Last week was a fiasco.  Somehow on Monday I found myself driving 2 hours back from Jacksonville with puking dog in the back of the car.  Actually, he was a really sweet, good natured, and very trainable dog.  However, the lead up to this is that I’m just not ready to get another dog yet and Bryan found one on petfinder.com that looks just like an Arlo puppy.  Well, I just couldn’t make a good decision about it – not really a good time for a dog as there are so many things up in the air for us this coming year.  However, the dog seemed like a great match….young, just like Arlo, nice, etc…  

So, at home with ‘Jesse’ was a disaster.  I was so spun up about making the wrong choice and not truly wanting a dog, but feeling guilt because he seemed so much like Arlo that I couldn’t enjoy him.  I also just simply couldn’t handle the logistics of a puppy and a baby and Zoe.  Too much. 

After a nice long discussion with Bryan we both concluded we acted in haste emotionally since this puppy was an Arlo look alike.  He needed to go.  I called back the foster organization that adopted him out and they were happy to have him back and non-judgemental at all. They truly wanted what was best for the dog.  Me too!  He was so nice.  That evening, after we made the choice to return him, I actually had fun having the dog around.  The incredible relief that washed over me let me know this was the right thing and I’m just not ready for a puppy and that we should at least wait until we know our next assignment before such big decisions.

Wednesday I was back in the car with the puking dog (that was the other thing….we just can’t have a carsick doggy) driving back to Jax.  This time Zoe stayed with some friends for the afternoon.  She was a bit bummed he was going, but not heartbroken.  And I think Jesse (we called him Jax) had a fun sleepover with us!