Festibul Season has Begun

I definitely made the most of the three-day weekend: a girls' night out, two festibuls, gardening, and a cook-out. Oh, and I painted our mailbox post. The only negative outcome from the weekend is that even basic activities seem to leave me sore these days. Seriously, my left bicep hurts (not sure why - may have something to do with hauling sod around and then installing it in the back yard). Also: my back, my right calf, and my left forearm (which got a bit of sun on Saturday). This aging shit is for the birds.

One other dark cloud from the weekend: Kaiser was adopted and returned the same day. Kaiser is my foster Boxer. He's around 4-5 years old and just as sweet and easygoing as can be. A family applied to adopt him and so we took him to his new home on Saturday (on our way to Festibul #1). That was at around 10 a.m. They called at 2:30 to complain about him and say they wanted to return him. We weren't back from the festibul yet but I called as soon as I got home. They brought him back to my house at around 5 or so. Their complaints were that he knocked over their younger child when they were in the back yard and that he'd had a couple of accidents on the floor. For starters, I had mentioned repeatedly that he would need a lot of time to settle in and may act oddly for the first day or two. Once he settles in, you'd barely know he was around.

Here is what this vicious beast looks like 99% of the time:

He doesn't have accidents at my house (he did the first day, but not after that). As far as knocking over small children, that's what Boxers do. As my friend Stephanie said, "If I had a nickel for every time one of my Boxers knocked over my kids, I wouldn't have to work." My daughter has gotten bowled over plenty of times and you know what? She's still alive. I guess I just don't believe kids are that delicate. I also think they should fall off their bikes once or twice and maybe even eat a little dirt from the yard from time to time. They should experience an ice cream cone melting down their arm and dripping onto the pavement. They should climb a tree or two and (if they're not allergic) get stung by a bee. Builds character, I say.

The adopter did apologize. Maybe it was my fault. Perhaps I just made a mistake and picked the wrong applicant (I did have inquiries from a couple others). A word to the wise, though: if you are reading this and have thought of adopting a dog from a shelter or rescue, please understand that it takes a couple of weeks for an animal to settle in. When you bring a new dog home, they don't know you. They don't know what you expect of them or even why your back door is not in the same place as in their last home. I've been fostering dogs for over ten years. The first couple of days after a new dog arrives are always rough. Typically, the dog has a couple of accidents in the house and paces for the first night or two. Within a few days they've learned our routine and understand what's what (and that the lady of the house strongly prefers that pee/poop are deposited in the back yard only).

I have to say we were very happy to have Kaiser back, though. He fits in just fine at our house and if we didn't have a two-dog limit in our town, I would adopt him myself.

While Kaiser was busy knocking over small children, we were at Festibul #1, which was a fine arts event held on the waterfront. I bought a beautiful print of a watercolor painting. It was a gorgeous day and the kid had a lot of fun with the children's activities.

Festibul #2 was a local Memorial Day festival, complete with rides and all that jazz. P and I are glad that A is still young enough to stick to the kiddie rides where we can just stand at the gate and watch her. When she's ready for the big rides, she'll have to bring a friend because we just can't hack it. Once I hit 35 or so, my stomach said, "No can do." (My other half has the same affliction.) I take the kid to the park in our neighborhood quite a bit, and I sometimes get queasy if I go too high on the swings. It's a sad state of affairs, let me tell you.

We have another festibul coming up next weekend. This one is a dog-specific event. By the end of summer, the kid and I will have eaten the state's entire supply of kettle corn. Rock on!