Never before did I realized how much the title of this website, Anxiousdog, might actually apply to my own character until Jer pointed it out to me. It seems that I quietly set my mind on something, conduct research, and when I'm positive it's what I want; I pounce. And if I can't pounce, I'm riddled with anxiety until I can. Some would say that my research alone qualifies for "delayed gratification", but now I can see that there is yet another step to these endeavors.

With knitting, I'd been trying to find someone to teach me for several years. I can say several years because it was at least two years ago that I had mentioned to my great-grandmother that I wanted to learn to knit when she (like nearly everyone else I've met) replied to my quest for knitting knowledge with, "I know how to crochet."

But it must have seemed like a light switch to Jer who one day heard about my desires to knit, and the next was watching me fumble with the needles and yarn while learning to cast on my first stitches. In fact, I'm surprised that knowing how clumsy I am he even let me near needles. Seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Nevertheless, I'm off and knitting now with one project finished and one started. Though I worked on it for several hours before letting Jer entertain himself with the joy of unraveling all my work so I could start over again. I feel more confident with every stitch now that I can see progress and seem to be knitting quicker!

I was certainly forced to delay gratification when I set out to find a new dog to introduce to the family. We have had bad luck with dogs in the past, so I really wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing and getting the right breed for our lifestyle. So I researched the Chihuahua after having fell in love with so many both online and in person. We found that Chi's need lots of love and attention and get plenty of exercise in the house, though a good walk is always good for any dog.

I started researching breeders and tried to drag Jer to all of them so we could meet them and their pups. He insisted that we hold out for something better and reminded me of delayed gratification. I was all about to give up and wait until after Christmas to even pursue the hunt when I stumbled upon an ad in the local paper for a litter of 4 month old chihuahua's. I called the breeder and realized that she lived only a few minutes drive from our house. She had one female left, so I agreed to stop by and visit her.

It was love it first sight and I can say that delaying the purchase was indeed the correct thing to do. She's perfect. Jer came to visit her with me and we put a deposit on her and planned to pick her up Friday night which would again, delay the gratification.

I barely made it through Friday at work, and thought my heart would burst when the breeder had to push our appointment back for hour. An hour? Are you kidding me? The anxiety is almost too much for me! But alas, I made it another hour and we brought home our little baby before bedtime.

Meet Lucy.
Four months old.
Weighing in at 2lbs, 15oz.
8 oz of which is her collar.
Nicknames already include: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Lulu, Princess, Lucy I'm Home, Lucy You've Got Some 'Splainin' To Do, and Honey.

Looking forward to sharing all the stories about how much she licks, how little we sleep due to her whining, how she already knows "Come" and sometimes "Sit", and how she loves Nelson.