Tiko's Tale (Tail)

Part One

I used to have a dog.  The dog still exists (and I’m still his mommy) but it’s been made clear to me (crystal clear) that he is no longer mine.

How did this tragedy occur? I got divorced.

Oh!  That makes sense…

So, you’re thinking that my ex-husband got custody of the dog, right?  Wrong. 

Who did?  My parents.

When my ex-husband and I separated, we made the decision to ask my parents to keep our long-haired chihuahua, Tiko, until we were settled into our new lives and could figure out what was next.  I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t think that his relocation would be a permanent one.  I know my parents and I know how much they love Tiko.  I knew they’d get their grubby hands on my baby and never give him back!!!  I knew it, but I still gave him away. (See? That’s the tragedy building here.  Do you hear violin music as you read this? Do you see me handing over my tiny dog into the arms of these puppy-crazed fiends as I sob uncontrollably? No? Good. Because that’s not the way it was at all.)

When Tiko first entered our lives it was because my brother brought him home to my parents’ house.  At the time, they had Cleopatra, a maltese, and were vehemently certain that they didn’t want another dog.  My dad was really the driving force on that one, because my mom is a sucker for anything with big eyes that will snuggle her and kiss her.  Lucky for my dad those are her only standards otherwise he may have stayed single!  Insert: *high hat sound*Calm down, that was a joke…you can tell because I inserted the high hat sound!  So, they booted the tiny pup out of their house! I was a newlywed (September 2003) and living in a condo nearby.  My brother called me and asked if we’d watch the dog overnight while he looked for a friend to adopt him.  He delivered Tiko to my doorstep in a small wicker basket lined with a towel.  This dog was tiny and ridiculous looking.  He was probably 3 lbs and his ears were bigger than anything else on him.  I picked him up, he snuggled on my chest, and he was mine.  My ex-husband wasn’t in love with the idea of having a dog (and I think he actually might blame the dog for some of our marital issues) but he allowed me the indulgence and after less than two months of marriage, we had a fur-baby! 

This is Tiko dressed up like a carrot on Halloween.  

He was tiny and I made the costume out of felt.  

This was in 2003 and quite possibly the last time I attempted any type of craft project!

Time passed, we moved to Athens, Georgia. Tiko loved it.  He didn’t even mind the snow!  Then, I left.  I left my husband AND my dog. (Key those violins again.) 

What happened next?  Well, you’ll just have to wait to find out.  Ooooooh…my first cliff-hanger blog! 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Tiko’s Tale (Tail)

Y it's so nice to meet you!

In my day-to-day life, I run in a few different circles.  For the case of this post, let’s say that my networks are:

1) Young Professionals
2) Jews
3) Suburbanites

Being fairly new to Atlanta (less than 3 years), fairly new to my job (6 months), and a newlywed (1 month), I’m oftentimes in situations where I’m meeting new people.  I go to networking events, attend parties, go out with large groups of friends, meet people at the kids’ schools and activities, etc.

When you first meet someone there are a few ice-breaker questions that you tend to ask, right?  These questions allow you to learn about the person and also serve to help discover some commonalities that you may have, which will lead to a connection, camaraderie, or even friendship. Yay! New friends!!!  Who doesn’t want new friends, right? Right???

So…I’ve noticed that these questions change based on demographic.

Young Professionals ask:

• What do you do?  (meaning occupation/career)
• Where do you live?  OR What part of town are you in?
• Where’d you go to school? 
• Where are you originally from?
• How do you know ____________? (insert name of person who introduced you or person who is hosting the event or party that you are attending)

Jews ask:

• Where did you grow up?
• How old are you?
• Where do you go to synagogue?
• Where’d you go to college?
• Where do your parents live?
• How long have you been married?
• Are you having more kids?
• Do you know my cousin ______? OR Are you related to _______? (insert name of person who is around your age, went to your college, lives in the town you grew up in, or has the same or a similar last name as you)
• …and a million other prying questions.

Suburban stay-at-home moms ask:

• How old are your kids?
• What does your husband do?
• How did you meet your husband?
• Do you play tennis? 
• What do you do for birth control?
  I’m kidding.  No one asks this right away.  They wait until everyone’s a little buzzed and has purple wine-stained teeth before bringing up this subject!

Suburban men/fathers ask:

• What do you want to drink?
  Please see above reference to wine.

Disclaimer: The above post is intended to be humorous and is only about 90% fact-based…maybe 85% at most.

Y a blog?

And here we go...

I'm blogging. Yup. That's what I'm doing. I'm here and I'm typing away. Blogging.

Writing a blog. Bloggity, blog, blog, blog...

Writing a blog about what?  Well, that's the tiny little thing that's been keeping me from actually jumping in and doing this.

What is this blog going to be about?  Don't the best blogs have themes? One central and unifying topic?  What should mine be?

As I sit here writing, my memories wander back to my senior year of high school.  Disclaimer: I have no idea if any of this is true or if it's just the way my brain has distorted the memories over the past 13 years.  Our final assignment (I think it may have actually been our final exam) in Advanced Placement English was to showcase our passion in some way.  Essentially, everyone made a 10 minute presentation to the class about their personal life and the one thing that they identified as being of the utmost importance to them. I sat for weeks and wracked my brain about what I'd do for my presentation.  What ONE thing was I passionate about?  I knew that Melissa would talk about art, since she was a a talented painter.  Brian would play his violin.  Scott would talk about the music of Tori Amos.  My boyfriend (who actually became my first husband...but that's a topic for probably several more blog posts) would talk about sports.  And, there I was, 17 years old and I had no idea what I was passionate about. Sidebar: I was right, by the way, each and every one of them presented on those topics.  And if they didn't, don't tell me and just reference the disclaimer above.

And, here I am, 30 years old and I'm having emotional flashbacks to being that scared, 17 year-old, who had no idea what she was passionate about... 

Ultimately, I'm pretty sure that I wrote about several things including acting and theater, my Judaism, and my boyfriend (who I married in 2003 and divorced in 2010).  I wrapped it all up quite brilliantly...if I do say so myself...in a tight little package that essentially boiled down to being passionate about me, myself, and I.  Sounds narcissistic, right?  It probably was and I probably still am.

So, that's what this blog will be about: Me.

Will it be a parenting blog, since I'm re-married and now an evil step-mother? 

No.  

Well, yes, it could be.

Will it be a blog full of relationship advice from someone who got married at 22, divorced at 28, and re-married at 30? 

No.  

Well, yes, it might be.

Will it be a blog dedicated to philanthropy and charity, since I'm a professional fundraiser and work with non-profits? 

No. 

Well, yes, it will be.

Do you see a pattern forming?

Will it be funny and make you laugh sometimes?  

I really really really hope so!  No promises, though.

Will it be riddled with incorrect grammar, crazy attempts at punctuation, and an obscene amount of parenthesis and ellipses? 

Yes. I can certainly promise that it will be! (No one tell my English professors.  So what if I have a Bachelor of Arts in English Education and a Master's degree???)

Most importantly, my goal is for the blog to be a fun project for me.  I want it to be filled with my happiness and my frustrations. My love and my strife.  My compliments and my complaints.  My silliness and my seriousness...and much, much more!

I hope you'll come along for the ride...