My Year of Yes

August 14, 2017 By The Jolly Runner in Jolly Runner, Things to Do, Year of Yes Tags: Backpacking, Colorado, Driving Standard, Rock Climbing, Things to Do, writing, Year of Yes 1 Comment

This past summer I have been making a concerted effort to try new things and stop saying no to things that take me out of my comfort zone. Overall, I feel like I have been pretty successful. The start of my new philosophy started by backpacking through Peru (my second time backpacking in my entire life) and I have been trying to embrace the new idea since my return.

A week ago, I turned 38 (and to be honest, that was a little rough) and I decided I needed to commit even more to my new philosophy…so this is my year of yes. I’m going to try new things and push myself throughout the year. What exactly that means, I’m not 100% sure but I’ll excited to see as the year progresses. 20727830_10212032582227700_8240620203770065957_n

One thing that I have always wanted to do was be a writer. I started writing as a small child (I remember my first book was called Mall Madness and was about some kids that got locked in the mall after hours…it won an award in a third-grade writing contest), continued writing for my high school and college newspapers, and even majored in Journalism in college. But, as I went through school and learned more about the “news” business, writing became a chore rather than something I really enjoyed. The reality of not be able to work in the field after graduation also soured my taste towards writing and I just stopped writing all together. (As a Career Counselor now I am shocked that none of my instructors or advisors ever thought it might be a good idea to mention that written journalism was a dying industry and finding a job doing what we wanted, where we wanted, was going to be near impossible.)

I write occasionally for work and wrote a lot while working towards my Master’s degree, but rarely wrote for fun. Several years ago, I started a blog thinking it would be a perfect outlet for my desire to write, but it seemed like a hundred things would get in the way of me sitting down and writing and posting. But, during my year of yes there are no more excuses. I need to just stop whining about how busy I am and just sit down and write (because really, if you have time to complain about being too busy, you obviously have some free time). I want to get back to my writing roots and remember why I used to love sitting at my word processor (see, I really am 38) and cranking out stories. So, my hopes are that my blog will be the outlet for my writing. I am hoping to write as often as possible and post blogs much more regularly. We’ll see how it goes…

Writing is just the beginning. I have so many more plans for my year of yes. I WILL learn how to drive standard. I WILL learn how to rock climb. I WILL learn (for my husband’s sake) the difference between then and than. And I WILL say yes to things that scare me, intimidate me, or just make me want to run and hide.

So, I invite you to come with me during my year of yes. If you have any challenges of things I should try, please throw them out, I am open to all new ideas!

Remembering My Best Friend

July 19, 2017 By The Jolly Runner in Colorado, dogs, family, grief Tags: Best Dog, Best Friend, Colorado, Dog, Dog Mom, Nittany Leave a comment

thumb_DSC_7248_1024 A year ago today I lost my best friend – today I fondly remember my best friend. A year ago today was a horrible, awful day – today was a rough day, but it was a lot better. A year ago today there were constant tears that felt like they would never end – today there are still occasional tears, but there are many more smiles and laughter. A year ago today I never thought the pain would go away – today there is still pain, but the pain is dulled. A year ago today I felt weak and helpless – today I feel strong and hopeful.

Throughout her life Nittany taught me so much and in her passing she has continued to be my teacher. The most important lesson she has taught me in the past year is that I am so much stronger than I ever imagined. It took strength to do what was best for Nittany and to make sure she didn’t live in pain anymore and it took strength to wake up each day in the days and weeks after she was gone and continue living. After I lost Nittany I lost a piece of who I was. It takes a lot of strength to come back from that dark place, but I did. But, once you do, you realize your own strength and that you are capable of a lot more than you ever imagined. I just kept telling myself that Nittany would not want me to be sad and cry all the time, she would want me to continue living and so, as hard as it was, I found the strength to keep moving forward.

Today, and every day, I remember Nittany and what a powerful impact she had on my life and how lucky I was to have been her dog mom.

