Picture Perfect

           It was the day before Valentines day in the year 2007, I drove out to a farm in Star Idaho with my mind bursting with questions like;

"Are WE ready for this kind of responsibility????"

"Will he even like us???"

"What if he's aggressive or bites everyone!?!?"

"Maybe I have made a huge mistake? Maybe I should of called someone and chatted about this for a bit?"

and then I took a deep breath with my hands on the wheel the car moved me closer to the place that last miniature schnauzer puppy was for sale....

 As I took that deep breath with all those questions flooding me, a thought helped me smiled with courage growing stronger, a thought I had said
 "Oscar is waiting for you right now."

My husband had the name Oscar picked out after watching his favorite sitcom at that time called "Curb your Enthusiasm." The German Shepherd dog on the show was named "Oscar." and so as I thought about what to get my hubby for Valentines day because we always stopped our lives on that day every year for each other, I decided to surprised him with a 4 month old pup! 
I even surprised myself for not telling anyone about my gift idea until I had gone to buy the dog on that clear cold evening from a breeder who said he was the very last one that she had, and she was worried he wouldn't find a home since the females were far more popular. I knew that I wanted a male puppy, which would be an easy fix to handle!

"Oscar is waiting for me!" I said with renewed confidence as I entered the home of children and cats, the second I walked in Oscar was greeting me with his adorable furry body wiggling all over in excitement and I sat directly on the floor for him to run all over me, I had worried that he may not like me as I visited for a bit with the lady who was selling him, she said with a knowing smile "You seem to know how to greet dogs." I nodded explaining how my father-in-law already had 2 miniature schnauzers and I spent tons of time with them, so I knew how socially smart schnauzers were. 

I had gotten Oscar in hopes to cheer up my husband but what ended up actually happening was how Oscar cheered me up! I couldn't imagine now looking back that I needed a dog far more in my life then I had realized at the time. 

Oscar really did save me from a distracted busy life style to a more grounded reflective way of living! I quit my job to be a better pet owner and to give him the best quality of life I could! 
Both my husband and I have always felt responsibility is very important when you take on the care of another being. We have always worked together in keeping our pets safe from that very first Valentines day when Oscar came into our lives! 

      Life truly burst into magical memories from those early days on with puppy Oscar in our lives! 

I would always say to my husband "Oscar votes with Mommy, so that's 2 votes against 1." whenever we had a debate going, my husband would joke that Oscar seemed very surprised every time he came home from work explaining to me  "Oscar looks at me with such surprise that he can't believe I lived through another day! He has that "Whoa! YOU still live here with US?" look that makes me wonder what does he really think of me?" 

I laughed so much because Oscar was always shifting his eye brows side to side like he was always watching every little thing my husband did or said, he seemed to know what was going on by tilting his head as I would say to him "Daddy's home!" ...and then I would think to myself "Did Oscar just roll his eyes at me?!?!? HA! What a smart dog!"

It changed our lives for the better on that Valentines day 10 years ago, my husband exclaimed "This has been such a shock! A great gift of course,I just hope we are responsible enough for this!" 

I laughed in agreement saying "Oh I know, I was thinking that too! I guess we are "parents." now!?!?"

           The skillet sizzled and crackled as I moved about our condo kitchen naturally cooking up a feast! Along with fresh homemade bread and brownies cooling on the counter, my late afternoons were almost always like that in my many projects for different kinds of dinners. I would step back to look at every little detail and think to myself "These are the magical days of our lives that I hope to never ever forget!" and I loved it all from my fresh flower vases against my newly painted walls to the sunlight resting on my napping worn out puppy and kitten as they cuddled into each other, for homemaking was my deepest delight and it made our lives so complete!

So while I would be cooking up dinner and sing along to the radio, my husband would come home from work in those early evenings looking into the windows of our warm glowing welcoming place with such a big smile, He said it was so nice to see the lights on as he arrived, then the fragrance of dinner cooking greeted him at the front door! He was so happy to have such a lovely place to live!

As our pets jumped into his lap while he sat back to relax in a clean and cozy home saying with a wink and a smile at me "Now a man could get use to a wonderful life like this!" just as I would hand him a beer while talking on and on about my busy day with the latest funny pet stories! And he would sit back so proud to see that all was well, all was peaceful in our little "family." 

and it really was such a picture perfect time in our lives!