The only weird thing about all this is that nothing about it feels weird . . .

Aka: The Story of Max

So, I had written a post about this on Thursday night, but, seriously, blogger for android ate my post. Thus, I am trying again from a real computer.

In late March 2011, our beloved dog, Sophie, passed away. We say she's gone to the big dog park in the sky (you know, the place with the eternally interesting new smells). We knew we would eventually want another dog, but the loss was just too great to get a new dog immediately. Sophie was my baby-dog. We got her 10 years ago, shortly before I became pregnant with M. She was there through both boylios babyhood & young childhood - she was even there when E was born. Sophie was smart, curious, gentle and sweet. I still miss her dearly. Here are two of my favorite pictures of Sophie B. Dogg:

Sophie taking a rest after a long hike

Sophie is skeptical . . .

We went to a pet adoption fair in May, but we still weren't ready yet, even though we met several cute dogs. My heart broke when we met a sweet old doggy about the same age as Sophie - I knew I couldn't lose another pet again so soon though. Shane was thinking we might wait until the fall to get a new dog. We talked about breeds we might like - even considering getting a "Konnichi-huachua."

Well, the plan to wait till fall got changed Thursday night. After dinner, I suggested we go for a walk. We randomly decided to walk down 400 East. When we approached a certain house, a small dog who kinda looked like a black Sophie with a stubby tail came out to great us. He smiled at us, smelling and licking my & M's fingers through the chain link fence.  The owner, Adri, stepped out into the yard and commented how strange it was that Max wasn't barking at us. We said we liked dogs and told her about Sophie.

Then she said, "Max is actually available for adoption." She told us how her circumstances had changed and she needed to find Max a home with kids who could keep up with his masculine energy. She indicated that he wasn't doing so good in a house that already had three dogs, although she had raised him and trained him for the past two years. Shane commented about how that's why we ended up adopting Sophie, too. We came into the yard to greet Max and he immediately started licking the boys, enthusiastically wagging his tail. We decided to take him for a walk to see how he did with us without Adri nearby.

On the walk I asked Shane if he was okay to get another dog. He said, "It kinda seems like he's already adopted us." I heartily agreed! We brought him back and said we would like to take Max home. Adri started crying and said how very happy she was, and how miraculous it was that he happened to find us. Some neighbors came out to say goodbye to Max, one commenting on how calm he was acting, even though he was surrounded by four apparent strangers!

So we brought Max home and he settled right in. He loves sniffing around our yard. He is definitely a bird dog - he barks to let us know when he's found one - and he thinks he can chase motorbikes of all kinds. He likes to sleep in our bed. He's very cuddly and happy. We've taken him back by Adri's house a couple times to say hello. He loves to see her and his old friends, but within a few minutes he's ready to keep walking with us.

Here are a few pictures of our new buddy Maxi-million:

Thank you so much, Adri, for teaching Max to be such a good doggy and for letting us make Max a member of our family.

Trying to blog from my phone

So this is an expirement, conducted from our back patio, listening to Jill Scott & enjoying the third glass of "no detectable sulfite" wine, 'cause I have allergies.

It's been an awesome few days. We've spent lots of time @ the Utah Arts Festival. M seems to enjoy watching dance. E not so much, unless there are leaps involved. The boyos got bear marionettes, which they love.

Plus, I've actually accomplished a few needed household tasks, which is truly amazing. I've listened to several awesome podcasts while cleaning & laundering, which made it way easier. What's amazing to me is how engaging in a fairly mindless task (like hanging laundry) sharpens my focus on what I'm listening to -- so much so that when I return to the same physical location later on I can recall exactly what I was listening to earlier. I've noticed the same phenomenon working on puzzles.

Also, Rene Marie's Voice of My Beautiful Country is simply impeccable, haunting & inspiring. You should take a listen, seriously.

Pondering blogging again . . .

So clearly I haven't blogged in a very long time. I've been following My5wmd's advice and letting the blog serve me by basically not doing anything with it. I have many thoughts that I think I should write down, but then I just let those thoughts just float on down the stream. And I kind of like it that way.  Because if I focus on how I would put my thoughts into a blog post, I totally lose contact with that present moment of thought.

I think it's like how carrying a camera around can totally focus your attention while simultaneously making you miss everything that's not on the camera viewer. The other night Shane, the boylios and I walked over to Liberty Park. I brought our camera and my phone (which has a camera). At one point I got so immersed playing with camera settings and snapping pics, I lost track of my family, who had continued walking on. And I noticed I was focused on the pictures I was taking, instead of the sunset itself. So I put the camera away. Still got some awesome photos though:

I like the light on the water in this one

Changing the setting brings out the rose tones

Here the settings make the picture look like it was taken right at dusk

Of course, even though I'm not blogging, I still facebook constantly (as all of you who follow me already know). So maybe there's not really time in my life for both. Hmmm . . .