Confessions of a Gal Losing It...

Ok, nothing quite that dramatic. In fact, this will likely be a pretty boring post! But I'm going to sprinkle in a few confessions for y'all.

1. I really don't like dogs licking my face. That actually applies to my cats too, but I have successfully broken my Abbie of that habit. But I am dog-sitting for my beloved Benny and Sophie this week (yes, ALL WEEK!) and Sophie the Diva insists that the only appropriate way to show her love for me is to lick my face. In her mind it is even better if she can do this at, say, 4 a.m. Am I crazy for not having an undying love of facial doggie kisses?

I've written I believe more than once about my friends Carrie and Rob and their dogs Benny (often referred to as my boyfriend) and Sophie. Somehow I have become the #1 dog-sitter, which can be a little chaotic but seems to work ok. This is the first time I'm doing this for a whole week - and I already miss my kitties though I will be home with them during the day since I work at home. I figure this is good training for me in many ways - dogs are definitely more demanding and needy than cats, for example.

Life is a bit crazy overall these days. It is our busiest season at work right now, and because I am paid by the work I do (rather than being salaried) I have the ability to really make up some financial ground. However, this leads to my next confession:

2. I'm not good at saying no.

Can you dog-sit for a week? Sure. Can you take a ton of extra work for the weekend, when you were already buried? Yep. Can you drive your cousins up to a friends house for the weekend, and take care of 92-year-old Grandpa for the weekend? Absolutely. Can you take Gidget the dog for a week in November? Why not? Can you spend a few hours at mom's to help with a bunch of projects before she leaves for Florida for a bit? Yes. Can you help with the party planning, invitations and party set-up for your Auntie A's 50th birthday celebration? Count me in. May I mention all of these things are happening within the same 2-3 week span of time?

Really, it's good. I like helping and it's work, family and friends asking, and in many cases I am being thoroughly appreciated and rewarded for the effort. But I am noticing more and more how I don't often say no, even if I really want and need to! This surprises me a bit, since frankly I can really be quite the b***h at times as well.

So lately other than a few dinners out (mostly as payback for favors done - see, it's not completely selfless!) or blog surfing, I am on the computer working nearly every minute I'm awake other than perhaps Sunday evenings. It's good in that it helps take my mind off this waiting, though the truth is that my job is not exactly challenging from a brain-power standpoint, so really as busy as I am I'm still adoption-obsessed. Goodness knows there's enough happening out there to be thinking about.

See? Told you it wouldn't be a terribly fascinating post! But it's better than me whining about all this waiting, right? Really there's nothing new on that front and I don't expect there to be for some time yet. In the meantime I'm just excited for the developments of some of my other favorite PAP's.

Oh yeah - my third confession...

3. I'm about a step away from being a blogger-stalker. Is that possible? If I'm bordering on creepy, will someone let me know before calling the authorities? Huh, you say? Well, I really do get really excited to see updates by my favorite bloggers. I cried when E finally got the referral of Quinn, and I was very excited to see baby Shane's picture too. I have a smile on my face everyday I get to see new shenanigans of Annslee, Amos and Lucy among many others (I don't mean to leave anyone out!). I'm anxiously awaiting travel plans for Quinn, Shane, Trey (blog to come yet) and of course many others. It took me 17 seconds to cry watching Kelley's video of Will and Ethan. I'm also anxiously awaiting an update from a special blogger friend of mine who I've promised to try not to pester too horribly - cryptic, yes, but I suspect she'll recognize herself. There are many others, but you get the idea.

I may have even been known to share blogs with my mom or force my aunt to watch videos of Jackson and his signing or giggling at the dog. I may, upon occasion, tell stories about fellow bloggers as if I really spend time with these families. There are a few bloggers that if I were to see in real life, I'd probably pounce on you in my interest to meet you. Oh, wait, I already did that this week to Jen and Lloyd of Maisy Joins the Pack.

Should I be concerned about myself?

There are days when the blog/yahoo group world makes me crazy-frustrated and it may seem ridiculous that I still follow along. But then I have not only learned so much but also shared so many moments of happiness and joy with the other families out there. I love the sense of camaraderie and I love how so much of the time we can support each other and pick each other up when we are having a down day. I love that I have developed friendships even "off-line" where if I am just worried that I am a crazy lunatic who has no business adopting, I can check in with someone and realize that I'm a-ok after all.

So I may be a blogger-stalker, but I don't think anyone needs to be afraid of me yet, right?

Alright, that does it for another rambling post from me. Here's to a week of progress and news for all of us this coming week!