Please.....?

This is exactly the puppy I want.

Kay, I call first dibs on your first green eyed little chocolate lab.

(If I don't get one before then!)

Oh yeah, and your best friend Kate H. said she wants one too. ;)

I have wanted a chocolate lab foreeevvveeer.

Not really, but that is what my family would say out loud the moment I started to say this. And they'd do it with their best impression of me - in junior high. :P Speaking of Junior High, that's about when I decided I wanted a chocolate lab. ;) These little guys are the sweetest little things. And I might as well admit that there is probably some self-conceited bit involved when it comes to me loving their green eyes and dark brown hair. But labs in general are the most playful, loving, kind-hearted dogs I've ever met. I adore them. It doesn't help that every time I visit Kim & Jason in Nashville, I get cuddle and play time with Jeep & Seven - their two beautiful labs. And now, they're shopping for a chocolate one (CJ). Between that, and a recent happening that I might share with you all - which involved my dream apartment and the prospect of me being able to get a dog (a big dog even!), my hearts kind of set back on wanting a lab... today. I definitely had one of two dreams for this stage of my life: married. Or single, with a big dog that I went running with every morning.  Confession: I bought my car because I thought it would be awesome for a dog (and then maybe two kids). In fact, I nearly bought a dog gate for it, before I'd even purchased my car. I was in the middle of emailing back and forth with the owner on Craigslist and realized I was being a bit ridiculous. That was back in 06.  My parents are big pet people - they are just not big pet people. So yes, this dream has always included me moving out... somewhere they'd let me have a (big) dog.  :/ 

So in short, Kim, stop sending me pictures of these sweet things - you've got me googling images of them myself now!! :(

Brade, melting? :)

For Kimberly, and Banksy-Poo. 

Who taught me the treachery of kittens, the night terrors. Who made me afraid to walk into the hallway alone at night. 

With overcoming you, I feel I overcame fear.  And now, now I'm free to love again.  Love furry little, dangerous, emotional kittens.

This guy. :)

If I were to get a kitten, I'd want this one. :)

I'm not really a bird cage person. 

I think they're pretty.  I like that everyone likes them.  In fact, at one point I guess I did want to hang one in my bathroom as a sort of shelf/storage type thing for towels.  But... besides that, I haven't gone crazy about them.  And I think I just realized why:  I've had birds.  We've had dozens of birds in our home over the years.  And guess what bird cages are covered in?  Hint: continue the alliteration.  Oh yes. Crap.

I think I've cleaned too many bird cages to really enjoy them to the full aesthetic whimsical delight others do.  They are pretty.  Birds are pretty.  But they are work too in my mind.  And I don't mind work, so don't get me wrong.  Just a sudden light-switch moment.  I saw this lovely photo and thought
"Dang, you'd have to clean that every day with that many birds."  But it sure is pretty.  :) I also tend to see photos of beautiful birds, and imagine the sort of squawk they'll make based on what family they appear to be related to.  I blame my father for that, if there is something to blame.  My dad's probably had more birds than pairs of shoes.  Just this past year a couple of a my close friends heard a noise coming from his den and said in surprise "You have a bird?"  Yes, we have two.  I'm not sure my dad has settled on names for these ones, or if he ever will.  We spent a good hour brainstorming recently, he and I.  I'm a fan of Willow and Lewis.  Those don't work for him. 

Pet names we've had in our home:
Precious
Wicket
Chewy
Reign
Rocky
Runt
Skipper
Sounder
Frodo
Gandolf
Arsenio
Pipen
Pinkie
Tex

(See any common themes?  We're trying to complete the cast of LOTR and Star Wars.)
Which includes: dogs, birds (the three types of love birds, micahs, parakeets, parotlets, etc.), turtles, hamsters, frogs, every kind of fish, just not cats.

For those of you who've seen Garden State, you know the seen where they bury "Jelly"?  I laugh ridiculously and uncomfortably hard, "It's not that we're bad pet owners, it's just that we've had a lot of them."  And as she cries as she barries him... yep.  I still remember crying in my bed when our first dog disappeared.  I was only three or four, but I can still feel that deep hurt that I had.  Kim and Kris laugh about it now, because really I hadn't even known the dog for that long, I was a baby! But it was my first sense of losing something/ someone I loved.  And when you think about it, I probably spent more time with that dog than with my sisters even.  They went to school, and he and I ran around naked in the back yard.  So... there you have it.  Bonding. ;)

Oh goodness, give me back my heart.