the introvert.

It took me over a year. 

We've had her over a year now...

And I've finally figured it out...

She's an introvert.

My introvert self picked out the introvert dog.

Eric picked Maggie long before we ever met, and Maggie was crazy and always had to be around other people. Always. She was glued to someone. Anyone who'd let her tag along.

But this Sammy girl...

It puzzled me for months.

She'd come snuggle on the couch for a few minutes and then hop off and wander away.

I'd eventually get up and find her, wondering where the heck she went - wondering why she would just get up and leave my company. (Okay, yeah, I was kinda taking it a tiny bit personally...crazy dog owner, I know.)

And I'd always find her laying around in the living room, or on the living room couch, or happily hanging out in her kennel in Eric's office.

Perfectly content to be alone.

One night this week she went to bed with Max but when he got up to come into our room (yep, still working that problem) Sammy got out and happily camped-out and slept the rest of the night on the couch downstairs. Maggie would have been whining outside our door all night long if she hadn't been able to go to bed with her favorite person - dad. 

Yep, the extrovert "dad" chose the extrovert dog, Maggie.

And this highly introverted "mom" chose this introvert dog, Sammy Sue.

I get it Samsters.

It's nice to be alone sometimes.

It can be the most peaceful feeling in the world.

sammy and her sticks.

She loves her sticks.

I take her out to go potty and she prances around, finds a stick and happily carries it up to the deck thinking she gets to bring it inside.

But woe is Sammy - I tell her to drop the stick.

Momma isn't cleaning up chewed-up sticks around the house.
Poor girl.

It's hard being Sammy Sue.

Don't feel too sorry for her.
She gets plenty of time on the couch when dad is out of town.

lazy daisy.

So the other day Max suddenly decided that maybe we should have named Sammy, Daisy. And I actually had a "that's kind of a great name for her" moment. Solely because then I could call her Lazy Daisy.

She's a lounge dog. Or maybe it's the laid-back, California girl in her. But this dog, at not yet two years old, has the fine art of lounging around the house (on the couch when dad is out of town...much to his dismay) down pat. She's a professional, friends. I may learn much from her about getting my lazy on in the coming years.

I present to you - Lazy Daisy Sammy Sue.

happy sammyversary!

A year ago this Sunday, we brought our sweet little Sammy home! She's been such a fun addition to our family. Gentle, silly, a lover of the belly rubs, an odd under-the-bed sleeper, a little bit cat-like in her pouncing abilities, an occasional  howler, a snuggler who just loves her dad to pieces - if only you could see her go crazy when dad gets home! We are way past the accidents in the house phase (thank goodness!), and pretty much past the chewing on anything and everything phase, and let's not forget the bickering with big brother phase - glad that one seems to be over. The siblings get along just wonderfully now. Max always gives his little sister a big hug before she leaves his room after story time.

Who would have known she'd fill that lonely hole that was left in our hearts when Maggie left us, so perfectly and with so much love.

Love you, Sammy Sue!

little miss lazy.

I love her.
So, so much.
Who knew I'd love dogs so much?...
She's so soft and sweet.
With one ear always at attention and one ear relaxed.
She's lazy. She even answers to the name lazy.
She's my dog alright...likes to lay around and snooze, preferably in the sun.
She has a hard time getting up at the crack of dawn with Eric. She knows that 4:30am is far too early to be up and moving about.
She moans when she stretches while lazing around. It's the cutest thing.
She brings me her toys when she wants to play with me. A ball to throw. A rope to play tug of war with.
She sniffs around like it's going out of style when she goes outside.
It's amazing to me how different she is from Maggie.
She's my baby girl. I call her my baby all of the time. I think she knows she's the baby of the family...
I love her furry face.
So, so much.

the birthday girl!

We arbitrarily decided Sammy's birthday would be September 1st (loosely based on the fact that the vet figured she was born last September). But then Max decided her birthday should be the 2nd since two is his favorite number. But then we were too busy on the 2nd, so we kind of forgot to do anything for Sammy until the 3rd. So, there you have it...Sammy in a silly birthday hat from one of Max's old parties. I was shocked she just let me put it on and didn't really mess with it. Eric held up some treats so that she'd look (kinda) my way.

She's a really great girl. So calm and sweet and much more trainable than Maggie ever seemed to be (Oh Maggie, I still love you dearly!) She is just a perfect fit for our family. Hard to believe we've only had her seven months. It seems like it's been so much longer. And I just love that she sleeps under the bed on my side. I always sneak a peek under there and give her some love before I get in bed.

Wishing you many more birthdays to come, my sweet Sammy Sue! 

one year ago today.

