Hershey (Mit out)

Lyndzi had been asking us for a Chihuahua puppy for quite some time. As I had no interest in cleaning up dog poop, I wasn't ready to back her on her request until I REALLY believed that SHE was ready to clean up dog poop - and a couple of months ago she convinced me that she was. I would support her when she would broach the puppy subject with Luis; but he was less convinced about her commitment AND he was concerned abut the cost of care and feeding of a pet; so I didn't fight him on this - yet, as we drove down to Mexico, I nonchalantly said "maybe we'll find a puppy for Lyndzi while we're away..."

When I saw Luis' younger brother Nacho (nickname for Ignacio) he told me that his wife's Chihuahua had had puppies in Sept. Nacho said that they had kept one because she was brown, the smallest, cutest and most playful - they named her Hershey (after the chocolate.) I told Nacho that we shouldn't let Lyndzi see the puppy because she wants one very badly; and of course, doll that he is, he said "we'll she can just have Hershey," to which I replied "Have you met your brother?" Nacho said that Hershey had already been getting her vaccinations, and he was sure that we would have no problem getting the necessary documents to take her home.

Nacho brought Hershey over the next day; and I must say - I think we ALL fell in love with her.

Luis relented and agreed that Lyndzi could have the puppy.

We got all of the necessary paperwork, and even had it translated; and then WE PRAYED. Even though everything was in order to take her into the U.S. you just never know what's going to happen when it comes to Customs & Immigration.

We had a wonderful ride home from Puerto Vallarta. Hershey included; (she was the perfect little traveller.) We were making good time UNTIL we got to the border in Nogales. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for close to 5 hours. When we finally reached our customs agent; he looked exhausted. He said in a barely audible voice "How long were you waiting?" Luis politely said "About 4, 4 1/2 hours" and then Nicky said "It was 5 hours;" so I said "Nicky said it was 5 hours;" and then the customs agent shook his head and muttered "5 hours - just go;" and he pointed to drive through. That was it - welcome to America Hershey.

So their you have it - now we are the happy family of an authentic Mexican Chihuahua. I say authentic because even though Nacho and his wife speak English to me; they DO NOT speak English at home; so Hershey understands Spanish - NOT ENGLISH! I have no worries though; she'll probably be bi-lingual before my kids - LOL.

Now I must say, I find it kind of amusing that Luis asks ME questions about dogs, because this is a subject that I have very little knowledge of. Schmuley and I had really wanted a dog when we were kids. I remember that we got a beagle from the pound; her name was Lady. Queen of REMEMBERING THINGS that I usually am; for the life of me, I can't remember why we got rid of her, I just know that we didn't have her long. We then got a couple of kittens, but we still longed for a dog - you know, mans best friend and all that. We wanted a dog that we could play with and cuddle; and then one day, Richie Howell must have gotten a wild hair up his ass because he actually got us a dog; however, he got us a SHOW DOG! Enter - Tashi Sen Kai (translation - Blessed Lion Dog; according to Richie Howell.) OH yes, Tashi was a Lhasa Apso and to say that she was a Bitch is not just being ironic. Tashi was not lovable in the least, she was temperamental, and cold and to top it all off, the SHOW DOG, failed puppy kindergarten. Yup, Richie Howell made us take a class so that we could learn to SHOW Tashi (not that he himself ever went to the class.) I'll never forget the one show that I took her to. I walked her (best I could with her biting the lead) and she won best in breed. I was Really excited, until I found out that she was the only Lhasa Apso there. She then went on to win best in Class (and there actually were a couple of other dogs in this category) and so I had to walk her in Best in show, but alas she did not win. I don't think that we ever tried to show her again after that; but she was never that lovable, cuddly, best friend that we had hoped for.

As I was thinking back about Tashi, I had an epiphany of sorts. I thought to myself - maybe one of the reasons Tashi never liked us that much is because she could sense that we were disappointed with her. I mean she CLEARLY was NOT what we wanted. We wanted a dog to play Frisbee and sleep in our beds; not a little pisser who's only activity was getting brushed - woohoo! So, maybe we were somewhat responsible for the lack of love that she showed us; whereas, Hershey could not be more of what we wanted. She's playful, and cuddly and loving; AND as much as I believe in "signs" I think that my Nana (deceased maternal grandmother;) may have intervened on Lyndzi's behalf.

When Nana used to go to the Pines for the summer, she would play cards (Rummy) morning, noon, and night. I would stop in the card room several times a day to see her and give her a kiss; and she would always seem to have a stash of Hershey bars that she had gotten while she was in there. I don't know if they just gave them out, or she bought them (highly doubtful;) but she was a Hershey hoarder and I NEVER saw her eat one. Nana was from Russia, and she had a bit of a Russian, Yiddish accent and I can recall her clear as day saying to me (and my friends,) "Do you want a Hershey's?" And if You answered "Yes," she would always say "Mit almonds or Mitout." (Mit being the equivalent of With in English.)

Now Queen of COLOR that I am, I have a slightly difficult time accepting a reddish brown dog as a "Hershey," because to me a "Hershey" should be a chocolate brown; but I'm just gonna flow with this one, because I REALLY believe that Nana saw to it that this time we all got our Hershey - Mit out; and she will be the PERFECT little pet for our family.

Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING