Marital counselors often concede that couples need to find things in common to enjoy together. My mother is living proof of this when, upon asking her the night before my wedding day what she and my father have in common, she replied in all seriousness to me, "Well....we both like RICE." Huh..a bit odd yes, and while that may explain the low divorce rate in Japan, Jennefer and I have always sort of revelled in the fact that in addition to our liking of short grain rice, we both have an utter disdain for dogs (total offence to all you dog lovers who provide better vacations for your mutts than your own children). In fact, there was a mutual pact between us that we would not only not ever get a dog, but that we would continue to make fun of dogs, mildly poke fun of people with dogs, ban all movies starring dogs (Old Yeller the exception), and contribute any tax refunds to local county Dog pounds. Yet, despite our sacred pact, our naturalist learner Gabriel has longed for a dog for nearly 2 years, rarely letting a
day go by without mentioning how it is 'his dream'. SO, we bit the bullet...or at least Jennefer did on a spontaneous Craigslist purchase right before Christmas. 'Woffie' was his name (see picture on the right). He was indeed cute, for a dog...which is like being the tallest midget in a land of Oompa Loompas. However, the seller sold us one sick dog. Worms, partial broken limbs, parasites, lice, toxic something disease, etc. 18 painful days later he was donated to the county despite major protests from all 5 kids. Four months later we didn't learn our lesson and went with another Shitzu-Maltese breed. This one, like the last, goe
s diarrhea a little less--only 8-10 times a day
vs. 16--and whines every morning at 5am. We have now completed a full month with 'Muffy', but the outlook isn't getting any better (at least from the kids perspective), especially now that we have two red foxes who stalk Muffy when she is outside and I'm getting less motivated to intervene with Darwinism (hey, only the strong survive).... Despite Gabe's increases in his grades which he fully gives 100% credit to Muffy (sorry Jenn, I know that hurts), I have to admit, proudly, we are simply dog owner retards. Some of us were born to sing, to dance, to play an instrument, to take care of animals, and some of us even to watch English Premier League Soccer. Unfortunately for Gabe, we are not animal naturalists and he'll likely have to enjoy his animal time when he moves out. The defining moment for such a decision occurred a couple of weeks ago when Jenn innocently rented the movie "Hachi" from Redbox (based on a true story in Japan from the 1930's). We now had hit a low point in life--a dog movie....playing on my television, in my own room, in the house that I preside in...a dog movie. Had we lost all standards of decency and uprightness? As the movie progressed, I absolutely refused to give in to Richard (Gere) and Hachi's emotional relationship--I would have even preferred to watch Richard in First Knight in Spanish (gasp!)...With about 45 minutes left I got up to go make popcorn and prayed the movie would be close to the end when I returned. When I returned 10 minutes later, well....any sense of normalcy had completely flown the coup--every single kid, including London, and Jennefer, were sobbing uncontrollably. This went on and on...the movie ended and still tears...the next day if anyone even mentioned the word 'Hachi' yep, you guessed it, tears! Over a dog movie! And that's when I knew, that if it was a tragic story about rice fields burning down in Japan then maybe yes, tears are justified (sorry to horrify you mother with such a thought). But a dog movie? C'mon....can't have it. I've drawn the line in the sand....
When love cries out, it cries Ken Tasker. This past weekend we were all able to witness this Master of Romance in action when he married Ashley in the Salt Lake Temple. Whether it was a bachelor party at Flemings, the wedding ceremony itself, the wedding luncheon, or the wedding reception, he simply does not have an odd moment in his arsenal. Like the Dosecki's guy who once had an odd moment 'just to see how it felt', Ken's a natural lady killer. We congratulate Ken and Ashley, and wish her, I mean both of them, the best of luck going forward! 
