Peas in a Pod

Meanwhile, back at home…

Remmy falls asleep on Clark’s pillow,

And I teach myself how to unhook sink stoppers and clean them. I have to say that it makes me mad that the plumber we had out last year told me that the upstairs sink just “drains slow.” Obviously he just didn’t want to clean it out.

Before (above) and after (below) Drains slow? Amazing it drains at all!

As part of the Virginia German Shepherd Rescue (VGSR)  I get a lot of emails on a daily basis. Most are business emails about incoming foster dogs, home visit reports and approved adopter lists. However a couple of weeks ago there was an email asking people why they foster (a newspaper article is being written about VGSR and they wanted some different perspectives.)

Rems and Keri

It’s funny but I’ve been mulling that question over for weeks now. Why do I foster? Gosh, shouldn’t I know this answer better? It’s a huge part of my life right now. The first thing that comes to mind is the generic “because it’s a good thing to do.” And it is. But surely there is more to it than that? There are lots of things that would be “good” things to do that I don’t participate in.

We first started fostering because we could tell that Remmy was lonely but we weren’t sure we wanted to just jump in and adopt another dog. I would say in retrospect that this isn’t the best reason to start fostering! We had no idea what we were getting into. Unfortunately most of the foster dogs suffer from either health problems or training problems and once you start fostering them these become problems YOU have to deal with. (I should add that VGSR does cover all the costs of the foster dogs, including vet bills, but it is still my time going back and forth to the vet and making sure a foster dog takes its medication, figuring out the right medicines and dosages etc.) For instance out of the four dogs we’ve fostered one had serious health problems, two had training problems (meaning they hadn’t been trained) and one was just fine.

Remmy and Rory

Even though it can be frustrating at times, especially when dogs aren’t responding to training, we do enjoy fostering. It is always rewarding to see a dog return to good health or to watch them practice skills you have taught them. Watching a family fall in love and want to take home a foster dog is just a good feeling. And Remmy does like having the company and it is nice that whereas one dog only has its human for entertainment, two dogs can play and wrestle with each other.

I do think about Remmy and how if the North Carolina German Shepherd Rescue hadn’t saved him he might not be around today. He was picked up as a stray and is definitely a mixed breed, which don’t tend to be as popular as dogs that look like a specific breed. We love Remmy so much and can’t imagine life without him and without the Rescue we wouldn’t have ever found him. Thinking that I could be a part of saving someone’s soon-to-be beloved dog is one reason I like fostering.

Remmy and Rocky

I think on another personal level I like fostering because I like being a part of the VGSR community and I feel like I am contributing a valuable service to my community. I help unwanted dogs by giving them some training, lots of love and a safe home until a forever home comes along. Sure there are a lot more dogs who need homes but I am trying to help the problem. A lot of times I see the big problems of the world and I feel like I, one little person, can’t fix them. I wouldn’t even know where to start on most issues, but at least in this I am doing something. Those feelings are a big source of my desire to foster.

I would encourage everyone to join an organization and to be part of something bigger than themselves. It doesn’t have to deal with animals, just something in your community that you feel strongly about. Something that is trying to do some good in the world, even if it is in small ways.

Gracie and Remmy

So why do I foster? There are a lot of reasons, some of which I didn’t even cover here. In my case one special dog came into my life, forever changed it for the better, and I decided I wanted to be a part of that change.

One special dog

I really do love the thrift store near my house. This week I found things both useful and frivolous.

The best deal has to be these hiking boots. They were only *drum roll* $1.99! And they are Vasque hiking boots! I just looked them up and though I didn’t see my exact ones this brand typically retails from $70 to $150. And even though we found a good sale for Clark’s Vasque hiking boots they were considerably more than $1.99–and they aren’t a pretty blue. (You may ask why I need hiking boots in flat, flat, flat VA and I’ll tell you. I have dreams. Dreams of one day living by hills. Hills with evergreen trees and soft pine needle floors that me, my little dog and my wonderful husband can go hiking on. Because my wonderful husband won’t be at work all the time. Only some of the time so that the bills still get paid;) (I guess if I really dreamed big we’d be independently wealthy. Dang. Yeah I wish for that too.)

Then at the complete opposite end of the “useful” spectrum we have these darling little dog boots. I paid FULL price for these baby! $4.99! (but I did get four) Remmy was not pleased that I shelled out this hard earned money on him. Ungrateful wretch. Clark and I knew though, that the money would be worth it just for pictures like this:

And this.

Hopefully you found them amusing too so that Remmy did not suffer for only his parent’s amusement. It a rough doggie life he leads you know.

I can’t wait to see what the thrift store holds next week!

Sorry for the delay in getting these photos up. I managed to pick up a computer virus and needed to wait for Clark to get home to fix it and then some other posts snuck in. And here we are.

Continuing with the purging and down sizing of stuff throughout the house I knew the office would have to be tackled at some point. In the end I went through every drawer and sorted out two bags worth of stuff to go to the thrift store. I can’t believe how long I hung on to some things that I never used. I printed my own wedding invitations and I still had about half a box left of the very wedding-y stationary. What did I think I’d ever use that for? I even went through all of my scrapbooking stuff and organized it and got rid of some papers and stickers that I was never going to use.

