I'm so glad this thread was discovered, and wish I had read it before. Yorkietalk is a great site, and I enjoy spending time here. Thanks Fast Eddie!
You can see by my join date, that I found Yorkietalk in November of 2005. Before then, I wouldn't have had the time to even think about being on a forum like this. I'm 40 (yikes) and have recently turned my life upside down.
I think I owe that in a large part to my girl, Ginger (the reason I found this site).
I got married to a wonderful guy when we were both 20 (we recently celebrated our 20th anniversary!), and seven years later opened my own business. While it became successful (after the initial struggle), I realize now that all of my best memories are of the first 7 years of my marriage, because everyday after that became about the business...I don't think I relaxed, I mean really relaxed the entire time. A few years back, I lost my shihtzu girl who had joined our family shortly after hubby and I were married. I was devastated, but realized I didn't have the time or mental capacity to deal with a puppy. When I started to finally want to get one, I was amazed at the fact that nearly 2 years had gone by...where were all the days going? I decided to make a change, and we began by looking for my girl. Hubby was worried she'd be ignored (I often left the house before 6 am and arrived home 8 pm or later), so I promised I would take her to the office with me AND enroll in training classes. I began to take time to enjoy little things, like walking Ginger in the middle of the day (all those years before Ginger I only remember taking an actual lunch break twice!), taking a break and playing with her in the office, and joining a training class. This was October 2004. Did you ever take a deep breath in the middle of an overwhelming situation? Ginger was my deep breath. I began to look at my life, and realized I needed a change. Talked to hubby (who has always been incredibly supportive) and we decided to sell the business. Well it took us until October 2005. You can see by my join date, that I found Yorkietalk shortly thereafter!
I've enrolled in school full-time and am pursuing a lifelong dream. Because of my previous college credits, I will be graduating in June 2007. I'll be 41.
My life is so much more well-rounded now. I'm making friends (before, all of my "social" contacts had been employees and customers...) I'm getting to know my neighbors, reconnecting with my husband, and working part-time. My mixed-breed (who is now 15, we think) is having a much better life. He was always well-cared for, but I've found extra energy to spend on him and he seems 5 years younger. He even tries to play with Ginger. Of course, Ginger can no longer go with me to the "office" (my classes & part-time job), but I still make her and my other animals a priority and we spend lots of time together.
So, if I seem incredibly devoted to my girl, I am. And I'm grateful to Yorkietalk for being there for me when I found myself at home with no place I needed to be in November/December (b-4 starting back to school).
I feel like I'm back!
Those of you who made it through this lengthy post, thanks for sticking with it! I've enjoyed reading everyone's post, many of the names are familiar and it's great to learn more about the faces behind the "names".