Together … In a Home

If all goes well, at the time this post is being published, I will have movers bringing my household goods into our new house.  Our family lucked into an empty house on the Army installation where my husband has been assigned, so our stay in the hotel was only a week and a half.

The time in the hotel made me think fondly of our apartment living days.  Our Shepherd has mellowed in the years since our apartment dwelling.  Instead of immediately barking at others she would see, she would only alert, and watch them to ensure they would keep their distance.  Watching her watch others made me proud of the dog she has become, and made me proud of how my husband and I have learned to handle her.

Don’t get me wrong!  There are definitely days where I am willing to give her away to the lowest bidder – I remind her of that on a routine basis.  Yet, there are times where her obedience, her loyalty, her drive, and her intensity are such an asset to our family.

Our other dog, the Husky/Lab, is a giant cat.  She is less standoffish to E than she was to M, yet she loves from a distance.  She enjoys rubbing up on people, and having you scratch her haunches.  Yet, she doesn’t like to get too close to small children.  We blame her previous owners – the ones who abandoned her – for her dislike of children, since we suspect she was abandoned when a baby came along.  Her days are spent lazing about the world, and some days, I wonder if she would sell her humans to the lowest bidder!

Although we are going to be downsizing from a three floor, single family home, to a two floor townhouse, I am excited to make this work.  We may have to do a “Great Purge of 2016: Part II,” but we will figure out how to fit into the house.

The important things to remember are: we will have a roof over our heads, we will have food to eat, we will have clothes to wear, and we will have a place to lay our heads every night.

Finally, we will be together.  Our Shepherd will have her pack to protect, and our Husky/Lab will find a spot to lounge that will be hers alone.  The kidlets may not have space for any many toys, but they will have a space for themselves.  My husband and I will have the continuous pitter-patter of canine paws and human-puppy feet.

And, our house will be a home.