Lazy Lab

Planting the Seed of Doubt

July 7, 2017 By The Jolly Runner in Jolly Runner, running Tags: Colfax Urban 10 Miler, Colorado, interval running, Running, Self Doubt 1 Comment

In mid-May after a winter and fall of not following any sort of training plan and honestly mostly only running on weekends I decided, on a whim, to sign up for the Colfax Urban 10 Miler. I had done the Colfax 5k and Marathon Relay in the past years and the thought of not participating in a race on Colfax weekend was starting to get me down. So, I signed up on Saturday for the Sunday 10 miler. The most I had run at one time since last year has been about 6 miles, but I was confident that, even if I had to walk, that I would be able to finish this race. I was pretty excited because the race started in my neighborhood (the undesirable West Colfax) and ran east on Colfax, through the Broncos football stadium, up the Platte River, through downtown Denver to Denver’s City Park. The beginning of the race was almost all downhill adding to my confidence that I would be able to finish the race.

For the first couple of years of running I was strictly an interval runner. I would do a 3:00/1:00 run to walk interval and had gotten pretty comfortable with this routine. Last fall I decided to push myself at the Rock-n-Roll 10k to see if I could actually run a race straight through without intervals and shocked myself that I actually could. Apparently, my training had paid off and I was becoming a “real” runner. So, for the Colfax Urban 10 miler I decided that I was going to run the first 6.2 miles straight and see how I was feeling. Depending on how I felt I would just continue running or switch to a 3:00/1:00 run/walk interval.

At the 10k mark of the race, when I was going to make my decision on how I would finish the race, I was feeling really strong with my running and was pretty sure I would just continue running straight through when suddenly my left hip was in excruciating pain. I had been having issues with my hip all year (and had issues with my other hip last year which only resolved after getting a cortisone shot) and at that moment it felt like someone was shoving a nail into my hip. At that point, the decision was made for me and I had to switch to a run/walk interval in hopes to get the pain under control. I was still making good time and keeping up with the group I was running with, I had just switched to the run/walk interval to give my hip a break every once in a while. I was feeling really confident that even with the change of plans I was going to have a great race.

During one of my short waking intervals a stranger came up behind me and started giving me and the woman I was running near encouragement. Telling us that “we could do it, we just needed to put our minds to it and we could finish.” While I usually like encouragement from fellow runners, there was something about this particular encouragement that just pissed me off. For one, the woman that I was running with was an older woman who was absolutely rocking it. And secondly, I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that I was going to be able to finish the race and I didn’t need to put mind to it because my mind was telling me I was going to finish – until he planted a seed of doubt in my mind. Yes, I was walking at the moment the stranger offered up his encouragement but it was part of my plan, not because I wasn’t able to run. I obviously looked like someone who needed extra encouragement, which kind of sucks because I was feeling really good about my race. This stranger’s words, which I am sure were meant to be encouraging, suddenly made me feel horrible and sent me in to a spiral of self-doubt. I immediately started thinking about how I wasn’t a “real” runner because I didn’t look like a typical runner (ie. I am not super skinny or particularly athletic looking), I don’t run fast and did run/walk intervals, and that I would never be in the front of the pack. All of these things never really bothered me before but these words of encouragement from a complete stranger really got to me and really made me think about how others look at me when I’m running. I wish I was a stronger person who wasn’t bothered by these kinds of things. I know that it doesn’t matter what my time was or how gracefully I ran, I still ran 10 miles, which is a lot more than most people do on a random Sunday, but it still planted that seed of doubt in my mind. And obviously, because I’m writing about almost two months later, it really stuck with me.

