What's Tomorrow?

A. Tuesday
B. A Mexican holiday that Mexicans don't even really celebrate, but Americans use as an excuse to drink Coronas and eat nachos.
C. JULES'S BIRTHDAY!!!
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is D, but you will also receive full credit if you chose C.

My baby girl turns eight tomorrow. May fifth is her functioning birthday, since she was a pound hound. We adopted her on March 5th, 2002, and they said she was ten months old. That would make May 5th her birthday....I guess. Anyway, the old bitch (I can call her a bitch because she is!) is turning eight, and I can't believe it.

Jules (or Gools, as Barrett calls her) came to us because we decided to go "look" at animals at the pound one day. Jason and I weren't even living together at the time. We had no serious intention of adopting a dog. Then...we saw her! She was so sad looking, just laying in her little cage. Jason put his hand down to sniff, she came up, checked him out, realized he didn't have any food, and laid back down. Jason spoke to one of the workers at the pound about wanting a dog that he could put in the truck with him and take anywhere. We were young and mobile at the time. Jason was taking an hour+ drive every weekend to see me in Richmond. The pound employee suggested "the female coonhound". They took her out of the cage for us to visit with her in another room. Her demeanor changed the second she left that little cage. She jumped on my lap and began nipping at the strings on my sweatshirt. She was a happy dog in an unhappy place. I knew once we took her out of that cage that I never wanted her to go back in.

Jason and I left the shelter to "think" before we made any hasty decisions. We never even left the parking lot. He wanted her, and I wanted her even more, so there was nothing to discuss. We took her home that day, after paying her bail. I still thank Jason for paying the fifty dollars to get my baby out of puppy jail. They almost didn't let us take her that day, because she was evidence in an animal cruelty case. She and her litter mates had been starved by whatever moron owned her, and the moron was facing charges. I'm glad.

She was sooo skinny when we first got her. I was embarrassed to walk her. I wanted to wear a t-shirt with "I didn't do this to her. I just adopted her." emblazoned on it. Anyway, she hasn't missed a meal since. She is a healthy beauty today.

We still refer to Jules as our "first born", since she was the first acquisition to our family. There were times that I'm sure that Jason and I would have broken up, but we didn't because neither of us wanted to lose Jules. Thank you, Jules.



Happy Birthday, Jules. We love you and wish that you share many, many more birthdays with us.