2009 Book and Movies Review

I put this together originally in a Google doc to keep track with what all I was reading and watching. I did watch more movies than this, but these were the ones I had not previously seen. The books were all read between Jan 1st and December 14th of 2009.
Enjoy!

5 Star rating system

Part 1

Books:

"The Giver" by Lois Lowry - 5 Stars
One of the best children's novels ever. If you haven't read it, do it and do it now. It's also a really great piece about making everyone the same, which is what our political leaders are trying to do to our culture.









"Trump 101: Keys to Success" by Donald Trump- 4 Stars
Great ideas from one of the most successful Americans in the last 100 years. Gets a little redundant but stays consistent and to the point.








"Bo Knows Bo" by Bo Jackson- 5 Stars
One of my childhood heroes. Didn't know the obstacles and family struggles he over came to become the icon he is. Great read.









"The Breakthrough Company" by Keith Mcfarland- 5 Stars
Find out what makes some companies do well in business, and others to dominate in their industry. Lessons can be used for any industry. Recommended reading for any manager, owner, leader or worker.










"The Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons-4 Stars
Great graphic novel. Gritty, intense, and adult.










"Sincerely, Ronald Reagan" (1st half of) by Ronald Reagan-3 Stars
Since it's a collection of letters and articles Reagan wrote prior to his presidency, it doesn't capture the whole man. Recommended reading-Reagan's Autobiography.

Lessons in Boxing

I started boxing in November 2008. It wasn't a dare or a quarter-life crisis. Rather, I've always wanted to learn how to box. One of my favorite movies growing up was the Rocky series. Something about a man who was never really given a chance at anything or taken seriously by his peers overcoming the greatest challenge ever presented to him is something that always appealed to me for obvious reasons. In 2008, I watched Rocky Balboa and decided I would put something to this dream. I went out and bought a free standing punching bag and tried to work out with it. Eventually, due to lack of guidance, the punching bag became another fixture in my garage that got little use.
One day in November '08, I went across the street to my neighbor's house to chat. Somewhere in our conversation, I mentioned that I'd always wanted to box. My neighbor Lee kept asking me why I wasn't doing it and said he wanted to do it too. He said if I did it, he'd do it. So I agreed to look up some options and get back to him.
A week later, Lee and I found ourselves at the Abilene Boxing Club, checking out how the gym worked and whether we'd actually do this. I had talked to the head of the club, Coach Rivas on the phone for about 30 minutes. He had talked about what amateur boxing was, how long he'd been coaching, his principles on boxing and how he'd work us at a pace we could handle and not throw us into anything too quickly. The other club I called didn't seem too interested in us being there and didn't have a lot to say about the sport itself. Rivas really impressed me with taking the time to clarify things and seeming to actually want us to be apart of it all.
The exercises they were doing to warm up seemed unusual. The only thing I recognized were the stretches and pushups. But everyone seemed to get along pretty well and the teaching by Coach Rivas wasn't restricted to just boxing. I found him talking a lot about life and how boxing is a great picture of what life is like with overcoming challenges.
Lee and I started at the gym shortly after. It took me a while to get adjusted to what real boxing was. I moved really slowly. I had no rhythm in my movements or my punches. I would move to one side, wait and then throw a weak jab followed by the hardest right hand I could muster. It was all really weak. Coach would get on me about moving so slow and not having a good jab. He kept trying to show me the importance of being quicker. Finally after many months, it started clicking. I got faster, stronger and began to understand the mentality of boxing and how to fight.
Lee stopped coming with me in April, but through the summer I continued attending two to three times a week. In the summer, I sparred for the first time against Rudy Castillo, a 13 year old with 9 amateur fights to his credit. He tore me up. I thought I would be able to keep up with him but as we were fighting, I ended up thinking too much about what I should be doing instead of responding to what he did. He ended up hitting me way more than I got close to him. My neck and nose were sore for the next few days. Coach said he had been nervous about sparring me because he didn't understand why I was doing this and didn't want me to quit. I wanted to tell him that quitting isn't in my vocabulary. But I know he hears people say stuff like that all the time and I don't want to be another voice that says something. So I'll let my actions speak for themselves.
Last week, I had this idea of doing an NPR like journal of my experience as a white collar worker who boxes at a local gym and talk more about Coach Rivas and the lessons he's providing for the guys and girls in our gym and his philosophies on life, boxing, and how the two are linked.
One big lesson last week had to do with distance. Coach said the main thing in boxing is distance and keeping a healthy distance between you and the other fighter. When your opponent comes in, create distance by moving away and still throw while you do that. Don't stay in front of your opponent. We learned how to turn the opponent by stepping out with a shot up the middle and turning at a 90 degree angle and coming over the top with a cross or hook. Coach said we should always be the instigator, always create an action that causes a reaction and we are to react to that action. We always have to be first and last. This controls the tempo of the fight and puts the control of it in our hands. We must control the fight, and not let someone else decide the tempo.
Last week Coach also talked about faith. He said that he has faith in God, and for him, that faith has led to a better life for him and his family. He said God wants us to succeed, but He won't keep us from challenges. We have to decide how we're going to face challenges, but we have to do away with fear and doubt. If we trust God and let him deal with our fears, we'll succeed. It was good to hear Coach talk about faith. He doesn't preach at us, and he doesn't Bible thump anyone. I think that gets through to people better because he's more real in his presentation. It's a more honorable way to bring convictions and faith to the table then other forms I've seen in my experiences.

