Jumping In (aka Is Anyone Really Interested in What I Have to Say?)

Well here we are at the start of a new adventure. I've wanted to start blogging for months but I was afraid. You may be asking...afraid of what? The technology?...putting my thoughts and experiences out there for all the world to see?...exposing myself to criticism?....lifting the veil of privacy off my life and the lives of my family? Yup..to all of the above. Until now I have lived a fairly private life. We live in a small town and have a small group of friends. They are used to me..used to my daily adventures, used to my ramblings. But is the rest of the world ready for this? We'll see. Sometimes I'll share experiences that are funny, some will show my frustration and some may be sad. This blog will be about life..the funny, frustrating, sometimes sad life of a menopausal dog mom struggling to come to grips with aging, an empty nest (some day it will be empty) and the antics of my Golden boys. If you love it..tell me..if you hate it..please don't. I'm not good with criticism. Just move along and read the Blog of someone else.

Before I tell you about today..I should share a bit about my yesterdays. I have been married to the same wonderfully understanding guy for 30 years. We have three awesome sons..one is married and living with his wife in a town about an hour from us. The other two, having obtained their degrees at university and found that the world can in fact be a cold and unforgiving place, have moved back home to live with us.  As I said..they're awesome sons...they would be even more awesome from a distance. But for now...we're all living in a small-ish house that was meant for two (plus of course the dogs). Ahh the dogs..now we get to my favourite subject. I have had dogs since time began. My husband and I have had at least one dog since early on in our marriage. We've had a German Shepherd, a Great Pyranese, a mutt we stupidly bought from a puppy mill, three Alaskan Malamutes and our two Golden Retrievers. I was also brought up by parents who raised German Shepherds. Dogs are like oxygen to me. I need them in my life. The short periods of time I have been without a dog were hard for me..empty. Just before we purchased Rufus, our third Alaskan Malamute, Shamaya passed away. She was a light in a very dark place in my life. When she died the house felt empty...the world felt cold. My husband Steve, didn't want another dog because he couldn't go through losing one again. I knew he'd change his mind and I hoped it would change quickly because I couldn't stand not having a dog. We had talked about the possibility of making our next dog a Golden Retriever. That suggestion was made by one of our boys who stated that Goldens are the the "classic old person dog". Steve was already past 50 and I was quickly approaching that golden birthday...were we old? Maybe we needed to think about this. I was online looking at Golden Retriever breeders and found one that I thought looked wonderful...but you know how things online can look one way and in reality be completely different (just ask anyone who has answered an online personal ad). I showed Steve the pictures on her site and he told me to make an appointment and we could "look". A week later we met and fell in love with Rufus' dad and his mom and had given the breeder a deposit. We loved our breeder instantly..and three months later that wonderful woman changed my life when she handed over a little bundle of gold fluff that was to become my heart dog..my Rufus.