At the end of last year, I was approached with a job offer that I had actually proposed years before, and had always thought to be a long shot. But as we all know, COVID changed the corporate landscape and ideas that were once thought to be impossible, like working from home, not only became a possibility, but a reality for thousands. When my chance finally came, I jumped for it. December was an adjustment period rearranging my office to make it more conducive to accommodate both my work and my personal projects. But it also brought up a conversation that Chris and I have been having for years – the possibility of getting a dog.
We’ve always been in agreement that we want one, but had two major barriers. We first wanted to own a house with a yard (especially important since we want a BIG dog, an Alaskan Malamute to be specific) and we needed to be home. We bought our house 5 years ago taking care of the first barrier, but we had still been working long hours focusing on climbing up the corporate ladder. Having a remote job finally took care of the remaining challenge.
We began looking immediately and I was excited! I’d have the new puppy to keep me company while I was home and working while Chris was away at work. We found one that we were excited about but ultimately decided it still wasn’t the right time with just starting a new job in an environment that was so different from what I had been used to. We thought it would be wise to give me more time to adjust and then reevaluate after a few months.
I continued searching, and finally found another possibility in July, although it still was not the best time due to other circumstances. But it was the closest I had come so far.  While some of the other searches presented challenges with the distance to travel or their restrictions on where a potential owner could live, this one was not concerned about our living in Florida and had accommodations to make the travel manageable. While it is disappointing that it again did not work out, it did make me focus more on what we need to do to get our house ready for a possible addition – the cords in my office still need to be tidied, things need to be better organized around the house, the yard and pool need some work, and a million other little things.
So a furry addition is still a possibility for us, but it looks like we have some things to take care of first.