This is Kodiak. My friend, Janet, is babysitting this Goldendoodle this week.  He’s been accompanying us on our walks each morning, and everyone that sees him stops to ask about him. I am totally smitten!

After much thought, my mom has made the decision to get a puppy.  My dad has Alzheimers and she thinks a dog would make a great companion for them.  I’ve been telling her this for some time now.  They haven’t had a dog in the house in years, and the dogs we did have were always mine.  They’re looking for a small companion dog, good with kids, not a yapper and that sheds a minimal amount.  Tomorrow I’m going to start calling around.  She told me that Ethan and I can make the final breed decision. 

We are VERY excited!  Any suggestions?  Ethan’s leaning toward a Yorkie because we have several Yorkie friends in the neighborhood.

Our sweetheart turns 13!

So, that’s what we did.  A boy, his Border Collie and a laser pen create a moment of entertainment and lots of laughter.

My oldest son’s little guy turned one today. Could the two of them be any cuter?

…when the weather just isn’t as good as you’d hoped it would it be.

Pretend you’re a baby in a basket.

Put swim goggles on your Border Collie.

Ride your scooter inside.

Bug people via IM and call them if they don’t respond quickly enough for you.

Play a little DS.

Get your mom to make you some of your favorite things for dinner.

And stay in your pajamas all day long!

Today Ethan’s school hosted a book fair at Barnes & Noble. Before we left we told Ethan he could pick out two books. He knew what he wanted before we got there. The third in the Harry Potter series, and Old Yeller. We had seen Old Yeller during our trip to Borders last week, but we were only buying one book that day and he chose the second in the Harry Potter series.

After spending several minutes looking for Old Yeller, we decided to seek assistance. As Ethan walked up to and asked the B&N sales associate if they had the book, she looked at me and mouthed “you know he dies, don’t you?” I just smiled and said yes.

We got the book, and were looking for the Harry Potter section when Ethan’s teacher from last year came up to us, and asked Ethan what books he’d chosen. She smiled and said “Old Yeller is a great classic.” And then she mouthed to me, “you know he dies, don’t you?” By this time, I’m about to scream, “YES, I fucking know this. I’ve read Old Yeller.” But I just smiled, and said yes.

Now we’re heading to the front to pay for our selections, and we run into the school librarian, who asks him what he’s chosen, and who also proclaims Old Yeller a great choice. And of course, she mouths to me, “you know he dies, don’t you?” Holy Fuckface, batman! I know this.

I’m the woman who took her son to see Marley and Me at the movies. I’m the woman who let him read Marley, A Dog Like No Other. I get it! It’s true. It’s real. We have a dog who is almost 13. A dog that looks a lot like Old Yeller and Marley. A dog that’s been in Ethan’s life since he was born. Yes, both those books are sad, and yes, our dog will die one day, too. And we will be beyond sad. We will cry and we will miss her and we will talk about her. But I will not make up a story and deny my son his chance to grieve.

Hopefully, reading about love and loss will better equip Ethan when he actually does lose his pet. I’m not trying to torture my child and force sadness upon him by letting him read either of these books. I just want him to have a heads up on life.

Bet you can’t guess what the guy at the register mouthed at me, can you?

This is our dog, Cujo. Cujo adores Ethan. Only Ethan can grab onto her and hug her like this…everyone else gets the cold shoulder. She will pretty much leap like a fawn and then trot off if you try to put her into a head lock  hug her.

She’ll be 13 years old this July, which was starting to get to me because I calculated her age to be about 90 years old in human years. I knew the 7 year thing didn’t work for the first couple of years because most dogs are pretty much full grown by the time they are a year old. I took that into account and then started doing the 7 year thing and sort of guessed.

I started digging around looking for a good dog years to human years conversion and found that Cujo is much younger than I had led myself to believe. I should have known because other than the gray hair, which many 30 and 40 year olds have, she’s pretty young.

If you’re interested in the conversion, here it is:

Age of Dog

“Human” Years

5 months = 10 years
8 months = 13 years
10 months = 14 years
1 year = 15 years
2 years = 24 years
3 years = 28 years
4 years = 32 years
5 years = 36 years
6 years = 40 years
7 years = 44 years
8 years = 48 years
9 years = 52 years
10 years = 56 years
11 years = 60 years
12 years = 64 years
13 years = 68 years
14 years = 72 years
15 years = 76 years
16 years = 80 years
17 years = 84 years
18 years = 88 years
19 years = 89 years
20 years = 93 years
21 years = 96 years
22 years = 99 years
23 years = 103 years
24 years = 106 years