Tomorrow is the big day

Tomorrow we head out to pick up our new puppy. I think the kids are going to go crazy. The grandparents are coming over to watch the kids and we are telling the kids we need to go to a mommy and daddy meeting. Then, when we get home, we are going to pretend that the Easter Bunny left the dog by the front door two days early. There is just one little problem with the plan:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1153 AM CDT THU MAR 20 2008

...HEAVY WET SNOW WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED
OVERNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY...

So much for the first day of Spring! So far the forecast is for the worst of the snow to be along the Wisconsin-Illinois border and we are heading south, so we should be OK. The last thing I want to do is drive 90 minutes each way in a snow storm.

I'm looking forward to the new puppy, but I am afraid of the amount of work it will create. When my wife and I got our first dog we didn't have kids, and the dog was already six months old; much easier to train. Not to say he wasn't a problem, he was, but we had very few accidents in the house. Although one time the valence from the blinds fall off when he was under it and landed on him. He wasn't hurt, but it quite literally scared the crap out of him. It was pretty funny, looking back on it.

Another problem is the middle of the night potty breaks he's going to need. We are nice and used to not having to get up in the middle of the night anymore. Now we have to do it again. Yay! The good thing is that puppies grow out of that stage a lot faster than kids. Right? Tell me I'm right even if I am wrong. Please?

It will be nice to see the puppy grow up along with the kids. Cosmo, our last dog, was six when our son was born, and eight when our daughter was born. He was used to being the only "kid." But, he was good with the kids. He never snapped or snarled at them no matter what they did to him. That is why we are getting another Golden Retriever. They are supposed to be good with kids, and Cosmo lived up to the claim.

So the next time you wake up in the middle of the night think of us, we are probably outside with the puppy.