Blessed

Yesterday was quite a day. 

I was still recovering from the solo month end I had done the day before at the office.

[stress much?]

And I went to bed very earrrly on Wednesday night.

[due to exhaustion & excitement for the next day to come]. 

It kind of felt like when you were a kid & Christmas was the next day and you just keep thinking and thinking about when it was going to come.

Well, yesterday was my grown-up version of Christmas.

First on the agenda was an IMPACT board meeting - typical stuff there.

Then, Ambucs at noon [incredibly fun, as always].

And then - two hours of waiting.

A very painful two hours.

Why?

That's why. 

Dex. 

9 Month Old Full-Breed Sheltie

And he's all mine.

:-D

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. 

Something along the lines of 

"are you freaking out of your MIND?"

And to answer your question; no, I am not.

I saw this little guy's picture on the Salina Journal website for the Animal Shelter and I couldn't resist.

[I'm a lover, not a fighter.]

As you all know, I had to give Jade to Anita and Darren because she didn't adjust to the move well at all [she considered the basement her own personal toilet].

And so I was left in Salina devastated, lonely, and stuck with cats. 

[you know, the feline species that generally hates me. And I have a sneaky suspicion that they're plotting to kill me..]

After days of trying to talk Matt into getting this dog, he finally left me with the decision. 

[He said he stayed neutral. Much like Switzerland.]

So I thought to myself; oh, I'll just go see him at the shelter [knowing in the back of my mind that there was no way that I would leave without that dog]. 

As I suspected, he got right down to melting my heart and I ended up leaving with adoption papers in hand.

This was all on Wednesday. 

Mr. D had to get neutered yesterday, so I had to wait until 3 to pick him up from the vet. 

And when I finally got there, they brought him out, I picked him up & he laid his head on my shoulder like I had just made his whole world better. 

[at this point, my heart is purely liquified from all the melting]

So I knew I did the right thing.

He actually really likes his cage. 

[could be the KU blanket I threw in there..]

He's terrified of the cats.

And he has yet to bark..

So far, so good.

After I picked up D, I took him home to introduce him to the cats [he'll get used to 'em], set up his pin, de-furred my clothing, spritzed on some Moonlight Path & headed out the door for adventure numero a quatro:

Meeting My Little.

The term "Little" is weird to me, as is being called a "Big" [it took my brain a while to train itself to not automatically assume they were calling me fat] but it's become apparent that I must get used to it. 

I just can't help but be reminded of Role Models and Jayne Lynch's devout impression of a creepy-slash-deeply disturbed counselor every time I hear the words. 

Anyway, on to the meeting.

So I'm sitting in Heather's office (the case manager working with us) and we're just gabbing about this and that, and the main door opens. My heart skips a beat because I'm both nervous & excited to meet this gal and her family. Her grandparents walk in, but the front counter is clearly taller than she is because I couldn't even see the top of her head. But when she finally clears the counter, revealed is a darling 10-year-old Kenzie with a big 'ole smile on her face, which in turn makes me smile [kid's smiles have a tendency to do that]. 

The meeting went great, all the details were nailed down, and a picture was taken [oh boy!].

After all the details, we hopped in the car & headed to Wal-Mart to get stuff to grill. On the way, I'm peppering her with questions, [as I tend to do] which she answered with short replies.

I learned that her favorite food is Hot Dogs, favorite color lime green, she plays piano, likes cats & dogs, plays softball, and loves to ride her bike [for those of you who knew me when I was a child, I pretty much described a 10-year-old me]. 

I'm figuring we'll get a long just wonderfully!

And after I took her home, I came back to the house & Matt and I sat on the porch the rest of the night [on our fancy new deck furniture]. We played Catch Phrase [perhaps Matt was forced..] and messed with the dog. By the end of the night, I was exhausted. But I had a cliche moment [like the ones you see in the movies], where I just stopped, looked out at the beautiful neighborhood we live in, the amazing house we have, the dogs, cats [lots and LOTS of cats..] and everything just slowed to a stop. 

And I realized how wonderful my life is. 

[cue the sappy music]

It's moments like these that ground me and bring me back to reality. 

Things are not that bad. 

Salina doesn't suck as much as I make it out to.

And I am truly blessed.

 See?