Milk breath and puppies are gross.

Especially if it's milk without lactose. Blah.

So, we're getting a puppy. She's super cute, but she's a puppy. Puppies can be gross.

I grew up in a house where animals are outside, people are inside, and fish are in bowls.

And I should go ahead and tell you, ye judgers, before you judge me and say, "well you must not love animals enough if you didn't let them in your house..." or "real animal lovers don't need to subject their animals to the harsh elements..." and "does your family hate animals?" Ok, naysayers, be aware that I grew up surrounded by pastures and woods and lakes. And by saying this, I can tell you that not very many people have the land to have (deep breath):
a horse, a pony, 3 chickens, a rooster, 8 pigeons, 2 pigs, a goat, 3 fish, a rabbit, over 20 cats, and 7 dogs.

Don't tell me that we don't love animals. We freakin' love animals.

Anyway, all this to say, we are keeping Ellie (the puppy, duh) inside...and I'm freaking out a bit.

I'm extremely OCD when it comes to my house. I like everything in its place and I'll admit that it's easier to be lazy when the house stays relatively straightened up. There's no poop the clean off the floor, no icky toys to touch, no constant wiping with some "animal friendly" cleaner when I see the slighted bit of something that I can't identify. I grew up not needing to worry about those things. When I would go to a friend's house, I could smell their dog before I saw it. And that was gross. When I would hang out in their living room, I saw the stains from their dog on the carpet. And that was gross. Puppies are gross.

I don't want a gross house. And that's why I'm worried.

I guess I'll have to trust my husband. And my in-laws have cats and dogs in their house and his mother maintains a perfectly clean house. So I trust my husband due to his mom's OCD-ness. And yes, our OCD-ness brings us closer together as a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law family unit.

But Ellie is the CUTEST puppy. Maybe I can forgive her for ruining my house. Or not. Only time will tell.

But I loved her at first sight.

But I also love my clean house.

But this dog is awesome.

...

Ok, I lied, my fish were not in bowls, but in tanks. And those vase things with the plant growing on top.