I’m not one for the predictable or routine. Astrologically, it could be pinned on the planet of rebellion, Uranus, which sits right on top of my Ascendant, my lens on life. In my chart, Uranus is posited in a fire sign and a fire house. I’m constantly inspired to change things up! Remember my husband; more routine than a mole digging for a place to hide.
So, fast-forward to 2008 and somehow, I convinced my husband to do it again. Those who know me would often comment on my tenacity. I get things done. That’s how I found success in confines of corporate America. I’d find a way around any obstacle be it human or process. That same tenacity figures prominently in being a first-time author of a nine-book series. And yes, we’re getting there but this is the journey, it’s far more important than the destination because you’ll understand how the Creative Voice works.
So, lessons learned from the first fostering experience, this time would be different. Deming was fanatical about the cycle of continuous improvement, doing gap analysis, histograms and all that. My corporate career, draining as it was on my Creative self, was part of a grander plan.
You see, the problem with my first approach to fostering was it was too easy. This time, I had a fail-safe approach, brilliant if you want to call it that, I don’t mind. This time around I’d be flooded with so much ‘change’ that we’d never, EVER adopt another dog. I’d be too overwhelmed to even consider it!
The moment of inspiration had come with a call from Diane. Like all animal rescues, hers was splitting at the seams with intakes. Qualified foster homes were hard to find. She asked if we would foster two dachshund-mix puppies? Diane knew my kids, now aged 12 and 6. They were respectful and compassionate, empathetic to an animal’s soul. Dachshunds are notorious for not getting on well with kids, they like to be in control and kids, by design, are meant to free your inner control freak.
It was the perfect storm. No, let’s call it a situation.
This would be a change-the-world kind of thing, Michael Jackson and Wo-Man in the Mirror. My kids would grow and refine their nurturing skills. Pregnant Dachshund moms and their pups would find a haven, be immersed in the sounds and energy level of childhood with my kids and their friends! We’d have maybe four or five puppies over a year. I mean, who gives up a puppy? Who gives up a pregnant dog?
My barometer was off a bit.
So, two puppies turned into over 100 over the next few years. We always had puppies in the house. You’d be amazed to learn how many puppy mills are still in operation, how many pregnant dogs are abandoned on the side of the road or surrendered to rescues or kill shelters. It’s the same with older dogs and people who move. I often wonder what they do with their kids.
Fostering puppies was hard work yet exuberantly joyful too. We met so many phenomenal people including those who adopted dogs from us, some who I keep in contact with and who have become part of the journey to publishing my book. I just didn’t know where life was leading me then. I was distracted, or maybe it was Divine.