Where Bloggers Love: Valentine’s Day Edition

Welcome to the Valentine’s Day edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s a given that I love The Hubs, our kids, and grandkids. If you’re not sure about my affections for The Hubs, you can read my 10 on the 10th post. In it, I share ten reasons why I love The Hubs. And, now that our kids are adults, I don’t really talk about them on my blog too often. Our grandchildren are young, but I never write about them or share photos of them without their mother’s permission. It’s a matter of respect for them and their privacy.

MEET BLEU

At the urging of The Hubs, Bleu joined our family on 2 August 2019.

Squeekerz had suddenly passed away a few weeks earlier and I was grieving heavily. He had owned our family for nearly seventeen years and had been my shadow for the last seven or so years. My heart was fractured.

I was not ready to get another dog. I was not ready to replace Squeekerz and that’s what I thought The Hubs wanted me to do.

What I didn’t recognize – but he did – was that I needed something to take care of. Weird, but true, Squeek had sorta replaced the kids. I’m so happy they don’t read my blog. LOL

When we first walked into the shelter, I had already determined that I was not going to get another dog. Buuuuut, if I did, it would be a small puppy that would get no bigger than 3 lbs.

The shelter was about 30 minutes away from closing for the day when we arrived. The caretaker ushered us into the area where the dogs were barking. They were so loud. And bouncy.

I didn’t want a loud, hyperactive dog. I really didn’t even want another dog.

But, almost as soon as I walked into the room, I spotted Bleu. She was sitting quietly in her cage, her eyes avoiding mine. At one point, she even turned her head. I was in love. I walked over to her, knelt down, and let her sniff my hands while The Hubs and the caretaker talked.

They urged me to walk around to the other side of the building, I did. But I knew. And The Hubs knew. He said as soon as he saw her, he knew she was coming home with us.

Getting her into the car was a struggle. She’s obviously muuuuuch heavier than 3 lbs and she refused to walk. I had to half drag/half carry her to our truck. Then I literally flipped her into the truck. I just knew the caretakers were going to revoke our adoption. LOL

After a few hours, she finally settled down and went to sleep.

It would take her weeks to sleep in the bed that we bought her, and even longer to sleep through our normal household noises. Funny thing: even though she sleeps in her bed, her preferred place to sleep is on The Hubs’s clothes. I can put a pile of my clothes on the floor and a pile of his on the floor, and she’ll curl up on his.

She doesn’t let me dress her often, but when she does, we go fancy.

When it’s warm, Bleu loves to hang out on the porch and watch the birds flitter around our yard.

Whenever I work on the blog, Bleu sits under my chair. I’m glad the seat is strong. Otherwise, this could end tragically.

Bleu likes to hang out in the kitchen with me. I’d like to believe it’s because she loves my company…

After a long day at work, this is what greets me at the door. Seriously. My daughter said it’s almost like she has a clock and knows what time I should be getting home.

The minute we pay Bleu any attention, she drops to the ground, and rolls over… She’s pretty aggressive when it comes to the belly rubs. Like, you can’t just stop.

This was taken the day of her first trip to the “spa” for grooming. She was so nervous that she was shaking…

I had called her name one too many times and she let me know.

Like a toddler, Bleu is nosy and will fall asleep sitting up because of FOMO.

When we’re outside, Bleu sticks fairly closely to me. If someone gets too close, she sits on my feet between the visitor and me. I’ve never seen her act aggressively, but she definitely lets people know there are boundaries.

While this post is about Bleu, it’s also about The Hubs and his ability to see and know what I need more than I do. I needed Bleu and she needed me.

The video was taken the first time Bleu ran around our yard. I don’t know if she was happy or trying to figure out a way of escape.

You can follow Bleu on Instagram.

ABOUT WHERE BLOGGERS LIVE

Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Over the next few months, a group of seven bloggers will be sharing their work spaces, their homes, towns and more!

I should note – because this is super important – the creative brain behind this project is Bettye at Fashion Schlub! Love her!