Note to my friends and family who have heard this story: I apologize for the repetition. :-)
This summer I had an idea.
(I have a bad feeling about this....)
I'll bet you do.
Part One:
I met someone quite a while ago now during the Rodeo parade who had an almost grown dog with them. I was drawn to it like a magnet. It was a miniature Australian Shepherd. Blue Merle. It was about the size of a Sheltie with so many of the same qualities. I asked where they had found this beautiful creature and a name was given ..... and ..... the price they paid.... [which made me gasp a little] and immediately put the idea out of my head. Though it didn't keep me from fawning over the beautiful dog.
Part Two:
I started having dreams about blue merle Australian Shepherds and seeing them everywhere on line. I was not LOOKING for them... they just popped up. All over the place... like this:
Part Three:
Last year at about this time my friend C. and I took a nice trip to the coast and spent a few days in a lovely hotel right on the beach. We had such a wonderful time, we thought we would make it a yearly thing. I said great... I have a year to save up for it! So I commenced setting aside a sum every month to do just that.
Then one day I ran into the person who told me all about the Mini Aussie and she said that the owner of that dog was expecting another litter in August. Something in my brain clicked into place, and I realized I needed to follow up on this. AND that within a month or two, I would have the amount necessary to get the puppy.
I called C. and asked her if she would be really disappointed if I used the money I had saved for our trip to buy a puppy instead. Having recently found her own little dog, and being firmly in a haze of puppy fumes herself, she didn't hesitate to tell me it was no problem.
So I called the friend of the owner and told her I was interested in a puppy. She said she would pass on the message. I never got a call. Weeks when by. I called again and left a message. Nothing. Then I saw the original person who told me about the dog and she said she would tell the owner I was interested. No call.
By this time I figured this was just not meant to be.
Part Four:
I got a phone call about 10 days ago.
It was the owner of the Aussies. She said she had a little female blue merle puppy left with blue eyes and it was ready for adoption. Even though I was hoping for a male, I said I would love to come out and see her. Then she told me the price.
It was WAY more than the amount I was originally told.
I had to tell her that this was over my budget, but thank you for calling.
I sat there in a bit of a daze. It was a five minute phone call. Bam. It's over.
No puppy for you!
Part Five:
A few days later I had a conversation with my son A. I asked him if it was possible to put me on his phone plan as a family member. He said yes. And I found out that it was an amount I could afford.
I called my son E. who is the manager of a Best Buy in another state. I figured if I was going to buy a phone, I would give him the business. I told him I wanted to buy a smartphone. There was silence on the line. I finally said "Are you still there?" He said yes, but he was just checking to see if the Earth was still revolving on it's axis. :-)
I proceeded to tell him which phone I had decided on and he proceeded to tell me he was buying it for me.
I said, "That's NOT why I called you! I HAVE the money!" but he would not change his mind.
So he shipped me my phone, along with several very nice accessories.
Thanks to two of my boys, I now have this wonder of technology:
It was a long and complex journey to arrive at this unexpected result.
I'm still a little in shock.
And I've already come smack up against a few existential complexities because of this device. We will have to explore them in the weeks ahead.
(Groan.... I can feel the migraine coming on already.)
Yes, well that's your lot in life for continuing to hang out on this blog.
(I have no choice in the matter.)
Listen mister... EVERYONE has choices.
Anyway....
it looks like this is as close as I'm going to get to a puppy right now...
One thing about this one....
At least it doesn't shed.
Oh and P. S. I'll use the money I saved up to pay my phone bill for the coming year all in advance. This makes me VERY happy. :-)
Part Three:
Last year at about this time my friend C. and I took a nice trip to the coast and spent a few days in a lovely hotel right on the beach. We had such a wonderful time, we thought we would make it a yearly thing. I said great... I have a year to save up for it! So I commenced setting aside a sum every month to do just that.
Then one day I ran into the person who told me all about the Mini Aussie and she said that the owner of that dog was expecting another litter in August. Something in my brain clicked into place, and I realized I needed to follow up on this. AND that within a month or two, I would have the amount necessary to get the puppy.
I called C. and asked her if she would be really disappointed if I used the money I had saved for our trip to buy a puppy instead. Having recently found her own little dog, and being firmly in a haze of puppy fumes herself, she didn't hesitate to tell me it was no problem.
So I called the friend of the owner and told her I was interested in a puppy. She said she would pass on the message. I never got a call. Weeks when by. I called again and left a message. Nothing. Then I saw the original person who told me about the dog and she said she would tell the owner I was interested. No call.
By this time I figured this was just not meant to be.
Part Four:
I got a phone call about 10 days ago.
It was the owner of the Aussies. She said she had a little female blue merle puppy left with blue eyes and it was ready for adoption. Even though I was hoping for a male, I said I would love to come out and see her. Then she told me the price.
It was WAY more than the amount I was originally told.
I had to tell her that this was over my budget, but thank you for calling.
I sat there in a bit of a daze. It was a five minute phone call. Bam. It's over.
No puppy for you!
Part Five:
A few days later I had a conversation with my son A. I asked him if it was possible to put me on his phone plan as a family member. He said yes. And I found out that it was an amount I could afford.
I called my son E. who is the manager of a Best Buy in another state. I figured if I was going to buy a phone, I would give him the business. I told him I wanted to buy a smartphone. There was silence on the line. I finally said "Are you still there?" He said yes, but he was just checking to see if the Earth was still revolving on it's axis. :-)
I proceeded to tell him which phone I had decided on and he proceeded to tell me he was buying it for me.
I said, "That's NOT why I called you! I HAVE the money!" but he would not change his mind.
So he shipped me my phone, along with several very nice accessories.
Thanks to two of my boys, I now have this wonder of technology:
It was a long and complex journey to arrive at this unexpected result.
I'm still a little in shock.
And I've already come smack up against a few existential complexities because of this device. We will have to explore them in the weeks ahead.
(Groan.... I can feel the migraine coming on already.)
Yes, well that's your lot in life for continuing to hang out on this blog.
(I have no choice in the matter.)
Listen mister... EVERYONE has choices.
Anyway....
it looks like this is as close as I'm going to get to a puppy right now...
One thing about this one....
At least it doesn't shed.
Oh and P. S. I'll use the money I saved up to pay my phone bill for the coming year all in advance. This makes me VERY happy. :-)