Eat, Sleep, Howl: The Bayleigh Anne Story, Part I

In memory of my sassy bitty dog.

Very little is known of the early years of Bayleigh. We do know she arrived in this world October 1995. Fact will tell us that Beagle puppies are one of the cutest known to man; as I imagine it Bayleigh was sure to have pushed that threshold of cuteness to unbearable with her pink nose, glorious gold and liver fur, burgeoning attitude, and penchant for luxury. This puppy - so pretty and so snotty- was meant to be a girl's dog. Alas, Bayleigh was gifted to two little boys from their uncle. Christened "Gizmo" (lord...), her brief stint in this particular household with the boys and their allegedly "unfriendly" father was the root of a lifelong struggle with bladder control, fear of men, fear of shadows and strange looking grass tufts, fear of window decals, disdain for most living things, and general lack of bravery. Though, as luck would have, Boy #1 was wicked allergic to the little "Gizmo," and she had to be returned to the aforementioned uncle. She lived for a short time with the uncle and his beagle, where her bladder problem remained unaddressed and her natural inclination for elevated, comfy sleeping spaces was indulged.



Meanwhile, not so far away a young girl was desperately plotting to get her parents to allow her to have a Beagle. You see she loved the book Where the Red Fern Grows, and had to have a hound dog. She decided a Beagle would best foot the bill, decided she would call said Beagle "Bailey Anne" (Bailey because both it and Beagle started with "B" and Anne for the beloved Red Bone Coon Hound, Little Ann, in Where the Red Fern Grows), determined that her future Beagle would only wear purple accessories, and every week poured over the pet classifieds with an ache in her heart. This ambitious and wily 11 year old pleaded her case to her parents in the form of a letter. As hilarious and adorable they may have found this, the letter did its job. Here is what happened: The girl's mother took the letter into her work to show it to her co-workers. You may have guessed that one of these co-workers, her boss to be precise, just so happened to be the aforementioned uncle. He tells the girl's mother that he has a "spare" Beagle, which he would gladly give to such a talented and tortured young soul. HA!



And so one day, about a week after valentine's day 1997, my sister's pick me up from school. Kristen has muddy paw prints all over her jeans and they are both grinning like mad. Not knowing what to do with myself I drop my things, blindside my 5th grade teacher with a hug and a shriek, and go to meet my dream come true.

The Best of April

Here is some of the best things we've done so far:



Bought a bathroom waste basket
While decorating the bathroom, I decided an elemental feature (beside green glass coordinates, thank you target) would be a copper trashcan. Not such a tall order. Or so I thought. The search for this trash can spanned no less than a month. Such a standard was set that we could not, WE WOULD NOT, settle. (In case you have never set unattainable standards for your bathroom waste basket, and therefore have never lived without one, believe you me, it is a huge inconvenience.) This all climaxed, as these stories often do, with an eBay purchase. So I now have a lovely vintage (dutch I'm told) copper bucket with lid to toss my trash in.


Weird Chicago Tour
For the purpose of acquiring tidbits about Chicago that can later be relayed with thinly veiled smugness to unsuspecting friends and family members, we took a night tour of Chicago. Topics covered included: tragedies, serial killers, the world's fair of 1893, gangsters and other criminals, ghosts and the buildings they haunt. As a rule I abhor large group tours, I find them invasive to the experience. However, this is definately the exception to the rule, and this is why. A) The groups are small- they have to be because you ride around on a converted short bus. B) They are under the cover of darkness. C) They show you and talk about things that are not right in front of you; I mean there is not sign post saying "Hey- here is the sight of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre! Did you know that SEVEN people were shot here execution style?" So I would recommend this to a friend, or to an enemy who doesn't care for morbidity. And rest assured you will never catch me on a segway.
*if you would like to hear more weird facts about Chicago just administer the password "I hear the Merchandise Mart is haunted" to Joe.


Cubs game
Baseball games, yet another activity I was previously not fan of (Man, I am a real dud!). Yet in this case I'm a full convert. It was a little chilly and the Cubs lost but we had a blast! I even drank budweiser (although if you can drink water you can drink budweiser-but I won't discourse on this just here)!
Prior to the ballgame I would claim that I was a Cubs fan because I didn't want to be mistakenly associated with the Sox (as if), but now I'm legit! Let's go Cubbies!!


Blinds make good neighbors
Up until last Saturday we did not have blinds in our living room and the "curtain" in our bed room was an obnoxiously color fleece blanket (I know). I would say the blinds were more for our neighbors than us, because lack of them certainly didn't stop me from dancing Risky Business style to Hall and Oates. So, neighbors, you may thank us by coming out of you apartments and being our friends!!

Here is what May looks like
-Open House Party! May 15th from 1pm on. If you're around stop in!
-Finally finishing the dining room table ensemble (The chairs are done and gorgeous (Thanks Dad!), table is almost there, and we still have to order the bench.)
-Workouts in the park
-Make friends
-Bike to work
-etc