I'm not a dog person.

I never had a dog growing up; we had cats. Always at least one, and even up to 4 for one short stint. I've never necessarily had a hatred toward the canine species, I just never had one--at least not that I was old enough to remember. So, when people would ask which I preferred I went with what I knew, and said 'cats'. I've yet to really understood what seemed to always follow, when more often than not the askee would screw up their face in an expression of disgust and say something along the lines of "UGH how can you like cats? Dogs are SO much better." and then they go into a list of why dogs are so far superior to (blekk) cats. Somehow i never seems to occur to these people that they're pretty much being assholes.

You don't see me saying, "Ewww I hate slobbery, smelly, butt-sniffing, hole-digging, pathetic attention-seeking mutts!" If I did--by all means, insult my precious, self-grooming, litter box trained by instinct, low-hassle feline friends who make you earn their affection rather than shoving it in your face like some Jezebel. Honestly, I'm not sure why it matters. It seems some "dog people" feel that it's pretty cut and dry and that being a "cat person" is considered a character flaw. I've actually had people come into my home and make comments like "eww, get it away!" should one of my boys venture over to graze their leg.(maybe they'd prefer he race up meowing and jump right into their arms?) I can't help but think, "Now wouldn't you be insulted if I came over and announced my disgust with your dog feeling the need to attack-yap at my entering the room, slobber in my hair and/or molest my leg?" I wouldn't think of it! After all, our pets are part of our families and we love them as if they were humans with actual emotions. (p.s. for the record, I know they don't have feelings--yet it still breaks my heart when I hear puppy yelps coming from the crate in the next room at bedtime)

OK--now before all you "dog people" start going all Cujo on me, heel. (ok, that was cheesy) I am now a dog owner. I knew marrying Jon that he would eventually feel the need to have a pooch companion, but I had made it quite clear that in no way was I on board for all that responsibility. I'm no dummie, I know puppies are high maintenance. Um potty training? No thanks! Chewed up shoes? Nuh-uh! One day Jon calls me up at work telling me about this puppy his mom has found, "can we get her?" Was he serious?? "Ha! I think you know the answer to that, Jon, we don't even have a fence yet and no dog is taking over my brand new house, messing up everything!" End of discussion....until later that night when he pulled a tricky move and showed me a picture of a homeless, 4 lb black lab mix whose eyes were begging. That night while I insisted there was no way we could get her, we agreed to name her Swisher.


> What heartless person could say no to this face?

So I know what you're probably thinking, that we got this precious pup and she became my new BFF and now we're inseparable? Wrong, my friends. I was exactly right from the start. Since little Miss Swish has claimed her residency here she has done all the annoying things I knew she would. She chews Jon's shoes (bc he lets her), she's soiled my carpet on a dozen or so occasions (which infuriates me BEYOND belief), she's embarrassed me so badly that we both left a groomer with our tails between our legs, and she consistently comes in with muddy paws and snout. However, what I did not expect is to grow quite as fond of her as I seem to be. It was not an instant adoration, let me be clear, this attachment grew over time. I'm quite proud to say that I single-handed taught her to sit and shake on command. She also no longer chokes herself out on walks, and she can play a killer game of fetch. I find it sickeningly adorable that she knows when I come home to sit at my feet and wait for me to get settled before demanding I pat her. I am slightly embarrassed to say I keep finding "dog collars" coming up in my etsy and ebay searches. It's not that I never thought I could love a dog, it's just that my tolerance for them has typically been on a case-by-case basis. My dream is for Swisher, Boomer and Norman to coexist peacefully...for now, they chase each other and fight like, well, cats and dogs. So even though I may take my dog to work with me on occasion and baby talk her daily, I still stand firm (partially I suppose, so as to not betray my loyal kitties) that I am not a dog person. :)

Thursday Comeback

You know how a lot of people have that one day of the week that they look forward to each week? For many it's Friday or the ever-popular Saturday. My friend Lindsey is especially fond of Wednesdays, which she affectionately calls Hump Day. I'm assuming it's because of the mile marker it serves, as a mid-week "you made it through 2 full work days, you're going to be ok". It could be because she can call it 'Hump' Day, and maybe make a few people wonder if she's being dirty, or at the very least, get a few good giggles out of it.

Anyhow, I started getting a little envious of her excitement just for a day that is sure to come each week. So I started thinking about what day really gets me goin', and I came up with Thursday. I mean, what's there not to like about Thursday?? Yeah, you have to go to work, but by this point in the week it's time to start mentally shutting down for the weekend. Thursday is just so versatile. I think what I most anticipate is Thursday evening, because it holds so many possibilities. You can kick off the weekend a little early, let loose (Thirsty Thursday, anyone?) and go out or get together with friends, because after all, who really expects you to be worth a poo Friday morning? Friday work days are essentially pointless most weeks. If you're not quite ready for the weekend you can always choose the less exciting, but sometimes necessary Thursday night in. It serves its purpose to recharge your batteries for the weekend and typically provides decent TV. Now, by no means am I saying Thursday is better than the weekend, because I consider those 'S' days to be in a totally different category, but as far as weekdays go, Thursdays are excitement worthy in my book.

Today happens to be a pretty eventful Thursday, one I've been pumped for weeks to get here! A month or so ago my sister-in-law, Casey, and I got tickets to go see Tim McGraw (along with Lady Antebellum) in concert. I've been looking forward to it since, and anticipate a pretty good time. But a few weeks ago I got thrown another Thursday curveball when I got scheduled for today, a second interview for a teaching position I'd really like to get. I guess you could say all this Thursday excitement inspired me to start this thing back up. I'm off to my interview now, so wish me luck!