That Day in May

It’s election day in the states today. History is happening, people.

To my American readers, make sure you vote today. 

It’s November again. Which means I’ve signed up for NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month! I’m not entirely sure why I signed up, it’s not like I’ve got a lot of time to blog, but I’ve done it for a few years now, and hey, old habits die hard.

Anyway.

Two of our foster cats were adopted, and the third has someone interested in her. We got two young kittens as fosters earlier this week, but they are currently at PetSmart for an adoptathon. If they don’t get adopted by tomorrow evening, then they’ll come back to stay with us until they get adopted.

Kipling is doing VERY well. He continues to learn and listen well, unless he’s got a tennis ball in his mouth. For some reason if there’s a ball in his mouth, his ears don’t work. :)  He is still goofy and clumsy and a total joy to have around.

And now he’s standing here beside me, giving me the big droopy sleepy eyes, which means it’s time for bed.

Nothing snaps me out of a bad mood faster than having the dog’s tail wag uncontrollably at the mere sight of me.

Last week at this time, we were just getting the new dog home. I had worries that he wouldn’t like us, that he wouldn’t behave, that he would chase the cats and eat our furniture and have accidents and bark all the time.

He’s doing NONE of that. Uh, well, except the occasional ‘chase the cat’ thing.

Kipling has really settled in well. He has responded well to the name change, thank goodness. He’s destroying toys at an incredible pace, and he actually smells like dog (Trifle never did), and he sheds, but we love the goofball. He’s quick to learn, eager to please, and I really think he’s happy to be here. He is high energy, but not high maintenance. He follows us constantly. He snores. He understands things like ‘bring your toy’ and ‘go to bed’ (along with sit, stay, lie down, etc).  He has the attention span of a GNAT right now, but we can really see him making an effort.

But still. I miss Trifle. All the time. As much as I dig him, Kipling is NOT Trifle. Sometimes I feel a bit bad for thinking that, but then I realize it’s ok, and I’m allowed to still be sad, and Kipling is not replacing Trifle, not at all. He’s not supposed to.

I have room enough in my heart to love both of them.

I’m linking to this because I think it’s important for people to see. I’m sure most of us have someone with autism in our lives, and this is important information.10 things children with autism wish you knew.

So, I’m sure most of you already know, but yes - we have a new dog. We were perusing ads at Petfinder, and found a sweet little boy at a local rescue. We applied, went to visit him a few times, and brought him home Friday night.

He is SO NOT Trifle, not anything close, opposite in just about every way, but he’s perfect for us too, strangely enough.

He was listed with the name Pedro. The husband and I didn’t particularly like it, but if that’s what he came with, we were going to keep it. Then we met him in person, and he’s just NOT a Pedro. I don’t think he liked it either, because he didn’t respond to it at all. So while the adoption was going through, we had some time to think about a new name. We thought of LOTS, but finally settled on one that we both loved the second we heard it: Kipling. I think he approves, too, because he is already listening better, and knows his name.  He got here Friday night, and has settled in quite well. It’s going to be VERY hard to leave him to go to work tomorrow.