Meet my new puppy

Yes, it's a small little stuffed animal that says April

My favorite Christmas present was this little stuffed animal. You're probably thinking "Wow, she didn't really strike me as the stuffed animal type" and "Wow, Mr. B could do a littttle bit better".

But this lil' pup is big news. I've wanted to get a dog since, well, the beginning of time. I grew up with two little munchkin babies (yes, there's a heck of a lot of baby dog talk around my parents house) and I just feel incomplete without a little friend following me around the house. So what the heck was stopping me?

Mr. B.

To give him credit, it's not that he hasn't wanted one too. I know in his heart of hearts he wants one just as much (maybe more?) as I do, but he's got this annoying little responsible/uber-practical/freakishly patient streak in him that I could never crack.

When we were living in London, there was definitely no way we could get a dog. Scratch that, we could, but that would have been a disaster. There was a time we considered setting up a rent-a-puppy service so other young professionals like us could get our puppy fixes on the weekends. (Yes, it was a bad idea, but you can't blame me.)

When we moved back to the States to PA, it seemed a lot more feasible. We rented a beautiful cottage in the woods on the river which was PERFECT for pups. But we were smart enough to realize that our crazy schedules, and especially my crazy commute, made it impossible to give the little thing all the attention it deserved. Even on my weakest days, I knew it wouldn't be fair on either the dog or us to try to make it work there. On my best days, I made a pretty good argument for why we should get one. (Mr. B told me that I needed to prepare a one-pager proposal on the costs/benefits/operations plan for getting a dog. And I did. And this was a good two years before that stupid Microsoft commerical where the kid makes his parents a powerpoint to get a dog. I'm considering a cease and desist letter for that one because I did it first!)

And then with The Anniversary Home, it was always...we'll do it after the kitchen....we still need to install a fence....we still have those crazy commutes....And then bam. We found out we were moving and now it's been a total of 7 years waiting for a dog.

So when I opened the little gift bag with this thing inside, I was super confused. (And full disclosure: slightly disappointed because I couldn't put two and two together. Seriously honey? A stuffed animal. You're so in the dog house...no pun intended.)

Mr. B had to coach me through it:

Mr. B: Do you get it?

Me: No. Why did you get me a stuffed animal?

Mr. B: What kind of stuffed animal is it?

Me: A bear?

Mr. B: Try again Kate

Me: A dog?

Mr B: Yes.

Me: So why is it wearing an April t-shirt?

Mr. B: Well, what happens in April?

Me: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

You see, right now, we're living in a corporate, furnished apartment until we find our own place (either another rental or our own home once we sell, whichever comes first) and we can't have pets with the furnished lease. So we move in to our next place in APRIL. He's finally committed to getting a dog in April.

And because I know you'll have lots of questions:

What kind? I have no idea. I firmly believe in shelter / rescue dogs and couldn't ever see myself getting a dog from a breeder. That said, I'm sorta picky about the shedding issue so the breeds I prefer aren't exactly your typical rescue dog. I'm going to have to find a happy medium.

Names? People, I've had 7 years to think about this. But I'm not telling you yet!

Who's going to walk/feed/take care of the dog? Mr. B.

Who will spoil the dog and be the dog's favorite? Me, of course.

Kidding about those last two. Well, maybe not so much....