Me and Dogs

Ever since I was a little girl, I longed to have a dog.  As a child growing up, my parents would never allow me to have pets of any kind.  My parents were Italian immigrants who came to America  after they were married in their early twenties, and they brought with them their Italian beliefs and traditions (some great, others not so good).  One of these beliefs was the notion that animals were to be kept outside and not allowed in the house.  They grew up on working farms in Italy with all kinds of animals, including dogs, horses, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, etc. but most of these were seen as working animals on the farm or as their next meal!

One of my most vivid memories as a child happened when I was in kindergarten.  The teacher made an announcement in class one day that a student’s dog had recently had a litter of puppies and they need a good home.  The teacher asked us to check with our parents to see if we could take one.  Well, I knew there was no way that my parents would ever concede to my bringing home a puppy but I convinced myself that once they saw how cute it was, they would surely change their minds.

The next day, I told the teacher that my parents agreed to take one of the puppies.  The student’s mother made arrangements to drop the puppy off at my house (I conveniently chose a time when my parents would be at work).  The puppy was just as cute as I imagined it would be and I was in heaven, until about 5 o’clock, that is, when my parents got home from work.

There are only a few other times  during my childhood that I remember seeing them so upset!  I had to sit with the puppy outside on our stoop while I waited for my friend’s mother to come pick the dog up to take it back home.  The puppy couldn’t even go into the house, it’s cuteness had no impact on them. Not only was I hugely disappointed, but  so embarrassed at the thought that everyone would know that I had lied about having my parents permission to take the dog.  Looking back, it probably was a good lesson to learn  at such an early age about telling the truth.  Boy, did I get in trouble.

My affection for dogs persisted throughout my life and the minute I got married and moved away from home, one of the first things I did was to get myself a puppy.  It was a beautiful Samoyed puppy that I had seen in a pet shop while on a shopping trip in our local mall.  I had no idea what it was like to raise a puppy and I had apparently picked out the puppy from hell.  It was the most affectionate little puppy, but had the worst case of separation anxiety you could ever imagine.  My husband at the time and I were renting a house in Portland, Maine  and I still pity the landlord whenever I think back to all the damage that sweet, little ball of fur caused in that house.

The dog was perfect as long as she was in your company, but left alone it was as if she turned into a Tasmanian devil – not good at all!  On one occasion, after returning home from work, I opened the front door to find that my white dog had turned the color red.  My immediate reaction was to panic because I thought it was blood.  But, after taking a closer look, I could see that it wasn’t blood at all – it was lipstick!  Somehow, she had gotten up onto our bedroom dresser and had picked out from among the various lipsticks, the reddest, brightest one she could find and had proceeded to smear it all over the house!  It looked like a horror scene – the lipstick was buffed into the kitchen linoleum, painted onto our new sofa and added a new color to our area rugs.  It took me days to clean up the mess.   And that was just one of the many episodes we encountered.  It had gotten to the point where I became scared to open the front door for fear of what I might find.

Sasha (that was her name) eventually outgrew her separation anxiety and turned into a great dog.  So good, that I feel guilty whenever I think back to all the yelling she provoked from me as a puppy.  I think the turning point for her came  when she developed  hip dysplasia, which according to a vet who was an expert on the condition, was one of the worst cases he had ever seen.  She had to  undergo two extensive surgeries to rotate her hips into a proper position.  It was heartbreaking to watch her recovery, which provided us with some real bonding time as I moved a mattress to the kitchen floor so that I could sleep with her at night.  The good news is, she lived to 13 years old and had a great life.  She also provided me with the knowledge that I would consider before adopting any other dogs, such as not getting a puppy from a pet shop, how to deal with separation anxiety  in dogs and how to and not to potty train puppies (never use newspapers it becomes a hard habit to break).
Since Sasha, I have had a number of other dogs, four to be exact, as I have had the worst luck with health issues and my dogs.  Every time I go through a loss, I swear to myself that I will never get another dog because I can’t stand the heart-break that follows a dog’s passing.  But I am inevitably drawn to them and believe that a house never seems like a home without a dog.  My second dog (Ticon) died at age 7 from a disease associated with her pituitary glad.  My next dog (Casey) died at age 5 from intestinal cancer.  Brittany  (age 13) died after having surgery to remove a tumor in her abdomen.  And Ryan, who was adopted from a local shelter, was taken by my ex-boyfriend and is doing just fine.

I recently endeavored to get another puppy, against my better judgement.  So far, he’s been a handful!  Why is it that you always look back and forget the difficult parts about raising dogs and seem to remember only the fond memories?  I am hoping that my puppy lives a long, happy and healthy life and that I don’t smother him in my effort to make sure this happens, as I have been accused of loving my dogs to death.  Already, he was attacked by a neighbor’s dog at 5 months old and needed to get stitches on his nose and in his mouth.

