Miles of Smiles

I love driving through town running errands with my co-pilot, Darwin.

Darwin is our Labradoodle ... a big, cocoa colored, curly canine. He's never met a stranger. Well, I should say there are a few individuals for which he took umbrage, but it is very few. He loves to meet new people, push up against their legs and look up over his shoulder to show that he really appreciates the lovin'. We can't walk very long without someone coming up and asking us "what kind of dog is that?" or "may I pet your dog?".

So, too, is the experience while riding in our car. Darwin is a "front seat dog" when he's with either my hubby or I driving alone. If it's the whole family, he's in the back with our daughter hanging out of his respective window. Yesterday I went to the bank for work and asked Darwin if he wanted to go for a ride. Of course, he said yes. Also, my hubby taught him to find and bring us his own collar so he's outfitted for a road trip. How cool is that?! My hubby is awesome and so is Darwin!

I was driving to the bank feeling a bit melancholy because this is the final two weeks of work for me and I won't be doing this anymore. Well, I was lost in my own thoughts at a stop light when I noticed a woman pull up along side me very slowly... she was smiling ear to ear at Darwin with his happy face out of the window soaking up all of the smells rushing into his nose. Just seeing her happy smile lifted my spirits and made my morning brighter. It gives me such joy to see how much joy Darwin imparts on our world with his mere existence and foppish doggy grin. It reminded me of one of my favorite dog quotes by Milan Kundera:

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."


So I thank my dearest curly son for his ability to bring peace and joy to all in his path and for giving me glimpses of paradise along the way.

Happy New Year!

Well, I've let quite a while pass between postings. Let's see a bit has happened. My 37th birthday, Christmas, New Year's, we got a new puppy!

So let's focus on the furry one. It all happened so fast one November afternoon. One minute we were walking past a neighbors house and their German Boxer was outside and I admired her mentioning a dog would be great save for my horrible newly developed dog allergies. The dad mentioned a friend of his is severely allergic to dogs and has labradoodles.

Next thing you know I'm on Google searching labradoodles and found a bunch of sites, but was drawn to one in particular, Brasken Kennels. We weren't actually thinking about a new puppy until Spring of 2009, but Kristen and Brandon happened to have one puppy left from a recent litter. So in an effort to ascertain if we were truly going to have no allergy problems, we planned a visit down there to play and get a sniff test.

Kristen and Brandon were just the nicest folks. Right away you can tell they are "good people" and care about their pups and the parents. We got to play with a pup from their very first litter, Jack and he was our litmus test. I got in there and took a big whiff into the nape of his neck and I made sure to touch my eyes and nose without washing my hands just to see if I'd have a reaction. To our happy surprise neither Maggie or I had a problem! That's when we met him.... Orange Collar Boy.

Let me just say there is truly nothing cuter than seeing 6 week old puppies bounding toward you in their clumsy roly poly way. Orange wasn't as overtly friendly as a few... he wasn't the alpha but he wasn't a pushover either. He played with us for a while and when it was time for us to go, he waddled over to the fence to give us a sniff goodbye when none of the other puppies had. Ahhhhh true love had smote us!

Well, two weeks later we left Disneyland.. one of the first times I've ever seen Maggie EAGER to leave Disneyland and head home.... all because we were on our way back up to get our pup whom we lovingly named Darwin.

Darwin has given us alot of joy and we're so excited to be dog owners once more. It's a blast having a puppy and watching him grow and grow. Add to that Chris and I have dicussed (though not definitively yet) that a sibling for Darwin might be a good idea down the road. Never say never!

Here are a few photos of our Darwin.