I hope everybody had a very Merry Christmas! This is a wonderful time of year for family and giving and just really awesome food. Me? This is a slightly depressing time of year because the kids usually spend Christmas with their mom. But I do have great friends here who take me in. My good friends Scott and Jeannine invited me over yesterday for Christmas dinner. Scott's parents from Wisconsin were also in town. We drank Brandy Manhattans and ate a delicious ham dinner. Scott and I smoked a fabulous Griffin cigar afterward. I contributed a homemade pecan pie. That's right!!! Homemade! I made the crust, too. Yeah, I'm cool! Wassup!
Scott and I are going fly fishing in the morning along the Commencement Bay beach just north of Tacoma. Coastal cutthroat trout will likely be the catch. I bought a new pair of wading shoes with felt soles today so I'm excited to try them out.
Christmas shopping is all done for the kids. I hooked up the kids pretty good but I haven't scored the big one, yet. I am considering a dog for us and the Labrador has been on my mind. I'm also considering a Greyhound because I love that breed. I've been combing Craigs List and animal shelters for "The One" but haven't lucked out yet. Since we lost our cat a few months ago (readers who have been here awhile will remember this), all of us have been rather sad without a household pet, and the kids want a dog like really really bad. You know what I'm sayin'? The kids come home the end of next week so I still have a few days. If I can finish this beforehand, it will make their year! I'll have to make sure I capture their expressions on camera when they walk thru the door. This could be really special. I've been wanting a dog for a very long time. If any of you have suggestions please tell me because selecting a family dog is not as easy as it may sound.
Well, just thought I'd drop in and share a few thoughts. Enjoy the Holidays!
Gotta admit that I'm homesick. I wish I were home in Texas with family for Christmas, but oh well. This calls for some James McMurtry. Always an excellent choice for those mellow evenings (even loud obnoxious punkers like me have to mellow every now and then).
Crack open a cold one and give thanks.
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12 comments:
Golden retrievers are DA BOMB!
They are not as big of chewer like Labs and not as hyper too.
www.tropicokennels.com is where I got my awesome goldie.
Hi Maeve! I love the Golden Retriever also. They are great family dogs, but they shed really bad. For my own sanity, I think we need a short-haired dog. Thoughts?
We have two yellow labs, Woodrow and Gus. Woody is older and has been the BEST DOG EVER from the moment we got him 8 Christmases ago. Our younger lab was/is much more typical. He was hell to live with the first two years. But now he is a good dog with a couple of quirks. Both dogs love the kids, like to play ball, swim, etc. I haven't seen the movie, but the book "Marley and Me" was spot on in describing life with a Lab.
We have 3 acres for the dogs to run on, not sure how well behaved my dogs would be if they didn't tire themselves out running around each day. I do know that if we lived on a golf course, my dog Gus would chase every ball he saw...he "retrieves" everything he can, especially anything ball-like.
Our friends have Greyhounds that were former racing dogs. They aren't as affectionate as our dogs, but otherwise seem like great pets.
Vet bills are a killer for us. We either have bad luck or clumsy dogs!
I just want to say you're such a great father, Paul. I truly admire you. Probably because my sons rarely saw their father after the divorce. They were 13 and 14, and really needed him. But he stopped paying attention to them. I tried so hard to get him interested in the boys. To no avail. They're early 50s now, speak with their father (77) once a year. And they still miss him....
I can just picture how they would have loved a father buying them a dog...I got two cats for them. We called them Double Trouble.They were fun to have. But what my sons needed was a father giving them a pet he would have chosen specially for them, as you're doing. You're a great guy, Paul. Your children are really blessed...
Lisa at Tropico also breeds "goldendoodles". A cross between a golden & poodle so you get a dog that does not shed like a golden. I personally will put up with the hair. I'm used to owning horses and other furry/hairy creatures my entire life.
I've heard German short haired pointers are good with kids. OOO! you can always get an Irish Wolfhound! They are not shedders (just the size of small ponies!)
Dude, the dog picks YOU not the other way around. You will know who it is when you see it.
hey there, paul. and merry belated christmas to you and yours. i christmissed you very much, was thrilled with my surprise holiday well wishes from you. thank you so much for them.
on the dog, we got a five year old jack russell and we love him. he is small but hella spunky. loves the kids, loves to run, and minds...the dog is an instant one of us. great dog for kids and small enough not to lay heaping piles a poo. just a reality check from a girl that understands the decision process, you got enough shit to pick up with two kids, yes?
and what kerrcarto said. i just wanted to plug the coolio small breeds for kidlets. take care and happy puppy finding!
ps-Texas missers you too!
labs are great but you better have lots of time and patience. mine came close to chewing off my front door and forget about leaving muddy shoes on the porch. we got a cocker spaniel and did the underground fence thing. it worked great! good luck and merry christmas.
Claudia, you're probably the sweetest Canadian ever. I wish more people were warm like you. The world would be a much better place. :)
Wassup Supergurl!
OK, so reading through the comments we've got golden retriever, yellow lab, "goldendoodle" (I don't know about that one. Ha!), German pointer, Irish Wolfhound, jack russell, and cocker spaniel. All are great dogs but the spaniels are moody.
But I think kerrcarto probably makes the most since, and that's amazing because kerrcarto's about a french fry short of a happy meal! BWAHAHAH!!!
So I'm going to scour for dogs, short-haired dogs, and let it pick me. I'll keep y'all posted. Happy New Year!
I can relate. I am so glad our kids are older now so we can actually enjoy a family holiday.
Miss Texas family, too.
Cold one cracked. Cheers!
Paul: Agree with Maeve on the Irish wolfhound option. If I could have a dog, that's what I'd want. They are so damned friendly! Great kid dogs ... I knew some people who had two of them and those dogs were just the best!
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