2009 So Far

It's February and already things are going so much better than all of last year. I guess I've lumped 2007 and 2008 together. Those were tough years for both Leilani and myself. Aside from Sugar's death and the stuff with job uncertainty, we realized we had a lot of baggage from church and stuff to deal with. Not fun.

So anyways, 2009. Already this year, I'm in the best physical shape of my life thanks to Coach Rivas and the guys at Abilene Boxing Club. Three times I week, those guys kick me into shape with 2 hours of exercises and bag drills. Some days I don't look forward to it but I know I've never been this strong, this toned, and feel this good.

Also, after nearly 6 years of hosting and producing my radio show, The Appetizer, I had my first encounter with good press. As I blogged on myspace, a gentleman with the Dallas Morning News was passing through Abilene in December and happened to be listening to KACU and happened to be tuned in to The Appetizer. We were playing a unique and rising star out of NYC named Lindsay Katt. The writer fell in love with her music, got back to Dallas and wrote up an article about Lindsay and made several references to KACU and our programming, and how it kills commercial radio. Lindsay forwarded the article to me, I contacted the writer and thanked him for the good press. I also asked if he'd be interested in doing an article on the show, figuring the worst he could do is say no. Instead, he was excited about it and we talked later that week, the article was written and published hours later.

The result of that has been interesting. People that never heard of me or the show have been writing and noticing. At the same time, people who have acted like I don't live in the universe that they do suddenly acknowledge the show (not necessarily me). My pride has had a hard time coping with that. It's kind of like when Mickey approaches Rocky in the first film after Balboa has been offered a chance to fight the champion. In some way, he likes the attention, but he also realizes that he's been working really hard for a long time and it seemed no one noticed until he is offered to fight Creed. Part of me feels that way.

Leilani and I took a proactive step towards coming to peace with the wounds and hurts from our last church, drama and issues that have plagued us much longer than need be. We went to a counselor last week and she helped us see some things within ourselves that we didn't know were there. I started realizing earlier in the week how I have an emotional need for approval from men that I admire. I didn't realize how deep that was, but understanding how I had really admired our pastor and wanted him to view me as someone with leadership potential and he didn't it crushed my spirit and my ability to trust him as a leader. It was like being abandoned by a father, which was what I considered him to be in a way. Praying through that was really powerful. I felt a lot better about myself and know I can move forward easier.

There's other positives to talk about. I fall more and more in love with my wife every day. We get on each other's nerves sometimes, but at the end of the day, and the start of the new one, I'm more thankful than the day before for the woman God set aside as the one for me.

Sugar's Last Dance

It was a hard fight, and he did put up a great one, but it ended last night at about 10:30. Leilani and I went out to eat for her birthday and came home not expecting what we found. Our sweet little Sugar, who had been perky and had been eating solid food for a few days, was meowing frantically and seemed to be paralyzed from the waist down. He was crying out to us and when we found him under the bed, we discovered that he couldn't use his back legs. It really caught us off-guard. We didn't know what to do so we called the Emergency Vet and brought him in. We knew he was in a lot of pain, and probably panic too. We held his little paws and said goodbye as the doctor gave him the last bit of medicine to take away his pain.

