Day 5

Hi,

Day 5...and if Martha Stewart sends me one more "Cookie of the Day Recipe" I have enough weight to drop right now, thank you very much, or "Craft of the Day," there are only so many ways in which one can "creatively" store pencils in covered tin cans or glued together fabric cases, I am going to vomit. Some women are born to do this stuff...I'm not one of them and I'm really okay with that! Noting my angst and as he was off today, my husband took me "visiting" some friends of ours. Prior to leaving, he mentioned that an Old English Sheepdog might be the breed I should consider for the dog who is waiting to wander all over the world with me. I gave this some thought and research on breeds and at present, my thinking is that this dog will either be a German Shepherd mix, I'm still missing Budman, or a Leonburger.

I first came to know the Leonburger when we lived in Germany and have always felt it would be a wonderful dog to live with. They take a lot of time and love, need very gentle training and are very loyal and loving...and huge. While my daughter's dog rivals Clifford the big red dog, a Leonburger would make him, at 120 pounds and meeting my hip at his shoulder, seem malnourished and stunted in his growth. Known as the "Gentle Giants" of the dog world, they are a mix of a Mastiff, Newfoundland and Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog. Big, hairy, wonderful with children and devoted to those they love, this is what I want in a dog...except for the hairy stuff...which I could deal with if it were the dog of my dreams.

The daughter's dog is becoming problematic. As the days pass, he is becoming more and more my shadow. I've started giving him a daily flea comb which has resulted in his not leaving my side when we are inside or outside of the house. If I stop, he is there sitting at my right side, because my daughter is a leftie, with the top of his head under my hand. He has even started switching to the left side on his own and sleeping on the floor beside my side of the bed. Not a good situation for him...

The other issue is that I want to start working on dropping some weight and getting strong enough to do this and if just combing him has resulted in this, I can't imagine what walking with him will do. My daughter wants her dog and I'd really like him to want to go with her when the time comes. So I'm praying for a miracle here and that by Tuesday of next week that I've sold a major piece of writing and can get the car fixed so that he can go down with her...next weekend would be a good time for that to happen. Thus, it's the elliptical machine for me for now...and praying heavily for a miracle at this point.

Happy wanderings!

The writer...and her dog...who is trying to formulate but is still not present yet.