Chris's work schedule had him out of town for the first two weeks of the month. His second trip overlapped with my girls' NYC birthday trip, which required we find back up child care. In the midst of all this traveling mayhem, I had big volunteering responsibilities to fulfill. In a moment of temporary insanity (I have alot of these), I volunteered to co-chair the largest fundraiser for Aidan's school, the Fall Gala, set for November 20th.
I honestly had no idea how much work is involved with chairing a fundraiser of this magnitude. It was more work than I could have possibly imagined. I juggled too much and neglected both my children and my job in order to make it work.
Thankfully, it worked. It went off without (much of) a hitch and life returned to normal on November 21st.
I was woozy and exhausted and just plain ol' wiped out the morning after the Gala. But I was also relieved to have survived November. Things were set to return to calm or as calm as it gets in our house.
But instead of embracing calm and peace, we opted to run right out and get a puppy. Yes, temporary insanity, indeed.
Because nothing says calm and peace like a brand new puppy, right? How can you resist that face?
The boys have been begging for a dog forever, but it has intensified in the last month. It culminated with Brennan announcing that all he wanted for both his birthday and Christmas is a puppy. He also insisted his birthday party invites, cake and favors be dog themed since all he likes is dogs. (picture this being said with the sweetest, saddest face of a little boy denied the only thing in this world truly guaranteed to bring him happiness.)
It chipped away at my resolve to wait on the dog issue. It didn't help that we attended the Catwalk for Charity event this year and fell in love with the cutest little golden retriever puppy being auctioned. I adored that sweet little puppy, but couldn't fathom the nice, hefty five thousand dollar price tag that came with him. (I know. It's a good cause - curing cancer and all that. But still completely out of our price range.)
After the auction, I decided to look up the breeder of the puppy from the auction. I found her website and lo and behold - doesn't she have two more puppies available from the same litter? She did! (And they were a whole lot cheaper than five thousand dollars! Of course, we would be the family to negotiate the bargain basement, Target brand puppy. I am totally okay with that.)
We didn't tell the boys. On Saturday afternoon, we told them we were going to visit a friend. When we met up with the breeder, we asked the boys if they would like to pick a puppy to go home with us. I think we expected them to jump up and down and shout with joy. Instead, they stared at us in shock, unable to speak. Finally, Aidan looked at me and said hesitantly, "For real? You're not kidding?"
When I said we weren't kidding, the boys quickly picked out our puppy. Aidan told us he was shaking he was so happy. Brennan was shell shocked.
The boys all had ideas for names for our newest family member, but Brennan's pick of "Chewy," short for Chewbacca was quickly the favorite.
And so it was. Chewy the dog. He is already mauled and loved beyond measure. I think it is a perfect fit for us all. (Well, except for Griffin who has already asked when we are sending the puppy back. He's still adjusting.)
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