Thursday, September 18, 2008

A week of transitions

Monday was my son's birthday. 4! I hosted his first real birthday party, and we had an Incredible Hulk cake and lots of presents. We now own a new bow and arrow, a remote control car, a Power Ranger/transformer dude, a ball/spiky hat thing that is a hit with everyone, and more. It was in a word, successful.

He is taking on the new role of a four-year-old with excitement. It is great fun and was a motivator for learning to count.

Tuesday, I finally bit the bullet and took our dog to the humane society. I have been trying unsuccessfully for months to find a new home for him. He became dog aggressive about 18 months or so ago, and despite attempts to work with him, halter train him, etc., it has severely limited our ability to travel and do fun doggy stuff, because he can't go to the park, and we can't leave him at a kennel or with anyone who has pets.

Our aged cat has also recently taken to trying to attack the dog everytime I bring him outside, which is stressful, to say the least. And the dog has been getting a big stranger even with people.

I think that the ideal home would be a single guy with no other pets, and hopefully they'll find that for him. It was very difficult though. I cried all the way home. It seems lonely to walk in now, even though he often drove me crazy and had to be kept out of the kitchen because he is a counter surfer. So think good thoughts that he'll do OK on the temperament testing and they'll find a good home for him. It is hard for me not to drive over and visit him every day. But he wasn't happy, and we weren't happy. Thankfully we had him since he was a puppy, so I was able to give detailed info about him. The only other time i had to surrender pets was during my divorce - I feel very strongly about my pet obligations, so this has sucked.

My son misses him, but is lobbying for a "small dog." My husband wants a Golden Retriever, which is certainly smaller than Sully.

The second half of Tuesday I spent cleaning out my daughter's room and getting her fall clothes out. All day yesterday I spent in the basement getting the littlest two kids' fall gear out. What a production. My back is still killing me from all the bending and lifting.

However, I now have about 10 boxes of clothes to donate to migrant farm workers, so that is a feel-good event.

Today is pear-canning day. I have a whole crate of pears to process for canning and drying and need to get started ASAP.

No comments: