Life at Gray Gables: Back to the B L O G

Taking it back Old School!

As many of you have noticed, I have not been as "bloggy" as I once was- so what gives? Well, the short and simple answer is.... L I F E. I know- cheesy, right!

I have been stressed to the max, and my "adult" acne is all over my face to prove it. I am working L O N G hour days, trying to keep my house...somewhat clean, care for my children and maintain some sort of image as a "Good" wife..and it has been R O U G H.

We recently adopted a Puppy...yeah, that was a MISTAKE. It has been something we have talked about, looked at cute pictures of puppies and dreamed about adding to our family and then one day, we did. All I have to say is words were spoken that we false. It was a conversation that went like this, "I just need your help at night. I will take care of him, but with me working at night, I just need you to take him outside." Um, that turned into Kelley dealing with him at 7 a.m., Kelley dealing with him while trying to get kids up and off to school and such, Kelley dealing with him while trying to work, Kelley dealing with him biting, whining, making messes every time I took my eyes off of him and to top it all off, he wasn't even a cuddler. (Our family dog is a BIG TIME CUDDLER!) Plus, he was beating up our poor Otis, who refused to bite him back and ended up red faced with cuts to his lips, legs, feet, and ears. (My poor puppy dog)

Sure, our new puppy is cute. (Peter Parker, a.k.a. Parker is his name) But having a Puppy is hard, especially one that does not quite. (ok, so our Otis is an English Bulldog and we are spoiled with his 23 hour a day sleeping habits!)

Well, I was super stressed because on top of my work, house, kids, hubby duties, now I have to deal with a dog. Um, hello, I already struggle daily to find a minute to myself! Yes, I freaked out. Yes, I lost my damn mind. Yes, I even cried. It sucks when no one understands, or maybe they act like they understand but they definitely DO NOT GET IT!

So, needless to say, it was causing strain on life, kids, marriage and I kept treading my water! Guess what happened...Hubby finally got it! He had had enough. His patience is less than mine and something finally clicked and he sat down with me to talk about Parker going to live with his Dad. Brilliant, right! Sure, until the day he was supposed to leave us turned into three days later! Needless to say, it happened. Due to all the feet biting (and it was brutal, breaking the surface, biting's) my kids were all to happy to say Goodbye to our once Puppy, understanding that they can always visit him and Papa Glen is over the moon excited to have him! (thank God!)

Am I sad...sure. He had the cutest little face ever! Heart melt-er that he was- but that cute face stopped when you would go to pet him and be met by killer sharp teeth that did NOT stop biting. I know that he is going to continue having a GOOD life and that makes me happy. As explained by my Hubby...he just isn't the dog for us!

Today I woke up to a whine free house. The sound of metal was not echoing throughout from the kennel Parker was in at night. The air was much more relaxed as Otis got up from his bed along side my own and followed me, quietly to the hallway. I got up my oldest without puppy cries waking her before hand. We got ready, and not hurriedly as we have been lately in order to get downstairs to let out our noisy puppy. We came downstairs to enjoy a nice breakfast. I let out Otis with ease, knowing I did not have to gather up my shoes and coat to go outside with him. All is well in the Amstutz's house today.

So how horrible does this make me sound? I feel terrible inside, sad, but I know that it is for the best. I am already stressed by my everyday routine and adding a puppy is worse than a baby in my mind and I already said NO to any more babies.