Hutt, #11, is in the House!

Introducing our newest little critter - Black Labrador, and number 11 in the dog countdown - Hutt...

I'd like you to think that Jay is overcome with joy - but really it's very sunny!

Jay and I traveled across state lines to pick up Mr. Hutt last weekend.  It was a long haul - 8 hours one-way, but we enjoyed our time together and were super excited to finally meet the pup.  Hutt made the trek home without huge upset or mess.  We stopped a lot, but, overall, he was very well behaved and only whined and barked a little, which was to be expected.  We had ripped him away from his mother, after all.

The first meeting with Hank the Tank II was pretty uneventful.  It's obvious Hutt was looking for his mama though.

"Are you my mother?"

We are adjusting to life with a new puppy, which is much like a newborn baby/inquisitive toddler. Nothing left on the ground or within reach is safe, and I do mean nothing.  Bedroom doors are kept shut, shoes are on the counter, or up high, nothing is left untouched.  We know it will get much worse before it gets better.  That's just part of it.  (We've been through this process a few times, you know.)

I'm very thankful to Jay for planning the acquisition of Hutt around his long break at work.  In the past, that has not always been the case and it makes for an unhappy Sarah!  I'll have my shot at night-time duty this weekend when Jay is working nights and I'm left to march the fella outside at 2:00 a.m...though I may put a different plan into action.  It's called - not waking up to wake up the puppy to go potty, let him tell me it's time to go!!  We'll see how that goes.

Here's a little irony, or what I like to think of as a Godincidence.  Last summer when Jay started thinking about a new retrieving dog, he picked out a name - Hutt Jedi for the future pup.  This is months and months before he found this puppy.  I teased him about the name because I told him people would think he was a Star Wars junkie - and with the release of the latest movie, you know they would.  He didn't care, Hutt it was - though he decided to drop the "Jedi" from his common name.

We meet the dog guy and his two young sons at a truck stop to make the exchange and Jay asks the little boys what they have been calling the puppy.  They respond with "Bossk."  Dad chimes in and says, "Yeah, we are huge Star Wars fans; all the puppies in this litter were named after Star Wars characters."  How 'bout that?  Is that not the craziest thing ever?  There could not be a more perfect name than Hutt for our little guy.  Too funny.

I posted this picture of Hutt lounging in the recliner the other night while we played Dominos and a couple of the comments are hilarious.   "Best of luck to you, buddy!" and "Hutt...we need to talk. Be careful.  Be VERY careful."  Those two were my favorites, written by friends that know us a little too well, I do believe.

How can you resist that face?

Here's to you #11 and our new adventures!

Love one another

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord.   Leviticus 19:18

If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him:  whoever loves God must also love his brother.    1 John 4:20-21

At nearly 41 years old, I would like to think that having my feelings hurt by someone else wouldn't happen anymore.  Unfortunately, we all know that's not the case.  I tell my kids all the time that they will never outgrow conflict or difficult people/relationships.

When we watch our children have friendship troubles, it is heartbreaking.  I know my first reaction is to fix the problem, but I also know that will teach my children nothing about dealing with conflict and resolution.  When you're an adult though, how do you approach an adult about something upsetting without feeling like you're 13 again?

Several scenarios run through my mind and I can't seem to come up with a good one to resolve the problem.  And when I say resolve the problem, I don't know that that is even in my control because, quite frankly, the 'problem' doesn't even lie at my feet.  It has very little to do with me personally, the way I see it.  But it bothers the daylights out of me.

There are times my thoughts are consumed with this situation and I have to stop myself and say, "God, please, please, please, let me let go of this!"  (And I sometimes add, "Seriously!" as if he doesn't understand my plea without that extra word.)  Why can't I just get over it?  They are entitled to their opinion, and I am entitled to mine.  It doesn't mean we can't be friends, right?

I don't have an answer.  I wish I did.  I wish I knew how this situation would unfold over the next few months/years.  I wish I could read the mind of those I'm struggling with.  I wish things could just go back to normal, the way things used to be.

I am also observing another situation not exactly like the one I'm troubled by, but one that hits close to home nevertheless.  And I find myself wondering, what will be gained by continuing this conflict? In the end, who truly wins this battle?  The one who pushes to the limits or the one who stands their ground?  Does it even matter...

In either situation, I have to believe that Satan is at the core.  Because we are taught that Jesus is love. Jesus would not want discord among believers...and yes, I'm talking about believers.  We should love one another, regardless of our personal opinions.

Like it or not, we are all part of the same family.

A new addition is on the way

And no, we're not adding another human to our family...we will be bringing home a pup full of joy this weekend, and it can't come soon enough.  I don't think I wrote about the aftermath of putting Abby down, but in the week or two that followed Abby's passing, Jay - in a moment of insanity - rescued a small, black, starving kitten from the middle of the road on his way home from work one night.

"We'll nurse it back to health and then find it a home" he says.  Yeah, because that always works out so well for us...

Bones, as he was so appropriately named, warmed up to us quickly.  He was barely five or six weeks old, had an extra thumb - (Google tells me he is a polydactyl kitty) and was almost skin and bones. He was pitiful.  Jay fed the poor thing and when the kids and I got home, Madolyn gave it a bath. After a day or two, Bones was right at home.  We loved the little booger too, but Jay and I both agreed that three cats in the house was just too much.  I'm not a fan of cat litter to begin with, but you add a third cat in the mix and UGH!

Boots & Bones up front; Josie in the back

Thankfully, we found Bones a good home - Madolyn's BF took him in and is now smothering their bunch to death :)  He is a cuddler.  But you can tell that our kitties, Josie and Boots, miss the little stinker.  The first couple days, Josie was on the hunt - looking high and low for that black little flash with the extra thumb.  We forgot that Josie was kind of like that when the litter of kittens left.  So she and Boots have had to resort to their own games to create fun, and you can tell it is just not quite the same.  (Boots has become the more dominant kitty and can overpower Jo.  Josie could easily take down Bones!)

And then there's Hank the Tank II - he is completely lost without Abby.  He and Abby used to follow and chase my car, then as Abby got older, she quit and so did Hank.  Well, Hank is now back at it...following me down the lane and into the road.  He also tries to sneak in the car or truck whenever he can.  He will weasel his way in if you don't watch it.  We think he is simply bored to death.  He mopes around the house too...he's lost his best friend.  Thankfully, he has his bud, Lane, or he'd really be in trouble.

But just in the nick of time - a new addition is on the way.  Jay has been talking about getting a hunting dog for almost a year now, maybe over a year...and after Abby passed, he started the search. He found one and we will be bringing the little guy home on Sunday.

We've been getting ready for the critter and have the crate in the living room.  Lane has been trying to get Hank to go in there - he is not having any part of it.  The cats are quite intrigued though.  A few mornings ago when I came out into the living room, Josie was sitting right by the crate door, staring inside.  She is super curious.  Last night Lane got the puppy toys out and got Hank all worked up.

We're all getting wound up for the new guy's arrival...

Josie, Boots and Hank the Tank II have no idea what is about to happen...hahahaha.