Deep thoughts......

Just a little observation I made lately.... A life lesson of sorts... Pay attention people...

No one MAKES you feel uncomfortable. No one MAKES you scared. No one MAKES you sad. No one MAKES you feel anything, unless YOU ALLOW them to make you feel that way. Only you have control of your own feelings. I think that if you believe that someone else has made you feel uncomfortable, it is much more likely that your guilty conscience is nipping at you! So take that mirror that you are pointing at everyone else and turn that sucker around. Look at the reflection. The buck stops there.

Why is it that some people fear the act of taking responsibility for their own actions and then lie about it later? What exactly is happening in their minds that they justify this to be OK? It really makes me wonder. Were they taught this from their parents or their parents' parents? Did they never learn the importance of honesty and integrity and minding their own business? Is it fear – fear that someone will not accept you? Is it ignorance – not knowing or caring about right from wrong? Is it lack of self confidence – putting others down or back stabbing to make yourself feel better?

What do you think? Am I way off on this one? Let me know what you think.

On a much happier note.... :) We took Rocky over to the Foxboro Dog Park tonight for a "romp" around. He had lots of fun. He was the only dog barking. All the others were playing with each other. Playing fetch. Swimming. Chasing each other. Not our Rocky. Oh, he wanted to play, chase, fetch, all that.... but he wanted to be heard while he was doing it. What a great place that was. All the dogs were playing and running around in the open fences. It was great. It really tuckered him out. I think we will be going back there often. We actually saw a full grown hound..... OH BOY! Yup, he's gonna be big! He wasn't a Treeing Walker. He looked different. He was just black and white. Um, yeah. He's gonna be big.

Off to bed. I have some rest to catch up on. Going to North Conway soon. Looking forward to that. I will miss my brat dog while I'm gone though. Hes staying at the Red Dog Inn, so he'll be just fine......

Sianara!

And so here we are......

A full week has gone by and Rocky is still here. Yesterday I was wondering if we made the right decision. Today, I'm glad he's mine. He really is a sweet boy. HOWEVER.....

The beagle mix that the shelter told us we were adopting....

Well, not so much.

Turns out that our "possibly 30 pound max" beagle mix is actually a "can go anywhere from 50-80 pounds" Treeing Walker Coonhound! DOH! What the.........? How on earth could you possibly mistake a Coonhound for a Beagle? I mean, yeah, the markings and coloring are the same, but come on! That's a 50 pound difference! They don't even look the same! We must have had "SUCKER" written on our foreheads. Hook, line and sinker!

Where are we going to put a 80 pound dog you ask in this teeny tiny little house? Well, all I can say is... Beats the crap out of me!

Good thing he's cute!

The cats appear to be adjusting a little better now too. They have actually gotten off the top of the fridge. They still wont walk near him, but if they are on the couch and he walks past them, they just sit there now and give a great big kitty hisssssssssss instead of scampering away. He just looks at them and wags his tail. Hopefully that will get better too.

After my little meltdown yesterday, I am trying to keep things in perspective. A friend told me not to give up; that it will get easier every day and the reward in the end is immeasurable. Another friend told me to keep my chin up and that once the puppy stuff is done it will be better. Thanks girls, for your words of encouragement. I really needed that. So I took a breath. Wiped my frustrations (and a few tears) away. Brushed myself off and pondered for a while..... Day by day.... week by week..... I am realizing that having a dog is a LOT of work. It takes a lot of time and energy. It takes a lot of money. (first vet visit was today.... WOW!) It completely changes your lifestyle and your social life. Change... Sometimes good, sometimes not. All that aside, there is nothing better than coming home to a good friend who loves unconditionally. And I got to say.... I really love him too!

Please let me introduce you...

...to the newest member of the Clinton family.....

This is Rocky....

Rocky is a beagle/hound mix. Rocky is one lucky boy. He was brought here from Virginia where he was left in the wild to fend for himself. We rescued him from the Sterling Animal Shelter. He is about 12 weeks old. He is fixed and friendly. Exactly what we were looking for. Not too hyper but still has the puppy play.... He is a very good boy in the car. He crawled into a little ball next to me and took a little nap on my lap during the long ride home yesterday.

He is making himself right at home. He found my duster this morning. Totally rocked that!

