Dog Days of Summer

Hey now! How are ya? I'm okay, just plugging along through another boring old weekday. Today is July 1st though, which is awesome. July is my favorite month of the year, and not just because my birthday is right smack-dab in the middle of it, either!

Reasons why July rocks:

- Warm weather & and blue skies
- Everything is lush and green
- The Atlantic is finally warm enough (ish) to swim in without risking hypothermia.
- I take vacation days, so I'm at work less than any other month.
- Did I mention I have a birfday coming up? :)

This year I'm throwing myself having a party for my mumbledy-fifth b-day, and I'm already excited even though it's a few weeks away. I ordered invitations and everything, and I'm asking my guests to wear something sparkly and fabulous for the occasion! Of course, I haven't sent the invites yet, so I sure hope people come... but I'll worry about that another day.

Anyhooters, today I want to talk about furry friends. No, not those kind, ya pervs, the kind that say "woof" and "meow."

Recently I've been feeling the urge to get a family pet. I grew up with a virtual menagerie of animals - we had dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, hamsters, and ducks, to name a few. However, 2009 was the Year of Doom for us; not only did we lose special and important people in our lives, but we also lost the 7 year-old German Shepherd we'd raised from an 8 week old ball of fur, my 14 year old feline BFF, and Jim's horrible, half-wild, annoying cat too. All in one year. It was a rough year at Casa de Bev.

This year is the first time in my life that I've been pet-less.

(Not to be confused with "pants-less," which I am quite often. Don't act so shocked; this is ME we're talking about!)



We've enjoyed the freedom, sure. It's nice to go on vacation and not worry about boarding the dog, and it's great to stay out of the house for 12+ hours with the family without having to rush home to let the dog out. It has been kind of nice.



But we all still have pangs of missing our furry friends. I still wish my cat would come curl up on the arm of the couch and purr while I watch TV at night. I still reach for my dog's big triangular head when I walk in the door. One thing I don't miss: vacuuming up all that hair!



Last night I was home alone and I realized how much I miss having a big old dog lying in the living room with me. I flashed back to all those times when I'd hear some noise and perk up at the same time as my dog, who'd lift his big head off the floor and look at me, suddenly alert. We'd hold eye contact with identical "what was that?!" expressions for a moment before he'd give a low growl and set to barking his head off. I never worried about people messing with us when we had a 110 lb. GSD in the house.



I miss him. For all the annoyances pets can be (I'm not looking forward to potty-training another puppy, for instance), they add so much to our families. Jim misses having a hiking companion. I like taking care of people and animals.

I think I'll start browsing ads again. Why not? We all need a little extra love in our lives.



Speaking of cats & dogs, I found this clip and literally LOL'ed. It's short and predictable but still so worth watching.

What if Lassie were a cat?



That's it for today, amigos. Have a good one, and I'll see you tomorrow for an especially chunky batch of OOBH Stew!