buster. mayor of puppytown.

this blog is about a year old... i was too hurt to post it at the time. september of last year. buster was made a gift to me.
my dad, who often came to visit with us in san diego, came by and showed me a photo of two tiny TINY min pin puppies, both fit in his hand.
"which one do you want?"
it was a pretty exciting question, i had wanted a puppy for so long and hadnt had a baby dog since the cookie debaucle of 1990...

i chose the pretty brown boy. buster.
after buster keaton, if you must know. the second of his name. the first, a fish- who was short lived in mike mcfarland's tank with two evil shrimp.

the moment we took up residence in phoenix, 2006, he became mine. i looked after him and his sister, May, a tiny TINY black baby dog, as i looked for a place to live and proceeded to grow larger and larger with a zoe in my belly.

pregnancy makes you insane. and all i needed to grow crazier and crazier was two tiny lives to care for. i bought them tiny clothes, which they hated. i proclaimed Buster Mayor of Puppytown and May Deputy Mayor of Puppytown and Killer- sweet shy killer, with his grey beard, he was also an adopted min-pin of the then shared Thompson/Lenz household- Sherrif of Puppytown.

when we moved to our little condo May May went to live with my grandmother and grandad in their house with a beautiful yard. i cried like an idiot.

when zoe was born buster immidiately decided he wanted to live with infant zoe in her bassinet and lick her face consistently.
he went to stay with my grandparents for a while.

and when zoe was big enough, he came home. although life in a condo was not for him. Buster was a high-energy guy and he loved to run and run and run... we took him for long walks around the complex, he ran and jumped and scampered beside us every day while we went for long long walks with zoe in her push car. but he was happier when we would take him over to grandmother and grandads to play with May May and run and run and bark.
at a condo, barking was always noticed and remarked upon. at a home with a yard, it was a fun passtime.

we moved into our own home with a yard in june 2010. and buster was finally happy. he had his zoe, who was obviously, since the moment of her birth, his favorite of all the human kind.

when we first moved in buster made it his personal mission, as mayor of puppytown, to find and report all possible breach points in our back yard security. he did this by escaping the back yard, coming to the front door and letting us know he was on the lamb... and then letting us chase him about the neighborhood. he never wanted to escape though, he always marched home. and when we plugged the hole he made sure that the next possible escape routes were ferretted out and then plugged.

buster and zoe were absolutely in love. she picked out the ugliest collar and tag on earth for him. and the two of them played all day in the yard and cuddled at nap time. and when rocket arrived, the two of them sought only to protect him from all possible harm and simultaneaously to engage him in all possible mischeif.

he was our boy.

over the years my mom and dad moved into grandmother and grandads house, with the beautiful yard, when they passed on. they took in may may and killer. and we brought two new puppies into the fold christmas of 2010, Bella and Bruiser. Bella was aquired as a puppy present for my neice, Delilah- but my mom fell in love with Bella and so Bruiser was aquired for Delilah instead. we got two new souls that year. and they were loved by all, including buster and killer.

one night my momma had all the kiddos- parker, drew, delilah, zoe and baby rocket in her care. she also had her our dog kiddos, bella and bruiser.

she put the dogs out in the evening while she was putting the kids to bed to do their night time business. there was barking, unusual type barking, but she assumed the doggies were as safe as they had always been in her beautiful yard.
when she went to let the doggies in, as she always did at bed time, no one came.

she found bella and bruiser, two tiny baby chihuahas, cowering in their very large kennel, which was furnished with blankets and doggie beds and was always open for them. but May May and Killer were not there.
my gramma and papa live in the adjacent yard. they found may may and killer. murdered, obviously, and carried off by a larger animal. but what? an owl or hawk? a bobcat or kyotoe?
whatever it was, it got the two biggest and most aggressive dogs, killer and may may- the sherrif and deputy mayor of puppytown, and it left bella and bruiser hiding and obviously very scared and in shock.

