You make me smile like the sun

I found out yesterday that my four-month old lab puppy is actually a three and a half month old lab puppy. Two week is not a huge deal, but that does mean that when he came into my life he was at the very oldest, six weeks old. No wonder he was a sad, scared little insecure puppy! Definitely not ready to leave his mama yet.

Now he is fourteen weeks, twenty-five pounds, taller than our sheltie, and 100% handsome. He learned to sit on command at seven weeks, was housetrained (... mostly! really!) by eleven or twelve weeks, and knows several commands. He can sit, come, wait (including when you feed him; he'll sit and wait until you tell him "okay"), get in his kennel, go outside, go somewhere else if he's begging and I say "go", leave the room with "get out of here", and "eat nice" instead of taking off your whole hand when given a treat. He also walks well on a leash, tolerates grooming, and and settle down if you're trying to hold him and he's wiggling. I still feel like he need to work on his manners... but I guess if he's not even four weeks old yet he's making good progress.

I have big plans for this handsome bundle of trouble! This week we're going to work on obedience [sit, down, come, stay] and "clean up", which will mean to get his toys from wherever he scattered them and put them in the toy basket. He has a bad habit of taking his toys outside and leaving them there, so we're going to try to remedy that. :) Some day I want to do agility and obedience competitions, companion dog certifications, therapy dog licensure... haha. He is mostly lab, with the obedient and eager to please personality that goes along with that.

Have any of you taught your dog tricks? What was the neatest trick you've ever seen a dog do, or wanted to train a dog to do?

Poke 'em in the eyes and say "No"!

Has anyone reading this ever tried online dating? I've been doing it for about six months now. I've met some genuinely nice guys. I've also met a few crazies, as I like to call them. Now, I'm not an unkind person. I don't break hearts (on purpose), I'm not rude (right away), and I'm not sarcastic (okay, no modifier can fix that one; it's just not true). Point is, if I'm not interested in a guy, I always start off with polite hints. If he pushes the issue... well that's his own fault, isn't it?


Here are a few of the ways I've said 'no' to would-be suitors.


*~Over-zealous hardcore Christian who responded to everything I shared about myself with a passage or concept from the Bible that indicated I was somehow a bad person: 
"I'm sorry, I think you're going to have to find someone else to water your camels."


*~41 yr. old man whose first message to me was "Can i take you out": 
Nope.


*~Different 41 yr. old man, his posts in italics:
"Hi, I love your profile... I think we have a LOT in common :) Why don't you view my profile and write!!
I'll look forward to hearing from you soon!"

- Alas, if only we had the same decade in common!

"Mollie... I like that name :) Just write! I'm a fun guy and love the outdoors... don't let years stand in our way... you never know how many we got!! Seriously, just write and lets talk :)"

- As long as we're talking about how many years we have left...

Life expectancy for men = 5 yrs less than for women.

41-22 = 19

19+5 = 24 yrs that statistically speaking I am likely to live
longer than you.



Not trying to make you feel old. Just saying, comparatively, I'd
rather find someone quite a bit closer to my age. In my opinion,
you should too. What's wrong with women your age, that you hit on
girls half your age?

*~ Guy who was 38 yrs old:
You do realize that I am 58% your age, right?

Yes, the old ones are the easiest to pick on, but also the ones who need it the most. They won't go away unless I'm hard core with them. There was one guy, though, who was my age and still wouldn't take a hint. At all. I hinted, I told, I practically begged, and he kept IMing me. Now, of course I could block him. But is that fun? No. Is it satisfying? Not really. Was my solution mature, righteous, or admirable? .... probably no. But! It made for a great story.


I knew from previous conversations that some of my biggest selling points with this guy was that I was a virgin and that I was an honest sort of person. I also knew he was homeschooled, and as a former homeschooler I knew which buttons to push. :wink: Lets just say by the end of the conversation I had him convinced that I was actually a druggie prostitute, who was not a virgin but had a thing for virgins which is definitely different, I'm a compulsive liar, and I couldn't even count the number of guys I'd slept with. 


Hey, the guy wouldn't leave me alone. Don't judge!

Of Relationships and Complications

I'm at that interesting place right now where I've been seeing someone for a couple of weeks. We are not "official", but I think he's going to ask me to be his girlfriend once I get back in state later this week. I think I will say yes.


I haven't been in a relationship for a year, and that relationship was my first one. Only one boyfriend, at 22? Yes, true story. You see, I'm a little bit picky. I didn't start dating until I was in college because until then I didn't feel ready. In high school, no one even knows who they are, much less what sort of person they would be happy with. And I don't date people because it's fun or feels good at the moment, I date someone because I'm serious about them and seeing where we could end up together.


So here I am, on the brink of getting into my second-ever relationship. How did I meet this young man? Well... online. And no, not through a blog because he or I was such an amazing writer. Through a dating site. I wouldn't call myself desperate, but I sat back and realized that I am out of college and diving into my career as an elementary teacher. From here on out, 98% of the people I meet will be younger than 12 or older than 45. Not exactly my ideal age range. Anyway, I met him online. We talked for several weeks first through e-mails. I was going through a lot of family drama and desperately needed someone to talk to, so he came into my life at a particularly wonderful time. I found his e-mails to be comforting and caring, sensitive to how I was feeling and encouraging through the tough spots. We also just talked about ourselves and each other, our hopes and dreams, our hobbies.

Eventually, we decided to go out. He took me out to sushi... yum. We watched a movie together. I don't think he touched me at all that first date. On the second date, we sat near each other on the couch during the movie, and when we talked afterwards I leaned against his shoulder. This was a far cry from one of the other guys I went out with who by the second date was dry humping me and not taking no for an answer. This date was different. His respect for me as a person and for my boundaries was heart warming, and though I knew anybody could put on a show and try to seem respectful by just waiting a few dates, I knew in my heart he was sincerely a great guy.


Now we've talked about everyone under the sun, and I'm starting to fall for him. I actually feel like this one might stick around. I'm afraid though. Is everyone afraid at the beginning? Afraid that he won't be who I hope he is, that he'll take whatever I give him in run, that he'll tire of me and my high standards and sexual boundaries, that we won't line up spiritually. Part of me... okay, a big part of me... wants to just throw caution to the wind and jump in, don't worry, don't look back, see where things can go. Part of me says things won't work out because they never do and I shouldn't get too excited.


As always, I choose to look forward with anticipation instead of backwards with fear or regret. Right now, I believe I'm dating a great guy that could make me really happy. Right now, I choose to accept that and accept him and willingly explore everything the future can hold for us. Right now, I will live in the moment.