I didn't think this would be something that would be difficult. On top of the grieving process, I'm now faced with the reality of life. I recognize that my attitude toward people who've been through this wasn't the sympathetic, condoling one that people in this boat need. And I'm repentant of that. I used to think "It's just a cat," when friends would experience the loss of a feline companion. I was never much of a cat person, that is until about 8 months ago.

We got Sugar off the streets on Easter Sunday. We treated him like an Easter gift. It took me a little while to get used to a cat. I had a dog growing up and could easily understand what he wanted, needed, etc. The cat was totally different. He would meow a lot, and I couldn't figure out what he wanted. I'd give him food and he'd eat a little and then come and meow some more. He was always talking to me. In the mornings, he'd follow me into the bathroom and say good morning in his own little purs and meows. He'd follow me in to the guest room (where my closet is; the place I get dressed). He'd seemingly approve of what I picked out to wear to work. When I came home, he met me at the door with more meows, as if to say "Glad to have you home."

He followed me around wherever I went, like a dog. I used to joke with Leilani that he was a dog trapped in a cat's body because he did things like a dog. He never had a good sense of balance, like cats are supposed to have. He would jump up on the bed and stay on the edge, grasping to the blankets so he wouldn't slip off. He slipped off a lot. There was always something he was falling off of or nearly doing so.

He would do this thing with his paws where he'd spread his little toes out and in and move his paw slightly up and down at the same time. We called it bee-bopping. He also like to bat at anything that would dangle in front of him, as if he were boxing. That's where we got his name. It fully was Sugar Ray Leonard, like the boxer from the 1980s. We eventually just called him Sugar, and then Sugar-Booger. Later, I just called him Booger-boo. He became my little buddy. I learned how to play with a cat, which really isn't as unlike playing with a dog as I thought.



I adjusted to his kitten-growing stages of being constantly hyper and seemingly driving me crazy. It was hard after a long day at work to come home to a little animal that wanted to run all over the place and play. It took a while, but I got used to it. In the summer, Leilani took a trip home to visit her family. That left me with Sugar for a little over a week. I hadn't completely gotten used to him at that point. There were some tough times when it seemed like he was trying to push my buttons. But after a few days, we bonded. So when Leilani came back home, it wasn't that I owned a cat. Sugar was my buddy.

A few weeks later, we took another little kitty off the streets. She bonded well with Sugar right away. For the next few weeks they played a lot and seemed to be good for each other. But it started to seem like he didn't want to play with her after a few weeks. She would play fight with him and she'd win, a kitten out-matched in size and strength. We couldn't figure it. Then Sugar stopped eating his breakfast and dinner. He started isolating himself away from everyone and staying alone. It was completely unlike himself to be alone. He was the little guy that had to be apart of whatever it was you were doing.

Finally, I took him to the vet. After they tested his blood, the vet said he had kitty-leukemia and it was untreatable. You can read the previous entry to see how that day went. We started talking to other people who said not to give up, so we prayed and hoped he'd pull through. Last week, he started eating solid food from Fancy Feast again. Before that, we were trying to feed him kitty-milk twice a day. He resisted that, but we had to get nourishment in him somehow. With him eating solid food and drinking water again, I thought those were signs that he was pulling through and had been healed.

Yesterday, he wouldn't eat anything, no matter the variety of stuff I put in front of him. He did drink a lot of water. That was good. The days prior, he had not responded well to Leilani, leading her to think that he didn't like her anymore. But yesterday, he was her partner. He curled up next to her while she napped, purring all the while. He spent some time in the backyard in his favorite spot, sat in his window in the kitchen. He purred more yesterday than he had in several weeks. I thought it was an answer to prayer. When we left the house at 6 to celebrate Leilani's birthday, I didn't think anything of how he would be when we got home.

You never know sometimes. I guess I could be angry at God, since we did so much prayer and believing and hoping and trusting. That's hard to understand, why things don't go the way you want regardless of how you approach it. But if this was the way it had to be, he left us in the best way he could. We got 2 more weeks with him, he showed us love and gave us joy for a little while longer. He waited until it was the right time to let us know that he needed to go. We were able to say goodbye on our terms. His memory will live on, but it still hasn't really become a reality to me. I woke up this morning missing holding him like a baby. His fur always had this really pleasant scent. I won't get to experience that again.

