Misheru

At some point, we will probably need to find homes for all our pets: two dogs, a turtle and several fish. If it were up to me, we’d have several herps and maybe even a tarantula (females live to be 25-30 years old and are very docile), along with a rabbit and a cat. And maybe a bird. And a hamster. And of course a guinea pig…

As you can see, Marti really has to put his foot down.

It’s hard for me to explain the joy I get from having animals around. I like to gripe and complain about what a pain they are, but then if they are sick or hurt or just seem miserable, I’m a total softie. Case in point: I was late to track practice the other day because the doggies NEEDED a walk. They just had that *look* that begged — please walk me!

Marti also likes to gripe about me and my animals, and I like to remind him that I am kind to husbands as well as dogs. AND MAYBE IT’S RELATED. After all, husbands are quite similar — they like to lay on you, eat your food and leave little messes for you to clean up. Marti needs to be taken for walks sometimes too (kind of — although we call it “date night”). And, even though I like to gripe and complain about husbands, whenever mine is sick or hurt or just seems miserable, I’m a total softie. I’m just sayin’.

So, back to the point here: my pet habit. I’ve already spoken with Ben’s teacher about taking the turtle. The fish seem easily transportable or giftable. Ewok will go to my mom. It’s Saffron that I worry about — our big, dumb, gentle, mean-looking dog that is cowed by our Shih Tzu. I’ve noticed that, once people see that Saffron isn’t eating Ewok alive, they are much less afraid of her. Ewok nips at Saffron’s head — he literally has to jump to do this — and Saffron could easily smack him down with a paw, but she doesn’t. Strangely enough, they are friends, and I worry about both of them when they are inevitably separated.

It’s one of those things that makes me dread going to my A-100 class for the foreign service, but for now, I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. And try not to adopt any more animals in the meantime…(although those captured feral cats really do need a home…)