How it all began…

I’m pretty sure it all started with turtles….

When I was barely past the toddler stage, my mom would take my brothers and me to the neighborhood 5 and 10. For us, that was a Neisner’s, Murphy’s, or Kresge’s (where K-Mart came from). Yes, I’m THAT old.

In those days, before “stranger danger” was a thing, a mom could park her kids in the toy department and disappear to go have martinis in the bar next door with the neighbor ladies. (Just kidding, she was probably shopping for aprons and handkerchiefs, but she wouldn’t mind my selling her out for a cheap laugh…much.)

Eventually, my brothers would also ditch me, and I would join the other three and four-year olds who were staring at the turtle display long enough to name each of them and discern their identifying marks. Mom would come back three hours five minutes later, and the whining would begin until I got to bring home yet another turtle that was destined to the cruel demise that results from child neglect and frazzled parental decision making. Sadly, my first pets did not fare well.

As a reformed serial turtle killer, I am still haunted by the guilt of the suffering I likely caused those poor creatures…truly. Poor little dudes made it past the seagulls only to be forgotten in the pocket of a bratty four-year old.

Eventually my turtle days came to a merciful end.

I graduated to white mice, until one escaped and exacted a karmic revenge on my mother for the turtles’ suffering. I hear she spent a long time stranded on top of the washing machine while the tiny, red eyed creature patrolled the floor below while berating her in unintelligibly foul mouse speak for her animal cruelty.

Those are the earliest pet stories I can recall, as this month the “Where Bloggers Live” group regales you with tales of, well…tails.

I’m not sure I was even born when my aunt and uncle (the same uncle who gave be the pimpmobile) came back from a trip and gifted our family its first dog, but I suspect my mom wasn’t too thrilled with that surprise. Pepper was the first of three Boston Terriers that accompanied my brothers and me as we grew up.

Pepper 1 took full advantage of the small distance between his mouth and any food that was in my hand, and was–thus–a VERY stout little sausage dog.

Pepper 2 received the proper care and affection typical of responsible pet owners. He was also introduced to a cute chick and sired a pup of his own (the little devil):

and lived a full life of happy, perky, gassy, whiny years…and crossed the rainbow bridge the day before my high school graduation.

We were all broken hearted, but no one more so than my martini swilling* mom. Pepper was her constant companion and she was devastated, swearing that he was “the last one” because she couldn’t suffer the loss of another dog.

At 17, however, I was not ready to live a dogless existence, and full on-badgered my parents for months until they relented to my promises that I would take total care of it if we could pleeeeeeeeease have another dog…. pleeeeeease?!

Of course I was just about to start college, meet the boy of my dreams and spend a lot less time at home, but who knew?

So I greatly enjoyed the best of Duffy, leaving the trials of deworming to my mom, and chipping the poop out the ice in the driveway to my dad.

I only have one semi-handy picture of Duffy but I can’t use it because it’s of him and the guy who lived across the street from us. We took that picture because the neighbor looked JUST LIKE the dog and they happened to be sitting together on the couch…and because we were bratty. However, I’ve since outgrown bratty (somewhat) and so you will have to take my word for it. HE. LOOKED. JUST. LIKE. THE. DOG.

Boston Terriers have pug noses and have difficulty with air issues from breathing to ingesting food. Hence, Duffy snored like an idling motorcycle and could make a single instance of flatulence last while walking from one side of the house to the other. The dog had skills.

Eventually, one marriage and three of four children later, I badgered Mr into a fluffy shih-tsu. Bailey was the sweetest little dog, docile as can be, was entirely undemanding and a great family pet (minus her stinky skin allergy and affection for eating her own droppings,,,yuck. “Here Bailey, give us a kiss.” Ewwww.).

Also sprinkled throughout our early family history are adventures in carnival goldfish and hamsters which never ended well despite valiant efforts that may or may not have included mouth to mouse resuscitation.

But dogs have always been the thing for us, and we finally discovered how fun a big dog could be when we moved to this house and brought Kelly home one Christmas.

Poor Bailey. She was NOT happy when we added Kelly to the fold. Y’all met our Kelly Bean before:

And after Bailey crossed the bridge, along came Jack.

Roland is “our” pandemic dog who joined the family in 2020 via Maggie.

And our big, sweet, Kelly crossed the bridge last year, cosmically arranging Allegany’s arrival.

They’re a ton of work…..

And a ton of fun.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way

I shared this little story on IG last summer, and it seems a fitting end to this post.

*thanks, Mom, for letting me fictionalize you as a martini swilling barfly when in real life you’re actually a fun, extremely attentive, wonderful mother and grandmother (and Pepsi-drinking Girl Scout leader) who continues to dote on her children (including the bratty one) and–like nearly everyone==doesn’t read my blog.

Up for more pet tales? It’s raining cats and dogs today! Don’t miss the furry celebration and spend a few moments with:

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Em at Dust and Doghair
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After 
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style

Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Over the next few months, a group of six bloggers will be sharing their workspaces, their homes, towns and more!

Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!