One of the first things that struck me about Molly when I first met her was how fat she was.  Couldn’t even get her hind leg behind her ear to scratch she was so fat.  And it was over 100 degrees in the Venice Beach sun and the poor little thing couldn’t breathe, panting over a bowl of water as she and her brother Miles waited for someone to adopt them.

The second thing was how beautiful and full of spunk she was.  If she didn’t already have the name Molly, I would have named her Pinky after Pinky Tuskedaro from Happy Days.  Tough and cute.

She hiked like a boy dog, barked and fussed like a boy dogs, and chased animals behind the TV.  “Where’d they go?” she seemed to say when she came back from around the entertainment center.  She’d rub her tummy in the grass, commando style.  She LOVED grass.  Her little ears would bounce in the wind and were so soft.

She could understand me.  At least, when she could still hear.  And even when the gray started to sneak into her muzzle she still looked like a puppy.  She’d hop up the stairs like a bunny – a bad sign that nerve damage was on the way said one vet.  He was right.

She started to lose control of her back legs about 6 months ago, dragging her little back paws as she walked.  We were okay with getting her a rickshaw, but then our vet said the paralysis was spreading to her front, too.  Soon it would be her lungs that would be paralyzed.

This past Christmas we had her stay with our vet, knowing she was pretty healthy besides the nerve damage, but she took a bad turn.  When we came back from our winter trip, she was shaking, her eyes were bloodshot, and she coudn’t breathe.  She stopped trying to move.  Or eat.

Right now, she’s at the bridge with our boy pug Einstein, waiting for us to come and play with her again, like we did when she was a younger fiesty little fireball of a thing.  I will miss you so much little Pinky.  So much.

When I lost my first blog, I also lost the fun stuff from our San Diego Zoo trip. My hubby is a teacher so our vacations are very rare – “ski week” and winter holidays are just about it. So this year, with a wedding on January 5th, we knew we couldn’t go far. The zoo was something we both wanted to see and we knew our animal-crazy little guy would be into it.
First thing we did was jump in line to see the baby panda! We saw her for about 30 seconds while the conveyor-like line just kept moving past her and her mama sleeping. We saw some amazing things that day…I’ll put more up from time to time!

Over ten years ago, I decided to adopt a rescue pug. I was at a Little Angels Pug Rescue adoption fair and decided Einstein was the one. He wasn’t just any old pug, either. He was the only one who sat in the middle of the makeshift dog run and didn’t move. He looked sweet, a little sad, and very lost. His face, ears and paws were pure black, and his features such that he looked like a lowland gorilla! I joked with my then boyfriend that he looked perfectly at home on a couch, cracking open a beer and watching the Superbowl all day.

But he was already spoken for. Another woman got there first. So a month later, I went to the next adoption fair…and there he was again! What happened? I didn’t care – all I knew was that we was going to be my dog!

A few weeks and housechecks later, Little Angels decided I’d be a good mom for my big furry gallump. He was a whopping 30 pounds – huge for a pug – and the vet was pretty certain he was a product of a puppy mill. His small paws showed that he had been malnourished as a puppy, and a lung infection that was never treated left him with scar tissue in his lungs so he would never be one to play or fetch or even walk for very long distances. But boy could he snuggle and lick. He was a rare double coat, so the hot summers made his breathing even more labored, so we didn’t leave the house much then. When I adopted Molly six months later, he seemed to relax even more and let her take over being top dog in the house. Those dogs were with me through five moves, a few rotten boyfriends, one fabulous boyfriend-then fiance-now husband, and a baby.

Einstein started to go downhill pretty rapidly over the past few months, right after his 16th birthday. An eye infection left him blind – with our vet and medicine, nothing got rid of the green gook and we were told he would need to lose the eye. But then, we knew he wouldn’t make it through the surgery because of his weak lungs. So we waited. But when he lost control of his bladder and couldn’t walk to relieve himself, and howled as though no one was in the room, we knew it was time. Einstein left us this morning, just a few hours ago.

I loved this dog and will keep his memory close. He was an amazing dog, full of love, a dog who would willingly put his paws around your neck and rest his head on your shoulder. One who was much more comfortable when he had some part of him touching me – a paw, a chin, whatever – as he slept. I will always be grateful, too, to the organization who rescued Einstein from death at the pound over ten years ago when his previous owners decided they’d like to travel the world and had no time for a dog. You can find them at www.lapr.org.

Goodbye my sweet Einstein.

I love this day. Every year, my husband gets a few of his Speech & Debate students from Westmont High School to come and serenade me and give me flowers, chocolate and other goodies. This year I’m a bit wistful, though – it’s the last time Alex Riad will be one of the troubadors. He’s a senior this year, all grown up and hoping to go to Columbia. I’ll miss him next year but today, I wonder what he’s cooked up to sing to me…
What’s really cute is that my hubby’s got my assistant and our babysitter doing recon on me! I’m sick as a dog (what the heck is this bug going around?) but wanted to come in for a few hours today. I have a feeling as soon as I walked in they were on walkie talkies shouting, “Go! Go! Go!” hehehe
Okay AS I’m writing this, here they come! What they don’t know is that I’ve got a camera at the ready…

That’s Chris & Tisha singing their hearts out – and boy they’re good. You can tell they practiced their moves! Thanks you two…

And no Alex. ::sniff:: That’s okay, he’s a big senior with senior things to do. Like practice for the huge Berkeley tournament this weekend!

And yes, my hubby wrote me an amazing card. I just love him. I gotta tell you, brides to be, this marriage thing is wonderful. I’m excited for you to experience it!

Happy Valentine’s day to all!

The little guy starts preschool TOMORROW! Ack!

Part of me is whooping it up, part of me is scared to death. I should mention that we’re sooooo lucky that we have a part time nanny who allows me to concentrate on my couples’ needs, weddings and albums. She’s helped him learn an incredible amount, so much so that academically, he’s ready for kindergarten! But he needs friends, so off I went to visit preschools. Wish us both luck – I’ll be the one outside in the parking lot bawling my eyes out.