I am loving him already. Look at that face. What's not to love really? He purrs... seriously, he purrs when you pet him. He also has quite the yelp going on. Trust me on this one. I heard it all night last night. And I am planning on hearing it all night tonight too. I know it will take a few nights for him to get used to his new home and for us to get used to him too. I can't give in to the cries. It kills me, but I must ignore it. I am just going to shut the doors and turn the AC on high so I can't hear it. I know he isn't afraid of the crate, probably just afraid to be alone.

We are not looking forward to the training part. We need to sign him up for puppy school. Although, we have had him for over 24 hours now and we haven't had an accident inside. Of course, he did leave his mark at PetSmart today.... =) Right now, he is in his crate which is right next to me, with the door open and sleeping, and snoring.... he has to be with me at all times. Where ever I go, he goes.

The only problem we have right now is the cats. Cali has been hiding behind Mike's bureau since we brought him home. I don't this she has eaten or gone to the litter box yet. Patches has tried venturing out a bit to check him out, but hasn't made any eye contact yet. I think she ate a bit. That's good. I don't think Rocky even knows that he's not alone here. It should be veeerrrryyyyyy interesting when they do meet each other.

I leave you with this spectacular photo I took at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI last Saturday night. The sunset was amazing. The photo is in it's original state - no photoshopping or altering of any kind. The colors are exactly as we saw them. Amazing. Simply beautiful. You gotta love Mother Nature and all her glory.

Keep your fingers crossed....

We are going to meet Roxanne today.....

Pebbles already has an application filed. Figures.

Still waiting on info about Hannah.

But Roxanne is a cutie too!

Another One Bites The Dust....

Sing it with me......

And say goodbye to Reed...

Another doggie adoption that didnt' work out. Not for lack of trying, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be, right?

Not all is to be lost though. I have a call out to 3, yes count them with me, one, two, THREE dog shelters about some other prospects.


Which sounds better?

Roxanne,









She looks so sad behind the fence!


















Hannah




OK. Can you say sweetie?








or Pebbles?











Hey! Where did my ears go?








I don't know either. I am voting for Roxanne because she likes cats, and Hannah because she has the sweetest face ever. But Pebbles has that terrier look to her that I LOVE..... Now to meet them before someone else takes them............. AGAIN! I'm not giving up though. We want a dog and a dog we will get.

The Clinton household may soon be growing by one.....

OK, it's not what you think. Not now anyway...

We had the opportunity to adopt the cutest little Cocker Spaniel named Glinda (i know, not the best name in the world) from a friend of a friend. He was getting divorced, selling his house, couldn't keep her, yadda yadda yadda. Unfortunately, the BASTARD gave her away to someone else after we had talked about taking her! BASTARD! Ugh..... He mad me cry! No wonder he is getting a divorce!

Soooooooooo, since we were all so upset by this (yes, even Mike) I decided to go onto petfinder.com. Here you can find lots of sweet animals that are looking for a good home. I filled out the application, have been in contact with one of the adpotion counselors, and found




him.......

And him.....










And, of course, him....












His name is Reed. He is a mutt, not sure what mix but some say part Cocker Spaniel, part Golden. One can only wonder, not knowing his background and such. He is about a year old and about 15 pounds. Just the right size for us! I have always been a big-dog fan, like Rotties, Mastiff's and Boxers, and I adore the faces of the Pit Bull Terriers, but I was so drawn to Reed when I saw his face. Plus, there is no way a Rottie could fit in this house of our! Doesn't it look like he is totally smiling in the photographs? He just screams - SCRAPBOOK ME! He also reminds me of a dog we used to have named Blackie, only she was white.......... Just kidding, she was black! I was just testing you! lol I kill myself!

So, hopefully we are going to go meet him Sunday and see if he likes us and if we like him. If all goes well, our family will be growing by one. I'm not sure when we would get to take our new furry family member home, but we are keeping our fingers crossed anyway. We have the new crate, cushion and chew bone just waiting for someone to sleep in it, and my husband won't fit, so we are going to have to fill it with Reed.............. or someone else that might touch our hearts.

Oh, and for those that know our past history with dogs, I told Mike that if he gets rid of another one of my animals, I would probably get rid of him first! Hmmph. So there! : )