For Christmas my incredibly thoughtful husband gave me a remote car starter. I seriously despise cold weather, and the present was perfect.

Well, except that we found out I was pregnant right before Christmas, so we were forced to start thinking about getting a larger vehicle. Again. Sometime before August.

You wouldn’t think we’d need to upgrade from a Pontiac Grand Am. I mean, they are large - both inside and out. But when we recently evaluated the space available for Justin’s butt once two car seats were installed, we were dismayed. The kid’s already skinny, but he’d have to be half his size to squeeze between the enormous safety seats.

Then we moved, and the remote car starter was set aside as other things became more of a priority.

Now, for a long time I’ve been thinking we need another dog. Bayliss is sad at the best of times, but when we leave during the day it’s an entirely different kind of sad. I knew this. I’ve known this for a while. The poor dog will howl and cry at the answering machine when someone calls during the day. He’s lonely.

He’s also nine years old, which scares me to death. I love my baby puppy. I know cockers don’t live forever, and since Bayliss is overweight (::sigh::) he has less of a chance of living to be a frisky old adult dog.

Our Beautiful Bayliss

I’ve looked at English Springer Spaniels from the local rescue, but they are entirely too energetic. And large - over twice the size of the American Cocker. I’ve looked at mutts at the Humane Society soooo many times - it seems like once every six months or so I’m trekking there for a peek. And I hate to say it, but those dogs tend to be large as well.

Each time I’d approached S. with the idea, he just said, “Okay, sure.” A bit patronizing, but that’s to be expected. First and foremost, he’s a cat person. If I wasn’t allergic we’d have a big Feline Lovefest in the house. Secondly, it just takes one look at the house to see it’s already becoming a zoo - no need to add additional animals.

So, trying to be realistic, I’d let it go.

Now, two interesting things happened lately. Well, really three. The first is that for some reason I started looking for cocker breeders here in Missouri again, just last week. I found one particular breeder who looks like she knows her stuff, and the puppies were just adorable. So I showed S., who predictably replied, “Okay, sure.”

Then just Monday morning it happened. We had locked up the house and were preparing to leave for work, school and daycare, when S. and I heard it. The dog was crying. Not barking, not whining. Crying. It sounded like he was in pain. It spooked S. so much that he went back into the house. “What’s up?” I heard him ask. And here comes the dog, bounding out to me. “He needs to pee,” S. said unconfidently. Yeah, sure he does. He needs a companion.

Then Monday afternoon S. took an errant piece of mail over to the neighbor’s house. Their father is visiting from India for a while, and spends a lot his time during the day wandering around outside, watering the grass, tending their garden. His English is halting, but he did manage to convey a message to my husband: Your dog barks a lot during the day. S. seemed surprised to hear it. I’d told him that Bayliss was lonely. I think he’s too used to cats.

So today I contacted the breeder I’d found, and S. contacted the company that sold him the remote car starter. It seems it’s going to be Christmas in May for me! The car company says they will give us a full refund on the starter. And Saturday morning we’re meeting the breeder in Rolla (where S. went to school) and visiting with Elliot, Enoch and Everest (click on “Jed & Penny” on the left)- with the hopes that one of them will be our next little baby puppy.

One is more adorable than the next - I cannot wait! I figure, if I’ll be in an insane asylum within the next five years, I might as well enjoy the trip there!

Beside myself with excitement,
michelle

p.s.

Elliott	Enoch	Everest