Animal House

Many of you know that one of my deepest desires has always been to be an author. I let my love of horses and other animals lead me away from a career in the journalism industry very early in life, but my love of books, reading, and writing has never gone away. I finally have the entire first pass copy of my book printed out and ready to review. I can hardly believe it. This is definitely a "bucket list" item for me!
A very influential teacher in my life once told me that I should write about what I "know." At the time I started collecting memories for my book, what I knew about was being a mother, one who had left a job that she loved and been thrown headfirst into motherhood with a baby under each arm. Naturally, my first book had to be about my kids, because that's what I was totally immersed in each and every day. That said, I have noticed a trend among readers of my blog. The posts about our animals seem to get significantly more reads than the ones about our kids! I am so glad that you guys enjoy reading about the "rest" of our family. So I will make an effort to include more about them and may even consider making them the subject of my next book. Between my husband and I, we have loads of clinic stories in addition to the chaos at home!
The other day I shared with you that our German Shepherd, with very little effort, had learned several tricks. Not to be outdone, Zoey has developed one of her own. Sort of. I guess you can call it a trick, only she doesn't do it on command or need to be especially smart to master it. Basically, I guess you could classify it as a sneak attack. She waits for me to bend over, usually to do something like tie my shoes. Then she slips up behind me, gets ready, and...licks me in the face! It's gross, it's slimy, and it makes me laugh every single time. Bringing her into our home has definitely been worth it, stains and all. By the way, I am so happy to report that she loves her special kidney food and seems to be gaining weight again. She doesn't guzzle water or vomit like she used to, and she hasn't had an accident since she's been home, although I must confess that we get up more during the night with this silly dog than we ever did with our kids!
Speaking of the kids, I really wish someone had been filming the other day in our den. We would have had another clip for AFV, not really a clever one, but just a really freaking funny one. I was at my limit with my child, who was speaking Whinese and telling me what was wrong with the third pair of jeans she had put on that morning. I headed toward her, armed and ready. My cousins who have seen my mom do this will be able to picture this perfectly in their minds! When I got to her, I picked up the leg of the pair of jeans I was holding, drew back, and popped her as hard as I could on the leg. Only I didn't exactly hit the target. The pant leg sort of wrapped around her and...hit my husband square in the nuts! So much for discipline. Guess Daddy took one for the team! I didn't laugh...long. And just so you know, it's really hard to sound sincere when you are making an apology while laughing so hard you cried.