Pippin

Yesterday (Sep 30) was my baby girl's FIFTH birthday. It seems like just yesterday that she was a rambunctious little puppy and driving us all nuts with her boundless energy. Oh wait, that's still true.



All kidding aside, I love this little bundle of energetic fur. She gets so excited sometimes that she makes squeaking sounds (hence the nickname PipSqueak) and she'll shower you with kisses if you're willing.

When I'm home, she waits eagerly at the den doors for me to get up (our house gets up very early) and once she spots me, she starts bounding up and down so excitedly that Tommy, our other dog, tries to restrain her.



During the day, she often pops into my room, gives my leg a lick and bounds right back out - as if she's checking to see if I was still there.



When she's calm, she cuddles very well and she's an excellent alarm dog. She never hesitates to let us know that there's a car passing by or that there's the awful neighbor cat terror in the backyard.

Her favorite perch is our big front window so she can "spy" on the neighborhood and "supervise" the watering of the new front gardens.



She's a headstrong little gal and often tries to boss her big brother around and hasn't quite learned the meaning of sharing, but she's still an adorable creature, isn't she?

Missing Home

I'm missing home a bit... so tonight's entry is brief. And picture-based.

Bllssed out Tom, relaxing in his favorite way:



She looks like she's ready to pounce, but its just because of how her tail is set against the cushions:



And together:



Sorry for the puppy overload. Believe me, I've got more where they came from. They're pretty darn photogenic.

Pippin's Turn!

Okay, so Pippin's first appearance on the blog wasn't very good - it was showing off a happy accidental photograph, not Pippin in all her cuteness. So it's her turn for her portrait.

This picture was actually taken sometime in December, when I went back home to house-sit/dog-sit. An excuse to come home and play with my pups? I'm there.



There are several pictures of Pip on my flickr account, and countless more in my iPhoto. It was hard to pick a definitive one for today's post. She's so full of life that she's captured in many ways that tell you a lot about her.

It's interesting to note that the flash in her eyes leaves that almost turquoise bounce-back color. Tommy's is much greener. Who knows...

Only 8 more days of a photo and story a day, then I'll move onto my next project!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

P.S. And a happy birthday to an amazing British actor, Alan Rickman. May he have many more years to play roles in movies/shows that make us think.

Happy Mistakes

Sometimes mistakes happen when you take a picture. Sometimes they're good ones. Sometimes they're bad ones (and are often immediately deleted upon import into iPhoto or on the camera itself). And sometimes they're just amusing. Like this one:



This is at home in St. Louis, taken at the border of the den and kitchen. The flash accidentally bounced off the white half-wall of the stairwell and left the rest of the frame in near darkness, except for other white and shiny objects. You can barely see the puppy-shaped silhouette.

However, the light was enough to bounce into Pippin's pretty eyes and make them glow a ghostly green. And if you look really closely, you can see the little bit of her pink tongue hanging out and she smiles happy for the camera that can barely see her.

It's not my best picture of Pippin, not by far. But it is certainly one that makes me smile and think of her.

My little green-eyed girl!