I coulda had a handbag.

Seriously, WHAT was I thinking? I'm sitting here at 2 am watching this little grey poodle sleep at the foot of my bed and wondering (a) WTH was I thinking getting another dog on the spur of the moment, after 1.5 glasses of wine, and right before I leave town for one week? and (b) is that gassy smell coming from her or me? Because if this dog has gas, that's it -- she's goin' back. Of course, it could be me -- I had a lot of bean soup the last two days and there was a little slip up at Safeway yesterday. (Oh, like you've never. I can't believe I post this stuff for the whole world.)

Well, gas issues aside, she's a very sweet dog. And seems to be a lot smarter than either Connor or I. Only negative so far, besides the possible gas, is that she snapped at Bella. But we can work on that -- I mean dogs and cats aren't always best buddies right away, right? Okay, so how did I wind up with another dog I don't need? Well, I blame Jane. See, Jane asked me to donate a purse for the Az Animal Welfare League/SPCA Handbags and Tailwags fundraiser. And then she got me a free ticket. So I go tonight (last night, really), thinking, you know, I'll buy a handbag, some raffle tickets, whatever. Shit. One ten-year-old toy poodle later.... Her name is Baby. And she knows her name and responds to it. She even stays when you tell her "stay." Freaky. It's almost more freaky just that she can hear me, since I'm so used to my old deaf dog. Speaking of whom, I feel really guilty bringing home another dog -- Connor's looking at me like, "Oh, I see, you've got my replacement all lined up. I'll just curl up in a little ball in the far corner until I die." I feel SO guilty, but I'm thinking if I suck up to Connor, maybe he won't be too jealous. Plus he really used to like a dog that looked just like this down the street. So maybe they'll be great companions. We'll see.

Speaking of seeing -- I'm typing this by the light of my new Biobrite sunrise alarm clock. Ooooooooh. I gotta admit, it's pretty cool. I like it a lot so far. But it will definitely be a challenge for it to wake me up in 4.5 hours. I'll let you know how that works. Meanwhile, I'd better put something over my nose and try to get some sleep so I can make peace in the animal kingdom tomorrow.