dog for a weekend, home for life?

This weekend we got to babysit the worlds cutest doggie-- Sputnik! (no, i don't have any pics....why didn't i take any pics of her? I am such a dummy!) We took so many walks my booty is sore (thanks Sputnik! no seriously, thank you. I don't cringe so much when i catch sight of my back side in the mirror) We had a blast walking all over the neighborhood, sniffing stuff, peeing on stuff, chasing squirrels. I almost want to get a Dog now... but i promised Clarke that when we adopted Hampton (our youngest fuzzy- the winner of the fuzzy fight a few blogs back) she would be the last animal for awhile.
Anyhoo- Clarke and i also drove around town this weekend looking for a new house- It felt so "marital". Husband and wife taking a sunday drive through neighborhoods, commenting on houses, well manicured yards, children riding bikes and dogs chasing cats. .. so Norman Rockwellian! It was nice. Its one of the reasons i moved back to the south. Say what you will about the american dream- the house with the white picket fence, the patch of grass, the dog, cat, and 2.5 children- but theres something to it. What draws me to this ideal is the promise of family, friendship and togetherness. I remember growing up in my old neighborhood; We had friends all over the hood. We had block parties, slumber parties, swimming parties, and birthday parties. Every night during the summer all the kids would meet at "the circle" (a central grassy spot in our neighborhood) and go for bike rides or roller skate. The adults would gather in someone's yard and chat about the week, drink sweet tea or somethin stronger, and play nurse or referee to us kids- whatever was required. Everyone knew to drive slow cause you never knew whose children would be drawing with sidewalk chalk in the street. My family's old dog, Belle, always slept in the middle of the road- towards the end of her life she became blind and deaf, and all our neighbors knew to look out for Belle when they drove by our house. Thats true friendship. Thats what makes life beautiful. Thats what i am looking for.
So- this weekend i played with a dog, and dreamed of my future. . . . This was a fabulous weekend!