Bear's first shoe

I was going to write how nice Bear has been lately, and how well behaved. I thought that maybe he had finally grown up since he turned 2 years old. Last night, I even took him to my parent's house, and he did great.

Until - Bear got his first shoe.
I was rather impressed at the fact that our dog has not gotten into any shoes. No destroyed tennis shoes (ok, the flip flop doesn't count), no pee or poop surprises in the shoe, nothing. He has gotten wallets, credit cards, glasses - but no shoes. The one complaint of all dog owners in the world - my dog destroys shoes - and Bear has managed to stay away from shoes for 2 years. Or rather, we have managed to keep him away from shoes for 2 years. Until today...

I though Bear was being really good, being quiet, and even letting me get some work done on the computer. When I finally take a break and go to see my surely sleeping dog in the hallway - I find him on our bed, surrounded by the pieces and the strap and buckle of my only pair of work shoes (notice, no strap nor buckle in this picture). And he looks at me, as if to say "hi - look what I found, this is really nice. Why haven't I ever seen a leather shoe before?" I'm guessing he also learned how to open doors today, because the bedroom door is always, always closed.

Man - we had such a good track record.

Big Love or Big Trouble

I have started watching the new Showtime series called Big Love. It's about a polygamist family with one husband and 3 wives. They live in a suburban neighborhood, and have 3 houses next door to each other. They have taken down the fences in the back of the house, so all share one huge back yard. The wives make a monthly schedule and have their own "nights" with the husband, and he spends each night in a different house depending on who's night it is.

I wouldn't call this a good show, but it has sucked me in for some reason. It is rather interesting to see how each person in this relationship feels about the life they are living - from the husband, to each of the wives, even to the older children who are old enough to know what kind of family they live in.

I think most people have the notion that polygamy is a sick way to take advantage of younger girls. They have been viewed as sick perverts, and the show definitely is playing on that idea with some of the characters. But the main family is not like that, and they are trying to show that they are normal people with human emotions and problems. The husband is trying to keep his business afloat and his family happy and secure. The wives are trying to raise their family and keep their separate identities and personalities within this relationship.

But this show has made me think that Polygamy is just more trouble than it's worth. We all know how women can get jealous, catty and emotional. Sometimes women can also be downright irrational - I think I've only gotten like this once or twice :-)
I call this my "Ness". It's my moodiness, my bitchiness, my stupidness, my laziness, etc. And to think this poor guy has 3 Nesses to put up with, and you can see how it is running him ragged. One is contantly spending money and running up credit card debt, one is complaining that she needs a new car, one has more loyaty to her father than to her husband, and one is just trying to keep everyone from hating each other. I know I can give Scott a run for his money sometimes, can you imagine if there were 3 of me? All complaining about different things? I don't know - maybe that's why you never hear about women having more than one husband. They are just way too smart to get themselves into the kind of trouble and headache that being married to more than one man holds.