I often wonder if I had been allowed to have dogs as a child, if this yearning for them would still exist.  Maybe it’s the fact that I couldn’t have one all those years that I am trying to make for.  But I think that either way, my love for dogs would prevail.  Stay tuned to see how Yukon, my latest puppy is progressing.

Winters in New England

All my life I have resided somewhere in New England, having moved around a number of times. My favorite season by far is Fall, rich in beautiful colors and offering the last of our summer temperatures with cool (good sleeping weather) nights. It invokes a feeling inside New Englanders that is difficult to describe but that has to be experienced firsthand. It is a time of year where people start to “nest” in their homes, preparing for the long winter that undoubtedly lies ahead. In Vermont, it is especially beautiful to see the vivid colors in our majestic mountains against a sunlit sky.

In the past, I have always dreaded the thought of the bitter cold temperatures and snow that winters in New England typically bring. This year, however, I have developed a new appreciation for the winter season. Perhaps it is the fact that this year, I am unemployed (not willingly) and have greater time to relish in the fun activities that winter also offers. There is no having to get up extra early in the mornings to scrape my windshield free of snow and ice before heading into work, or having to drive home on icy roads – not this year. This year it’s all about playing in the snow with my Samoyed puppy and enjoying winter activities such as sledding, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. These activities are usually followed inside by a nice cup of hot chocolate (with whipped cream, of course) or a cup of hot spiced cider and snuggling up to a cozy fire. For some reason, I don’t even mind the shoveling so much this year, as it has provided me with some quiet time outside that has enabled me reflect on life and different things. There is also nothing more peaceful than the stillness that exists outdoors during the wintertime. Everything is glistening in snowy white and there seems to be a calmness in the air.

My friend, Michael Hollingshead, and I recently purchased a pair of sled pants. I had never heard of them before we happened to stumble upon them at a tent sale this past summer. We are really looking forward to trying them out at a huge sledding hill in town, funny as they may make us look! They are a bright fire engine red color and resemble a short pair bloomers that have a plastic sled built into the butt- not the most attractive or stylish things. But what fun!!! We have already tried them out in our backyard, where the hills are not nearly as big. We were skeptical at first, but the pants proved us wrong. We have convinced ourselvesthat once others see these remarkable (ugly) pants, that they all will want a pair for themselves! The question then becomes, do we tell them where they can be found, or do we keep it a secret all to ourselves?

So, now I’m torn between favorite seasons but grateful for them all. I consider it a real priviledge to have been able to live in this part of the country that experiences such changes throughout the year and can’t imagine how boring it must be to have relatively the same weather all year long.
Please check back to hear how our sled pants worked out on the huge hill and what kind of response they received in public.

Hello

Hi All,

Welcome to my blog.  I have recently become a member of the unemployed community and I therefore have plenty of time to blog.  What is amazing to me is that when I used to listen to the nightly news report the unemployment numbers, it never dawned on me that I might become a statistic among those numbers.  I guess you might say that I was a victim of the housing bubble that dawned the current great recession, as I was previously employed by a mortgage broker.  During my four years of employment in the mortgage business, I saw first-hand the kinds of easy loans that caused the collapse of the housing market.  I was astounded by how lax the lending requirements had become for qualifying clients for loans.   As long as individuals had a pulse and a good credit score, they were almost guaranteed a loan.  In fact, certain lenders would decline loans for individuals who we inadvertently sent supporting documentation for.  They did not want to see any income or asset information, and if it was sent the loan would be turned down!  I saw very little savings  held by individuals, not that it mattered, as we were writing loans that were 95 to 100% financed.   I also found it  very difficult to fathom how debt-laden people had become.  The amount of credit card debt was shocking and it seemed as though we kept refinancing the same people again and again, as they continued to draw equity out of their homes to pay down their credit card debt, in the hopes that their homes would continue   appreciating.

I interpreted these practices as a huge warning sign and in the late summer of 2007, withdrew all of my money from the stock market and put it into CD’s.  Sure, I missed the peak that occurred in the stock market in October 2007, but I was  one of the few fortunate  enough to also miss the huge  decline.  Of course, at the time, my Merrill Lynch broker thought I was crazy and tried to convince me to stay in the market (I’m sure that had nothing to do with her loss of commissions).  So glad I didn’t take that “good piece” of advice. It was also my same intuition that later led me to get back into the market just after it had hit bottom in March of 2009.   I guess you might say  I have a knack  for timing the market, or maybe it’s sheer luck.   Either way, it has been paying off.  I view the current market as a great buying opportunity, one that I will probably never again see in my lifetime.  Now, if i can use that luck to land myself a new job in this economy, that will truly be amazing!  More to come, please stay tuned.