Things Considered

As we approach D(og)-Day, there are many things we need to put in order, to consider, to decide upon before the arrival of perro nuevo. Why Parker has suddenly become Spanish, I can not say, but it is a small part of his heritage (just not enough to count on a census).

First, we have considered and decided upon what crating option we will use for our new guy. He will proudly continue a time-honored human tradition of using the cast offs of his older siblings. Parker will happily bunk up in Ripken's old crate. I say "happily," but I can only hope that is true. Having never had to wear hand-me-downs (since my brother was younger and smaller than I) from my sibling, I can't imagine how he will really feel about it. I have worn plenty of my father's old clothes, so maybe I do have some insight, but....

Next, what about feeding? Most "experts" suggest a) feeding the dogs in separate rooms (check) and b) feeding the older dog first (we can do that). So, we have that taken care of. Of course this also brings up the point, yet to REALLY be acknowledged, that two dogs will double our animal expenses: twice as many vet bills, twice as much food (at least...a puppy eats a lot of food), two leashes, two collars, twice the number of dog beds (at least to start--we don't want Ripken feeling like Parker is totally horning in on all of his territory from Day One), etc.

Lastly, what about the steps? This is a thorny issue, since it appears that Ripken is more and more getting to a point where the steps will sooner or later become a big deal for him to go a) up, b) down, and/or c) both up and down. They're hardwood, a bit slippery. Will little Parker be able to climb the steps with both a flair and in safety? I don't know. But, I do know this: I am more and more getting to a point where carrying a dog a) up, b) down, and/or c) both up and down a set of stairs is enough to send me to an ER. I can't carry two dogs.

Possible solutions:

One: turn the sun room into a bed room. I didn't expect this to happen until Monkey and I were well into our 90s, so I am just going to nix this idea, right now.

Two: carpet runners on the stairs. Ummmm, no. Clearly these steps were carpeted at one time. That time was 1976. I lived through the mass carpetings and wall paperings of that era. I am not about to go all retro on that decor nostalgia. What next? Metal avocado cabinets in my kitchen? No offense if you have carpet runners on your stairs or metal avocado cabinets in your kitchen. Like Rodney D says in Caddyshack: "It looks good on you, though."

Three: take a pill and let things develop. Yup. That's what Ima gonna do.

Home hospital bed photo from Richardson Classifieds (http://richardson-texas.olx.com/)