You learn something new every day...

Did you know you can see how many times your blog has been viewed? Well I didn't until approximately 2 minutes ago. Man, I must be obsessed with myself to have clicked into my blog that many times. :) Anyways, fun fact.

I'm still here...

Hello? Anyone still out there? I'm more than a little surprised this blog is still around. I would have thought they inactivated these things at some point. So, BlogSpot's lack of cleaning house is your gain. (And by "your" I mean "future me", because I feel like people don't read blogs anymore that aren't about fashion, food, or baby stuff giveaways.)

Since my last blog post more than I care to rehash has happened. I will briefly mention 2 of the biggest things to happen since my last post, but that's it. #1 My dad passed away on August 25, 2014. It sucked. It still sucks. And I miss him every day. #2 I moved to Dallas in September/October 2015. It's been awesome. I love it here. And I have no plans of leaving any time soon. 

There, now you are up to date.

Welcome to 2016!

Tough Decisions

Today I made a really tough decision. Which also means I've spent a good chunk of the day crying. And now my eyes hurt.... 

For probably the last month or so I've been debating back and forth on whether or not I should find a new home for Lola. On the one hand, she really is a great dog. (If you have been following me on Instagram lately you may have a different opinion, but really overall she's great.) She's totally potty-trained - it's been months since she had any accidents in the house. She comes when called, is kenneled trained, knows some tricks, is great with kids, loves other people and other dogs, and is so full of love it can get overwhelming at times. She loves laying on the tramp and sitting in the front seat of the car with her head out the window. She loves staring out the front window, even if there's nothing going on outside. And more than anything she loves to cuddle and give kisses. 

With all that being said, we've had our fair share of struggles. As my Instagram followers know, in the past week she has chewed up my couch and my porch swing. Prior to that, she brought about the destruction of my trampoline pad, backyard drip-lines, sprinklers, porch swing pillows, ping-pong balls, door frames, and the overall appearance of my backyard. Is that reason alone to find her a new home? No. Is it extremely annoying? Absolutely. Does it completely piss me off? You betcha. But again, she is a 9th month old puppy. And puppies chew and puppies destroy things. I knew that going into this situation. 

What I didn't anticipate is how little free time I have at home. 

All day during the week I'm at work. Which means she's sitting in her kennel. After work I come home and play with her for a bit, but let's say I go to dinner. There goes another two hours of my night. Oh, I need to run by a store.... It's someone's birthday and I need to get a present tonight... I want to go to a movie... That all adds up to more time Lola spends alone in her kennel. And the remaining hours I am home, I'm sleeping. 

So now we come to the weekend. 

If you know me, you know I live for either Saturday pool days or weekend vacations. Again, both of these are more time away from my house and more time away from Lola. 

She deserves more. 

She deserves a family who can be home with her during the day. Who has the time to teach her now, during the puppy stage, to be good and not eat the furniture. She needs a family who can help wear out more of her puppy energy. She needs more people around to love. 

Last weekend I had 5 of my nieces and nephews over to my house. Lola loved every minute of it. She was bouncing around from kid to kid with such excitement. And she was even gentle when Savvi pulled on her face and ears. That's what she needs. A family. People she can grow up with and love and protect. 

Will I one day have a family like the one I hope for for Lola. I hope so. But I don't now. And I don't know when that time will come. 

So, it was with a lot of sadness, but confidence that I have made the right decision, that I wrote to the animal rescue I got Lola from today and expressed my feelings about needing to find her a new and better home. I worried I would regret my decision when I got home and saw her face. And while it wasn't easy looking at my cute little puppy knowing she wouldn't be my cute little puppy for much longer I continued to feel peace about my decision - despite the 30 minutes of sobbing. 

So until I hear back from the rescue (who's policy is that you contact them if you plan to find a new home for your pet) I've decided to spend my remaining time with Lola having fun and not being angry about the couch or swing. As I sit here at the dog park writing this post I look forward to snuggling my pup later tonight and as much as I can until she finds her new home. 

My Zen

Although I definitely wouldn't call myself an "outdoors" kind of person, one of my absolute favorite things to do is lay on my tramp and just look up at the night sky. It is so peaceful and relaxing. I love that my neighborhood is quiet and I can just lay here and think (or not think) without background noise (aka Netflix/hulu/pandora) and unwind from a long week at work. Hands down it's one of my favorite things about being back in SG. 

If only...

Tonight while at the dog park with Lola a Little Caesars truck drove by and I thought to myself, "Man, could you image if I married someone that owned a Little Caesars?! I'd get to have free pizza every day and never have to cook dinner!" 

Sure I might end up weighing 500 pounds, but free pizza and no dinner dishes.... Sign me up!

Pizza! Pizza!

#singleinsaintgeorge

I'm really thing of starting (or more regularly using) that hashtag.

In related news... I've decided to start a new blog called Every Pot Has A Lid. I'll still write on this one about of my day to day stuff, fun trips I've taken, and whatever else I feel like, but you (assuming people are still reading this blog) can check it out and see if that one interests you at all. I will try to write more regularly on both blogs, although let's be honest, I can't promise you anything. Time for bed... I'm going to be tired at work tomorrow.

Docusession - It's a real disease

I'm just going to start this post as though I haven't been MIA from the blog world in over 4 months, with one quick exception... My Dad is doing well. After a few weeks in the hospital and surgery he is recovering from the scary heart issue from New Year's Eve. Now, on to the new stuff.

Lately I've become obsessed with watching documentaries on Netflix. I can't stop myself! I'm documentary obsessed, or you may even say I'm suffering from ducusession (see what I did there?!). It's late - get over it. Anyways, here is a list of my recent (and not so recent) favorites.

• Stuck
• The Woman Who Wasn't There
• China's Lost Girls
• It's a Girl
• Blackfish
• The Cove
• Confessions: Animal Hoarding
• I'm Alive

Start watching immediately! :)