Friday dawned and I wasn't feeling well, but we herded our way to IKEA anyway as we needed a few things-some cheap lights until we re-design the kitchen, a bed for Jeff, the typical selection of a dozen candles you can't seem to leave IKEA without. While we were in the warehouse section of the shop, looking for the trestles to form the base of a desk, Angus' voicemail jittered. He dialed in while I found an enormous long stuffed dragon which I wrapped extravagantly around my neck, practicing saying: 'I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.' At one point he turned to me, smiling, gathering his arm around me.

'We have the house,' he whispered, taking in the giant dragon around my neck.

We have the house.

We drove immediately to the estate agents where he got the keys. It took 2 minutes from the time he went in to the estate agents to the time he came out. 2 minutes. Our whole future cost us more money than I can imagine and 2 minutes.

He had an envelope in his hands with a number of gold keys. We drove to our house and opened the door, breathless and giggling. We went in, and loved the place all over again.

Some rooms were bigger than we remembered. There was a strong smell of cigarette smoke and golden retriever, a smell that a fresh coat of paint will get rid of. The enormous garden has been tidied and flowers are springing up.

We have the house.

We dumped off our car full of IKEA things and went to the shop, where we bought two bottles of wine to give the vet tech. Then we headed down the road, me more excited than a redneck at a Sonic double chicken sandwich sale, and got our boy. His sister goes to her new home in Bournemouth on Sunday (which I am so pleased about. I got little upset thinking that was the last time he'll ever see her, but I guess this is how things are in doggie-land.)

Gorby, it turns out, gets horribly car-sick. Badly. He has to be given child car-sick tablets before getting in the car, which seem to work. I think it's a function of being neglected-he also has problems with cars passing him, strollers, bicycles, even traffic cones are things he's never been around and so has to get used to.

We drive home-him salivating horribly all down my arm as the car sickness sets in. We make it home before he vomits and brace ourselves for a reaction with the girls. The cats were raised with a dog, a collie named Ed that liked to chase them from time to time. We set Gorby down on the inside, wondering if he too will be their one canine source for Nordic Track.

Maggie peers down from the stairs. 'Right. You can just take that thing right back from where it came from,' her expression reads.

Here's him and Maggie checking each other out. Gorby, dude? Please just remember-she can kick your ass any day of the week and she won't even break a sweat.

Mumin wanders up. 'Cheese,' she says, rubbing up against the dog.

The dog cowers before the cats and then sticks his nose in their asses, the doggy 'Hey, what's up, dude?'

Twenty-four hours on and Maggie's a bit insecure-she slept on the bed which she only ever does when we come back from being away. She doesn't seem to mind the dog, but she is pretty annoyed. Mumin the Village Idiot is unaffected. Gorby and I lay on the floor together and Mumin walks up, laying down with us.

'Hi Mumin,' I say sweetly and pet her. 'I'm glad you're here!'

She purrs and rolls over. 'Lavender,' she replies.

Gorby is turning into a bit of a Mama's Boy. He sits on my lap. If I lie down, he lies down on me. He follows me from room to room and acts as though the world has come to a short and painful screeching halt if he is left alone-I know puppies have separation anxiety but this is a whole new level. He can be in his kennel as long as we're in the room but once he can't see us it sounds as though someone's removing his puppy nails one by one via way of a knitting needle. He has a little blue pigment bit on his left eye, which I love to look at. He sleeps through the night and hasn't had a single accident since he got here. His tail has started wagging this morning (a change from it being tucked under him) and Angus looks at him with wonder and remarks that he's the most exceptionally well-behaved dog he's ever met, although he has to be kept in the kitchen while we load the car to drop things off (held in by cardboard moving boxes. I am resourceful! Ha!).

And I am in love with him. People adore him-our neighbors met him and have begged to puppy-sit him. Strangers stop us and remark at how unusual he looks. Everywhere we go he causes a stir and I am so proud of him I always burst.

We haven't taken the girls to the new house yet as we only just ripped up the fuck nasty carpets this morning. Since the floors will have to be sanded with power sanders it will be pretty frightening for them, so since we have the rental house we're living in for another two weeks it makes sense to drag out living in our little rented house until the big house is ready. That means that girls stay here until the scary noises are over.

The carpets? Revolting. When we started ripping up the shag carpet it basically exploded as it disintegrated into what is no doubt some kind of household germ warfare. The newspaper beneath the carpet revealed it had been laid on February 19, 1985, but it sure hadn't held up well. As I dragged up the corner the green plastic lining basically turned to a revolting dust. If I ever do manage to have a baby I wonder if it will be born with psychic abilities, as I inhaled that nasty shit, and I don't even get to say that in a funny 'And guess what I did with a cigar!' kind of way.

We tore out the carpets in three of the rooms and have to decide if we want to take out the carpet in the hallway, too. The floors need to be sanded next weekend, and we have the paint ready for most of the rooms-we are both relatively useless at figuring out what colors go together so the brochures that the companies distribute are like caffeine to us-without them, life and civilization as we know it would crack.

The proof, if we needed it, is already there. Gorby loves the new house as much as we do. He runs around the downstairs with his tail wagging. We run around the garden, him kicking my ass and not even bothering to be humble about it. The house is far from done-we have so much stuff to move it makes us exhausted just thinking about it. The phone line has been turned on but the line quality is shit so any minute now we'll lose internet access as dial-up isn't possible until the line is fixed. We have painting to be done, a shower to be installed, and floors to be sanded. A huge load of deliveries come on Tuesday-a bed, a fridge, a dishwasher-and I'll have to be there for them (and our savings accounts now have tumbleweeds blowing through them). Gorby still needs to continue with the housebreaking (but zero accidents so far!) All this and it all has to be worked in around work commitments and occasional business meetings in London. All this stress, time pressure, and incredible expenditure.

