Puppies Part 4 of 4. Yes, this is the end... I promise - and yes, there's FINALLY a point.

About a year-and-a-half later, the three of us were living together as a little "fambly" in Burbank, CA.

That's about the time I started to want pup #2. Given that we weren't married yet and still living in an apartment, John couldn't quite wrap his head around that, but in the end, I usually get what I want.

I would continue to nag him about it for the next couple of years. In that span of time, we got married, started new jobs and bought a house.

One day, when we were sitting on the couch watching TV, and the following Petsmart commercial aired:



John and I both look at one another, and our eyes have welled up with tears. That's when we knew our little fambly was about to expand.

Fortunately, the same fabulous breeder, Wendy Bell, had a little girl that she described as "sweet, docile and submissive" - the perfect match for our Otto.

She was sweet and docile for all of 30 seconds. The minute we let her loose in the yard with Otto - it was mayhem:
















But, that wound up being a good thing.

John and I are simply stupid for our pups. We're obsessed. Thus the entire week of posts to this end. I apologize if I have been boring you all to tears - but here's the deal.

I can't even bear the thought of losing one of these pups. That said, I can't imagine what having children would do to our relationship with them.

Would we wind up ignoring them? Would they lose the over-privileged, insanely spoiled life they've grown accustomed to?

I know it sounds completely and totally insane, but I can't really bear the thought of that. Would kids be a good addition to the family and would the pups embrace and enjoy it, or would they feel ignored, replaced and sad?

Anyone with any insight into this, please share.

Puppies Part 3 of ???

I wish I still had the email exchange between the other guy and I, because he was to become my husband, and our daddy to Otto and Anna.

Anyway, I don't. If I recall correctly, my email to him went something like this:

Hey John - are you still single?

I'm sure there was more to it than that, but I was about the meet the love of my life. Funny how that works when you're not really actively looking for it anymore.

It went something like this:

John invited me to his place, (not inside mind you), but just out front so that we could walk over to a cute little Italian restaurant he had selected for our first date. He immediately earned points for a variety of factors: 1. Italian food 2. Outdoor seating with little white lights 3. Chivalry

We sat outside next to a fountain - and everything about the date was absolutely perfect. We couldn't shut up and the conversation lasted for hours on end. When we walked back to his place, he asked if I wanted to come in - and I remember him saying it was not for that reason. Perhaps I was completely out of my mind - I mean, this guy could've been a serial killer after all - but something told me otherwise, and I followed him into his apartment. (I hope my parents aren't reading this).

Anyway, that's where John showed me his R2D2 costume. He figured that if anything would scare me away, that would - and he wanted to get it over and done with so that he wouldn't be heartbroken down the line if he hid it away for too long.

It was really cute. He then walked me to my car, kissed me on the cheek and asked me out on a second date. I said yes.

Second date was at my place - well, it started at Pete's, the restaurant in my building and the one that would become our go to for dates on a regular basis. I should mention that the second date was preceded by numerous hours of phone conversation. John and I were already pretty much in love by the time our second date started - though I don't know how aware we were just yet...

After dinner, I invited him up to my place to meet Otto Potato.

Otto had met other friends, men and people in general and truly seemed to like them all, but his reaction to John was quite different. He was practically glued to John's lap from the moment we sat down. I couldn't help thinking I should trust my pup's instincts. He had essentially chosen his dad. (Not that I hadn't already chosen him too).

Puppies Part 2 of ???

I should mention that I had been using match.com prior to finding Otto and moving to Downtown L.A., but like I said in the previous post, I had essentially given up on men for the most part. I was 26 at the time, the precise age that I had assumed for the vast majority of my life, I would've been married and with children by. Clearly that wasn't meant to be.

About 3 months into living in the new pad with my new pup and generally enjoying life, emails from various men seeking women were still periodically finding their way into my inbox. One such email came from a gent we'll call "George." George was a nice, polite, chivalrous, smart, handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed doctor. We got along well and he seemed to like Otto. You'll note this had become a factor in the dating process, which again, I wasn't certain I was really hip on anymore anyway.

George and I went on a handful of dates - and they were entirely pleasant and enjoyable. He was decidedly different from anyone I'd ever dated before, which was refreshing.

Then about a month in, I get another email from another guy. His email and match.com profile were hilarious, which was intriguing, but frustrating, because I was never able to date more than one guy at a time. I had pretty severe tunnel vision when it came to dating. So, I wrote him back, explaining that I had just started dating George, and had no idea where it was going, but that I would hang on to his email address should I find myself looking again. He seemed to appreciate this gesture.

Interestingly, one week later I was over at George's with Otto. Otto desperately wanted on to the couch with George and I.

George wasn't having it.

I had noticed aspects of his anal-retentiveness previously. He seemed to be a bit of a neat freak. Not that this is necessarily an entirely bad thing, but I noticed that in his home, there was very little in the way of stuff. Everything was pretty minimal. Nice, attractive... but fairly minimal, and despite nice fabrics and lots of wood, there wasn't much in the way of a homey feeling.

But it was the couch issue that sent me over the edge. I knew then and there that it wasn't going to work out.

Now where was that other guy's email address?

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?