Everyone Loves a Good Martini

Be warn: This post may contain cheesy and sentimental rambling, but it’s on my mind.

Yesterday, I took the pup-pups to their doggie hotel, as I was leaving early this morning to go to Ohio for the holiday weekend. When I got back to the apartment last night, I spent the rest of the evening wandering between packing and cleaning. With Mark gone, and now the pups gone too, I was super depressed.

I finally told myself to pull it together as it was 9 p.m. and I still hadn’t packed (I HATE IT!). It was then I realized how I probably wouldn’t be in Miami if it wasn’t for Martini (Disclaimer: Morgan is just as important to me, but Martini and I have been through a lot in the last four years, so he will be the focus. But Morgan the Clown has a very special and very large piece of my heart).

Martini-dog

When I got Martini, I was in a not-so-good place in my life. I was extremely depressed: I hated my job and felt like I was going nowhere. I had been so driven in college, but a year out and I was not only lost, I lost ambition. Somehow the little guy brought me out of it. Even though I never thought of myself as a “dog mom,” he gave me some purpose to each day. And slowly purpose in other areas of my life came.

Puppy Martini

If it wasn’t for Martini, I wouldn’t have joined eHarmony and I wouldn’t have met Mark. One night, as I was talking to myself Martini, he jumped off the couch and went to his bed.

Martini and Me

Was I that boring? It was never my goal to met someone, let alone fall in love with someone when I joined eHarmony. I had just finished a bartending job, and was SO OVER meeting guys that way. Most of my friends were dating guys who moved to Cincinnati from elsewhere, so they didn’t have many friends to set me up with. And I hadn’t joined a church yet. Online dating site were become somewhat commonplace, so I decided to see what it was all about.

Anyway, so Martini convinced me I need to at least try to put myself out there. He also made me braver. My phobia of living alone and sleeping in a apartment/house/etc. alone slowly dissipated. Even though he was only about 8 lbs. (now, 13 lbs. … oops!), it just felt better having him by my side. I also knew that no matter how sucky my day was I got to open the door and see is silly-big-eared-face looking up at me. The peace he brought me earned him the nickname,“Buddha.”

Halloween-Martini, wearing a costume banana on his head

He’s very unassuming and low-maintaince. He wants to be next to you, but isn’t bothersome. He’s usually skid-ish (due to the home he was rescued from), but is a good judge of character in people. I will never forget, after an early morning of volunteer work, Mark was taking a nap as I showered. I came into my room to find Mark asleep and Martini had snuck on the bed and was curled up against him. Mark had Martini’s approval.

Packing Martini

The move to Miami would have been nearly impossible had Martini not been there. Mark left a few days after we moved in. He actually left the morning I started school. I got lost after dropping him off at the airport and never made it to class. A sobbing tearful car ride, I made it home. I think I cried almost everyday for two weeks. I missed home, I missed my friends, I missed my parents, I missed Mark, I missed my church, I missed Kroger’s salad bar … you name it, I missed it!

Morgan and Martini love

While Martini doesn’t do too well with crying girls, he would at least sit next to me on the couch. And having him with me brought some routine to my life in disarray. Once again he was my Buddha (and sometimes my clown; he would occasionally get stuck in the clothes bins kept under the bed. I would come home, call him and have to track down the jingle the tags on his collar made).

WHHHHYYYY?

Again, he also made me braver. He LOVES running around, preferably in a yard. And even though he is little, high-rise apartment life did not agree with him. I had to brave Miami traffic and the fact I could get lost (something I hate) to find dog parks and beaches for Tini to let-loose.

As hard as it’s been moving down here, I would not be here this long if it wasn’t for Martini.

Maybe it’s the three-hour layover, maybe it’s the fact I’m on the verge of “Crazy Dog Lady,” but I believe he is a gift from God. He’s loved me when I didn’t love myself, I’ve relied on him for strengthen when I thought I was weak, and he’s been my “counselor” when I was losing my sanity. That’s a lot to ask from a little dog, and he’s fulfilled those “responsibilities” with ease … which is why I call him Buddha.

"the Buddha"