Motherhood

Defining motherhood is open to interpretation. Now, I may have never experienced the pleasures of giving birth (or pregnancy for that matter), but I can relate to the responsibility of caring for a living thing. Time and time again, I think about how similar Alfredo is to a toddler. (While most of my time is spent with high school students, I did have the privilege of teaching preschool one summer, which is how I learned so much about toddlers.) Here are reasons why Alfredo is similar to raising a toddler:

1. Alfredo will play and play and play. He'll be extremely tired and try his hardest to fight sleep. Eventually, he gives in, taking at least a couple of naps a day. In fact, he's napping right now, and here I am blogging on my "down time".

2. If he ever doesn't feel well, he curls up in my lap. He does the same if he ever hurts himself. These experiences are extremely rare, but they do happen, and when they do, there he is demanding mommy's affection.

3. Since being at dad's place, he can't seem to stay out of my little sister's room. He's enjoyed playing with her toys, specifically her stuffed animals.

4. He likes leaving his toys all over the place. This is one downfall of him NOT being an actual toddler; I haven't discovered a fun way to teach him how to play "pick-up". Here's another picture of Alfredo with Lila's toys...you can see the mess he is making.   

5. He has no problem telling me when he wants/needs something. Aaaand, he's awake. Time to go! 

I'm certainly glad he's finding such joy out of my little sister's toys... 

Dogs are family members, too.

There are some things in life I just don’t understand, and while taking the mother of all road trips incredibly long journey to the Midwest this weekend, it made me think about one of the things that I find puzzling. Our first stop was right outside of Oklahoma City in a town called Yukon, a mere 1350 (give or take) miles from Scottsdale, Arizona. Everything was perfect. The weather was perfect, Alfredo was perfect, and even Sally, my 11 year old Mustang, was running perfectly. The Holiday Inn Express, however, was not so perfect. Nestled along the 40, an interstate which has replaced Historic Route 66, lies this hotel, which I would argue exists for the primary (if not sole) purpose of providing travelers rest. Given this, I find it incredibly surprising that this specific hotel, unlike hotels in the surrounding area, had a no tolerance pet policy. Really? According to statistics, 15 million travelers took their pets along for vacation last year, and while I realize that not everyone took a journey through Yukon, having pets on board is something this hotel needs to consider. Unfortunately I had dad book the hotel prior to discovering the no pet policy. Fortunately, however, I knew this on arrival, so I didn’t make the mistake of confidently walking to the front desk with Alfredo in hand. Now, I like to consider myself a positive, productive member of society. I have chosen to dedicate my life to America’s youth by working in education, I have done my fair share of giving back to the community, and yes, I even vote (which of course is unusual for a 28 year old). While these things may seem impressive, I guess the saying holds true that no one is perfect. After traveling for 14.5 hours, I decided that not only was I going to stick with the hotel reservation, I was also going to smuggle Alfredo into the hotel, which is exactly what I did. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture an image of this strategic plan in action, but I took a picture of the outcome. Here is Alfredo, relaxing with his soccer ball after a long day of driving.

Don’t let him fool you in to thinking he helped get us there. Instead, he literally slept almost the entire way, on my lap, regardless if I was in the driver or in the passenger seat. Here he is in my lap while driving. That's an almond next to him, which he played with for awhile. 

 Here he is again on the passenger side. He slept like a baby.

I guess the most important thing, other than our restful sleep in Oklahoma, is that we’ve arrived safely. Let the Midwest memories begin…     

Meet Alfredo

Make no bones about it...Alfredo, my beloved Boston Terrier, makes my world an incredibly happy place. While most of my family, friends, and yes, even my students, know how meaningful my little four legged friend kid has been in my life, here are 10 interesting facts about Alfredo. 
1. Alfredo is highly intelligent with a very extensive vocabularly. Words he knows: Alfredo (of course), yum-yums, potty, outside, ball, piglet, chicken, sit, treat, & bye-byes. Okay, maybe it's not so extensive, but it's probably more than what the average dog knows.
2. Alfredo is very springy, especially when he's excited. At five months, he broke a front leg, which you would never know today. He can jump directly in my arms without any problems, even with a little rod and two pins in his leg. Likewise, he's quite the hiker. He's been to some pretty great places, such as Sedona and the Grand Canyon. I guess this also makes him quite the traveler!
3. Alfredo's full name is Alfredo Rumpelstiltskin Panizzo. Alfredo's other best friend, known as bes frie, is the only other person who understands his middle name. While you may like to know the meaning behind this, some things are just for us. Other names include Alfie, Fredo, Alfred, and Stinky.
4. Alfredo is quite the artist. He has participated in Barktoberfest for the last two years, which has given him the opportunity to create work of arts. These paintings are hanging in my home, of course.

5. When I'm home, Alfredo must be in the room where I am at all times. His ears never fail him, even when he's sound asleep. Closing doors won't work; he knows how to open them!
6. I make it a point to keep in good contact with Alfredo's biological family members. His mommy's name is Sadie and his daddy's name is Chance. One day while at the dog park, we randomly ran into one of his brothers (yes, from the same litter)! They have hung out a few times since. Here is Alfredo and his brother, Artie. Alfredo is on the left.

7. There is no denying that Alfredo is an AZ dog. He wants nothing to do with water. He dislikes the rain. This will be his third summer (and my third attempt) to successfuly make him a swimmer. His new rain coat is ready to go for the upcoming monsoon season!
8. Alfredo is quite the cuddler. Some people don't agree that dogs should sleep on the bed. I happen to think otherwise.
9. As you  can probably guess, Alfredo is spoiled with a large bucket of toys. He likes to jump in the bucket and dig around from time to time in search of a specific toy. His all time favorite toy is his soccer ball. He carries it around with him, specifically at night time. Toys with stuffing don't last long. However, this toy is different. I guess you could compare it to a child and his blankie.
10. There is never a dull moment with Alfredo around. Why do I try to give him the best life possible? I think this picture, which hangs in my hallway, says it all...