We're not exactly sure when our beloved pup Sweet Pea was born, as she was a rescue dog that we adopted when she was approximately 3 years old. The group that we adopted her from (Zoi's Animal Rescue, located right here in Claremore, America) first had her when she was a tiny puppy1. Zoi's took in Sweet Pea and her littermates when were abandoned (I always picture a sack of puppies in a ravine...), so they have a rough idea when she was born. On her paperwork, it says that her birthday is November 20th. Therefore, Carter and I threw a *very* exclusive birthday party a week or so ago. Both People magazine and Dog Fancy have been in a bidding war over the photos from the event, but I felt that my loyal blog readers deserved the first glimpse.
Here's the cake we bought at the local dog bakery, Aye Chihuahua. It was about 8" in diameter. Not sure what it was made of, but all dog-friendly stuff. The older man who decorated it was so cute, and I think it cost me all of $7.00. Not sure how exactly our local economy can support a dog bakery but not, say, a bakery for humans or a bookstore (*shaking my fist at WalMart*)... I'm glad it can, though. When Aye Chihuahua first opened several years ago, I remember shaking my head & thinking, "Not a chance." It's in a weird location and is so highly niched, it defied common sense that it could make it2. Sometimes, it's nice to be wrong!
Here are Ringo and Sweet Pea, as Carter and I sing 'Happy Birthday.' She looks a little suspicious of him, don't you think? With good reason. He's a big clumsy boy, and his exuberance has been known to ruin good things for both of them. By the way, do any of you know how to removed that weird dog-eye glow from photos? I edit my photos with iPhoto, but it's not sophisticated enough to do that. I have a copy of Photoshop that I need to learn how to use before it becomes obsolete (though I may already be too late), but I'm intimidated.
The cake has been cut and each pup has her/his slice. Of course, I intended them to eat it in the kitchen, but Sweet Pea took hers and ran with it, directly to the living room3. Please note the ripped flange on the chair to the right of Sweet Pea. That was courtesy of Ringo. You cannot imagine my dismay when I first saw that. Those chairs were mighty expensive when we remodeled a couple of years ago, and Sean has harangued me about the impracticality of my furniture selection ever since4. I took him to the showroom and showed him what I wanted, and he agreed on it at the time, but nevermind that. Fortunately, I did purchase the Furniture Protection program when we bought them. Now, I've just got to figure out how to make it work for me. After all the grief I've had to take about this furniture, Ringo is lucky he's so devoted to me or he'd now be a German Shepherd throw rug.
Sweet Pea saw me taking picture of her with the cake, and I think she thought I might take it away from her, so she moved to a different part of the living room, between one of the couches and the coffee table.
And there are the crumbs. *sigh* That is some very thick shag carpet, so who knows whether there are still some crumbs in it. I'm kind of afraid to find out. Pretty sure carpet like this should be outlawed as a health hazard, because you really don't know where it ends. It's pretty to look at and feels good on barefeet, but even I have to admit, it's not the best choice for a house with two active dogs, a slovenly teenager, and an eight-year-old whose parents affectionately refer to him as "Pigpen."
And, here's Ringo with his piece. Contrast this picture of Ringo at the side of a chair with the above photo of Sweet Pea beside the same chair to see the size differential between the two. He is so big, and he's not done growing, yet. When we boarded them over Thanksgiving, the vet weighed him in at 90 lbs. (Sweet Pea is a svelte 36 lbs.) Since we're looking at this picture, I'll show you a few things about my house.
See that white plastic table near the back windows? That's been there for a few months, waiting for me to finish putting together the Lego Deathstar (3,802 pieces, I'll have you know). Carter loves Lego and Star Wars, but he doesn't yet have the manual dexterity to put together much more than the minifigures. Dad and Truman aren't interested, so I end up being Carter's builder. I actually kind of like building Lego (it's the crafter in me), but this project is a huge one. Hopefully I'll have it done before 2013. I've definitely had time to finish it, but it's hard to get back into once you've stopped for a while.
Beyond the Deathstar, on the wall to the right, is a little print of a cross section of Tenenbaums' house. (The Royal Tenebaums is one of my all-time-favorite movies; if you haven't seen it yet, you must. And you must watch it at least 3 or 4 times. Trust me.)
The hallway beyond the arch leads to the master suite (aka my bedroom/bathroom/and rarely-used exercise room). The Beatles canvas on the wall is self-explanatory, but I'll explain it anyway: I'm a huge Beatles fan, I love the pop art look & feel of it, and the pop of pink against the platinum wall just makes me happy.
Back to the dogs... hard to believe that less than a year ago, they looked like this:
Time flies -- gotta celebrate these sweet little moments whenever we can, don't you agree?
Footnotes:
1. Sweet Pea was adopted out when she was a puppy, but the couple fell on hard times and had to move back in with one of their parents who wouldn't permit a dog. Zoi's has a policy that if there's ever a time when you can't keep an animal you adopt from them, you must return it to them. Thus, Sweet Pea had been back with Zoi's for about 3 months when we adopted her.
2. See? This is why I will probably never own my own business. I'm risk averse. That's one of the reasons I so admire and like to support independent companies like The Cat's Pajamas, Your Next Stamp, My Favorite Things, Taylored Expressions, Paper Smooches, i {heart} papers, etc. The gals behind those companies are willing to step out on a limb in a way I have a hard time seeing myself doing.
3. Actually, our kitchen and living area are all part of one large room. Open floor plan, you see.
4. I love my living room furniture and think it's beautiful and comfortable, but I swear if I could go back in time, I'd just get a naugahyde sectional and call it good. No muss, no fuss, and no "Why did... this is the worst... What a bad idea..." I finally solved this problem last year when Sean asked what I wanted for my birthday: "I want you to never mention the living room furniture ever again." Now, when it gets brought up, I get to counter with: "Wait just a minute, Mr. My birthday present..." Do we sound like an old married couple, or what?
But back to that party I was talking about... It's a bash to celebrate 