One year ago today we said a very sad good-bye to our sweet Maggie. I can still recall so many details of that day, and saying my tearful good-bye to her in the car. If I let myself, I can be transported back to that day to the point of feeling it all over again. Tears and all. I read my posts from that day and the following Monday and was almost in tears. She now takes her place by the back door, in the form of a rock. Yes, a memorial rock with her ashes inside. Max calls it the Maggie Rock. This also (almost) marks the six months that we've had sweet Sammy Sue in our lives. The six months without a dog in the house, while cleaner and easier, were much lonelier. Eric and I would both agree that Sammy is Maggie Jr. - just as sweet as sweet can be. 

She is gone, but she is not forgotten. 

hey, remember that one june morning when it was sunny for an hour?...

Well, Sammy took full advantage of it.

She's a smart girl.

(And ironically, despite the sarcastic title of this post, it is sunny today.)

the sammy story.

So, back in January Max came home from preschool with a bright green (his favorite color) flyer in his backpack. It had information about a pet adoption event going on at one of the Petcos in Vancouver. We set it aside and planned to check it out. The week before we went to Petco I had been looking at dogs online. They were all cute, and some were older which kind of tugged at my heart. I realized after some time spent looking that I was trying to find a Maggie among those dogs. I knew my thinking was silly. Maggie was Maggie and no other dog would ever take her place. But she was my first dog and I couldn't imagine loving another dog as much as I loved my sweet Maggie. But I really wanted to find a dog with all of Maggie's wonderful characteristics - sweet, quiet, loving, always wanting to be with people. I suppose it's a bit hard to describe.

The adoption event day came and I went to check it out while Eric took Max to his sports class. I was sure I wouldn't find the right dog there, and was pretty sure it would be all old dogs, since those are the dogs that most need adopting. I walked in, past the Chihuahua puppies (super cute, but we wanted a big dog) and headed straight to a group of dogs in a little fenced off area. And there she was. So sweet and quiet among all the other barking dogs. I was a little afraid someone else would claim her, so they got her out and on a leash for me and I waited for Eric and Max to come. It was a bit like hovering over an item at a silent auction. You kind of want to stake your claim. I sat down and Sammy sat right in my lap. And to make a long story a little shorter - Eric and Max showed up, agreed I'd found a good little girl and we took her home.

A few things about Sammy: She came from California two days prior to the adoption event and was given the name Christina. But we didn't think Christina was much of a dog name, so we changed it to Sammy. When I took her to the vet the next week he figured she was about 6 months old based on looking at her teeth.Which would make her about 8 months now. She's black and tan, and if you mixed that up I'm pretty sure she'd be a brindle color similar to Maggie. She's a jumper. As in she can jump straight up and kiss you on the nose in a flash. She has a couple of cat-like qualities - like scurrying up the stairs, into our room and under our bed. She also likes to pounce on her toys. She's a barker. And a loud one at that. Or maybe I was just so used to Maggie never really barking at anything, I don't know. She's an angel when "dad" is around. Not so much when he's gone during the day. (What is it with my kids not behaving for me?) She's pretty calm for a puppy. Maggie wasn't this calm till she was five or six.

Last but not least, she's just really sweet.

It's really nice having a dog back in the house again. After a long and lonely six months without Maggie, our family feels complete again. And I have no doubt Maggie had a hand in sending Sammy our way. She's still looking out for us from God's doggie park.

nicknames.

Yes, she's already been given a lot of nicknames...
Sammy Shazammy
Shazammy Sammy
Samalamadingdong
The Samanator
Samertons
Silly Sammy
Lazy Sammy
Sams
Sam
We give nick-names to the ones we love, right?
She is so very loved.
(And she is sure to wind-up with many more nicknames.)

52 linked: romance

She had me at "woof."

Okay, well not really. I didn't actually hear one single bark out of her when I saw her last Saturday. It's more like she had me when I looked into those big brown eyes. One ear at attention, one flopped. Just like Maggie, I might add. I'm fairly certain this is the begin of what will be a fine romance with Sammy.

(I mean really, isn't she just too cute? I know you all will be blog stalking because you want to see more of her cute little face.) 

52 Linked 2012 A new theme every week.

A few other friends are joining-in on the adventure.

Please stop by and see their interpretations of our word of the week.

Michelle, Tracey, Stacey, Heather, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Amanda, Kristin, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, Carla, Heidi, Kristin, Heather, Amy, Liza, and Veronica.

maggie monday (a day late).

The sun came out for a bit (between showers) last Wednesday. And Maggie took full advantage of the sun-bathing opportunity.

(Yes, those are her ears. Yes, they are huge.)