Puppies Part 1 of ???

In case you weren't already aware, John and I have two adorable Boston Terriers - Otto Potato, (that's puh-taw-tow), and Anna Banana. There is not a day that goes by where we are not utterly and completely amused and charmed by every little thing that they do. That said, I want to tell the story of how they came to be part of our "fambly" and it's going to take a while, so rather than write a long, drawn-out post about all of it, I'm breaking it up into parts. Eventually, you'll understand why I'm even broaching the subject here... that is, if you're patient. Hopefully you will be.

Here we go:

When I was a single gal, I was living in Venice Beach - and my parents had gotten a Boston Terrier, Spike, who wound up being a bit too much for them to handle. I wound up babysitting him, a lot. My then landlord took notice and was none too thrilled. He warned me that I was not to have dogs on the premises. My parents found another home for Spike and I was completely heartbroken. Given that I had pretty much given up on boys, and dating in general at the time, I decided it was time for some pretty significant changes. I quickly found a killer apartment in Downtown Los Angeles' Old Bank District at 4th and Main that allowed dogs.

Then I found Otto Potato. I was researching Bostons and found a breeder, Wendy Bell, up in Modesto, CA, and on her website was this one pup, that had the most handsome face I'd ever seen on a Boston. I knew he was the pup for me. Perhaps it was fate, because at 10 months, nobody wanted him. He wasn't quite a "puppy" anymore... but he was to me.

It was Valentine's Day in 2004. My parents drove me up to Fresno, where Wendy agreed to meet us since Modesto is pretty far north of Los Angeles, That's where I picked up Otto. He was tiny - all of about 11 pounds and was petrified. Fortunately, I got to sit in the backseat with him and get to know him over the course of the 4 hour drive that followed.

He took my mind off of the fact that I couldn't meet a good man in Los Angeles to save my life. It was awesome. For the first time in a long time I had stopped obsessing about boys. Did I mention I found him online?