Your MN Mortgage Mom's Blog

A few years ago, we lost a friend, a companion and a family member.  His name was Pup and he was a beautiful, 11 year old black lab.  Kidney disease took him.  He was incredibly special to us and the loss was sooo hard.  I remember the final days...his body was so weak, but his mind was just like it was when he was 2.  I couldn't let go just yet and I filled an air mattress, covered it with lots of comfy blankets and that's where Pup and I slept, cuddled and spent our final time together.  When the day came to say goodbye, we knew he was ready.  He would look at me on that mattress and say, "Mom, I'm too tired to fight anymore."  Uuugh...that was one of the worst days of my life.  I still reflect on his beautiful life...sometimes with tears and sometimes with smiles.  We loved him dearly and still miss him terribly.

And my husband and I said never again.  The loss was too hard to go through a second time.

Well, that didn't last long.  Our home was too lonely.  It was just too quiet.  Our kids said, "How bout a puppy?  P-L-E-A-S-E!!!"  A puppy!  Do you know how much work they are?  No way!

For any of you who have kids, well, they can be quite pursuasive and in their world, yes means yes and no means maybe.  They continued to "work" us...nothing like hitting mom and dad when we're down!  Our hearts were still broken and those little stinkers knew it...they preyed on our weakness.

So, a puppy it was!  What kind should we get?  Ha!  Not a cute little terrier that I could galavant around in my foo-foo bag to all my closings.  Not even another lab...we didn't want to feel like we were trying to replace Pup.  How about an Old English Mastiff?  "Mom, they are so cute and we can have lots of fun with it!"  Are you nuts???  Those things are HUGE!  But I couldn't help myself...I went straight to my handy dandy laptop and started doing the research...

The next thing we knew, we were driving to Cambridge, MN to pick up our cute little 8 week old Mastiff from a Mastiff breeder.  And cute he was!!!  11 pounds of wrinkly skin and baby slobber to boot.

That was 2 years ago.  Now, at 2 1/2 years old, everything is gotten REALLY BIG.  Big body (lordy, this guy is almost 200 pounds), big paws (or should I say massive), big slobber (our home is littered with bibs to catch it before it slings), even big poops.  Okay, I could have probably skipped the last visual, but dang, everything about this wonderful beast is BIG.  Sorry if I offended anyone.  Small digression...we keep teasing our next door neighbors, who are one of our dearest friends and non-pet owners that we're going to build sculptures out of the stuff...Ha!  Let me just say, it's a whole lot of poop.  Dad's daily clean up job...

Back to the 4-legged child.  His name is Mic.  He's cute, he's funny and he's a whole lot of work.  First came the potty training.  For all you who have a puppy, invest in Nature's Miracle.  It IS a miracle...the stuff WORKS.  We now own stock in the company :).  Let me tell you, potty training was not fun.  Mic just didn't understand...he was confused by the whole process, but we were successful...2 weeks and he figured it out.  Kind of reminds me of my First Time Home Buyer clients!  Now don't get me wrong...I love first time home buyers...they are my niche.  I really enjoy working with these people.  The lack of understanding and confusion about the whole process is what grounds me...keeps me to the basics with patience, kindness and understanding of my own.  Kind of like Mic and the whole potty training business.

And he whines...he whines when he is bored, he whines when he wants attention.  He's the perfect little toddler.  And when I want him to do something (we're STILL working on obedience and tricks) he just looks at me like "you're kidding, you really want me to do this?"  Think about all those underwriters out there that get paid the big bucks to make all of our lives a little bit miserable.  They want this, they want that...conditions, conditions.  I call my wonderful mortgage client and I can feel that look right through the telephone wires.  "Are you kidding?  You really want me to do this?"  Don't kill the messenger...we've got a doozy of an underwriter on our hands...we all take a deep breath and work through it together.

What makes it all worthwhile?  His love and appreciation.  When he wags his tail because he's so happy to see us.  When he slobbers on our face to show us his love.  It's unconditional.  When the day is done, all the work, the headaches and frustration melt away.  He adores us and shows it in so many wonderful ways.

I have been blessed with so many wonderful mortgage clients throughout the years.  Through the mutual patience, admiration and appreciation for hard work well done.  The appreciation of my clients does not go un-noticed.  It's what makes me tick and move forward.  It is rewarding and fills me up with warm fuzzies.  Just like Mic...warm fuzzies and a little slobber to boot.