My grandfather died of leukemia. My last moments with him were pleasant and peaceful, but I didn't know at the time they were the last moments I had with him. He seemed perfectly fine. I know it's a difference between my human grand-dad and my cat, but the same debilitating disease took the LIVES of two beings that were close to my heart. I can't have them back. I had peace when Pop died in that I knew he wouldn't live in anymore pain. I feel the same way about Sugar. But I didn't allow myself to really miss Pop until years later. I hope I allow myself to really grieve this time and be at peace with myself. I hope Leilani has that peace too.

We are planting an herb garden in the backyard, something we've been planing for a while. We're burying Sugar in the spot where the herb garden will soon be. We're calling it the Sugar Patch, in tribute to our little buddy and kitty. He used to have to be wherever we were, supervising whatever we did, be it putting in new tiles in the bathroom, doing dishes, or cleaning up. We called him "the Foreman." Now he'll supervise all the wonderful herbs and plants in his favorite spot in the backyard, and be our buddy while we spend time together cultivating new life.

It's Just a Cliched Loss

I'm guilty of the same thing that I will complain about people saying to me in the weeks to come. "Oh, it's just a cat." You're right, it or rather he is just a cat. I'm just a man, and we're just people living in a world that places worth in lives, be it animal, plant or human. So the fact that at 8:30 this morning, the veterinarian said that my first-born cat, Sugar, has advanced stage kitty-cancer and is untreatable. I asked what we could do and he said we could either let him die at home or have him euthanized. I wasn't expecting this news.


Sugar started acting strange about 2 weeks ago. We took in a kitten off the streets and the two became quick friends. They would play around the house, wrestle and so forth. But it seems like he would either lose interest in playing or give up fighting with her too soon. We thought maybe he had become depressed (which cats actually do, come to find out) after we brought the kitten in. Also, since he's nearly a year old and she's a only a few months old and she's beating him in play-fights, his pride was down, contributing to cat-depression. But last week, he stopped eating and has become really skinny. He also stopped drinking water, began isolating himself away from everyone, and just not acting like the warm little guy that wanted to be near us all the time.

I thought maybe he had worms. Cats get those, they affect how cats eat and cause them to lose weight. We'll take him to the vet, get some meds and be good to go. Not this time, Dave. I managed to stay strong, if that's even what you call it, by not shedding any tears in the doctor's office. I got out to the car, called my wife who was about to go teach children, and told her the news. She couldn't handle it, and now I could not either. I sat in the car, the cat in the kinnel next to me and my wife on the phone and sobbed. He is our first pet, the animal that changed my heart towards felines. I was always a dog person, and never wanted cats. It took a little while, but we warmed to each other, and since he's been my wee kitty-friend. And knowing that in 2 weeks, we were going to celebrate his 1st birthday, makes it harder still.

I don't know how much time he has left, we're still figuring that out. But I gained some perspective on what it's really like to experience loss of something that is alive, but dying on the inside and I experience this emotional death too. Sugar has been apart of our household for the better part of this year. I don't want to think about him not being around. He's a cat, but he's not just a cat. He's part of our little family.

I hope this experience does more than make us cry for a while. I hope it leads us to cherish life, in whatever form it takes, more than we do. I hope it leads us to appreciate the times we have with the creatures God blesses us with, and the interactions He blesses us with. And I hope that I'll dump the cliche that plays in my head, "Oh it's just a cat. It's not that big of a deal." I can't help but admit that I've thought that before towards people who've experienced the loss of their pet. I hope I never feel that way again, after having travelled down the road in those shoes, loss cries out for comfort and solace and the hope that being better and blessed are on the horizon. I hope Sugar has that to go home to, wherever that may be.

Disappointing Year

At least in sports. My Chicago Bears threw their playoff chances down the drain for the last time last Thursday, losing to the Redskins. And let's not forget about earlier this year when they gave up against the Colts in the biggest game in football, the Super Bowl. That was sad.

It's been a disappointing year in sports for me, the teams or contenders I pull for let me down. I'm somewhat of a boxing fan. I don't know all the contenders, but I was well-aware of the welterweight title fight this weekend where Pretty-Boy Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the self-proclaimed greatest boxer of all-time fought humble and hard-working Ricky Hatton from England. I watched a special on both fighters and was really impressed with Hatton, and grew more disdain for the braggardness of Mayweather. It looked like a real life Rocky Balboa-Apollo Creed Fight. I wanted so much to see it live. I didn't. I rushed to find out who won when I came in to work today, confident that Hatton had unseated the prideful champ. I was wrong. Actually, Mayweather might have proven that he is the greatest, knocking out Hatton in the 10th.

