A Birthday in the House

Ani, Nani, Bani, Anners, Nanners, Princess Pei-Pei, whatever-you-call her today we call her the Birthday Girl.

My Ani-dog is two today. (Yes, her birthday was 6-6-6). Poor beast. It totally gives her a bad rap. As I mentioned last week she came to us- found us even. When I got her I was at a very low point in life and having a hard time, so of course my cure all is to train a new puppy. I had been prepping John for another puppy for a while. The night before I fell in love with her, I finally got the okay. The next morning my grandma and I took Jedi for our daily hike (if you live is SLC and have a dog you HAVE to go to Tanner Park.)

Anyway, we were talking about which breed I'd get since I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get another Weimaraner. At the end of our walk I was coming up the hill and saw this adorable puppy bounding around. I stopped and loudly said "who is this puppy's mommy"? This young woman, looking kind of haggard and trying to maneuver a stroller down the icy hill while hanging on the leash of another older dog looked up and said "I am. Why?"

This is the rest of the conversation.

Me-"Is this a Redbone Coonhound?"
Tracy-"Yeah, how'd you know?"
Me-"I'm in love with your puppy."
Tracy-"Oh her...you can have her."
Then my grandma pipes up..."Don't be joking. We will take her home right now."
And I'm not exaggerating, with tears in her eyes Tracy looks up and says, "really?"

Come to find out Tracy had a five-year-old Weim when she fell in love with Ani. She also had a one year old. This was a lot since the older Weim HATED Ani. She was already at her wits end, and then she found out she was unexpectedly pregnant. She was in total overwhelm. I know it sounds totally corny and bizarre, but we were an answer to each other's prayers that freezing cold day in Salt Lake. The next afternoon after running the whole thing by our husbands we picked Ani up and she has been with us ever since. I adore this dog. And I don't care how stupid it sounds-she is a testimony to me that God answers our prayers no matter how trivial they may seem.


Jedi loves her just as much. Just like in the book, I think he would just lay down and die if anything happened to her. (Which is one of the reasons Husband has put up with so many Ani-Antics.) For her birthday we did what we always do...go for a long walk. Ani and I will share some cake for lunch. Papa doesn't like cake. I usually don't either, but this is 'special' cake. I've already told you about my love affair with Tiramisu.
No, Husband doesn't usually walk and talk. He just had a meeting he had to call into this morning. Which I'm glad he did because we got the entertainment of listening to him cuss out some others he works with. Totally entertaining because his version of "cussing" someone out is him vigorously shaking his head and muttering "Fools! Fools!" under his breath. My dear husband is immune to my bad example. :)

And of course, my Miss wants to wish her Ani a Happy Birthday too! I spoil all of of my children no matter how many legs they've got. I will probably deal with the repercussions later in life, but I do. It was pointed out to me this week by another mom that my child has a lot of clothes and accessories that babies don't usually need. Yeah, well. She's also got a lot of shoes and toys. Little Miss will never have to ask for a pony or a puppy, her mom will have already asked.

It's not really ALL my fault. I was raised by a dad whose philosophy on raising daughter's is "Give them everything their little heart desires." I'm not taking all the heat though. I've started putting a disclaimer on my kid. Notice the bib-Grandma Spoils Me. Bibs that say Friends, Family, Grandparents-of-all-types, Co-workers, Aunts, Neighbors, even My Mommy and Daddy AND my Grandma Spoils Me are hard to come by.