I’m not sure what the morale of this story is. I think encouraging others during races is great, but I am definitely going to be more mindful about the words of encouragement I share with others. I would hate to make others feel the way that someone’s words of “encouragement” made me feel. I can only speak for myself but the fact that I get my ass out of bed and get to the start line of any given race is a huge accomplishment for me. If you would have told me five years ago that I would be running a 10 mile race I would have told you that you were crazy. We’ve all taken different roads to get to the starting line and it’s important to make sure we are encouraging each other in the right ways.

Catching Up and Battling with my Sinuses

May 2, 2017 By The Jolly Runner in Colorado, family, fostering, Jolly Runner, off the wagon, rescue dog, running, sick Tags: back on the wagon, Colorado, Dog, Runners High, Sinuses, training Leave a comment

In September, I wrote a post about how I couldn’t possibly forget the feeling after a good run and swore that running would once again become a regular part of my life. Turns out I am a complete liar. Within a week of writing that post I had forgotten all about the benefits of the runner high and feel back in to a very irregular running schedule. I quickly turned in to a weekend warrior – not doing much of anything during the week and doing a couple runs on the weekend to try and make up for my laziness. Looking back, I am really lucky that I didn’t really injure myself during this time because from my experience doing nothing physical all week and then cranking out a 10k on the weekend isn’t the best idea. But, I survived without major injury and am looking forward to getting back on track to a regular and healthy training schedule.

runners high

Since September a lot has happened and really nothing has happened. But, I wanted to share some of the big events and how they have been effecting my running and my plan for what’s coming next. I am sharing this for a couple of reasons: 1) I want to be accountable to someone or something and I also like to the idea of writing regularly. When I think back to why I studied Journalism in school it was because I had (and have) a love for writing and want to flex those writing muscles again. 2) Maybe if I share what I’ve been going through I might find some answers from people how have had similar journeys or maybe I can help someone who is struggling with some of the things I’ve been struggling with while also sharing successes along the way.

The biggest thing that I’ve been dealing with since September is that I have been battling a weird sinus issue that as of today, almost 8 months later, I still have absolute no answers for. This has really affected my running. Somedays I feel like complete crap and I just want to stay in bed forever and other days I am just so frustrated with this process for trying to get better that I also want to throw the covers over my head, scream, and stay in bed forever. (Do you see a common thread here?!) Since September I have been on a crazy amount of antibiotics, gone to the ENT and took more antibiotics, got an CT Scan, got tested for allergies, plus trying a ton of other remedies…all of this with absolutely no relief. While we do have some answers about what is not wrong, we don’t appear to be any closer to finding out what is wrong. When the MRI came back without any more information that ENT suggested that my sinus pressure could be from acid reflux and prescribed Prilosec. (It’s important to note that I had absolutely no symptoms of acid reflux but the ENT suggested I had “silent reflux” and the acid from my stomach was going up my throat and causing inflammation in my sinuses – these are times where I wish there was a stronger word for skeptical because that is exactly what I was, but I forged ahead hoping that this weird idea was the solution to my problem). I took the Prilosec for several weeks without any relief of my sinuses (but an alarming increase to the number of migraines I was experiencing) and to top it off when I stopped taking the Prilosec I started having acid reflux. So that long explanation brings you to today, almost 8 months later. My sinuses still bother me, I have pretty constant pressure in my sinuses, and it feels like my noses is always running, and I have absolutely no answer as to why. My doctor is currently suggesting that my sinus pressure may be caused by migraines and is suggesting I start taking an anti-depressant as a headache preventative and to be honest I have no idea what to think of this. I am actually really nervous about the idea of taking an anti-depressant when I don’t have any symptoms of depression, but there is a part of me that wants an answer, and more importantly, a solution to my problem, and maybe this is that answer.

