Ali

Its been harder lately to keep caught up on the blog.  Alot has happened but my new calling takes up a lot of time.  I'll start with us loosing our dog.  Stephanie wrote on facebook that we lost her but I'll add my comments here. 

Everyone was coming for the Superbowl in January and she got out.  The poor girl driving the car never saw her until it was too late.  We could never train her to stay in the house or the yard and the first chance she would get, she would take off out of the house and across the street as fast as she could go. 

Ali and I had a love hate relationship.  Here are the things I loved about her:

• She would follow you everywhere.  If you went from one room to the other she was there.  If you went outside in the back she would follow you around the yard. 
• I felt very protected when she was here.  She would bark and sound very mean whenever anyone came to the door.
• She cleaned up anything I dropped in the kitchen.  Some may think this is a silly thing but it made cooking just a little easier.  I would clean up after she was finished but if I spilled milk or dropped ANYTHING, she cleaned it up first.
• She never got on the counter or table to get food, and she never jumped up on people.
• She kept me company when Roger and the kids went to Utah and I stayed home.  I wouldn't be afraid. 
• She slept in our room by our bed.
• She would sit when I told her or would lie down or turn a circle. 
• She kept the neighbor's cats and dogs out of our yard

Here are things I couldn't stand:

• We had to always guard the door or she would escape
• She would dig in the middle of the yard, or anywhere else she wanted to dig
• Ali was a barker and would bark at anything that moved outside
• She didn't love children.  She would tollerate them but never really liked them
• I hated the dog hair.  She would sneak up on the couch and leave hair there.  I hated that.  There would be dog hair on the carpet, under the table, and even in the hall.  It would be everywhere because she shed a lot.

I was at the store with Stephanie yesterday.  I saw a man carrying a large bag of dog food and the thought popped into my head that I needed to go down that isle because I hadn't bought dog food for a while.  Then I realized that I didn't have to buy it.  Thoughts like that pop into my head all the time and then I rethink it.  Like when I'm carrying in groceris.  I think that I have to make sure I close the door but then realized I don't have to any more.  All in all, she is very missed.