A funny story.

During Blue Block this morning, my students declared that I need a "mini-Mrs. Roy".  I asked them to clarify:  do I need a smaller clone of myself, or a baby?  They unanimously agreed that I need to have a baby.

"But not this year!"
"Next year, when we're juniors!"
"We'll do the math for you and let you know when you should get pregnant!"
"We can plan it so that you have a baby in the summer, and then come back in September!"
"Yeah, and you can bring the baby to school so we can all 'ooh' and 'ahh" over it!"

"But what if I never come back?"

"You'd come back! You can bring the baby!"

"I don't think they'd let me do that.  What am I going to do, teach with the baby strapped to the front of me?"

"Oh my god, that would be hilarious! Can you imagine..."

What's so funny about all this?

I'm eight weeks pregnant, today. (Hooray!)

Three word sentence memoirs: How We Got Our Dogs

Maia’s Story

"Puppy?"
“No.”
“Puppy?”
“No.”
“Puppy?”
“Maybe.”
“Really?!”
“No."
“Puppy…?”
“Okay.”
“Really?! You mean it?!”
“Sure.”

Aussiedoodle website.  Saw her photo.  So tiny! Weighed one pound.  Clicked the button.  Bought a dog!  Born in May.  Named her Maia.  So much anticipation!  Bought many toys.  Cute little bowls.  So excited!  Can’t wait!  Read three books.  Feeling super prepared.

June 30 arrived.  Drove to Logan.  Excitement like electricity.  Have to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Wait felt eternal!  Finally, they called.  Brought us back.  Bright pink crate? Oh, my! Not expecting that.

We got outside.  Put crate down.  Hurry! Hurry!  She was tiny.  What a pipsqueak!  Opened the door.  Maia crawled out.  Our puppy.  Our baby.  Got in car.  Headed home.  I held her.  So soft.  So sweet.  She licked me.  Tears welled up.  Instant love.

Charlie’s Story

April, 2012. Maia was lonely.  Need another dog.  Searched online. Found one dog.  Name is Curley.  Ick – Curley?  Goofy name.  Went to shelter.  Curley was quiet.  Looked at me.  Such sad eyes.  Played outside.  Full of spunk! Hates big dogs. Bark, bark, bark! Dogs ran together. 

We drove home. Justin's not sure.  I went back.  Brought Maia again.  Curley was calmer.  Dogs played together.   Seemed comfortable. I asked questions. 

“Why here?”
“Barks too much. “
“Seriously?  That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“Good with kids?” 
“Yes.”
“Health problems?”
“No.” 
“Want to adopt!”
“Pick up Tuesday.” 

Long, long weekend.  Couldn’t wait! Finally Tuesday! Brought Curley home.  Now he’s Charlie.   What a sweetheart!

(written in May, 2012)

Ha!

Oh, life.  I wrote this on February 17 and feel exactly the same way today: "I had no idea how stressful getting pregnant would be..."

But life is good! Oh so deeply good, and I am bound and determined to be happy and joyful and grateful in spite of my self - my sometimes dark, sometimes brooding, sometimes "woe, woe is me" self.

And so I will.  But first I will finish this paper so that I can talk our little dog for a nice long walk.

true story.

I saw this quote and immediately identified with it.  I can't find which of Schuyler's poems it is from, but I love it deeply already because it says so much so simply.

   not to be in love with you I can’t remember what it was like        
           it must’ve been lousy                          
                            - James Schuyler

"A kiss? How did I get so lucky?"

"Almost - less than - over - a year ago - two years ago - you said, 'Yes!'"

A Sappy Moment Preserved

I feel like I should be feeling more stressed right now, since my graduate class workload is in the processing of crushing my brain, but really, I feel blessed to have such an amazing husband. Justin has been nothing but supportive, helping me out, cooking me dinner, and setting me straight when I cross the line (like making a leap from "We don't have any food," to "Why don't you buy some groceries?"). He has proven to me that kind words, a good laugh, and some quality snuggling can ease my anxiety.

I'm so looking forward to seeing how we adapt to our new roles as "puppy parents" next week when Maia arrives - the adorable little pup that will one day be our children's dog. I get all verklempt just thinking about it! It seems each new phase we enter is just as exciting as the last.

Thank you, Justin, for being the best friend, teammate, and husband for me. Little else matters! I love you with every fiber of my being.

All About Maia

My email worked! Here's some quotes and photos from the breeder:

The whole litter is super sweet and really just starting to show some individuality. They will come running now when I feed them and roll on their tiny backs to get bellies scratched.

We did also weigh everybody last week when we photographed and your girl was 1 lb 8 oz, as were two others in the litter. We had one smaller than her and one larger but it is pretty consistent in size and on track to be about 3 to 4 lbs when she leaves home.