On a much happier note since September our family grew by one. After losing my beloved Nittany last July I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready for another dog. There was such a huge hole in my heart that is still there today, but when the tears about Nittany became less often and there were more smiles and laughs about her antics I started thinking our family might be ready for a new addition, when we found the right fit. We had fostered for the Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue and our first foster found his forever home and while we liked him we knew that he was not the right fit for our family. (You can read about Boogie here.) But, in late September I was looking at the Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue website showing the incoming dogs who needed fosters and I spotted Maggie. The information said Maggie was 4-6 months old and from her picture she looked like a small chocolate lab. After checking with the family, I immediately contacted the rescue to tell them we wanted to foster her. On the last Wednesday in September the entire family jumped in the car and drove to Aurora to pick up Maggie at the rescues drop off spot so we could foster her. When Maggie got out of the back of the moving truck she was so skinny and did not look like the healthiest of dogs, but you could tell she loved people and wanted to please her people, and I could immediately feel my heart start to melt. So, as they say, the rest is history…our family was four again.

So, back to running (this is the Jolly Runner, right?!). The winter and spring has been pretty horrible. Like I mentioned my training plan was all over the place. I would take time and develop a plan and one day in I had already fallen off the wagon. I would then justify that I would restart the plan at the beginning of the next week. The next week would come and go and I had still not established any sort of consistency with my running. After losing over 30 lbs. since I started running the weight was starting to creep back up. My body was used to running 3-4 times per week and I was not providing the physical activity it needed to keep a constant weight (or even lose a little). My eating was horrible – it was all about comfort and eating whatever I wanted, when I wanted. Not the best recipe for weight management. Luckily, it never got too out of control and while I have only gained about 5 lbs. I still feel like a complete failure and I know that I need to get my life under control again.

Peru I have high hopes for May. A have a new training plan in my planner. I have a race scheduled for the end of the month (in my funk I almost didn’t sign up for the Bolder Boulder, but realized I would be even more upset if I missed this annual run, and was reminded that even if I wasn’t ready to competitively run, I can always walk it). I am traveling to Peru in June and would seriously love to get rid of the 5 lbs. I have added over the last couple of months. I plan to record this journey (and lots of other cool stuff) in my blog.

So, I invite you on my journey over the next couple of months. Follow along, give me your thoughts and insight. And if all else fails hopefully I can make you laugh along the way.

How Could I Forget this Feeling?!

September 19, 2016 By The Jolly Runner in Colorado, dogs, exercise, family, grief, Jolly Runner, running Tags: Colorado, Dogs, Family, Gunnison, Jolly Runner, Panic Attack, Running, summer 1 Comment

This weekend was supposed to be a great weekend away. I was excited about the getaway but there was a lot that needed to be done before I headed out of town to meet Brandon in Gunnison. I had to work in the morning and host a big meeting, pack, get the house ready for the pet sitter, track down our new iPhones that were being shipped separately and by different carriers, and get out of the house so I could make the 3 ½ hour drive in time for dinner. This was all after a super stressful work week with lots of events whose success laid on my shoulder and a 12 hour day. There was a lot on my to do list and suddenly I notice a huge lump on our dogs ear. Paterno had a hematoma on his ear in August that the vet drained and said either it would come back or not – it chose to come back twice as large as the first one. So, along with everything else that needed done I also needed to run Paterno to the emergency vet to make sure it was okay to leave him with the pet sitter for the weekend. We get to the emergency vet and were told our wait would be several hours. I could feel the minutes ticking away and myself getting later and later. One of the vet techs took mercy on me and told me she would look at Paterno and let me know if he needed to be seen that day or if we could schedule something for later in the week. She checked him over and told me the hematoma was relatively small (I would hate to see a large one because this one seemed pretty crazy) and scheduled Paterno for an appointment and potential surgery on Tuesday. I ran Paterno back home, finally tracked down our phones, and headed out the door with exactly 3 ½ hours until our scheduled dinner. While I finally made it out the door and on my way to our mini-vacation I just felt stressed and anxious.

