Carlito: The New Kid on the Ark

Pictured above is our living, breathing, moving, barking stuffed animal, Carlito. He is so large and cuddly and cute that he almost looks surreal. Yet he is real, and very much a puppy. Chewing, barking, mess making. Yet so endearing I was hooked the first time I looked at him. If I bring any more animals home, I may find myself in divorce court. But, here he is, narrowly making the cut that allowed me to bring him in to the fold.

So, now it's three dogs, (who are all boys who are going to be nuetered this month)... three cats (all nuetered or spayed!) a guinea pig...who is not going to be altered in any way...a BETA fish who is over a year old now and still thriving and two hermit crabs. No birds. Jess and I are afraid of birds. Not afraid of them hurting us, but she's afraid of the talking ones, and I get nervous when they fly suddenly or try to pull at stuff like glasses or earrings or anything near my face. So we will remain birdless.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

I don't know which it is....working hard or hardly working. But I am back at work, either way. I get tired more easily. Sometimes I have to take a half hour to lay down on the vacant office couch in the middle of the day. At night, I crash and don't do squat at home. Yet I am making it day by day.

On a personal note, we have a new addition to our pet family. Carlito, a huge fluffy puppy. Ten weeks old and a bundle of fur and chub. We adopted him from the local animal shelter yesterday. He will eventually be a good companion for Gideon. Right now, he's a so-so companion for Taz.

Gideon and Carlito are both mixed with Rotweiler. Gideon is mixed with Lab, and Carlito looks to be mixed with Husky. Maybe not. Either way, he is one of the cutest puppies I've ever seen. Also one of the biggest.
Once he's fully vaccinated, I'm looking forward to getting out with the kids and walking them all. Taz is intrigued at this point, but is outweighed by 20 + pounds. One of Carlito's paws is bigger than two of Taz's put together. They were playing "who's the dominant dog?" last night. Their antics were hilarious. I'll post a photo soon.

I've agreed with myself and Rob that this is truly IT as far as pets go. Unless some little helpless kitten is dropped off at our doorstep...in which case, that would just be fate. Otherwise, our animal posse isn't going to grow anymore. We would have to take on second jobs.

Here's to March getting underway. Spring can't be too far off, can it? I am getting Spring fever, whether the weather wants to cooperate or not.