Marley & Me. Woops, I mean FARLEY & Me.

I'd like to thank the casting director. That is so sweet of you to cast Jennifer Anniston to play me! People who get to know me, get to know my dog. And so, when the book, Marley & Me came out, it was highly recommended that I read it. However, I think it was in the midst of potty training, and then we had a year of family deaths soon followed. Someone had told me how the book ends, and I just didn't want to vest that emotions in that book. I'm a slow reader, so it would have been a long, drawn-out read only to depress me. I never read it.

So, when the movie came out, I was told to go see it. Given that I heart Owen Wilson and that a movie would be a lighter and quicker presentation of the emotional high and then low, I gave in and saw the movie. As usual, I laughed hysterically. This time, it was because everything Marley did, Farley has done. My favorite line is when Owen Wilson says, "Dear God, you can eat drywall?!" As you can see here, Farley's been there and done that. And I bawled at the end of the movie. The only thing I wished they'd shown on the movie was how protective and cute Farley, woops, I mean Marley, was with the kids.

As many stories as I have about Farley the Wonderdog eating couches, pantyhose, rib roasts, or tamales, he watches over the kids. When they are outside playing, he sits by the window and just watches. A car so much as drives by, he's barking as if to say, "That's right car, you best just keep on driving by." Don't get me wrong. The dog loves Ricardo more than anything. When we're all on the bed, Farley wedges himself between the kids and Ricardo. I think he holds the same theory my sister had when we were kids. I heard her tell a neighbor kid one time, "HEY, NO ONE HITS MY SISTER BUT ME!" So sweet and protective like that. Still, Farley takes care of us all. And if that means he has to eat the loaf of bread on the counter to maintain his strength to protect us all, then so be it.

I've decided to stop yelling at the dog, or even disciplining him. I can't teach an old dog new tricks like not destroying the house. Right? So, I'm just going to love my dog, even when he eats the drywall.

Soon after I had that little epiphany, JulzHolla! sent an email that they had a friend that found black lab puppies on the side of the road, and needed to find a home for them all, and tagged it with "Farley needs a friend". I was totally against it, but that vixen attached the picture, and I was totally suckered. We have a strict policy that Farley is the only dog we will ever own. All I have to do to be reminded of why we came up with that policy is go pick up the pooh in the backyard. So, I emailed the finder of the puppies and told her I couldn't take them, but offered up my super blog services. Luckily they found homes for all of them.

Then we took the kids to see Hotel For Dogs. It's a cute movie, and made me want to go save all the dogs at the Humane Society. I opted to wait until I picked up the pooh in the back yard again before I made such a rash decision. And then I went over to a friends house and she had a new second dog, a 4 month old Lab. It was as if God was telling me to get a puppy! Right!?

It took a LOT of convincing, but Ricardo finally caved. Here's a picture of our new puppy!

I'm crazy, y'all. Not Stupid! I did not get a dog. Farley is all we need. And I just want to enjoy my dog. Because one day, my time with Farley will come to an end. And I don't want to deter any more attention from him. Some dogs need a friend. Farley just needs us, and the occasional drywall fix.

That's how I roll.