I Like Dogs...

Summer is always the time I think we need a dog. I like dogs. I really do. In a different way than I like cats, but I do like dogs.

And during the summer I think we need a dog. Then the weather turns and I think we are lucky we don't have a dog. It won't happen for a while. Fall is actually prime dog time. Or it used to be. Now we travel a lot during the Fall so I can convince myself that getting a dog, or more cats for that matter, isn't a great idea.

It's the same argument I use for not buying a different house. Not that the rain would be a pain for a house, but that we travel a lot in the Fall and a new house wouldn't work for that. We would have to give up the Michigan football trips or the musical season tickets or the Winterhawks season tickets or all of them if we bought a new house. We spend our money on food and tickets not on a mortgage and I really do like it like that.

But...

I do like dogs.

And I do like houses with woody views.

Or condos in the heart of downtown.

But we leave for Michigan on Thursday and then again in mid-October and then again the first weekend of November...

And then there is Hawaii in February. Or maybe a cruise. Or maybe both at different times.

And then there is breakfast out on the weekends. And green chile cheeseburgers at Killer Burger and the search for the best fried chicken in Portland and...

You have to decide where you spend your money.

Right now we spend our money on food and experiences. Not on our house.

But I do like dogs.

And cats.

And views.

And...

It makes me wonder if it's just the human experience. Do we always have that voice in the back of our heads saying "yeah but...?" I mean I am basically a content and happy person. I like my life. Wait, that's wrong, I love my life. I have a GREAT life. Like I see people listing life goals and it's my life they are describing levels of a great life. But even knowing that I have created a life that suits me to a tee I still have that  "yeah but..." voice.

The "yeah but..." voice is probably directly related to my "OH LET'S SET SOME NEW GOALS!" voice. Just quieter. Pretty much all of my voices are quieter than that damn goal setter voice. She's a bit of a loud mouth and constantly gets the rest of us wrapped up in wacky projects when we'd really rather just sit on the couch researching dogs I will never buy.

Brent is supportive of the dog idea. And the cat idea. But he also knows that I am the one who has to take care of said dog and cats. He works for that money I decide how to spend, afterall. So taking care of the pets would fall to me 90% of the time. The walks in the rain. The poop patrol, either out of a box or off of the ground. The vomit clean ups. The vet trips. The walks in the rain. Yeah, I know I already mentioned that, but it does rain here a good bit of the time. He would get the "YOU CAME HOME! I LOVE WHEN YOU COME HOME!" tail wags, but I would have the responsibility. So he is supportive of the idea of getting one, but the final decision is up to me.

Fall is that goal setting, life evaluating time for me. I look at the nooks and crannies and decide what stays and what goes. I am in the process of finishing a few big projects so that's taking most of my NEW GOALS focus, thank goodness. But still...

I like dogs.

And woody views.

And downtown condos.

And thinking of new places and new ideas and what ifs and...