Best Worst Idea Ever

So... I got a puppy. 

I mean, I didn't really get a puppy, but I volunteered to foster a rescue pup, and this is who I ended up bringing home on Tuesday:

RE-DIC-U-LOUS-LY cute.  Seriously, even cuter than these pictures can do justice to.  

Ok, my train of thought on this one went something like this:

I am mostly just sitting at home alone all day, studying for hours and hours on end... I love dogs, I could totally foster a puppy who needs a home just until they get adopted; puppies mostly sleep all day anyway; it would also force me to get up out of my stupid chair on a much more regular basis, which my chiropractor says I really need to be doing anyway; and then when I do take study breaks, I can play with the puppy and it will be the best study break of my life.

And before you tell me that is the stupidest thing you have ever heard, let me tell you that it has pretty much been like that.  Pretty much.  Alright, fine... it has been way more work, and way more fun, than I had even imagined.  And way more pee.  And money.

She came with the name Winny, which I think is cute, but my cousins have a dog named Winnie, so that wouldn't do.  I think I have finally settled on calling her Izzy.  We are totally buddies by now.  We have literally been together pretty much 24-7 since Tuesday afternoon, except for about an hour and 15 minutes a day, when I ask my mom to keep an eye on her while I go to a yoga class.  She is apparently despondent when I leave (Mom's words, not mine), looking all over the house, pawing at my bedroom door and crying a little.  Awwww!!

She loves her squeaky reindeer toy...

... and her ball-on-a-rope...

... but her favorite toys are my crocs.

Izzy discovers napping in the sun...

... and now spends a great deal of every day right here.

Things I no longer judge about people as of the last four days:

• When people let their dogs sleep in their beds with them.  I used to secretly think this was totally gross and weird, not to mention overly indulgent of an animal.  Yeah... sooo, Izzy has slept in my bed ever since she got here, and she is both a champion snuggler and an awesome little heater in this chilly Colorado winter weather.  And I love it.
• When people spend tons of money on tons of toys for their pets.  Even though Izzy is technically just a temporary foster, buying her all kinds of shit at Petco is literally my new favorite thing.
• When new moms claim that they have no time to shower and put on clothes, let alone do their hair or put on makeup.  Granted, I really wasn't doing either of the last two before the puppy came... or the first two, either... but now I get up super early, run Izzy outside before she pees in the house, then get her breakfast, then take her right back outside before she poops in the house, then usually I get my own breakfast and start studying as she settles right back down for a nice early morning snooze in her very comfy doggie bed.  By this point, I have generally not brushed my teeth/washed my face/changed my clothes/anything else related to personal hygiene or being a functional human, and most days so far, I don't ever get around to doing any of those things, because I am too lazy/trying to get as much of my studying done while she naps as I can/too busy playing with her when she is awake and also making sure she is not peeing somewhere.  It is usually late afternoon before I think about showering or brushing my teeth, and yes, I do think this is gross.  I also realize that having a puppy is not the same as having a baby, but in my defense, new babies wear diapers, don't have absurdly sharp teeth, can't run and jump all over the stinkin' place on four very fast legs, and can at least some of the time be safely put down in a crib with four walls or other types of restraining devices.

Ugh, I can't get enough of her soft cuddly cuteness.  She has already gotten so much better about not biting or having accidents in the house, and she will come curl up in my lap and snore away while I study, which is just about the greatest thing ever.  

... I am totally smitten.  Oooooops.