Decisions

So Friday night I was all excited because on Saturday I was going to visit a breeder in Roebuck, SC to look at 3 of her sheltie puppies. Andy Gray (senior chem major and friend from BJ) and I went downtown since we both had nothing to do on a Friday night and went mouse hunting. While driving downtown we saw some really nice fireworks and stopped to ooo-and-ahh... They seemed to be coming from the stadium downtown, though neither of us knew what the occasion was. Anywho, we began at the opposite end of downtown near "Zombieville" (story for another time, if you ask) and walked back into the main part of downtown to begin our hunt.

There are 9 bronze cast mice scattered within a 9 block stretch of Main St. downtown. They were inspired by the book Goodnight Moon and were a project designed to give kids something to do on school trips downtown. Anyway, I had looked up the clues for where to find these elusive mice online before leaving the house, but couldn't remember most of them by the time we got there. So we walked the stretch of Main St. where they were said to be located between the Hyatt and Westin Poinsett Hotel, but could only find the 3 obvious ones (located by the Hyatt fountain, stairwell to Coffee Underground, and the one located at the bottom of the rain drain by the Italian restaurant across from the Westin Poinsett)... only 3 out of 9. Sad I know. But it was dark, and there were a lot of people about and I mean, I could have asked them if they had seen a mouse around somewhere, but had no great desire to cause a general hysteria *grins* But regardless of mice unaccounted for, we still had a good time. Finally did some catching up and whatnot.

Saturday morning, I took my dad to the airport (GSP) at 5:30am so he could catch his flight to Taiwan. He'll be visiting his dad and brother there for a week. However, it began to pour (rain) just as I got home so his flight was delayed. He called Sunday morning and told us he had finally arrived.

Around 1pm, my brother, Arwen Clark (BJ piano perf grad, friend, and oldest sister to Alina), and I headed out to the breeder's home. From the beginning we were lost. Well, in part my fault, and in part the breeder's. She gave me directions to her home, which I read back to her and I was sure she said 385 to Spartanburg. Well, 20 min on 385 and we were pretty sure it wasn't 385. So I called, and sure enough it was supposed to have been 85 to Spartanburg. So we turn around and 40 min later, we're on the right track... then we get off 85 at the correct exit and drive for about 5-7 min and become somewhat nervous that we haven't seen any of the landmarks given on the directions... so we turn around again, only to find out we were actually on the right track but it was supposed to be about 8-10 miles down that road before we were going to get to the landmarks mentioned. (I always did hate following Yard Sale/Garage Sale signs in the country where there was one sign ever 5 miles so that you never knew for sure if you were going in the right direction, following up-to-date signs, or just on a wild goose chase.) Anywho, we ended up in the country where we saw what appeared to be a dairy farm and other farms and finally arrived at Christina Stoner's residence and her puppies (after about an hour more than it should have taken us).

Oh boy the puppies were adorable! Little bundles of furry energy and cuteness. There were 3 of them at 12 weeks old, 2 girls - Lucky and Brownie, and a boy - Vasco (cool name, after the explorer). Brownie was a little bit on the bigger side and seemed somewhat reserved but totally huggable. Mrs. Stoner said she would prob be the most loving of the bunch. Vasco was very cool. He was very friendly, independent, and adventurous. Very fun. Lucky was a sweet little girl who was always off doing her own thing. Arwen and I liked Vasco the best, and my bro really liked Brownie. They would be mahogany colored when they grew out their adult coats (Sable colored with a black overcoat). We also met some of the older shelties including their grandmother. Three of the older shelties we met were Best in Shows and Champions in their own right. One of them was Best in Show, Best of Breed in 1994. She was 15! They were all beautiful. I prob would have gotten Vasco right then and there if I had been sure I could and would bring him back with me to Grenada when I went back after this break. Which is where my dilemma comes in...

*sighs* So, that night after an evening of revelry and fun (j/k) when I came home I did some research into airline approved kennels/crates and carriers (for in cabin use). Found a really good carrier by Sturdi-Bag, but wow, it's more expensive than the crate. But that's the least of my issues. I had to make sure that I had off campus housing ready, had to look up options for changes in my flight itinerary, still have to call the Ministry of Agriculture or the school to get the animal import permit. I spent a lot of time looking around online and making calls both last night and today. And what I've come to realize is that it will cost me about an extra $250-300+ to change my flight itinerary (this has to be done because my original flight is through Barbados which now does not allow pets to come into their airport. boo!). This cost will be on top of the cost of the puppy, crate and carrier, vet fee, regular airline pet fee, and other puppy expenses. The total which would be $1400+. So yeah, expensive. My decision then is should I wait to get a puppy and save this extra $300+ or just go ahead and get the puppy now. The most reasonable, practical, and mature decision seems to be obviously: wait. But... what if I don't want to wait? what if I want my puppy now! lol. Tough, you say. Well, thanks for being so unsympathetic... But I can actually make up for the extra money I'd be spending by living off campus...

So what to do, what to do....

Reasons I shouldn't get the puppy now:

1. Costs an extra $300+ to change flights
2. Could wait and get things more prepared and organized for his/her coming (papers, permits, essentials)
3. As much as I might want to think otherwise, I don't have to have one now
4. Not as significant, but I'll be jumping ship with my roommate. She just emailed me today and told me she missed me and that it was weird not having me there... so I feel a twinge of guilt (I'm sure the puppy would more than rectify that though :)
5. Wait and save the $160-200 airfare for it's flight this time

Reasons I can:

1. Puppy's available (And he's so wonderfully cute and adorable!)
2. Can probably get all the things needed together in the next 2 weeks
3. Can make up the extra cost by saving with off campus housing
4. Can find housing needed (will know for sure by Tues)

So yeah, any recommendations? Suggestions, comments, criticisms? I'd welcome your thoughts.