My New Baby

Heyas,

No...not THAT baby. I am still working logistics on the Imp-front (and kind of getting pissed off at my possible KD, 'cause he keeps joking around with me--'you know, between the two of us, the kid'll be a picky eater,' but still refusing to give me a straight answer as to whether or not he'll do it...and I know in KD-land, that's pretty much guyspeak for 'I really don't want to' and I totally understand and respect that and am making other arrangements anyway...but a simple yes or no would suffice. I hate coy bullshit.)

But ANYWAY....

Imp, my love, you are going to grow up around animals from the very first. Mommy is a bit of a 'rescuer' and has two cats that she's adopted over the years. Well, all right, Arwen just appeared on Mommy's front porch and adopted her, but Mommy went to the animal shelter for Micah. And there's our family dog, Lucky, but he lives with Grandma and is most likely not going to be around long enough for you to remember, as we got him when Mommy was in seventh grade. Incidentally, Lucky will be the gold standard by which Mommy measures all other dogs in our lives. Best. Dog. Ever.

That said, though, the other night, Grandma was driving home from her job and came upon a truly heartbreaking sight. Three puppies, abandoned on a busy highway, miles away from civilization, busily tearing at a deer carcass someone had hit. Grandma talks a hard game when it comes to animals, but she's a softie. The pups came home in her car...muddy and bloody as they were. Two were adopted out easily enough, but one they could not find a person for.

So, of course, Mommy stepped up.

I like the idea of you growing up with a dog and by the time you're here, he'll be trained and out of the underfoot all the time stage, but young enough for you to have many years of roughhousing with.

And it doesn't hurt that he's cute as a button, very cuddly and easygoing according to my sister, and already showing signs of the kind of intelligence that makes Lucky such a great dog. The vet puts him at about six weeks and he's absolutely adorable.

But damned if I can think of a name for him. The vet says he's some kind of Golden Retriever mix (though I think Yellow Lab is more likely). Ordinarily, I'd pull from whatever TV show I happen to be insanely devoted to at the time (ie, Arwen was adopted during my Lord of the Rings phase)...but nothing's jumping out at me now. I hate, hate, HATE common names and am not overly fond of human names for animals, either (though oddly, he kind of looks like a Max to me, which gets strikes on both counts).

So far I've got a list that looks something like this (and having said I really don't like human names for animals, it amuses me to no end that this little guy keeps inspiring them):

Max

Remy

Sylar (I do like Heroes, even if the show has lost its damn fool mind this season)

Jasper (roomie is a Twilight fan)

Jinx

Reid

Gideon

Loki

Riley

Quinn

Harper

Shay

I really don't want to name him Max. Everyone has a dog named Max. 'Tis annoying.

But isn't he sweet?