Friday 12 August 2016

The Dog Days are Coming

I am now 30 years old.
This is an age I always looked forward to, much like Jenna from 13 going on 30, I saw my thirties as a time for ME, 'thirty, flirty and thriving.'
My twenties can definitely be labelled the "family years". My entire twenties were taken up with getting married, buying a house, two pregnancies, birthing four children, and breastfeeding for a long, long, long time. This equated that for 42 months (or 3.5 years) in which my body was not my own. It stretched to grow people, it deflated to birth them and it leaked to feed them too (sounds glamorous huh).
I always viewed my twenties steeped in creating a family and building a home, and while I wouldn't change a second, I also saw my thirties then spent achieving other, possibly more selfish goals. Things for ME, things I want to do, or always wanted to do now that I'm an 'adult'. Yes for me turning 30 finally puts me in the realm of adulting.

After three and a half years my body has been lived in and used to sustain others.
And now it's mine again.

 I want to make something of it. I'm exercising more (and actually enjoying it) and chuffing down bags of crisps and plates of cake (the hazard of small children) far less than before. I am at a point where I want to be healthy, physically fit and able to accomplish runs, swims, climbs and sports. I always saw my body as a machine, a machine that should be able, if called upon, to run, walk, swim and climb my way through any situation. Rather than turning into a gelatinous sofa-blob monster.
This isn't to say I want to be thin (though a little off here or there might be nice) I just want to be healthy. I don't want to run a marathon - I just want to run through the park without collapsing after.
I want to work hard to grow our business into a thriving, multi-outlet venture.

So, I did something new.
I say I because I may have unwittingly strong-armed, (some might say bulldozed) the Hubster into it.

For the longest time I have wanted a dog. A canine friend to go on adventures with, exercise, have fun with. I quite like being on my own but when I'm out in the world, I prefer company, someone to share the scenery and to explore with. And oh, how I wanted a Dog.
Ever since I was a kid. I used to pretend to walk 'Sandy' my imaginary labrador to school each day, he would meet me to walk home each night, and as a grown up - that feeling never lessened (though I did stop walking an invisible dog down the street - its the stares that did it).
I heard the warnings that my life will never be my own again, and how I'll have to factor a dog into everything - but since having triplets wasn't exactly conventional - I have to factor them into everything anyway and my life is not my own anyway - why not factor a dog in too.

So - officially being an adult now and everything......I got one.

The Hubster - (and boy did I pick a good hubby), got how I felt. We had waited years for the time to be right to get a dog and now, it just fit. He figured that people already think we are crazy anyway, so we casually enquired about a rescue puppy - who happened to be the breed we had both wanted (smart, clever, agility potential, good with the kids) - expecting this will be a long, road of disappointment before we finally do get a dog - only to my utter shock, they rang us back later that day to say she was ours.

Our nine week old puppy Caliope "cali" joined our family on the 5th of August 2016.

I may have had a slight meltdown the first few days after she arrived with us (a story for another day). My dream had finally and overwhelmingly come true. Only now, despite hours of reading and watching dog training information. I wasn't sure how to handle it happening for real, and ended up freaking out I might just be making a huge mistake (since plenty of people felt like telling me I was).

Many thanks to the terrific Hubster for taking the lead (I may re-title this post, 'oh hubster, how great thou art' ), giving me space to regroup and recover my sensibilities. Thanks also to the really good people in my life for reminding me that I am raising triplets, I have totally got this.

My thirties shall henceforth be known as the Dog Days.
Long may they last.