The Beahive

Mona!

A Puppy

I have one.  I am thrilled.  I am a little nervous.  And I can't find the usb cord for my camera, but I have taken some photos of her.  Mona.  She just pooped out at my feet - too much playing I guess.

How Strange

Tiny people on large London streets.

Little People - a tiny street art project

So About That Dog...

I put an application in about a week ago to adopt a 12 week old puppy from a rescue called PawSafe in Massachusetts.  It's not actually a shelter in that they have no actual facility, the dogs are all in foster homes waiting to be adopted.

I decided months ago that I wanted a dog, and applied for one in November in NY's North Shore Animal League.  They denied me because I lived in RI.  I was discouraged for a long time, until I saw this puppy on Petfinder who seemed just perfect, and I couldn't resist trying again.

I was emailing back and forth with a woman from the shelter who said the puppy would be ready in two weeks, that I could meet her then and see if she is right for me.  She didn't tell me outright that I had been approved, but since this shelter has such a stringent policy on being approved before choosing a dog, I assume I have been.  They wouldn't let me meet her if they won't let me take her home, would they?

I wish I had saved the picture of her, but they took it down before I had a chance.  She was so sweet looking - they called her, vaguely, a "shepherd mix."  But its so hard to tell - she is just a plain mutt.  It seems like she'll be a little smaller than a lab, she's a salt-and-pepper, silvery color (so, perhaps weimaraner?), and they describe her as calm and attentive.  Oh, I'm so excited about it. 

They are calling her Serena, but I have a few names of my own picked out for her - I'll have to see what fits her best, but I'm leaning toward Mona.  (Or Ramona, Nancy, Eleanor [Lennie], or Amelia!) 

I've already decided what type of food I'll feed her (Wellness), where I'll feed her, the walking routes we'll take, where her crate will go during the day, and where it'll go at night.  I already have a babygate to help confine her since my apartment has only two doors - one to the outside and one to the bathroom.  I've been stockpiling newsprint for housebreaking since I moved in in September and bought a few breakables; I have an arsenal of dog training and behavior books that I've been reading and rereading and underlining, and I've been looking into taking the AKC's Canine Good Citizenship evaluation (in a year or so).  I found the vet I'd like to use in East Providence.  I bought those little metal brackets to tie up the cords from blinds, I've been looking for something to help conceal electrical wires, I've even moved some furniture, so there's plenty of room on the floor to lay where the sun hits directly in the afternoon.

I didn't realize quite how excited I was for this.  And it isn't even definite yet.  I've turned in to some kind of madwoman. 

I was invited to attend the St. Paddy's Day Parade, and for corned beef, cabbage, and soda bread afterwards in Manhattan with friends I haven't seen in too long, who have made the effort to visit me several times in Providence but whom I've never visited since they moved in, and the only thing on my mind is, what if that is the day I need to pick up the dog?

Talk about pre-occupied.

So, anyone know where I can buy Canine Genius toys in Providence?

A Rough Patch

I hit a rough patch early this year.

As some background: I fell into a rather deep depression November 2005.  I left school on a Medical Leave of Absence, started seeing a therapist and was prescribed some medication.  I started feeling a little better and got a job working at a K-12 school for kids with physical disabilities - it was the most fabulous thing I'd ever done, I absolutely loved working there.  The school year ended and an internship in the city fell into my lap.  I had a good time, but it wasn't my cup of tea - I was working in the accounting department (I am an English major and a Studio Art minor).  I decide to wean myself off the medication, I am doing fine.

I get the proper paperwork in, and resume my classes Fall '06.  The fall semester goes swimmingly, except for a D in physics, but who can blame me.  But then, this January, I had a setback, and to make a long story longer, I am back on the medication plus a medication for anxiety that I'm only to take when I think I need it, seeing a therapist in Providence weekly and my old therapist in NY monthly, and taking only two classes this spring semester. 

I feel like a disappointment.  Or, felt like one.  But to be most accurate, too often feel like one.

I'm doing better now, March 9, 2007.  Back on track, and working with the Dean to see what I can do to just finish college already.  Though there's myriad options, they almost all begin with me walking during the May '07 Commencement, pending 6 classes, which is good, I want to do that - wear a cap and gown and make my parents proud.  I hope I don't feel too much like a fraud.  The option that seems most viable (and cheapest) is taking one class during the summer, and then coming on as a Special Status Senior for Fall '07.  That, at the moment, seems to be my course of action.

Special Status.  Not a status I've ever thought I was before.  (Or, a status I'm too familiar with?)  People keep telling me it's not unusual for people to feel the way I do sometimes, that I'm not the first college student to take five and a half years to finish.  They say it's not bad, and its not uncommon.  And it's true, I'm sure.  But I've still got this Special Status creeping up on me, making me feel too special.  I guess, thank God this is the worst of my troubles.

I'm planning on getting a dog.

Help Brittany

There is a woman named Brittany Harrison who is joining the Salesian Sisters on August 4th, but, as she needs to be debt-free to enter, she is asking for help to pay off her student loans.  Any excess donations will be donated to the Salesian Sisters.  As a poor college student myself, I only donated what I could, but I will keep her in my prayers.

Help  Brittany Get to the Convent - On Her Behalf

Into The Deep - Brittany's Blog

via A Nun's Life