Wikipedia defines Normal as "conformance to an average."
On the way home from the Kimberley trial Wendy, Cindy and I were discussing normal. Wendy said I am not normal. I asked her to give me a reason.
"You have four dogs"
"You work, and live for your dogs"
I told her that I was insulted. Of course I am normal.
I have four dogs in a small house. I spend every spare penny I have on dog stuff, or trials. I Have no spare time left because it is all spent with the dogs. I Spend four nights a week teaching other peoples dogs. I Have no friends outside of dog friends. Have nothing else to really talk about except dogs. I Have Corgi figurines and such in my house displayed with pride. All the pictures etc on my walls are of my dogs, or dog related. I have four dogs to share my bed, and four dogs to share the couch with. I have to Vacuum once a day to keep the hair downl. I often check my drinks and food for stray hair. I read dog blogs everyday and search the internet for new and interesting dog sites. I work at a dog daycare. I hear barking in my sleep. My cell phone and computer wallpaper is a picture of my dogs. I rarely take photos that are not dog related, I carry photos of my dogs in my wallet....the list could go on and on.
Those are all normal things, that lots of people do.
In all seriousness I do consider myself mostly normal. I am only a little quirky, and bossiness is a normal trait. Right?
manymuddypaws; a blog about dogs, training, dog sports, life, and pretty pictures too...
12 comments:
You *are* normal! A normal dog person. :) I have six - five in training for either sheep herding or agility. Trials are vacations, and after work we go practice agility. Yes, my cell and computer wallpaper are dogs, too. Relax, you're in good company.
I am proud to be NOT "normal". what ever that is...
the day I become "normal", could you please put me out of my misery? and make it quick.
OK, but really, you hear barking in your sleep, imaginary or real?? girl, you need help :)
I think that is all perfectly normal!!! :-)
Perfectly normal, and as for the bossi part, you are a corgi person, you NEED to be bossy or the dogs would rule you.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
I agree with Sarah. Why would you want to be normal? Borrrrrring!
And really, I think you've made my point anyway. You forgot to mention all the dog clothes that you have too.
Normal = "conformance to an average"
Since you surround yourself with others who have the same interests as you (dogs and dog related stuff), then you are conforming to an average which means you are completely normal! You belong to a sub-culture in which your interests and passions are normal within that sub-culture. (I knew that Sociology degree would come in useful one day). :)
Kim, damn you are good!!!!!
Now I'm scared to be around you.
You're normal for a dog nut!
Sometimes I think we have too many dog photos on our walls. But then I am reminded that I am not alone in that fact! I don't know if it's normal but it's ok!
well if thats not normal, Im DEFINITELY not normal either.
Ive been told Im not normal for these reasons before as well. its irritating but as long as you are truly happy, who gives a sh*t right?
in all seriousness, this is a topic close to me, as Ive been faced with it all too often. I guess we could look at it from other peoples' perspectives, and yeah maybe this "lifestyle" could be "not normal" or in other words "problematic", IF it interferes with life necessities (providing for yourself, staying organized, healthy, making time for necessities, social functions, family, friends, significant others, etc), but for most of us in this category, it doesnt.
I see my dogs as kids, and as a choice. Sure, they limit my life in a lot of ways: vacation is almost impossible- even going somewhere just overnight, finding housing is tough with this amount of dogs, and esp for me with large dogs, 1 of whom is a pit bull, they cost money, require a lot of time in training & exercise, the list goes on and on. But I dont see people handing out these types of snide comments to people with kids. I know a number of people with kids that they probably shouldnt have had- unplanned kids, kids they arent making time to raise in a healthy manner, "too many" kids- cant afford good care, or time for them, etc etc. It really baffles me that people dont see the correlation between dogs & kids. Why is it "abnormal"?? Im 25, I dont want kids right now, but I have dogs. I mean, shouldnt these judgmental people be HAPPY that Im not a mother instead!? lol Seriously though, my boyfriend's sister has 6 kids, all within 10 yrs, and with 2 different men. Now, thats not necessarily a big deal, she is an AMAZING mom, made all the right choices in sacrificing for them to raise them well as best she could, but on the other side, she made the CHOICE not to use protection- SIX times. And now neither she nor her current husband work, they cant afford a home and have been evicted from I dont even know how many places over the last couple years. Plus they have a dog, cats (that have had litters btw...), parakeets.. I mean, why do I never hear people harassing her? They only harass my bf & I because we have "all those animals"- I cant tell you how many times I had people ask us "what are you going to do with all those animals when you move?", as if it were somehow an option or necessity to "get rid of them". Even my fish- *everyone* acted like it was some insurmountable task to move a handful of fish. Um, really not that difficult people!
Anyway, Im ranting.. It just really irks me. I made these conscious decisions to add each of these animals to my life. And just because various things havent gone as planned, and my financial situation is totally down the toilet at the moment, Im doing what has to be done in order to survive for myself AND them-- just as any parent does for their kids.
I definitely vote for the "you're normal" slate. Dogs everything. Camera everywhere. Five squillion dog t-shirts in the dresser and dog hair on everything. And who vacuums?! OK, wait, you do--that's definitely not normal! ;-) What's not normal about any of the rest of that? In my experience, people who say things like that are, really, kind of dull.
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