Life With Dogs

(Cathy, though this may seem like a ploy to finally get your kids dogs, that's not what it is. Now of course if that happens, then it's just a happy coincidence!)

I love dogs. I talk about them a lot here, but I seriously love my dogs. Aristotle (obese chocolate lab) will be turning 5 in another month and Abe (HUGE great dane) will be turning 1 in a few weeks). My dogs are the best. I'm not sure I could have any other breed besides lab or great dane (though we've talked about our next dog coming from the humane society, so never say never, I guess). Anyway, I can't tell you how much joy they bring to our house.

When we first started adopting we heard Ethiopians came home petrified of dogs. When we went to Ethiopia we realized why. The dogs were crazy and scary and wild. We actually walked by a heap of dead dogs on the corner of the street (akin to something we might do with a bunch of raccoons who came too close to the car). It was heartbreaking for us.

But not our Tariku. We gave him a few days at our house before we brought (then just Aristotle) back from our friends' house. He got a little anxious at first but then we had Trysten pet him and it's been this every since.



Dogs are seriously amazing people. My kids are a little too young to comfort me when I get sad at times. I remember when we were going through the wait to court and wait to travel with Tariku it seemed Aristotle was the only one who could make me feel better sometimes. He'd rest that big ole' head on my lap and leave it there until I pulled myself together. They have amazing insights these animals.





But one of my absolute favorite things is when I go to wake Zach up for work and see this.




Couple things about the above picture that I love.
1) It shows we don't believe in headboards or footboards. Footboards because Zach is tall and he actually likes to kind of hang his feet off of a bed and headboards because I like to hang my hands off of a bed. We're weird but it works for us.

2) It shows I also don't believe in matching sheets, or that little cloth that hangs over a bed to cover up the mattress. Once a sheet is just too gross to sleep on anymore we just switch it out for one that's kind of in the same color family. And that cloth thing would just be one other thing I'd have to wash, besides everyone knows there's a mattress under there, right?

3) My dogs are huge. Can you even see Zach's head in there? That's a Queen sized bed. We're seriously considering getting a King just to make room for the dogs.