Happy Memorial Day!

Well, I'd assumed everybody had stopped checking my little ol' blog eons ago, seeing how I never update it. But then I got a nice email from "Anonymous," who told me she still checks in. Which means she's continually disappointed!! So I apologize to her. Or him. :) I vow to do better!

Lots has been going on in my life lately; some good, some bad. For now, I'll tell you guys about the newest addition to the Atlas abode. Yes, it's one of the two doggies you see above. But not both.

Here's the story on the dog on the left, which resembled a piglet in the face: He showed up at our house last weekend, all full of energy and love. He had tags on, so I immediately called the number. Turns out it was to an animal hospital about 15 miles from our house.

Jake, Emily and I (and the dog) then drove to that neighborhood to look for lost-dog signs. Finding none, we checked the streets around our house. No go. The animal hospital wasn't open over the weekend, so we figured we might as well bathe the dog and buy him some toys. Oh, and give him a name (Scooter). What the heck.

Yes, I know all of this was a bad idea, but I tried to remind the kids that we were still looking for the owners. Apparently, they figured we'd never find said owners.

But we did; on Monday morning, I called the vet's office again and was given a number for the owner, named Ida. Ida wasn't home, so I left a message. A few hours later, Ida's son called. "Thank God!" he said. See, he was in charge of dogsitting his mom's little pooch (whose name was Chiquita -- and is a girl, not a boy as I had surmised! Don't ask).

The son lives down the street from us, so we returned Chiquita to him that afternoon. The picture above was taken right before we walked him home, which explains why the kids' mouths are smiling but their eyes are not. Right before I snapped that photo, Jake had the saddest expression I've ever seen on his face. Poor guy.

But the Chiquita drama did inspire us to get our own little doggie, one that we don't even have to return! After looking online at area animal shelters, Mike found a picture of the Jack Russell terrier pictured above. The ad noted that he's a great fetcher and can even catch things in mid-air. A superstar in the making!

We liked his face and online profile, so we drove to the shelter on Friday for a blind date with him. He was everything he'd appeared to be in the photo, but there was one glitch: "He hates cats," the shelter worker said. "He tries to hurt them." Rut-roh.

But we decided it could still work out; Scooter will be a backyard-only dog, and our three cats are indoors-only. Their worlds don't ever have to collide. But in case they do, we're trying to re-teach Scooter that cats can be his friends.

This afternoon, we gave him a bath and walked him around the house on a leash. He did lunge at our cat Circles once, but he got a bop on the nose with a newspaper along with a stern "No!" The next time the cat got in his path, he turned around and went the other way.

Could it be that he change his ways with just one lesson?? You're looking at a genius dog!

So we were very happy with our selection, but the choosing process wasn't easy. The shelter was full of adorable puppies, precious kittens and other home-needing animals, all of whom are living in tiny pens that stink to high heaven. I wanted to take more than one home that day.

I think Jake was feeling the same way when we left; rather than being overjoyed by the happy dog in the back of the car, he was melancholy. I think we were all just hoping we'd done the right thing.

That night, we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. My fortune cookie contained the following message: "You will find your solution where you least expect it." OK then.

As we left the table, I realized the cookie had two fortunes in it. The second one said, "Life is a series of choices. Today, yours are good ones."

I ran to catch up with Mike and the kids, eager to tell them the good news: We'd done the right thing! The fortune cookie said so!

And while I als0 feel I did the right thing today in blogging, I know this here post is miles long. That's what happens when I fail to keep on top of these things! I have lots of other news to share, but that can wait for another day. Another day when I make good choices.

:)