Latest and Greatest

Favorites:

• Our 6:30am walks. (Granted, I may not enjoy this as much when it's sub-zero temperatures outside, but for now, I love it.)
• How excited Irie is to see me when I get home from work and let her out of her crate. She just can't contain herself - and if she feels any resentment towards me for putting her in the crate in the first place, she doesn't show it.
  
• Playing fetch.
• Having her curled up beside me at night.

Amazements:

• Irie can jump from the floor to the back of my couch. I think she may think she's a cat.
  
• Irie can chew through supposedly indestructible toys. (see photo below.)
• Irie can down a rawhide in exactly 1 minute.
  

All in all, everything is "irie" with Irie. We're slowly but surely getting into a routine. I'm still dealing with guilt for leaving her and the adjustment of my schedule, but every day brings me a little closer to feeling ok with it. I think there will continue to be good days and bad days, but hopefully the bad ones will get to be fewer and fewer. Since Nicole's wedding is this weekend, Irie will be staying with my friend, Colleen, for a few days. Colleen has a 5 month old puggle named Daisy, so I'm sure it will be a wild weekend for Colleen. We introduced them earlier this week and they seem to get along ok. A little wild - lots of running, chasing and barking - but generally they seemed to be having a good time. I can't tell you how lucky I am to have a friend that's willing to take her this weekend!

The amazing cat-dog.

This is one of Irie's mutilated chew toys. Notice the top and bottom nubs. They used to be as long as the left and right ones. Crazy. But better the toy then the furniture, right?

Irie and her coveted chew toy in her favorite place on the couch.

Two of my favorite animals in two of their favorite places. Maverick's a little less sure of the idea of sharing the back of the couch. But, so far, he's been pretty tolerant.

I think she's sticking her tongue out at me in this one.

On an unrelated to Irie note, my mood has not been great this past week or so. While fall is hands-down my favorite season, the shortening of days and desire to be curled up inside takes a toll on my outlook on life. This is the time of year where I miss having roommates. People that are always around and kind of built into your life whether you want to be social or not. By the winter I've usually adjusted to it and am happier to be on my own and doing my own thing, but this transitional time is harder. I'm working on building some social stuff in, like having people over on Thursday nights to watch Grey's Anatomy and that makes me feel better. Gives me the best of all worlds - I get to be at home, Irie doesn't have to be in her crate, and I get to be social. :-)

So I just try to keep telling myself that this too will pass. In the meantime, it's a lot of self-talk, leaning on friends and family and trying to find a good balance.