It’s funny – I always find myself miserable at Christmas. You only have to look back over the lifetime of my pbase blog to see that. Last year we went into the holiday season with both of our “children” very sick. Rosie had been diagnosed with cancer in the lead-up to the festive season and Archie’s condition had been deteriorating for some time. Although we had a nice day on Christmas day 2009 and another good evening on New Year’s Eve we knew that the chances of us all four being together in another year were remote.

Although our world has been enriched by the arrivals of JD and Lola, I have still found myself with the Christmas blues. It’s not that we haven’t had a great time. We’ve been out a few times to some Christmas parties for the first time in donkey’s years. (I never know where to put the apostrophe in donkey’s – is it donkey’s or donkeys’ or donkeys? The problem is, is it one donkey and many years, or many donkeys and many years?) We spent Christmas day with our close friends and had a truly special day. Over the holiday period we’d have been hard pushed to have a nicer time.

BUT

I still find the whole time leaves me depressed and this year more than ever when I remember that this time last year we had Rosie and Archie – our precious babies. Looking back over “the woman who lost her mind and then found a life” I see how surely their departures from our world have knocked us sideways.

We now have a new team – JD is coming towards his first anniversary with us and he’s sitting squashed against my side as I type with his tail wagging because his “Dad” is coming down the stairs. Lola is also approaching an important anniversary – she’s been with us for nearly four months and is nearly six months old. How time flies.

JD and Lola have been learning manners in a doggie training school. JD is their star pupil and he can do everything asked of him with aplomb. It’s such a shame that he’s so spooked when he meets a stranger. He’s so eager to show off his new-found skills that he will even choose a “trick” and do it when asked! We had some friends round on New Year’s Eve and JD was a complete star – he didn’t even bat an eyelid when their 21-year-old daughter turned up in the kitchen having wandered down the side of the house and into the kitchen undetected. Lola is only a few weeks into her training so she’s some way behind him but nonetheless she does a beautiful “sit”, a reluctant “down”, an unreliable “come” and an “I don’t get it, Mum” fetch!!!

Although the new team is just that, they’re no less loved than the old team and their places in our home are just as important and crucial to our overall wellbeing. Both of us feel honoured when a dog comes to sleep on either of our laps. Lola is snoozing on DMs knee while he watches a pretty crappy “straight to TV” version of “journey to the centre of the earth”. Well, what more can we hope for on the dying dregs of the Christmas holiday season? He’s loved, she’s loved and JD, the only member of the new team not in the shot is loved too…….