we speculated on what could have happened as we mourned for two prescious doggie friends and family members who had obviously given up their lives to defend the two baby dogs.
in the back of my mind i kept thinkging that if buster had been there, no owl or other nefarious creature would have attacked them. buster was big- for a minpin- he was bigger than maymay at least- and he was aggressive. he had little man syndrome and would take on the biggest opponents like it was nothing. including my friends, and the mailman, and our neighbors.

i was foolish.

and when september came and i had to take zoe and rocket out of town with my parents, i thought buster would be safe in the beautiful yard at my grandparents house with my other grandparents looking after him and checking on him three or more times a day.
and he was.
the whole time we were gone. until the day we set out for home.

we left san diego for home on sunday afternoon.
my grandparents had checked on buster saturday morning and saturday afternoon. when they came back to see him saturday evening, he had been attacked and murdered by soem kind of animal who could have chased him, even though he was fast. and cornered him, even though he had a kennel to hide in, and caught him- even though he was big and aggressive and feisty. the mysterious animal struck again, and won, and not only killed the mayor of puppy town in a secure and secluded inner yard- where there was a covered kennel under a covered patio- but the mysterious murderous animal carried him away into the neighboring yard. and left him.


my dad pulled me aside on our way home on sunday to tell me what happened. my papa had found buster, which couldnt have been but a short while after the incident- he was checked on 3 or more times a day... and he told me what happened.
i was shocked and sad and i immidiately felt ultimately responsable... i should have obviously found someplace else for him to stay... i was so stupid... to let him stay in a yard that had been previously attacked... i just thought that there was no way a vicious animal would strike twice in the same yard or that it would get a bigger stronger more animated and aggressive dog like buster. i never thought he was in any danger in their yard, being checked on 3-4 times a day. but i was wrong. and so it was my falut that buster was gone from us.

but my own sadness at losing my baby dog was sharply put in a back seat- zoe had just lost her best friend. how would i tell her?
i decided to say nothing until dorian and i could tell her together...
on the way home she said over and over that she couldnt wait to tell buster about her trip and bring him home... i told her that buster wanted to stay a little while longer...

she asked why and why and why... finally i had to tell her, without dorian, that buster wasnt coming home again. thats all that i wrote then. i couldnt continue. telling zoe that buster was gone was the hardest conversation i have ever had to particiapte in to date. she still asks me every day if buster is happy in heaven, and if grandmother and grandaddy are keeping him safe. if he is watching her. if he sees how fun rocket is and if he is sad that he doesnt get to play with rocket. bella lives with us now, and she LOVES my babies and she watches them like a tiny chichuaha hawk. zoe and rocket are happy with bella to cuddle, and my parents got a big dog, magic, to patrol their yard. we learned later that there was a rogue coyote in their neighborhood... but i still cant understand how all of our fierce creatures could have come victim to the same animal... maybe i am naieve. magic is a big black lab. she loves my babies and she loves my baby doggie, bella. we have a happy family, but buster will always ALWAYS be missed. the mayor of puppytown, he was. and our family friend. recently some friends of ours lost their baby dog to a tragic accident, and i feel for them. i still feel the pain accutely when i think of telling zoe that buster was not going to come home to us... ive never felt more pain that experiencing her greif for her friend and companion. rest well, buster. we know that you watch over zoe and rocket as the mayor of puppytown heaven.

wedding misadventures, part one.

before i can start fresh and be in it to win it... i need to clear the decks... this is now one year old. lets see how it holds up. set the scene: heading to New York to be both honored bridesmaid and flower girl for my best friend since we were but weirdos in 7th grade... lesley robin. well. we set out with good intentions. enough snacks, activities, toys and chewables to either cholke a donkey or keep the kids busy. we arrived 2 hours early only to find that our flight was 2 hours delayed.

luckily, playing peek a boo and running around the terminal served up 2 hours of entertainment while we waited to board.
lesley (bride #1's) mom, deborah robin, was on our flight.... so there was extra pressure to keep the kids happy and calm on the way to Newark Airport.
the kids did great, once we got on a plane. rocket napped for 3 out of 4 hours and zoe was entertained by the glorious gift of ipod, vsmile, leapster AND coloring books.
we arrived in Newark and set out to find out rental car. only to find out that the signs in all the terminals and trains DID NOT LEAD to our rental car. we gave up and abandoned our reservation in favor of renting a car from wherever we were. it turned out OK. we got a van and a car seat for Rocket. we set out for Poughkeepsie.