It was bad enough that those freakin' annoying San Antonio Spurs won another NBA title over the summer, but are all my picks going to shrivel up and die? I hate the Dallas Cowboys, but I fear they may be the best team in the NFC. I'm praying the Packers can top them. At least I don't have to worry about my bane Cowboys winning the Super Bowl. They've already proven not up to shuff against the Pats, who are destined for it this year.

I can't wait until 2008. 2007 has shown that is not the year of completion, not in a good way. It's been a complete let-down. Only 21 days left.

Lessons Learned From A Sweet Dog

Sunday night we went to our neighbor's house. She had a little dog that was staying with her. The dog's name was Willie. Apparently he'd lived with an elderly couple for a while, but the couple couldn't keep him and their other pets, so they gave him to a friend. The friend kept him for a few weeks, but had to hand him to someone else. That someone else was our neighbor next door, Stephanie, who had Willie for only a few days.
When we walked in the door, his little ears perked up and he ran to me. Stephanie was surprised. She said that he hadn't shown any signs of life since he'd been with her, which had concerned her. She thought he would die of a broken heart. But he was happy and excited with us. Was it because we were company? Was it because we fit with him? None of us knew. But Stephanie asked if we wanted a dog. I did! I've missed having my little buddy Pepe (or Bubba as I called him) when I was a kid. And he thought of having a little guy at home to come home to, to protect the house, to play with and take for walks all seemed like a great idea. Leilani was a little more skeptical about it. She's more of a cat person, but knows of my affinity for dogs. We told Stephanie we'd sleep on the idea and get back to her. We both played with the dog in the floor for a bit more and then went home.
We prayed about it when we got home. Why would we do that? We wanted to make sure that this was a right decision. From my end, I only spent time thinking of the benefits of dog ownership and the things I missed having with my old dog (rest his soul). I really hadn't thought of other considerations with the idea. Leilani on the other hand was. Her concerns were more on the responsibilities involved, the early mornings to take him out, always making sure he was taken care of during the day and so forth. But she was willing to let me have a dog.
Monday we notified Stephanie that we'd take Willie, so we picked him up after work. Stephanie told us if this didn't work, for any reason, to just bring him back. I said ok. I had picked up a little doggy bed and some food for small dogs (he's a Shitzu) on my way home. We played with him in the living room and let him roam around and get a feel for the place. But shortly after that, Stephanie dog sat for us while we went to a work Christmas party.
Later that night we came back and picked him up. We played some more and I walked him out in the back, brought him back in and tried to clean the little burs out of his coat. We pet him and watched some tv, and then made our way to bed. As a kid, our dog slept in the kitchen. He didn't like it at first, but he got used to it. I had forgotten about the transition we made when we first got him, and thus forgot that Willie had experienced many transitions in only a matter of weeks. Needless to say, he was not his usual calm self when we put him in the kitchen and closed the door for the night. A short time later, he whimpered and scratched at the door.
I let him outside again. We were told he was trained to scratch at the door when he needs to go out. That may be true, but that's not what he was communicating. We tried 2 more times to put him outside our room for the night. He didn't like it. As I thought about it, I realized that dogs have emotions too. They feel fear, joy, happiness, defensiveness, protectiveness, and abandonment. I think Willie felt we had abandoned him again, and he couldn't take it.
Neither my wife nor I wanted the dog in the bed with us, but we were willing to have him in our room. I went and got his little bed and put it at the end of ours. He came in and was quiet. He still walked around a bit, his little nails knocking on our wood floors. He would scratch a little too, but eventually he was quiet. I still didn't sleep much that night. I realized that there was more to this than just having another animal in the house.
I'm used to waking up and just spending the first few minutes of the morning nuzzled next to my love. I realized that wouldn't be possible anymore. As I tossed and turned throughout the night, the reality of parenthood came more into focus. I like the idea of parenthood, but I'm in no way ready for it, nor want the responsibilities of it. I began to wonder how our evenings would be. There's an extra mouth that needs to be fed at particular times, and taken outside to do his business. And he needs ample attention. I'm fine with all that, but not prepared for it. The sudden change of our way of lifestyle was hitting me. I didn't want Willie to become a burden, not to me or Leilani. He's such a good dog, but I wondered all night if this was the right fit.