Fast forward a couple of hours…I made is safely to Gunnison, enjoyed a nice dinner, and headed to an observatory to check out the stars. As we are getting ready to leave the observatory all sorts of warning lights lit up my dashboard and stated with quite urgency that I needed to have my car serviced. But, it was almost 10pm in a town that doesn’t have a Chevy dealership that is open on the weekends. I tried to put the car trouble out of my mind and decided that now is a good time to activate my new iPhone 7. To match the rest of my day the phone would not transfer my old data and just kept giving me all sorts of error messages. Finally, I surrendered to the day and tried to sleep but spent the night tossing and turning stressing out about Paterno, the car, and the thought that I’m wasn’t going to be to have any phone access.

When the alarm went off I get out of bed and still feeling overwhelmed and anxious. I realized I was on a mini-vacation and I am too stressed to enjoy it. I was being snappy and mean and felt like I was seconds from a full-fledged panic attack.

Now that I have set the stage of my fragile mental state I will fill in the details about my running. Last Friday I decided, on a whim, I was going to get a tattoo on my foot (the tattoo wasn’t a whim I had been planning that for months, waking up one day and deciding today was the day I was going to get it was the whim). The tattoo artist said I shouldn’t run for three days but after that it should be okay. After three days I was still nervous and decided to take a whole week off to let the tattoo heal. For some reason I irrationally thought that running would cause the tattoo to wear off (I do realize that is not realistic, but that is what my weird mind kept telling me). So, Saturday morning it had been eight days since my last run with the plan to go for a run Saturday morning in Gunnison while Brandon was at his conference.

So, in the midst of my mental breakdown, I decided there was nothing I could really do about any of my issues at the moment and I would go for a quick run and deal with everything when I got back. I put on my running clothes, carefully slathered my tattoo with tattoo goo, put on some super soft socks, my shoes and headed out the door. In Gunnison at 8am in September the temperature is 32 degrees. I was completely unprepared for this and was just wearing my running shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. The upside of this was I was ready to run from the very beginning just to warm up. Because it had been awhile since my last run I just told myself if I could make it three miles I would call it good. I set out running around the neighborhoods and downtown of Gunnison and then headed east of town to the Western State University campus. The longer I ran the better I felt. The beautiful sunshine, the fresh crisp air, and the new scenery was exactly what I needed. One mile quickly turned in to two and before I knew it I was rounding out six miles. As soon as I get in to the groove of running I love being out there but I have to play mind tricks with myself to get started so I can get in that groove. At an even 10k I ended my run and headed back to our hotel.

The run was exactly what I needed. When I got back from my run I felt at peace, focused, calm, and ready to tackle my to do list. I contacted Onstar to figure out what to do with my car and they said that it wasn’t really urgent and I should be able to make it home and I should set-up an appointment for next week (the should was a little concerning but in my new mental state I could deal with it). While I was away I had connected my new iPhone to my MacBook and when I got back it had worked out its issues and downloaded all my data and music and was ready to be activated. I was still stressed about work stuff and dog stuff but it all suddenly felt so small and manageable when just an hour before it felt like the end of the world.

This summer has sucked and when I should have been running the most to deal with the stress, I did just the opposite and used my running time in the morning to sleep in and try to escape reality and it just ended up compounding the problems. This weekend was a huge wake-up call that no matter what I need to make running a priority. Running is my natural stress, anxiety, and depression buster and I need to never forget that. I don’t want to end up back on the verge of a panic attack because that is a horrible feeling! I am excited about the new week, the healed tattoo, and the reminder about how important it is to take the time for yourself. Find the activity that centers you and don’t make excuses for not taking the time for yourself. I am so excited that I found this feeling again and I am going to work my butt off not to lose it again.

