Meet Vasquez

I meant to write about this yesterday, but I couldn't bring myself to do it after the Maryland Terrapins loss to Wake Forest Tuesday night. You'll see why in a second.

So my dad is a "pretty" man. He's in sales - so he's got the nice clothes, gets his hair cut weekly at a place called Primp while he sips Grey Goose martinis, has been known to get a manicure before to keep his nails looking nice - - which his excuse is "I'm in sales! I shake a lot of hands. I can't have nasty fingernails." So you get the point. Suffice it to say that my dad has more clothes in their closet than my mom does.

So anyway, my dad is best buds with this guy Lee that we used to go to church with. Lee is nothing like my dad. Lee lives on a farm. Every time I've seen Lee, he's worn overalls... other than at my wedding (thank goodness). So needless to say, they are an odd couple. But hey - they love hanging out.

So a few years ago, Lee and his wife Lisa got word that a petting zoo was going to be shutting down, and they didn't have any place to bring their animals. So Lee decided that they'd take them in... and they did. They got several llamas, goats, sheep, and a variety of other animals...

...including a few pygmy goats.

Now, despite my pretty dad - the man loves his nature. Not necessarily going OUT in it... but admiring it from afar - i.e. the Discovery or Nature Channels. He loves animals... just not dogs (allergies) - but the story of him forcing my mom to give away our sweet golden retriever pup, Gracie, is for another blog, another day.

So when dad learned Lee was going to be getting all these animals, my dad was quick to say "I want to adopt one." And by adopt, he meant naming rights and being able to visit it.

So he did - he picked out a itty, bitty pygmy goat and named it Vasquez - after the "Vivacious Venezuelan" senior guard Greivis Vasquez who plays at the University of Maryland - my dad's alma mater.

If you're a Maryland fan like we are, you love Vasquez... he's a passionate player - loud, and probably obnoxious to any team playing him...
...you get the idea.

So yeah, a likely jump from hot-headed basketball player to... pygmy goat.

(Note: not an actual picture of Vasquez... but close enough. I'll try to go out there and get a real one of him sometime soon.)

Dad loves Vasquez and talks about him frequently. My dad describes him as "short and scrappy" - presumably just like his namesake... though the latter is probably more scrappy than short.

My biggest Vasquez (the goat, not the player) memory was shortly after Chad and I moved into our new - at the time - townhome. Everyone had stopped by to visit... except my dad. So I gave him a call...

Me: "Hey dad, I wanted to see if you wanted to come over to our new place for lunch!"
Dad: "Ah Dee (remember, he calls me this for no reason), I'm sorry but I've got to go visit with Vasquez today! I bought him an apple!"

So you wonder why I have a constant need for attention... my dad passed me up for a goat.

In conclusion - if any of you know my dad personally - none of this post should come as a surprise to you. The fact that he's best friends with a guy who wears overalls... or that he adopted a pygmy goat... or that he named it after a Maryland player... or that he prefers bringing said goat an apple instead of having lunch with his daughter.

You win some, you lose some!