I managed to sleep in one hour increments and then toss and turn. At 7, I got up and took him out. I knew he'd be riled up when we came back in. Sure enough he was. I had to calm him down, pull more burs out of his coat, and feed him. Then I tried to spend some time with my wife before I got ready for the day. It wasn't the same, and I missed the old.
I got off work earlier than usual and went home to play with Willie. He greeted me at the door with jumps and joy. He was so cute. I let him out but he didn't want to pee, he wanted to play. So that's what we did. We had a lot of fun. I tried to get him to fetch his toy, but I don't think he liked fetching that particular one. I sat in the floor and we played more. Eventually though, he was content. I lay down to take a nap, and he walked over a few feet away and laid down. I missed Leilani. I know it seems weird, but not getting to spend time with her that morning made me really miss her all day. I thought how our relationship would be different now. It would be harder to just be close and alone. I hadn't thought of that part before.
Leilani came home early too and we played with our little friend. We also talked about him. I don't know if he could sense our discussion was about whether this was best for all of us, but he laid down at our feet and occassionally looked up at us longingly. I admitted that I was still processing this through. Leilani knew I really wanted a dog, and was willing to give me that even though she really didn't want one, not yet anyways. It was really meaningful to me that she'd put aside her own feelings and apprehensions for me.
Later we took Willie with us to Red Bud Park with Jesse. We went for a long walk, hoping to get him tired for sleep that night. It was a fun walk. Some people would pass and he'd keep walking, not really noticing or wanting to see them. But there were other people, usually older people or children and he would walk towards and seem to want to meet. But all I had to do was gently tug him back and tell him to come on, and he would, looking up at me like, "Okay, let's go!" It was a great walk. Somewhere on the walk, we came across a lady walking her Shitzu. She was a female, and of course Willie really wanted to see her. We talked with the lady while the dogs met. It was cute. The girl dog was 12 years old, a bit too old for Willie, who's just over 1 and not neutered.
We took him home and fed him and then went to eat with Jess at HSU. I knew we'd have to come back earlier and was still wondering if this was the right choice for us. In my heart I didn't think so, even though he's such a terrific dog. Leilani and I concurred. After we came back, we called Stephanie and asked to talk to her. She knew what it was, and said to just bring him home. We walked him over there. It was hard. On one hand, I like having him around. He's such a great little dog, so well-behaved, obedient and house broken. But on the other hand was all the responsibilities and other things involved, that I hadn't prepared for mentally. It worked out alright, because apparently the lady who had given Stephanie the dog was upset to learn that she had given him away. Apparently she really wanted him afterall. And Stephanie said she had missed him the night before too. So he's a well-loved dog.
This whole thing was interesting, difficult, and good all at the same time. Knowing that Willie had experienced living in 4 different places in a matter of a few weeks reminded me of my dad's childhood, bouncing around from relatives' houses until finally being adopted by his uncle. The last night, realizing that Willie felt abandoned in a house that loved him was hard for me. I didn't want him to feel that way. He wasn't abandoned. We offered to dog-sit or be available for play time any time. It was hard to say goodbye to him, even though he was only my dog for one day, a seemingly insignificant span of time in the grant scheme of things, but valuable to me all the same.
I learned a lot from that little guy in that one day. I learned that wanting something, but not being ready for it, doesn't mean you should have it. To my discredit, I wasn't ready to be a dad. I knew that having a pet is like training to be a parent because of everything involved. I wasn't ready to train to be a parent. I enjoy too much being with just my wife, with no distractions or other parties involved. I've gotten used to just us, and I realized that I hadn't thought much about how that would change. I need to be ready for that change before we bring an animal in the house. I learned that all living things have emotions, and they not only feel them, but express them. I knew this on a basic level, but animals experience loss and confusion too, and like people, sometimes they don't know how to handle it except that they be close to the people they trust. I'm glad that it only too a few moments for Willie to trust our hearts and know that he was safe. But I'm also glad that he expressed his fear to us, and spent that long night with us.
After we came back to the house last night, it was a relief. I still have to admit, that on some level, I do miss him. I miss his little face with is snaggle tooth. I miss playing with him. I guess that's why I enjoy being the fun uncle, shy of the responsibilities of parenthood. It's good to realize this now, before I'd gone out and picked up a stray or adopted one from the rescue center. I look forward to when we're both ready for pet-parenthood. But until then, I'm also happy about the time to come with just the two of us.