There are several good reasons why I have a collection of vacuum cleaners: cordless, robotic, heavy duty plug-in, a second cordless…and a carpet cleaner, too.
Each of the reasons comes with four legs.
In general, we have 12 furry legs here on a regular basis….actually, 14 if you count mine on a particularly busy week… (it’s okay, say it with me: “Ewwwww!”).
You might remember we lost four of those legs in January when we said goodbye to our big Boo… and nearly everyday, someone at our house notes how much Kelly is missed. It’s an absolute truth that you can’t just go out and get a new pet to take the place of the old one…if you have pets you know this…each one is different and special.
BUT….you DO need a place to put all that love, help plug the hole, and distract you from the empty spot on the floor.
So we began our search for a new family member…considered all options and decided that–as long as we already had enough vacuums (not to mention an appropriately named blog)–we should up the dog hair ante by getting a Golden Retriever.
We actively searched for months, and just when it was looking like we’d have to wait several more, fate intervened and we got the call we were hoping for…
Being the Bickerson family we are, naming her was almost as difficult as finding her. Six different people in our family liked six different types of names. We accumulated an extensive list of candidates, each of which was liked by one person and met with sniffs, sneers, and jeers from five others (we’re supportive of each other that way)
And then, just as we were about to put up the white flag and pick one from the list, Mr said,
“Allegany. How about Allegany?”
And THAT was the one.
Allegany is a family place for us…it’s where we went for the day when there were full days to spend hiking, and fishing, and cooking out, and precariously navigating the rocks in an icy stream searching for crawfish to catch and later release. It’s where Kelly would spend hours in the water swimming and bringing back thrown sticks
…and we would all complain about how bad she smelled for the entire ride home.
“Allegany” means family time for us and carries memories of wonderful days spent together.
Mr outdid himself.
Meet Allegany, Golden Retriever (and begonia killer).
As of this post, we’ve had her for exactly one month, which has been plenty of time to call her 18 million derivatives of her name, and 18 million other names…
Allie, Alligator, Alleycat, Allidocious, Allibegonia, Fluffnugget…Monstro, Terrorist, Tinkmeister, The Snug.
Funny that we spend SO much time picking a name, then call our pets anything but what’s on the license.
Ally possesses the unique ability to look enormous one minute, and tiny the next…we won’t be carrying her around for long.
It’s only been a month, but she’s already part of the family.
And, believe it or not, I’m actually a little comforted by the fact that even with this new pupper rapidly claiming space in our hearts, we did NOT plug the hole, there will always be empty Kelly space on the floor and we will continue to miss her.
It’s a complete blessing to have SO many happy memories of all the years we had with Kelly…AND the opportunity to make new ones in the years ahead with Allie.
I guess it’s just another one of the hard, happy, sad, sweet, lessons Life had to teach me.
Allie is adorable! Schmoopy wants a dog in the worst way, but we still have no fence and my crappy house is so small and we have the cats and dogs are so much work and… clearly, I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger, but it’s inevitable. We will eventually get a dog. May you have many years ahead with your new addition!
Oh my goodness- what an absolute cutie. It’s so very difficult to lose a four legged member of the family – and the next one will never “replace” the last one, but create her/his own spot. And they can surely be a lot of company and work their way into our hearts.
Glad you have Allie – looking forward to more pics as she grows.
Iris
Thanks Iris! That’s exactly what we’re finding. How lucky we are to be able to enjoy our wonderful pets…even though we only have them for such a short time. They ARE each special in their own way!
Congratulations Em and family on your new member. What a doll she is. She also looks like a scamp, You have your work cut out for you. Enjoy and please keep us up to date on her growth.
Love Lesley
Jodiestouchofstyle
Thank you, Lesley! She is SOOOO much fun!!! On her own: so far, so good. But she and Roland (my daughter’s lab who is here a lot) together are VERY double trouble!!!
OMG….the sweetness overload is real. Especially how both Kelly and Allie like to help out with the chores.
I know this is all about the pup and I only hope that telling my husband he needs to read it will encourage him to add a canine to our household soon. BUT what I absolutely love about each and every one of your posts is your ability to make me laugh. The way you write is truly something I strive for.
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
What a lovely thing to say!
And that is truly what I strive for: you have the great gift of saying the nicest things. And I guess I (try to) use humor to cover for my lack of content, haha. You don’t have to be funny, your posts are interesting and fun already!
Allie has been an absolute blast. With her, the sweetness has been totally real!!! She is VERY smart! But wow, has it been crazy keeping her and Roland apart. They LOVE each other and want to wrestle non-stop. Which will be fun and fine when she’s bigger, but for now he’s too powerful and we don’t want her to get hurt accidentally. So, YES to a canine, but two puppies at a time has been a little overwhelming! Yikes.