New Year, New Job...New Dog

So, to answer a few questions:

Boose was born sometime between 8-9pm on Dec 19, 2007.  I was working a shift at Starbucks at the time.  He was last with us around 6pm Dec 23.  B and I went.  Ro hung out with Grandma Wanda because he was a little scared.  We were ok with Ro not seeing us crushed.  B took it hard that day, too.  Boose went peacefully with the muscle relaxant and the drug that stopped his heart.  He couldn't face me because the tech had to hold the oxygen to his nose throughout the whole time.  I got to hug him, but I couldn't hold him as he left for the same reason.  It was easy to leave, but hard to be with him.  With the oxygen, we couldn't just be left in a room with him.  It wasn't as if we wanted him to spend a moment longer in a tank to get oxygen.  

Earlier the same day, B's aunt sent me a message asking if anyone wanted a Christmas puppy.  There was a little black dog dodging coyotes near her office in Kingsburg.  He had been there for three weeks already.  She fed him Taste of the Wild and even bought him a little igloo dog house so he would stay warm.  

Everything was making me cry at the moment she asked.  Ro wanted to bury Boose in the backyard.  B was worried about decomposition in our tiny yard.  I told him Boose would be cremated.  We should be getting Boose's ashes back soon.  Ro still wants to also have a memorial in the back yard and spread his ashes.  And we still have all of Boose's stuff.

Ro was open to getting a new dog right away.  B was hesitant because Finch is now nine years old and was already acting like a turd as Boose was getting older.  Eventually, we figured out a plan and decided to take in the dog B's aunt found.  

One part of the deal was that we had to name the dog Torstein after Torstein Hagen, the founder and chairman of Viking Cruises.  We've been watching a lot of shows (Masterpiece Theatre, Cosmos, Nova, etc) on the PBS app and the same Viking River Cruises commercial pops up more often than not.  B and I had joked that Torstein would be a fun name for a dog -- on the Viking Cruises site, there's even a section called "Tor's Corner" and we joked that every dog bed area in our house would be "Tor's Corner."

Another part of the deal would be regular poop pickup and getting him house trained right away.  We're still working on that.  I think B enjoys that, unlike Boose, Torstein doesn't use the concrete slab as a bathroom.  He prefers the dirt areas.

It seems early to get a new dog.  I'm finding it really is for me because I'm still grieving.  B is still sad, but he doesn't get upset.  He just says, "I miss Boose" every now and then.  Ro misses Boose, but he also moved past it quickly because he didn't go through Boose and his fun antics.  Ro and B both humor me when I look through all of my pictures looking for a little white dog in the background and excitedly show it to them.  At one point, Ro asked if I wanted to stop doing it because it made me sad.  I told him -- as I cried -- that it made me happy to see Boose in the pictures.  He didn't understand.

I made a vet appointment for Torstein right away.  Within the week, the vet told us he was six months old, wasn't microchipped, and probably was a toy wire-haired terrier or dachshund.  We had told Ro that we would keep him if he wasn't microchipped.  Being in one place in Kingsburg for three weeks, not being found, and not being microchipped most likely meant Torstein was dumped or no one was looking for him.  

Torstein is a much different dog from Boose.  For one thing, he's completely black with a little bit of white on his chest.  He's a much calmer puppy.  Ro and I can get him to settle down at night on Ro's bed while reading Ro his bedtime story, and he will stay there all night until Ro gets up in the morning.  He's still figuring out using a leash, but he's starting to get better at going on long runs.  He keeps stopping with no warning, and so I'm afraid to have him run next to my bike like Caboose used to.  He also gets super nervous and jumped out of the basket the first time I tossed him in for that vet visit.  Boose used to love riding in the basket almost sneering at other dogs (I could have sworn he called them "losers" as we passed by).  He's a chewer; he chewed through my work laptop power cord yesterday.  I thought the cat had gotten to him when he started screaming in the background during a work call, but, no, he just got a nasty shock (he's fine, really).  He prefers the taste of wood so he's also chewed through a few of Ro's pencils.  He's also a digger.  Luckily, it was while Ro was still on winter break.  He wanted to go outside to play with the dog.  I had the window open to listen in while working and I heard, "MOMMY, TORSTEIN IS IN THE FRONT YARD!!!!" from below.  I put concrete cinder blocks in front of the gate after retrieving the dog to keep it from happening again.  He is not food driven at all.  He doesn't fight Finch -- who had discovered that people eat delicious stuff now that she has a chance to find an empty unattended plate -- for food.  He also doesn't eat stuff that has fallen on the floor, and he's not that interested in treats.  Torstein is wary of B (he must have been kicked and yelled at by mean men) and really doesn't like B when he's wearing a hat.  He is also super attached to Ro.

I call it the “Wishbone Fix.”

I may still be working from home and spending the most time with Torstein, but he is definitely Ro's dog.  As I mentioned, Torstein will stay in Ro's bed sleeping next to him all night.  It's easier to get Torstein to run around when Ro is around.  When Ro first went back to school, Torstein howled for a good two hours before realizing that I was still there.  He goes to every room that Ro is in -- he might follow me if he hears me going to the kitchen, but then heads back to Ro right away. 

Other new stuff than the new dog:
--Ro is still doing ballet (enjoying it more now that it's pre-ballet), ninja class, and dodging COVID at school and the afterschool program.
--We have been using a meal delivery program to eat at home more four days per week.  We were eating out almost every day during the week.  This is cheaper than eating out every day a week and more expensive than me doing the meal planning and grocery shopping.  I was getting burnt out from doing the meal planning and grocery shopping.  
--I had to bite the bullet and call my doctor about my high blood pressure.  I have been getting deferred when trying to donate blood since October, but I thought it was just from dealing with my old boss and would get better when I switched jobs.  I have gained a bit more weight -- maybe 10lbs -- and getting deferred these last few times was defeating.  She put me on a low dose calcium blocker to lower my blood pressure.  The meal delivery  and eating home more often should help.  I've gotten better about exercising regularly; it's easier now that I just go during my lunch hour and I walk Torstein three times a day for at least 20 minutes each weekday and a full hour during Ro's ballet classes. 
--I also made a late new year's resolution to quit eating burgers unless it's special.  There's a Planet Vegan food truck next to my new job that makes a really good burger and I might make it there only once a month.  I haven't eaten out for lunch except for a Wasco site visit since the grocery store is nearby and I've stocked up on fruits and vegetables.  B also eats out rather than risking leaving leftovers to bake in the car, and so I get those, too.
--Ro lost another tooth (lower left if you're looking at him).  He has no clue where he lost it; we think he swallowed it, again.  He lost the last one the same way the day before Halloween.  We're wondering if it'll be that way for the rest.  I told him he was lucky the Tooth Fairy lives in the sewer.  
--B is still mountain biking and road biking when he can.  I think he sticks to mountain biking more lately since he can go to Riverbottom Park and Sycamore Island fairly easily.  I think all the Fresno Cycling Club members are super careful since one of the member was killed trying to cross the street on a recumbent bike.  He was taken out leaving Woodward Park (trying to cross Friant Rd) by a giant Dodge Ram and died right away.  He was an experienced cyclist and was legally using the crosswalk.  Oddly enough, I biked across from where he was killed with Ro on the back of my bike.  Diana was visiting and biking with us.  We claimed the lane because many people were turning right.  A passenger in the car next to me yelled that we should be using the crosswalk because I had a kid on my bike.  Diana and I yelled back that we had a legal right to use that lane and it was safer to be where we were.  I can't help but wonder if that person still feels like she was right.

I hope things are going well with you.  Gung hay fat choi, and all that.  I love you and miss you.