I closed the door

on the puppy question this week.

When I last reported on this, I was still in limbo, wanting to go get the puppy, but worried about having the time to properly attend to her. And shortly thereafter the puppy's mom emailed me to say that she'd decided to keep the puppy after all. I had suspected that might happen and when it did, it felt like a relief.

So I was surprised when the puppy's mom emailed me this week and asked me to call her. When I did she said she'd had another change of heart--did I still want the puppy?

And you know, I could say that honestly, I just couldn't do it right now. Part of it was seeing her going back and forth--she has an older dog she adores, and she wanted the puppy as company for herself and the dog, but found she just didn't want the commitment of time and energy a puppy required. If she (who doesn't work outside her home) couldn't pull it off, how would I? And part of it was realizing (again) when WW was here and we went out for the day, how I probably wouldn't have been able to do that if I had the puppy.

So I've close the door on not just this puppy, but any puppy for the foreseeable future. This puppy was a breed I really liked, and she was coming to me free of cost. If I turned that down, it must mean that now is just not the time for a dog.

For me to have a dog now would require me having a pet sitter who could come anytime of day, any day I needed. And that just isn't likely to happen. Maybe I'm selfish, but I am enjoying not being accountable to anyone for my coming and going. Not that I go that many places, but I CAN, if I want to, just pick up and go.

I'm still thinking about a cat though.