Ugly Dog

After I returned from my retreat last night, after the kid went to bed, Mark and I sat on the couch (together) and talked for a long, long time. We talked about our concerns and observations regarding his family and the similarities he shares with his brother. We talked about my experiences over the weekend. We talked about what we missed about each other and what fun things we might do on our next date. (Wine tasting! Yuck! LOL)

And we talked about how ugly our dog is. I kid you not. When I saw her picture at the Pet Refuge website, I thought she was less than symmetrical, you know? Her eyes are buggy with a kind of panicky look about them. Her body is sausage-like. She stinks a little, too, even after a bath. By far, though, the most noticeable undesirable trait is that her head is too small. Most beagles have lovely round heads in nice proportion to their (generally overweight) bodies. Not Mariah. Her nose is too long, legs too skinny, middle too thick. And that's why I love her. She is much like me. We are all less than perfect and don't we all deserve love? Even though she'll never be on the cover of Dog Fancy, happiness seeps from her bizarre little being. What a gift!