the package.

I tell everyone I know that I’m going to Yellowstone because it puts more pressure on me to actually make it happen! Even with the new house payments, I should be able to do this for my kids.

I’m DETERMINED to take them on a REAL vacation!