Besides just going through stuff though I also wanted to rearrange some furniture. I was hoping to make the layout flow better and make better use of the space. The dogs needed more room to play (we spend a lot of time in the office so it should accommodate all of us.) I also wanted to do a couple of things to make Clark’s life easier/happier.

So here is the before:

After:

I think about things a lot. So here is the breakdown on what’s different:

You’ll see the tan set of drawers (on the far left of the photo) used to be on the opposite side of the room. By moving it here Clark now has a tall place to set his things. It’s just a little thing but I know it is nicer for Clark (who is 6′8″) to not have to bend down so far to put his phone/wallet/pocket litter down. I also put the chair next to the drawers so he’ll have a place to put his backpack down. It’s now a great place for him to come unload his stuff when he comes home from work.

I bought some baskets and storage containers to help neaten up the bookshelf and they add a nice pop of green color. The filing cabinet is now under the cork board with our new printer on top. It is much more convenient to have the printer so close to the computer instead of across the room. The cork board is also at a better height to hang things.

Before:

After:

More breakdown:

It might be hard to see but we’ve gone from two monitors down to one. The second monitor was something only Clark used and mostly spent time taking up space. We craigslisted it and got some money and a lot more desk space (everybody wins! huzzah!) We moved the desk over so I could look out the window more easily (and to make room for the file cabinet to be able to open.) I bought the green box on the desk to help store all the desk things like pens, note pads for all my list making, the camera and such. It sits on top of an inbox that holds the papers I need to reference most often regarding VGSR stuff and any bills/mail that need tending.

I moved one chair into the kitchen and got pillows to make the remaining chair more comfortable (that’s where one of us sits with the laptop.) The pillows on the chair coordinate with the organziation boxes and the dogs beds as a way to tie the room together. I had made myself a little “craft center” in the corner with TV tray tables but I never used it and it was just a place to stack stuff so I got rid of that. That side seems a lot more open now even though we moved the desk over and there is actually less space. Remmy particularly likes curling up on the dog bed in that corner now.

You’ll also see I hung up the fight club poster. This made Clark really happy and though I’m not a big fan I’m glad to see him smile. I’m also glad it’s no longer lurking behind the door (it’s been there for a year and a half, it was time to do something with it.)

Now for some detail shots:

Here is one of the few things I bought to make over the office. It’s a charging station for all of Clark’s gadgets. Now he can charge his PSP, his blue tooth and his phone all in one place and there aren’t cords and wires everywhere (I was always afraid the dogs were going to chew on them and they were formerly scattered in various different rooms.) There is also a little nook in front for his keys, wallet, ipod and such. I think it will make his life just a bit simpler and that is always a good thing.

This is an idea I’d like to expand on some day but for now I got the “quick and dirty” version finished. Just a map I printed off and push pins to show where the navy has taken us. I just did the places I could think of off the top of my head, Clark needs to add to it. It was one of those things taking up space in the office but not getting done. So I just went ahead and started it, we can expand and make it better in the future.

One more shot, this time showing all the space for the pups to play in. As I write this they are now sleeping on dog beds and Remmy is snoring. However earlier they were wrestling and playing and I’m glad they have room to do so without knocking into things.

So I know the furniture is still mis-matched but I am loving the new layout and knowing that I’ve done some things to make Clark smile and to make his life easier. It’s also great to know that everything has its place (even though it was annoying finding that place) and that I’m not just storing a bunch of junk.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these FHF but it hasn’t meant that I don’t continue to find Clark fabulous, because I do. He works hard and his job is hard on both of us. However Clark has a buoyant, optimistic nature that means he has smile on his face when he comes home. Even when he’s had a crummy day he enjoys the happy celebration dance the dogs do and then hearing about my day. I really love that about him.

Other things I love? That he had real enthusiasm for the re-arranged office AND the cleaned out drawers (delayed post about that goes up tomorrow.)

That his new charging station in the office was just what he didn’t know that he wanted (did you follow that?)

That Cadbury cream eggs were a welcome tasty present for him. I love that he loves the little things.

That he was willing to sort through some childhood “treasures” and just keep the things he loved.

That at night he wants to fall asleep with his arms around me, even after we’ve just been bickering. Because he knows that underneath the frustrations and tiredness that cause the petty fighting we really love each other and just want to be together.

Meanwhile, back at home…

I did my grocery shopping (okay this actually happened yesterday but Teresa and I were talking about it a couple of weeks ago so this is really for her. This is what two weeks of groceries looks like at our house.)

And I’ve been working on changing the office around. Here are some “before” shots. After shots should be up tomorrow! Meanwhile I am sorting through stuff (do I really need a box of 200 envelopes in a dark blue with silver specks that I’ve been holding onto since I used some of them to send out engagement notices almost five years ago? I think not.)

And I’ll leave you with some fun photos that Madison took when we went ice skating.

I wasn’t kidding when I said I laughed the whole time. Poor Clark.

Skate circle! Cool shot Madison!