A Confession

We put our house on the market last week. It was a crazy busy week of painting, cleaning, organizing, and dealing with all of those little things that you think "I'll get around to that someday..." (like the missing piece of trim in the front room) and all of the sudden you need to do it, ASAP. But, it all got done (thanks to endless hours of work by my Dad, help from good friends, and a husband who came home from work, to work almost every day). It looks pretty darn nice around here, if I do say so myself. Last night I sat in my magazine-perfect living room with some candles lit and thought "this will be kind of hard to leave..."
Because we're trying to sell the house, Charlie-dog has been living with James' brother and sister-in-law. That way I don't have to vacuum twice a day, and scramble to find somewhere for him to go when our agent calls to say someone would like to see the house this evening, when James and I are both at work, neither of us able to get the dog out of the house.
Here's the confession:
I don't miss Charlie. I like not having a dog around.
It's been nice not to have to carry around a lint roller and de-dog myself every time I get out of the car; nice not to have to vacuum daily, nice not to have to feel guilty about being too busy for walks, nice not to push past a large, furry, four-legged friend with an armful of groceries.
I mentioned this to James this morning. He was appalled.
"But! But!...you like Charlie more than you like not having him around! You must!"
I don't know if I do...
I do love Charlie. He's a great dog. In fact, it's been said by a couple of people that if Charlie didn't shed, he'd be the perfect dog. He's friendly, fun to play with, and obedient. But he's sooooo hairy. And big. And...you get the picture.

(ok...so, I might miss that happy face and wagging tail greeting me when I come in the door. Maybe just a bit...)