Fostering - Can't Do It Alone

After being out of work for four months, I finally got a new job. I am working as a contractor at Monsanto Corp, and although I’ve been there less than a week, I’ve already started to feel comfortable. This could be because I changed the background picture on my monitor to this:

I did that just in case one of my new co-workers walks by, sees his picture, and says “what a great dog”, so I can say “he’s for adoption” and they can say “well, I’ve been looking for a deaf pit bull who loves to chew, always pushes boundaries, and wants to be an only pet”. And I’ll say “you won’t be disappointed with Ziggy” and then they’ll live happily ever after. Hey, it could happen.
The hardest part about going back to work is the amount of time it takes away from my fosters. The office is over an hour away from where I live, so I end up being gone for almost twelve hours a day, five days a week. Not only do my foster pets miss me (or at least my ability to open doors and throw tennis balls) but I also no longer have time for all the vet appointments and other errands that I did while I was out of work. Fortunately, I am only one volunteer in an organization made up of many other volunteers. When I shared the news that I was going back to work, many people have stepped forward to help. Bev took Thor to the vet for me, and offered help with future vet visits. Karen took home Salem, a foster cat who just had his leg amputated (more about him later), so she could take care of all his medical needs while he recovers. Lynsey is taking Ziggy to the vet for me tomorrow. Even the local shelter is helping out – they took in a dog that my neighbors found, and got her vet work done before she comes back to me later this week. They’re also going to take Jefferson for awhile, because he has so much energy, he needs more play-time and attention than I can give now that I’m working. At the shelter he’ll get to go outside to the play yard and play with other dogs and get attention from the volunteers. I couldn’t survive without all of these wonderful people stepping forward to help.

So now I’m gainfully employed, and no longer have to worry about how I’m going to make my house payment or afford gas for my car. I’ll soon be able to buy more chew toys for Ziggy and maybe even get a riding lawnmower someday (such lofty goals). I’m hoping to eventually hire someone to come out to the house a few days a week to play with the dogs while I’m at work. Until then, I’ll have to cut back on the number of fosters I can take in, but I’ll keep fostering. After all, with foster dogs like Bogey the Extremely Fearful and Partially Hairless Dog, Charlie the No-Longer-Hairless But Still Fearful of Men, People with Hats and People with Sunglasses Dog, and Ziggy the Waiting-For-Two-And-One-Half-Years And Still Not Adopted Dog, I am going to be fostering dogs for a very long time.