National Puppy Love Day

Since today is National Puppy Day and I do not have a puppy – even though I WANT a puppy – I had to dig in the archives for one. Here is me holding Dixie, the daughter of our dog Pixie.

I find it odd (now) that my mom posed each of us younger girls – Rachel, Raylene and me – with Dixie and then we ended up giving her away to a cousin. Maybe because there is nothing more adorable than puppy love ... cute (ha) little girls holding cute little puppies!

While I don't remember Pixie, the mom, in her puppy stages, I remember her being a part of most of my childhood.

Here she is on a walk in the woods with us twins (and Mom, of course). I don't even know what "kind" of dog she was but she stayed little- to medium-sized like this. She was the perfect dog for us little ones to grow up with. She loved jumping for popcorn, licking ice cream cones and chasing her tail.

At one point later in my childhood, she gave birth to a boy and a girl. We gave the girl, later named Muffin, to our Aunt Betty and Uncle Alan. And we kept the boy and named him Boomer. I loved Boomer dearly! He was all brown and probably my first brown-eyed love!

I don't have any pictures of him scanned in at the moment. For sure I'll have to dig into the archives for that some time. I am sure I have plenty of time before the next pet holiday. National Cat Day is not until October 29.

Or in our house... EVERY day.

She is sweet but dang, puppies are the best! Doncha think?

Chasing Our Tails

When I was Carter's age, we used to have a little dog named Pixie. I couldn't even tell you what kind she was. She reminded me of a wiener dog in a way, but her body and her nose weren't as long. Just a cute little house dog, mostly white with some large brown and black spots.

There are 2 things I remember distinctly about Pixie:

One, she loved popcorn and the challenge of catching pieces in the air. And she liked ice cream, too, now that I think about it, occasionally going on road trips to the drive-in with us.

Two, she was always trying to catch her tail. This provided endless entertainment. Sometimes you'd swear she was circling at 50 mph. It was crazy!

This week I was feeling a little bit like Pixie (and not just the ice cream part). I had a project at work that felt like I was chasing my tail. Just going around and round in a circle, sometimes even getting dizzy with the confusion of things.

The thing about chasing our tails is this: we don't really go anywhere do we? And, how do we stop it, anyway? I know for Pixie, she'd do one of two things. Either she'd tire out and give up. Or, even worse, she'd catch it. Ouch!

I came to the point by this afternoon that I had tired out. I'm not giving up, but hoping Monday brings a new way of finding answers. Something not as dizzying as the chase. And not as painful as bite in my backside.

'Til then, I'll do what Pixie would do. Possibly enjoy some popcorn or ice cream. Definitely find a comfy spot on the couch. Maybe even find someone to scratch my back (or at least massage it).