I've been kicking around some stuff in my head lately and decided that it might be helpful to write down a few thoughts.  Mainly, I'm trying to decide if it would be better to find someone new to date, or get a puppy.

2009 has been quite a ride for me so far.  My boyfriend and I broke up in January. Then my dad had a medical emergency; he's still recovering but doing well.  Next I break my wrist.  And, finally, my computer crashes three times in two weeks when I'm in the middle of a big research product at work, for my new job that I started right before Christmas.  For whatever reason, I've taken most of these challenges in stride and have been grateful that I've just been able to focus on myself, my children, my family and my new job.

But then, like always, I start thinking that there is something more for me--something greener on the other side of the fence. Something that could make life a little more fun for me and the kids.  What I can't for the life of me figure out, is if that something has two legs, or four paws.  So, in the interest of figuring it out, I thought I'd make a list of the pros and cons.  For those of you who have someone special in your life, of either the four-pawed or two-legged variety, please let me know if I am forgetting anything so I can make sure and make the best decision.

In my mind, the pros of getting a puppy include:  unconditional love, entertainment, a walking buddy.  They are loyal, protective, cute, funny, the kids would enjoy one, they don't leave the toilet seat up, if they nudge you in bed you can just scratch behind their ears and they will go back to sleep, they are not babies when they are sick.  The cons include: dirty paws, being awaken at 5:06 in the morning (I know this to be a fact because we dog-sat over the weekend), chewed shoes, plants dug up, needing to pick up the dog litter in the yard, vet costs, kennel costs, dog hair that needs to be vacuumed or swept up constantly.

The pros of a new guy can be awfully similar (except many do leave the toilet seat up and they act a little differently in bed), but it's a little trickier.  With dogs, if you do enough research, you can pretty much figure out the basic temperament that you are going to get.  For example there are breeds that are more social, or more protective or working dogs. With guys this can be a little more challenging to figure out.  What you think is a working guy could actually turn out to be a more laid back, docile guy.  Or, you could get a guy who is overly-social or too protective.  The thing is, though, it's hard to know from the get-go.  Just like a puppy does not usually start to really settle down and settle in for about a year, you don't really know  a guy's true colors until about the same amount of time has passed. 

Pros of the right guy, for me, though, would probably include:  entertaining, smart, cute, funny, loyal, they shovel (or snow blow), they cook (might as well shoot high), they like to travel, they mow the lawn, they are hard-working, they remove their muddy shoes at the door. (And thanks to Jeanne, for reminding me--they can remove mice from mouse traps!) The cons include: they can be time-consuming, they want you to cook for them, do their laundry, they are not always content to let you sleep when you are tired, they may not agree that you need another pair of black shoes, a new leather couch in the family room, or a girl's weekend in New York.

I know that I've only touched the surface of this topic.  So if you have anything to add to get me off the fence one way or another, I'd appreciate it.  The kids and I recently dog-sat for a Teddy Bear dog named Mindy. She was cute as all get out.  Miranda loved her.  Mindy loved me and shadowed me for two days.  Apparently it's typical for this kind of dog to latch on to one person and I reminded her most of her mother, I'm sure.  It was definitely fun to have a dog in the house again.  But I wasn't too crazy about the orange puke stain I found on the dining room carpet after she left. 

When I mentioned my favorite blog a couple of weeks ago it unleashed this crazy amount of hits to my blog.  By sheer coincidence, I mentioned reading "Single in the Suburbs" that morning and by the next day it had disappeared.  All of a sudden, all these readers like me were searching for Sarah and by the magic of Google, they were finding my blog on Milwaukeemoms.com instead.

It got me thinking that there were a lot of women (and maybe some men), like me, who could totally relate to Sarah and her single parenting lifestyle.  Clearly I am not the only one following her ups and downs!

Because my e-mail is a bit like my office, minus the piles, I have messages that are still sitting there that I never bothered to delete.  At the time, I just saved all my Match e-mails to a folder.  I just went back through the archives and had a few good laughs.

For example, read this e-mail that I got from a guy who I had literally sent one e-mail to, asking him what he liked to do for fun in his spare time (I kid you not, I am not making this up!):

"I enjoy many things for fun...kissing and all that goes with it is definitely on the list, and downhill skiing, the shooting sports, golf, tennis, riding my motorcycle (with you), riding ATV's (I have one for you too), swimming, hiking, and so much more...I also enjoy doing things that include the kids...the list is endless...Do you like to kiss?"

Puking was more what I felt like doing after I read that!

Another interesting response was one I got from a man who lived in Portugal.  He seemed nice, but I thought that the distance would be an immediate issue that would be hard to overcome.  Plus I thought his comment about meeting his family was just a little too bizarre for me.

I was thinking it would be fun to hear about some of your more interesting responses!  Since I am no longer on Match and have not been for quite awhile, I'm no longer living Sarah's life in that respect.  If she ever gets serious with any of her possible suiters, then we'll be on the same page.  But none-the-less I still find Sarah's experiences entertaining and I'm sure she is not the only one with stories to tell!

I got my Sara Susannah Katz fix tonight thanks to Sophie and Donna who sent me the link!  Thanks to all of you who also sent me the link before now.  Since the articles had stopped at installment 64 I hadn't held out much hope for the Match.com site; but what a great surprise to finally find installment 65 posted there. 

If you haven't found installment 65 yet, click here.

Enjoy!  (And make sure and read it before the rest of my blog if you want to be surprised!)

Now we finally know that Chris did, indeed, break it off with Sara.  It didn't come as a huge surprise to me since he really didn't seem that in to her.  And I definitely think she is better off without him. 

Not to mention that we are better off without him--he didn't exactly add a lot of interesting dialog to her blog!   

A lot of their interactions were almost painful to read and they couldn't have been too much fun to experience in real life.  I'm not sure when her next installment will be on this new site.  Wouldn't it be great if she upped it to once a week?  Regardless, I will be staying tuned and rooting for her as she continues her search.

I just got finished reading my favorite blog:  "Single in the Suburbs."  Click here if you want to check it out.  This writer, a divorced mom, posts a blog entry every other Monday about her dating life on-line.  I stumbled across her blog a couple of years ago and I have been keeping tabs on her love life ever since.  I find her to be witty, brutally honest and just plain entertaining.

And I think we have a lot in common.

I tried match.com.  My ex-husband had been moved out of the house for over a year and our court date was set.  He had been dating someone for about 10 months and I had accepted that there was no chance of us getting back together. (Yeah, I know...slow learner.)  I had stumbled upon Match.com by accident one day when I thought I was clicking a link to an article, and instead found myself on this online dating site.

After ignoring the invitation to "try it three days for free" or maybe it was "look all you want," I left the site and thought that maybe I had gone temporarily insane.  But then I was back a couple of days later and decided what the heck, it couldn't hurt. I really wanted to meet someone to go out to dinner with or see a movie. 

I've been on and off that site a couple of times in the last few years.  I haven't been on since last fall and don't plan on checking it out again. (I'm happily dating someone.)  But at the time, it was great.  I realized that though I never came across any single, eligible men that I wanted to date, in my day-to-day life--they were definitely out there.  As a divorced parent, it had renewed my hope that I did have a future I would be able to move on to, when for so long I could never envision it.

If you are newly divorced, and wondering where in the world you can meet eligible singles, you should check it out. And don't forget about the blog I told you about.  I find it so entertaining; and if you like it, you can read 64 installments right up front.  I hate that I have to wait two weeks to hear what this midwestern mom is up to next!  Personally I think it is a no-brainer that the guy she is dating now is not for her...