Adios Boogie…and the Great Retriever Caper

September 11, 2016 By The Jolly Runner in food trucks, foster dog, foster home, fostering, rescue dog Tags: breweries, Colorado, Dog Thief, food trucks, Foster Dogs Leave a comment

Boogie has left our little family and moved on to his forever home. He packed up and headed out on Thursday and while we enjoyed his short visit we were not heartbroken to see him go. Mostly because we knew he found an amazing family to join and secondly because Brandon, Paterno and I were exhausted. We hadn’t experienced a puppy in almost 10 years and it was tiring! After Boogie’s departure Paterno just slept on the couch for two days before he perked back up. He had enough of a puppy in his face, pulling at his ears, hitting him on the nose and licking his face. As we recover we can celebrate that our second fostering adventure was a success and our fostering record is at a respectable 1-1. I think I really knew it was a success when Boogie’s new mom came to pick him up and she gave me a hug before leaving to thank me for watching after Boogie for her. I realized we were a small part in helping a family become more complete. It’s not just about finding a dog a home but it’s also about making a family complete. Nittany and Paterno were such an integral part in making our family what it is today and we helped another family do that same. It didn’t take long after Boogie’s departure for us to start talking about what the next dog we fostered would be like, and we are hopeful to be part of more dog’s story as they come to Colorado and find their forever home. images

On Tuesday night after Paterno and I got back from our daily walk we had an unexpected knock on the door. Paterno and I hopped off the coach to see who was at the door and were surprised to find a middle aged man we had never seen before. Because we didn’t know him I wasn’t overly eager to open the door so I politely asked through the closed door how I could help. He began to explain that he lived up the street a couple of houses and he had lost his golden retriever. I immediately felt for him and his lost dog and was about to ask how I could help…and then he opened his mouth again…He said that the neighbors had seen me with a golden retriever and he believed I had his dog and asked how long I have had my dog. Before I could answer he went on to say that he lost his dog three months ago and believed I had found his dog and was keeping it as my own. I did a 180 from wanting to help to being really pissed at this complete stranger. My reluctance to open the door went away and I swung open the door so he could get a good look at Paterno. I bluntly asked if his dog had a deformed leg? I then introduced him to Paterno and let him know that we had Paterno for over ten years and came to us from the rescue with a birth defect and we had taken him in because no one else wanted him. He looked at my blankly not knowing exactly how to respond. He just went on to tell me that he had left for work over three months ago and he had left his dog unattended in the yard and when he got back hours later the dog was missing. He also added that the dog was not chipped and did not have any identification like a tag or collar. My anger boiled because not only was a stranger accusing me of stealing his dog he was also giving me a laundry list of how much of an irresponsible dog owner he was. I managed to apologize about the loss of his dog but also reminded him that if someone found him they would have no idea how to return him without proper identification. He wanted to pet Paterno and all I wanted was for him to take his accusations and leave. Finally, after a couple more awkward moments, he left and Paterno and I returned to the safety of our living room. I don’t remember being this mad in a really long time. What type of person does something like this?!

There was so much I wanted to say to this stranger but I was so mad I couldn’t even form the words. First being if I were to steal your dog why the hell would I walk up and down in front of your house with him a daily basis for you to see? Secondly, we have lived in the neighborhood (with Paterno) for four years and you have never said anything to me but thought it was completely appropriate to come and accuse me of stealing your dog. And who the hell were the neighbors that tipped him off to us being the ones that stole his dog? I wanted to yell that if we wanted what he believed to be his golden retriever back I would be more than happy to gather up his epilepsy medicine, his special boot we made for his bad paw, and all his toys and he could just pay us back for his medication, vet bills, pet insurance, and registration fees and he could have him! (Don’t worry Paterno I would have never really given you to this horrible stranger). I also wanted to tell him that we are such bad people that we were currently fostering another dog and helping him to find his forever home…or maybe we were just planning on stealing that dog too…

It’s been an eventful week at our house and we are enjoying a nice calm weekend full of breweries and food trucks before heading in to another week. I hope your weekend is everything you want as well!

