Happenings around here

Every time I think of doing a blog entry about our humdrum everyday life, it all seems so boring.  At my age, boring is a good thing, because most of the excitement in my life these days is usually caused by news from a doctor... not always good news, either!  But "normal" doesn't always make for interesting stories.  However, I will plunge forward.

Cliff purchased another tractor yesterday, a Ford 5000.  He hasn't brought it home yet, but will bring it home in a couple of days.  He bought it because "it's a good buy!"  I can understand this premise, since half my Amazon purchases are in this house for the selfsame reason, but I knew he didn't have enough money in his tractor fund to buy it.  I thought about resisting the purchase, but then reasoned that since he's starting his cancer-treatment journey, it'll do him good to have something to keep his mind and body busy.  Roger Welsch once wrote a book about how working on his first tractor project helped cure what ailed him:  Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them.  How could I refuse my husband?  So I transferred enough of our vacation fund to his tractor fund to make up for what he lacked.  

Now, on the Tractor Tales message board I used to frequent, the guys would talk about the perils of a married man buying a tractor he doesn't need; they always got around to mentioning the S.E.T., which stands for Spousal Equity Tax, based on the theory that if a man is buying a tractor, the only way he will have any peace at home is to allow his wife to buy something she's been wanting.

Shortly after I started babysitting our little princess, my hair-shedding dog Iris ran away, scared by thunder, and ended up at the house of some people who loved her and wanted her.  She still lives there... happy, groomed and well-fed.  This was a Godsend to me, because all my attention was now on the human baby, and I had been dreading the day she began to crawl, knowing she'd end up with dog hair on her body and in her mouth.  The situation worked out so well, I never looked back.  I told everybody I didn't know if I'd ever want a dog again.

Our little girl is now four years old, and not a baby.  Once I voiced these words "we don't have a baby any more," I wanted a dog.  If you look around, you might have noticed that most women refer to their dogs as "my baby".  This goes a long way in preventing the population explosion that would occur if women kept having children to satisfy the desire for more cute little babies.  Dogs, unlike my feline friends, love to be somebody's baby, so it's a match made in heaven.

During these years without a dog, I made up my mind if I ever wanted one again, I'd get a Schnauzer:  I've heard nothing but good things about the breed from people who have them, and they don't shed.  The only negative thing I've ever heard is that they are "yappy".... they bark a lot.  Well, in my experience, all smaller-breed dogs are that way.  It used to be funny to me, and I'd actually encourage my dogs to bark out the window at squirrels and such.  Cliff never found it humorous, though.  So if a newly-acquired dog barks, we'll put up with it, but I won't encourage it.  

Schnauzers are expensive, like all purebred dogs.  I watched Craigslist to no avail (except for a scam), then went to Google.  There are breeders in the Kansas City area.  I found one north of the city who has one litter ready in three weeks and one remaining from the previous litter that, at eight weeks old, is ready to go now.  However, that one cost mores, I think because of his size and coloring.  His name is Gabe, although I'm not sure if I would keep that.  I should name either the puppy or Cliff's latest tractor "Vacation", since we're using a portion of the vacation fund to get them.

   
Cliff has his tractor secured, and I suppose for that reason, he must feel the need to take care of his S.E.T., because he's actually prodding me to go ahead and get this puppy, even though it's another $100 more than I'd pay for one in three weeks.  I don't care about registration, I don't care about color or size, and it seems ridiculous to pay even more money than I'd have to for registration papers I don't care about.  But something tells me I had better strike while the iron is hot.  Here's the puppy at five weeks of age: 

This means I need to find a pet taxi, a collar and leash, and be prepared to give most of my monthly allowance for the next fifteen or so years to a vet for routine maintenance and to a groomer to keep this "baby" handsome.  By the way, Cliff thought we should keep looking until we found a female, saying males are harder to housebreak.  I don't agree.  Most of the terriers that passed through our lives were male dogs, and Chip, the German Shepherd we had when the kids were small, was male.  He was one of the best and smartest dogs I've ever had.  Anyhow, I've only had a problem housebreaking one dog, a female Chihuahua.  I don't expect any major troubles in that regard.  I just take them outside often, and they soon learn.

The deal isn't secured yet, but I'm in touch with the lady and told her I'd probably commit to the purchase as soon as Cliff is awake so I can discuss it with him.    Our little princess will love having a puppy here to play with, since she already has her own dog at home.  My Facebook friends will be happy to see pictures of an energetic puppy playing, instead of pictures of my cats sleeping and eating (that's all they do).  

So it isn't a done deal, but a puppy is definitely in the works.  

Peace.