My footnoted canine weekend

[constance]

This weekend I was supposed to have another blind date--this time not with a house but with my boss's Australian Shepherd, who may or may not be coming to live with me now that my mother¹ has decided that no, she really doesn't want to relinquish Titus-the-Greyhound to my neglectful clutches. I've been sort of nervous about this date, actually, wondering if he'll like the kids, wondering how he'll react to being transferred to someone else's house willy-nilly.²

So this morning I woke up and swept and changed the sheets, because that Australian Shepherd, whose name, unfortunately, is Freeway,³ really cares about the condition of the bedding, yes?⁴ Yes. And then I tidied up the house, because, yikes, boss coming over to house, and I was just about to sit down and have a cup of tea when my boss called and said she hadn't bathed Freeway and so. Not coming over today.

No blind date, and instead I rattled around in my clean house before I buckled down and read for a while,⁵ made some icons,⁶ cooked some pasta,⁷ baked some brownies,⁸ and tried not to mope over some sad news I had from my former roommate, whose own dog Theo⁹ died earlier this week. And of course all around this activity, all day, I've been thinking about dogs, Flannery and my much-mourned badass Fred. Titus. Freeway. Theo. And I suppose my life really would be a hell of a lot easier without them, but I can't imagine not being weighted down by all this responsibility and annoyance and grief. I can't imagine not having something to plan my life around. I can't imagine them not in my life, hogging the bed, getting into the litterbox. I can't imagine it, even when they're not actually around any more and I'm sitting at my desk crying because of it.

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¹ Vile Indian giver that she is.
² Even though I've been assured that his sole ambition in life is to become an inside dog, which he was at one point and then wasn't anymore when a Yappy Dog usurped his place, and now he digs his way out of their yard to come sit on their porch and stare accusingly at them through the windows. Anyway, the point is that he would definitely be an inside dog here.
³ I have been thinking, actually, of a name that will work instead, one that I won't be embarrassed to use in front of other people, because keep in mind that I am a person who gives pets human names, without exception. The best I've come up with so far is Greenaway, because of course when renaming dogs you have to try to stay as close as possible to the name they're used to hearing, but I'm open to suggestions, if you have any.
⁴ Well, that and they just needed changing.
⁵ The Best American Nonrequired Reading, available at 50% off at your local Barnes and Noble. Also some of the many magazines I get in the mail that I almost never get around to reading.
⁶ I missed my storyopolis icons so terribly!
⁷ Tricolor four-cheese tortellini with roasted garlic and white pepper chicken alfredo sauce.
⁸ Caramel-walnut.
⁹ I don't know if you remember my mentioning the dog what bit me, years ago, necessitating a trip to the emergency room; but this is that dog. I haven't lived with E or Theo for years now, but before that we spent years together, and Theo was this black mutt who was always up in your business (not that business, though) and trotting about importantly on his stumpy little legs and he had big bat ears and was annoying and completely lovable and I will miss him terribly).

Comments

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I'm envious of your footnoting skillz! And I also have questions- what is the situation behind the yappy dog taking Freeway's place as an indoor dog? And WHY is he named Freeway, anyway?

I'm sorry that the Titus situation didn't work out. I commiserate with your mother, though; he seems as though he'd be tough to give up, even to one's beloved daughter. "Vile Indian Giver" is a nice label to endure as a penance, though, if one's mother happens to be into penance. :)

Yay for more Storyopolis icons! And caramel walnut brownies!

[tofty.livejournal.com]

The situation behind Freeway's banishment, I hear, is that they got Yappy Dog (one of those little poodles--I can't remember whether it's a mini or a teacup, or, I don't know, an electron-microscopic) for their daughter, and Yappy kind of freaked Freeway out, and of the two, he was the more constitutionally suited to life outdoors. :( It seems unfair to me.

I'm sorry that Titus isn't coming either; I truly adore him. But you're right, calling my mother Vile Indian Giver does have its small compensations--I'm just wondering how long I can do it before I am perceived to be Dwelling Unhealthily.

Mmm, caramel walnut brownies. I am bringing the rest to work this morning, because otherwise I would eat the entire pan myself.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Also, I forgot to say that I'm not sure how Freeway got his name--I've never actually asked, because I sort of assumed he got it in the usual way... I should ask, though, if he is to be mine.

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

I'm loving the footnotes. But I'm sad that the blind date didn't pan out, and I hope that something eventuates. I'm at my sister's place, and she has pets that adore and secretly think of as being my step-pets, or something similar ... so now I hope that you find a little Theo of your own.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Well, of course my beloved Flannery is still around, as are the two cats, so I am not exactly cast adrift on petless seas, here. But I've been in the market for a Dog Who Announces His Presence with Authority, on account of the armed robbery that took place in my driveway just before I moved in, and Freeway seems like a good bet for that--territorial but, unlike my poor badass Fred, on the friendly side.