A Small Good-Bye

I've been kinda down lately. About a week ago I really did find a dog that I wanted to adopt- I think she would have been a great fit for our family, and she is just the cutest little English Bulldog! Our landlord had OK'd a small dog about 6 months ago, but when I called this time he said he'd have to talk it over, and then called back saying no. We offered everything we could think of to convince him that we have the best interest of his property at heart. This is our home, after all, and we take good care of it and aren't interested in having it trashed. We offered more security money, and to have the dog wear booties indoors (thus making it impossible for her to damage the wood floors). And still it was no.

I'm sad because I'd really fallen a bit in love with this dog, and imagined her in our life, sharing our home and activities. And it's hard to let that go, even if it was imaginary. I'm sad because I feel frustrated that our high rent, impeccable rental history (here and everywhere else we've lived), rather large deposit, and demonstrated care of the house apparently mean nothing. When we moved in here the backyard resembled a very small dump. There was literally garbage (plastic plates! cups! broken toys! plastic bags!) littered around, and we had to SHOVEL cigarette butts to clear them out. The finished part of the basement was pretty gross, too, and we filled our vacuum canister twice down there in a 150 sq ft room. The day before we moved in the people in the upstairs apartment just left- walked out on their lease. And it took our landlord a month and a half to find a new tenant. So given what I've seen in terms of previous tenants on the property I'd have thought our landlord would appreciate us a bit more. Perhaps it isn't personal, but it feels that way.

And I'm sad. Good-bye little English Bulldog girl. I'm sure you'll find a happy home somewhere else, but I'm sorry it couldn't be with us.