I was a little dismayed to be missing the ladies night of fun that would be lesley's bachelorette party, but in the end it turned out to be a blessing that i went, instead, with my parents to get the kids settled up north.

we got to poughkeepsie after a lot of grumbling alot of GPS 'redirecting' and a stop at olive garden. we walked in to the poughkeepsie inn with a sinking feeling but hope still affloat that we would soon be settled and good. not to be.

at the poughkeepsie inn we were greeted by a mentally handicapped gentleman. i say that not to be rude, but because he was clearly MENTTALLY handicappped. i have love for the special needs community, i embrace them. im not sure they are necessarily well suited to the service industry.
"reservation for Ken Stewart" says i
"yes, you have 3 rooms."
"no. we have one room for 3 nights."
"yes. ken stewart. 3 rooms. for 3 nights"
"no. one room"
"no. three" holds up 3 pieces of paper.
"ok. well. there should not be 3 reservations. there should be only one"
"there are 3"
"yes. ok. two of them are probably incorrect and need to be cancelled because there should only be one"
"these two are from expedia.com and they are already charged to the credit card. this one is from our website and is not paid for yet."
"well, here's a question... why would i make two reservations on expedia for the exact same thing and then make a different reservation on your website, again- for the same thing?"
"i dont know."
"ok. well, we are going to have to cancel two of these reservations."
"right. well, to cancel these two you have to call expedia.com because they are already paid."
"ok. lets get expedia on the horn"
"ok. how did you want to pay for this third reservation?"
"you have three reservations for me, two that i have already paid for and you want to know how am i going to pay for the third?"
"right"
"call expedia."

after alot of "yes mam, i understand" i got two of them cancelled and then to a blank stare i cancelled the third. so long poughkeepsie inn.
we hiked up the road to holiday inn express where there was a micorwave, fridge, free breakfast and 90% less murder than the poughkeepsie inn.

friday was the rehearsal. zoe was pretty psyched to find baby goats, full sized goats, pigs, chickens and frogs on the farm. she attempted to feed each critter grass and a few accepted.
zoe started a small fire, but that got set right. i couldnt spend too much time catching up with the girls because, you know, zoe is likely to set fires when left on her own.
but the rehearsal went great. it was wonderful to see some familliar faces and zoe had a blast. she fell in love with lesley and even caught a moth and made her a gift of it.

saturday. september 10. 2011.
zoe and i arrived at around 1:30 to hang with the girls while they dressed and we sipped champagne. SO good to see liselle, kat, liz, meredith and stephanie. and really nice to get to know kelsey. wonderful girls. and galens mom is awesome. and lesley's mom is like a mom to me, of course. it was really special to get to be part of the whole thing. lesley's dress was so perfect. it was short, sassy, but classy and beautiful. so tasteful but so unusual. and, leeann from project runway made it so- boom. it has star power. i would expect no less than something so extraordinary and perfect from lesley anne robin.

zoe was spot on as flower girl and pancake did a pretty great job as ring bearer. the ceremony was beautiful. performed by the couple's friend Alex it was traditional but personal and i couldnt help but tear up as my heels sank slowly into the grass.
next up? party time.
even a flood could not stop the les/gay wedding from blowing the lid off the adorable apple orchard farm.
details, unfortunatly, are fuzzy. but i recall pinatas, cheese cake- meaning a cake of cheese, wax lips, craig cox, becky nelson, barn, dancing the horah and somehow i made it home alive... i think mainly this is because my dad was sitting in his car making sure becky and i did not get kidnapped, murdered or kicked by goats.
good man.

we missed brunch because my kids were absolutely insane the next morning. AND we had to check out by 10 AND we had to get to the city... plus im pretty sure i had a touch of what the french call "that really great feeling of blurriness that comes the day after you have a great time in a barn"