The Dogwalker's Diary

Our dear friend Greg has a blog of his own. I dare not link to it because it's not always "family content." Plus, I don't want the students who know Greg finding my blog.

Greg is enjoying being a college graduate with a theatre degree in a terrible job market. Ok, not really. Really, Greg is going crazy. So, he's walking Cali and Finn a few days a week for us which is a gigantic help since the sun now sets at 4:30. I actually live in the theatre again now, so I don't know what time the sun actually sets. Anyway, our family has received some "shout-outs" on Greg's blog recently and I thought I'd excerpt them for your enjoyment!

Nov 22nd: Greg writes:
"So after I worked with kids this summer (see my first post re: getting punched in the face and dealing with pants-wetting), I vowed to never ever have children. I like the concept of children, but not necessarily the practice. I can't imagine having to be with a kid all day and be responsible for making sure he or she becomes a contributing member of society. Talk about pressure! After spending time with Tommy Galvin (shout out to Tommy!), I think I changed my mind. Tommy melts my cold, black heart every time I see him. Now that he's just about 19 months old, Tommy recognizes me. And while he can't say "Greg," he does have a name for me: Deet. I'll take it! Tommy likes to play with the zippers on my hoodie sweatshirts and also likes to sit on my lap while he draws on his fancy Magnadoodle. I personally think he has moved out of his pointilism phase (poking the Magnadoodle) and into his scribbling phase, but I don't think he's fully abandoned his artistic roots. He's going places, watch out. A couple of weeks ago, Meredith and I took a trip to Babys Backwards R Us. Tommy needed a diaper change and I thought it was encouraged to change your baby in the middle of the store-- test drive the merchandise, if you will-- but Meredith changed him in the Mother's Lounge. In my imagination, I equate the Mother's Lounge with a Piano Lounge, but something tells me they're not the same. I was perusing the Baby cards and heard Tommy yell out "Deet! Deet whaiwareyou?" You know that moment where the Grinch sees the Whos down in Who-Ville enjoying Christmas without any presents at all? My heart grew three sizes when Tommy asked where I was, and then shrunk back to it's normal two sizes to small size when I watched the family with about 12 too many kids on TLC. No thank you."

Dec 10th Greg writes:
"Hear ye! Hear ye! I have a job. I am a professional dogwalker. I use “professional” in the “gets paid to” sense, as I may or may not be qualified to care for living, breathing, things. 3 days a week I walk Tom and Meredith’s dogs, Cali and Finn. The other two days I walk my cousin Adam’s dog, Rocky. Rocky is a 6 month old Boston terrier who is a stubborn but loveable little guy. I take him to Stern Grove, the only dog park I know. Rocky falls asleep in my lap on the ride home and just loves me to pieces. Cali and Finn, on the other hand, are big dogs- and Finn loves to sit in the front seat. And by “loves to sit in the front seat” I mean “will growl at Cali if she tries to usurp the passenger seat”. Our rides to the park are a little more intense than with Rocky. I have been shifted into neutral by a dog more than once and the barking is something else. I am going to film one of the car rides so you can see just how excited these dogs are about the park. Cali doesn’t even bark—she warbles. I think she’s trying to talk. She is a human inside a dog’s body. Last week she put my hazard blinkers on- twice- and today she changed the radio station AND turned on the Air Conditioner. Tom and Meredith, apparently your dog hates Christmas music and is having hot flashes.
On our first day in the park, Finn peed on a white Mercedes Benz. Yea! Down with the upper class! The next week, I pulled Finn away from a Buick, BMW and Porsche. He peed on my car. Down with college graduates who walk dogs?"

Thanks Greg, let's hit Denny's this weekend!