And through it all I am so happy it should be illegal.

-H.

PS-house pictures coming, only they're on the other camera which is conveniently located at the other house.

PPS-yes, we've curled up on the floor of the living room together for a nap. SO?

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 08:59 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
Post contains 1408 words, total size 8 kb.

1 Ok dude. These pictures of him are making my already swollen ovaries hurt. He's my new boyfriend.

Posted by: statia at March 25, 2006 09:11 PM (56gUM)

2 You sound absolutely blissful. "Hearing" your happiness makes me happy. And Gorby is nothing if not adorable.

Posted by: Lisa at March 25, 2006 09:11 PM (ELUjU)

3 That dog is such a heartbreaker. Glad he is settling in well.

Posted by: donna at March 25, 2006 10:19 PM (tN5Gk)

4 gorby is a love. i'm so happy to know that he has found some people to love him, people for him to love. all dogs should be so lucky.

Posted by: anna at March 25, 2006 11:56 PM (yqelu)

5 A huge congratulations on getting the keys to your new house. It won't be long before those empty rooms, bare walls, and such are replaced with the warmth that creates a home! How exciting!

Posted by: Dylan at March 26, 2006 01:04 AM (a0Ujf)

6 I swear to god I want to kiss my computer screen-Gorby is so freakin' cute-that last picture is fantastic (I just love a sleeping puppy's face). I am so, so happy for you Helen I could just burst. Sitting here smiling like a goon a person would think that it was me who just got the keys to a fabulous new house with a new pup to share it with. You sound like you are a million miles over the moon-and that is fucking great. Congrats again-to the whole family! PS-good idea holding off bringing the girls over to the new house. Years back when my dad sanded the floors our 18 pound cat seemingly came out of nowhere, jumped on my dad's back, and sunk his teeth into my dad's neck. Guess the sander must have pissed him off. Better safe than sorry I always say.

Posted by: Teresa at March 26, 2006 05:11 AM (zf0DB)

7 Yay! Everything sounds fabulous! except the carsick bit...

Posted by: caltechgirl at March 26, 2006 05:50 PM (jOkK0)

8 Congrats on the new house and puppers! Gorby looks like such a sweatheart.

Posted by: Lee at March 26, 2006 07:44 PM (PYZOC)

9 How cool! Can't wait for more pictures of the house! If Gorby's separation anxiety continues you might want to consider medication. One of my dogs is on Clomipramine (sp?!) for anxiety. When left alone in her crate (as she is not safe to leave alone wandering the house) she will chew on the plastic. She used to also fill the bottom with drool, but the meds have limited her to just a little bit of chewing. It has been very nice for all of us.

Posted by: Erin at March 26, 2006 10:11 PM (QqbWe)

10 If I weren't on the other side of the pond I would come and help you with the new house and puppy in a hot minute.

Posted by: Donna at March 26, 2006 10:12 PM (Aanzg)

11 WooHoo!!!! I'm so happy for y'all!

Posted by: amber at March 27, 2006 12:07 AM (OlE7u)

12 Gorby is very intelligent looking! I expect he already knows not to pee in the house. I am very happy for you, Helen. Everything is falling into place, it seems.

Posted by: Judy Carrino at March 27, 2006 12:29 AM (2+7OT)

13 You jumped the gun with the carpet pullin up stuff - nasty old carpets make perfect drop clothes for painting/spackling/sanding...

Posted by: Clancy at March 27, 2006 01:28 PM (JxYJc)

14 long time lurker - love your writing... If the house smells like cigarette smoke, don't forget to paint the ceilings!!! That's where it lingers, especially wherever you can see yellow staining. yours truly the painting contractor's daughter) PS if Gorby's (SO SO CUTE - I used to have an aussie shepard with very similar markings) adorable nose does not darken, make sure he gets sunblock on the pink spots. They can get "skin" cancer on their pink noses.

Posted by: ima at March 27, 2006 02:58 PM (5ubAZ)

15 I'm so happy for you!!! (And I never use extra exclamations) Gorby looks adorable... you're so lucky to have each other. Enjoy the new house! Don't you wish you could bottle happiness like a perfume and use little drops of it for when you're down?

Posted by: Hannah at March 27, 2006 06:55 PM (ImQx2)

16 Welcome home Gorby and congrats!!

Posted by: Amy S. at March 27, 2006 08:04 PM (XQ7n7)

17 That second photo is fantastic. Love it!

Posted by: Buffy at March 27, 2006 10:11 PM (EcywL)

18 If I were Angus I'd be jealous, especially after that last picture.

Posted by: diamond dave at March 27, 2006 10:35 PM (0gB9X)

19 If you're sanding the floors yourself, two words: "dust masks".

Posted by: Sigivald at March 27, 2006 10:40 PM (4JnZM)

20 That last picture with you and Gorby getting ready to nap? The one with your beautiful Mona Lisa smile and his gorgeous shiny ears? That picture? Made me cry, I'm so happy for you. I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU, BABY!!!

Posted by: Margi at March 28, 2006 03:25 AM (BRtaN)

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