Effortless Effervescence

So our first wedding anniversary is coming up.

Danny, Jon’s parents’ neighbor, breeds hunting dogs (specifically Treeing Walker Coonhounds) and his bitch just had a litter. While we were at the in-laws for dinner this evening, I suggested that Jon and I head over to see the puppies. I kept joking about picking one out and naming her - in fact, I DID pick one out, a girl who’s very timid and snuggly. I said we could name her Anastasia Beaverhousen. Well, apparently Jon talked to Danny and arranged to buy Anastasia for me - she’s an early anniversary present!

OMG OMG OMG PUPPY!

Apparently, Jon had been plotting for months (with the help of, um, ALL MY FRIENDS, those sneaky bastards!) to get me a Siamese kitten for our anniversary, since I still really miss my Siamese kitty, Oatmeal, whom I had to put down last year. But then Randall and A.C. came to live with us, and he thought, oh damn, that’s too many kittens. Well, I recently mentioned to Jill that I REALLY wanted one of Danny’s puppies, and she passed the word to Jon, and he talked to Danny… and now Anastasia is gonna be my baby!

OMG OMG OMG PUPPY!

I’m not saying I wouldn’t like another Siamese kitty, but I think that three full-grown cats are enough, and I REALLY wanted to get a little puppy sister for Milo. My brother and his girlfriend will likely take the kittens when they move out, so our menagerie won’t be quite so CRAZY.

OMG OMG OMG PUPPY!

I don’t have any pictures of Anastasia, and she won’t be coming home with us until Friday (Danny said the pups will be weaned in a few days, but I don’t want to bring her home until the weekend so we have plenty of time with her before having to go back to work) buuuuut here’s a photo of a Walker hound puppy from Wikipedia:

OMG OMG OMG PUPPY!

Let me tell you why. Because we get excited about the most mundane things. Today I chronicled my romaine lettuce’s 1/2″ growth spurt in my gardening journal, ordered a Hefty Cat Heavy Duty Pet Door, and purchased a gas can at Wal-Mart. I’m also currently in negotiations for a twin mattress and comforter set for our spare bedroom. When I was a renter, my head wasn’t occupied with stupid stuff like curtains and paint samples and storage solutions and watering schedules. But now that the house is MINE, I want to shower it with love and affection and make it more beautiful every day.

One thing that I really want to start working on is FLOWERS, but it’s such a big job I can’t even get my head around it at this point with everything else we have going on. There are flower beds in the front and back yards, overrun with weeds and in a sad, sad state of neglect. And although I can see their potential, I think I’ll have to wait until next year to really get serious about them.

Tonight my friends Kerry and Jill and I are going to see Bye Bye Birdie at Kellam High School, our alma mater. *nostalgic sigh* I starred in Birdie my junior year, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the show. Interestingly, I met husband, Jon, after one of my performances 13 years ago. He gave me a ride home and bummed a cigarette; I made him give me a kiss. I would ask him to come to tonight’s show but he hates musicals. Irony!