I’m not good at emotional decisions. It doesn’t mean I don’t make them, just that I hate it when I do. I’m a very rational person and prefer making decisions with my head, not my heart. When I do make a decision with my heart I tend to fret about it until I can rationalize it.

This weekend my wife, daughters and I were at the mall across town. In the mall is a place called The Hannah Society, which provides full service support for adoptive pets. They start with a matching service and then, for a reasonable monthly fee, provide everything you will ever need for your pet, including food, toys, vet visits, everything.

We have been in there before with no specific reason except to let the girls play with the dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, but this time I connected with a puppy and made the snap decision to adopt him. He is a beagle mix (they say Austalian Shephard, we think terrier), 3-4 months old. We have lost three pets in the last few months and our dog is getting older. A puppy will take us through our kids graduating from high school.

I had a horrible night Saturday. I couldn’t sleep, woke up regretting my snap decision, fretting over it all night, ready to back out. But Sunday morning my wife and I talked through it, rationalized it, and decided it was the right decision.

We get to bring Charlie home this weekend. It will be fun to have a puppy around the house again.