two things

1. the date is NEXT tuesday (not last night), which was my misunderstanding. sorry, you'll have to wait another week for the recap

2. i've decided that it's time for another dog. the first and biggest obstacle is that my complex does not allow dogs. they use to and a lot of people have them, but apparently they were all grand-fathered in. i finally got the courage to ask my landlady (who i've never met) about it, and the answer was a definitive 'no', until i used the words 'rescue,' 'small dog', 'older dog,' and 'i work for a pet insurance company.' i think it was the rescue thing and the pet insurance thing that really got her, being a dog owner herself. she agreed to talk to the owner for me, and i'm just praying she finds a way to say yes.

please, please, please keep your fingers crossed.. whether i like it or not, i am a dog person. not having one actually feels like something is missing, and i'm happier, and frankly, healthier, as a dog owner. i'm hoping that cosmically i've garnered some bonus points by not ratting out the lady down the way who took in a stray and decided to keep him a few weeks ago, and that my landlady will succeed on my behalf. the bottom line is, if she doesn't, i'm probably looking at another move in the next year, and given that i actually love my living environment right now, i'd like to avoid that if possible. i just want to have my cake and eat it too!

as you can imagine, the second part of this process is finding a dog. in this job, they are everywhere, and everyone has an opinion. when you ask one of our many vet techs for an opinion on a breed, the answer is almost always preceded with an eye roll. to be fair, i understand it. after all, when they see an animal, 9 times out of 10 it's because the animal is having problems. so when i say 'boston terrier' they think 'bronchiosyphallic,' (i've probably butchered the spelling on that) and while it's true that that is a potential problem, it's not a guaranteed one.

i used the example of the boston terrier because i had pretty much narrowed it down to that breed...until i made the mistake of getting on petfinder.com. keep in mind, i've been looking on and off for 3 months, and today, i found the dog that must be mine. she is a total mutt. part dachsund, part jack russell, part wire haired doxie-all 10 pounds of her. she's an older dog at 6, and though the idea of having to face the grieving process in 6 or 8 years instead of 10 or 14 is tough, i also know that it is harder for older dogs to get rescued. not to mention that her personality (as described) seems ideally suited to me and my living situation. i can't explain it, i've looked at hundreds of dog pics recently, and this one literally jumped out of the computer screen at me. so seriously people, cross your fingers that i will get the approval, and then that i will be able to breeze through the rescue process as quickly as possible!

if you need a little more incentive, check out the vid of the dog below: