Vacation without the dogs blues

I'm in Arizona right now visiting my parents. It's beautiful, relaxing and best of all DRY here (sorry to everyone back in rainy Vancouver). But I definitely miss my boys. This is the first time I've had to leave Kepler ever, and I haven't left Tycho since he had his hip surgery. Luckily they have their favorite uncle (my brother Stephen) staying with them.

In Arizona I always do a lot of shopping. I've been to a couple malls already. Got some shoes, some nice tops, but my best purchase of all...

...a little chocolate chihuahua.

Yesterday I took a page out of Jody and Erika's book and made a trip to the local animal control. This shelter receives anywhere from 100 to 200 dogs and cats a day! Unfortunately because of lack of space, money and other resources this means that they do routinely euthanize animals that don't get adopted. That is where I came across this little guy.

I sprung him from the joint and I'm planning on finding him a great home in Vancouver. It was hard to pick just one dog to take home, there were so many to choose from. He is currently being called Sketch, but that changes almost hourly. Definitely taking name ideas. Other names on the list are Rico, Sanchez, Oakley, Corona, Durango, the list goes on. He's about a year old, chihuahua mix. He's the chocolate version of Paco, one ear up, one ear down, and only 9 lbs.

Of course a trip to Arizona isn't complete without a trip a local Good Will store (my parents favorite place to get good deals). I got a small dog kennel, dog dishes, a dog towel, dog toy and blanket all for about $10 at the Good Will.

Today I also went to see my house in El Mirage. My tenants were very nice, but also a bit crazy. They have two 30 lb cats, and a 30 lb shih tzu mix dog named Princess. Need I explain more. I took lots of photos that I will post another time.