Buster is our 7 1/2 year-old English bulldog. 90% of the time, Buster looks just like he's pictured here—sweet, snuggly and oh-so irresistible. The other 10% of the time, he is either playing with his beloved red-ball or looking to destroy anything in his path. I kid you not, when I say, that he has cost me thousands of dollars. Thousands!!

We haven't figured out why Buster wants to destroy our outdoor cushions. Like, what did they ever do to him? I am however, blown away by his commitment, because he will get them–every last one of them! As you can see below, the destruction I speak of is real! Imagine this happening a few times a month? And not only does he destroy them, he sometimes ingests the foam and that my friends is where things get interesting.

Picture me (frantic) taking him (countless times) to the vet for x-rays and overnight visits, until he either passes the foam all on his own (good boy Buster) or has surgery to remove it. Yes, I said, surgery. Sadly, none of this slows him down. The second he's back and he spots the cushions...It's GO TIME!!

This text exchange with my husband, pretty much sums up where we are at in dealing with this situation. More often than not, we just have to laugh! But seriously, He's NUTS! And you know the even crazier part? Sometimes out of the blue, he will shock us all and attack some innocent and unsuspecting cushion in the house. Like his very own favorite place to sit...My Schumacher covered living room chair!

This one took some time to get over. Like I needed a minute, ya know? I went to my room and cried and prayed that I wouldn't kill him. Honestly, I don't think I made eye contact with him for days. Thankfully, my upholsterer was able to patch this cushion up. Bless his heart!

At this point, you are probably wondering why on earth we still own this dog? But it gets worse! Last summer, I drove up the driveway and noticed that the siding was ripped off the house and the landscaping was pulled waaaaay back. I called my builder wondering what was happening at the house that day, and to my utter dismay, he said, "nothing!" That's when I knew!! That little son of a biscuit probably chased a poor animal against the house and then proceeded to rip the house apart!

RIP! MY HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! APART!

My builder was in shock when he saw the damage and frankly, I still haven't recovered from it.

Lastly, my beautiful blanket that I carried all the way home from Spain. A moment of silence please. Buster just got up (pretty nonchalantly I may add) and ran to it-like it had been uttering profantities at him all morning. This is what it looked like when I finally got it back. If you look closely at the center of the blanket, you can see he actually designed a face. Maybe he's just a very (VERY) frustrated artist? I think my face says it all though...Sadness, disbelief and maybe a hint of despair.

So, what has all this taught me? Well, that nothing really matters. Yes, he has cost me money (lots of it,) but in the end, I've realized a valuable lesson-that things are just things and only I can give them meaning. So I try not to.

Here's my big boy staring off at the lake—one of his favorite things to do while he waits for the cushions to piss him off.

And who can resist this face? Clearly, I cannot. Which is why I will continue loving and caring for this crazy man, until he either commits suicide by choking to death on a cushion or passes away in his sleep, while laying in the sun by the lake.

He's amazingly stupid, and unstoppable, and I adore him.

XO~Heather and Buster

Meet Buster!