Introductions are in order - My first real post in forever

Like the gratuitous use of cuteness? I know, it's been a while. Welcome back!

I basically haven't posted anything since like spring. The Awesome Window was cool, but I don't walk past it as much lately and it really wasn't my content. We've had a very busy summer. Also, my 11 year old isn't quite as excited to be the subject of a blog any more. In fact, she hates, so shhh....don't tell her :)

As you might notice, the splash of cuteness across the top there includes something new, something you've never seen posted on the Geek blog. We got a dog. Not just any dog mind you, but a super cool dog. I'd like to introduce you to Kirby, the super dog. He's extra special, not just because he's ours, but because of how he came to us.

We've been looking at puppies for a while. OhPrincess1 has been successfully answering my question about who's gonna clean up the poop for a while. OhPrincess2 still answer it with, "Well, of course, you daddy." Which isn't the answer I'm looking for, but OhCountess we putting lots of pressure as well.

Puppies were proving to be a challenge. We aren't big fans of the puppy mill sources and the small breeders are just so expensive. We also were being very patient. We kept telling the kids that we didn't want to just settle and get any dog, we wanted to get our dog.

One of OhCountess' friends and co-workers is an avid dog person who routinely fosters rescued animals. She called us one day with news, "I have the perfect dog for you guys." We'd heard that before from her, but this time she was adamant. OhCountess decided to go check him out. Her friend said this dog just wasn't doing well at her house. She was fostering several dogs and this little guy was having a hard time fitting in.

He took to her and she asked if we could take him home just to see how he did. Great idea! A trial period for a dog seemed like a good plan. Well, he got to our house and immediately just fit right in. He was back to being playful, and happy. He ven ate...a lot. The girls loved him. It seemed like a match made in heaven, but there was a big catch. We couldn't adopt him, not yet.

The man that found him in a ditch, abandoned, had first dibs. There was also the waiting period to see if his owners would show up looking for him. In this part of the country, seems there's only a 5 day waiting period on abandoned dogs without ID.

So we waited. And waited.

The man that found him said he would probably take him. Our hearts were broken. He was back with OhCountess's friend waiting for him to adopt. He was also back to being a sad dog. Not eating, just sitting there. She asked OhCountess to come see him. He perked right up and just wanted to play. Pure torture. OhPrincess1 cried herself to sleep that night. "Dad, we get so close why do we never get to have a puppy?"

And we waited. But the guy never came in to adopt.

Then word came that his daughter wanted him.

And we waited. His deadline was extended 24 hours. And we waited.

Our friend told us that at 2 PM, if he didn't close the deal, he was available.

And we waited.

At 1:30, OhCountess wanted to know if I would go with her to the adoption place, just in case. Sure. So we went. At 2 PM.

No one came. Kirby was available to the public. By 2:30, Kirby was officially our dog. OhCountess took me back to work and she went to go get him. The kids were thrilled! Since we never had a dog before, we needed lots of supplies which we happily got. We got a little of everything since we didn't know what he'd like. You can't see it on the picture, but he's even got a Minnesota Twins collar, and yes, he's named after a certain baseball player that brought us two World Series Championships...deal with it.

We done lots of other things this summer, but nothing as big or life changing as this. I'm also announcing that I'm on Day 2 Week 1 of the Couch to 5K program. I'll be posting more on that soon but for now I gotta go, so world....I'd like you to meet Kirby. Kirby welcome to our family.