Becoming Pet Owners

I may be the worlds most allergic-to-animals person on the planet, but when I first looked into the tiny brown eyes of a Poodle named Brady, I was smitten.

Brady Lyman

Because my husband grew up with more pets than I could even count, he has been trying to get me to agree to getting a pet since we met. My darling husband likes cats about as much as Angela from the hit TV show, The Office which is a major turn off to me because I would rather have a pet poisonous spider or a rabid monkey than a cat.

I am so allergic to cats that even the sight of them turns my stomach...weird, huh? They make me sneeze if I get too close and if I am around them for more than five minutes, I start to itch and my eyes water so bad that I can no longer see out of them. I am allergic to dogs, rabbits and hamsters too, but cats are my kryptonite.

First bath

I've done enough research to know that there are several breeds of dogs that I would most likely be able to one day own without worrying about having an allergic reaction. We have talked about getting an Airedale Terrier in the past but we agreed that our current home was way too small and since we don't have a yard, our poor dog wouldn't get the exercise he needed. It looked like we would have to wait until we moved back to the states and had a house before we got a dog.

All clean!

Then our friend Chelle posted a message on Facebook about her frustration with a Toy Poodle that was driving her and their tiny Yorkie crazy. She and her husband Keith were originally only supposed to watch Brady for a few months until his owners received orders back to Germany. The Marine Corps doesn't always work out the way we "plan" and so they were not going to be coming back to Germany after all, leaving Brady with the Granberry's for good. The Granberry's loved Brady but they already had a small dog named Cooper who was constantly having to compete with Brady for attention.

Exploring Germany

Matt messaged Chelle and said, "we want Brady!" Since I knew I wouldn't be allergic to him, we decided to go meet him one day. The rest is history in the making; that little dog is our baby and we love him to pieces!

Brady just turned two on June 25th, also Matt's birthday. He is an Apricot, Toy Poodle and we are his fifth family (four of which have been Marine Corps!)...we will be his last!

Liebe,
Mandy

Jam packed weekend

Written: Tuesday, May 24th

I'm happy that I was able to go home this past weekend but for crying out loud, it's been quite a whirlwind since last Friday. First, Matt picked me up with Brady, our new Toy Poodle who is just the cutest little guy and the three of us went over to our friend's house, the Granberry's. Chelle made an amazing dinner and I got to meet our friend Dane's Mom, Leona who was visiting from Washington State. We got home kind of late but Matt had some laundry to do because he needed to pack for his upcoming TAD trip on Monday. He'll be gone for five weeks, visiting three-four different countries. Poor thing, his ECU classes started back up this past week so he won't have much free time.

Brady and his Pluto

On Saturday, I met up with Chelle, Charece, Jenny, Leona, and April to shop at the Flea Market on Panzer. We had a lot of fun and I found a few great bargains. Matt ran some errands while I was shopping and when we met back up we headed over to the Commissary, Shoppette, and then Breuningerland for some cigars before heading over to our friend Warren's house for a cookout. Warren will be moving back to the states soon so we wanted to see him before he left. He grilled some beef while I sliced strawberries & watermellon. I also brought over chicken drum sticks which I marinated in this delicious Caribbean Jerk, and some potatoes for the grill. Our dinner was so yummy, I love grilling! It even rained and hailed on us while we were in the middle of grilling but we didn't care. It was after 9:00 by the time we left and Matt made plans with our friend Jocelyn to catch a ride with her in the morning to Ramstein so he could make his 3:00pm flight.

Cullen, Warren, Matt

I was not a happy camper, all I wanted was some time alone with my husband before he left for five weeks and I really didn't get it at all this weekend! When Sunday night rolled around I was so depressed and to top it off I had to change my own bandages so I could shower and I had to carry all my stuff down four stories with a scared dog who didn't want to leave. If you've ever tried to put a bandage on your lower back using a mirror, you know, it's not easy! 

I dropped Brady off at Chelle's and we chatted for a while before I drove back to Bad Urach. It started raining and that's when I remembered how bad the windshield wiper blades are on my car, and then I ran out of washer fluid. When I arrived at my rehab facility it was 9:30 but nobody was at the reception desk. I took my bags to my room and then tried to park my car in the garage but it wouldn't let me in so I had to park up the hill in a four hour parking zone and just prayed I wouldn't get a ticket.

Sometimes life sucks; so you go to bed, pray you get another shot at it in the morning, and thank God when you wake up. It could always be worse. I have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes the negatives just stand out so much more.

Liebe,
Mandy