Puppies vs babies

Eleven moths ago, I became consumed by that annoying question, which inevitably plagues all newly married 20-something professionals - what's next? What was one supposed to do with all these highly-developed organizational and management muscles developed during the wedding planning period? Clearly these skills were intended to be a warm-up for even more demanding work a head.

The obvious answer was of course motherhood. In fact, the signs were everywhere - the all-knowing smiles and winks at office baby showers, the "who's next?" that comes with every pregnancy announcement on Facebook. It was clear that I was in that period of life where I need to "mother" something - but what?

After some thought, I came to the conclusion that a puppy is a pretty good starting point. For one thing, it simulates the "death-due-us-apart" exit clause of babies but with a more abbreviated (and digestible) time table. For another, my husband and I were simply not ready for the rigors of full-on parenthood (in fact, it took my DH another 4 months to be talked into even puppy parenthood...more on that later).

Fast-forward to Christmas eve 2010. It's threatening snow and bitterly cold, DH and I are driving across the Brooklyn Bridge and my cashmere coat is covered with carsick from an 8-week old 1.1 pound fur ball of a Pomeranian, whom we have named Figaro. The adventure begins...