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More Adventures in Fostering…and Boogie’s Happy Ending

September 6, 2016 By The Jolly Runner in dog rescue, dogs, foster dog, foster home, Jolly Runner, labs, rescue dog Tags: Colorado, Dogs, Forever Home, Foster Dogs, rescue dogs Leave a comment

We have successfully survived out first weekend as foster parents. It had its highs and lows and ups and downs but at the end of the weekend Boogie has found an amazing home…and it’s not us J I know we had many doubters who thought Boogie would end up the next member of the English family. But instead Boogie will be leaving us on Thursday to move to Georgetown and start his new life with his amazing forever family.

Fostering has been a very educational experience. Boogie was a dog like no other. We have been parents to a black lab golden retriever and a golden retriever that we got as itty bitty puppies. Both had lived pretty charmed lives before coming to our home and came without any trauma or emotional baggage. Boogie was a completely different story. We have no idea what his life was before he got to us but we can tell it wasn’t good. He was nervous and timid and afraid of everything except Paterno. His second day with us involved a trip to the vet to find out what was going on with his ears and to check out a scratch on his leg. They found a bacterial infection and he was immediately put on antibiotics. The trip to the vet pretty much terrorized him and he retreated to his crate for the remainder of the day. Friday he spent the day with Brandon and was showered with love and more importantly…treats! We found that Boogie is pretty food motivated and was starting to take food out of our hands. He still didn’t allow us to pet him but he was accepting bribes which was a good sign. Saturday was another terrorizing event when the first family that was considering adopting him came to visit. He hated that experience more than he hated Brandon and I. He wouldn’t come out of his cage to meet them and when we finally pulled him out of his safe spot he just stood on his leash shivering with nervousness. The family didn’t really seem interested in the intense time commitment it would take to get Boogie to the point of being a “real” dog and headed out pretty quickly letting us know they would call us if they were interested…they never called back (and we were okay with that). The rest of Saturday he retreated back to his crate once again only coming out to eat and go outside. On Sunday Boogies luck changed. A second family came to meet Boogie and they immediately fell in love with him (he is pretty cute and lovable despite is current personality). Boogie was his usual illusive self but even with that they loved him and could see him as part of their family. For the first time I knew Boogie was going to be okay and had found his forever home. After meeting his new family Boogie was ready for some more alone time and once again retreated to his crate. For the rest of the weekend we have been working with Boogie trying to get him more comfortable with his surrounding and people in hopes of a smoother transition to his forever home. He has been making baby steps but often heads to his crate for sanctuary. We are excited when Boogie chooses to be the same room as us for a couple of seconds or lets us touch him…like I said, baby steps.

The taking care of Boogie has been the easy part. We know how to keep a dog healthy and safe so we just brought Boogie in to his family and treated him like our dog. The difficult parts have been the emotional parts of fostering that we never consider. Wondering if Boogie would get a family, meeting a family who was a horrible fit for him and wondering if the potential adopters would all be like that, thinking Boogie might live with us forever even though he wasn’t exactly the dog we wanted, and finally the relief of finding the perfect family for him. Fostering can turn in to quite the emotional rollercoaster. The first day or so I was so upset and even a little depressed that Boogie didn’t want anything to do with me and feeling so bad for the life he lived before making his way to Colorado. But, I realized that I can’t focus on that I can only meet him where he is, be there for him, and not to take anything personal. I was doing the best I could do.

We know that dogs like Boogie need a good family but he just wasn’t the best fit for our family. Paterno wasn’t that excited about having a puppy who would only pay attention to him (Paterno enjoys snuggling and cuddling and had gotten used to being the center of attention) and we want a dog who will cuddle and let us touch them. Also, I am pretty sure we want a female dog because we need to even up the boys vs. girls team around here! Like I said fostering has been a very educational experience. We were happy to share our home with Boogie but I think there is a part of us that is excited for him to go to his forever home on Thursday. I am excited to be able to clean the house and doing laundry without scaring the bejesus out of Boogie and Paterno is looking forward to snoozing on the living room floor without being pounced on by a puppy!

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