Puppy Love

Ruby is our landlord's german shepherd mix, and Reese's new best friend. She's a sweet black dog that loves kids and balls and sticks.
Quick tangent here- I can't help but think of my Grandma Derr when I say that Ruby's black- she had it in for all black dogs and had an unmistakable tone of distain in her voice every time she referred to them. In fact, I'm pretty sure she never bothered to learn their names; Mese's dog Pepper, was simply, "That black dog." Poor thing! She was probably the sweetest dog we ever had. She was definitely a quirky old lady, and I think we all love her for her quirks more than anything else.

Well, I hadn't meant that to turn into a tribute to my Grandma, but oh well. Tangents are what life is really made of while you try to get back on track.

Anyway, everytime we step outside Reese grabs a stick and runs around going, "Puppy? Puppy?" Unfortunately the puppy lives several streets away, hence the offering of her sticks to passing geese.

Imagine her joy when, today, while I was out getting a flowerbed ready for our first real garden (more on that later!), Ruby came bounding over to meet her since Jim was going to mow our lawn.

The word joy does not begin to describe the sensation that filled little Reesie. We tossed sticks, and threw ball and each time Ruby sprinted after it Reese fell into a new heap of giggles. Both Jim and I cracked up ourselves. There is nothing so open and unabashed as toddler joy. And as most of you know, Reese is quite possibly the most open and unabashed of them all. It was fantastic to watch!

We're counting the days until we can get our own puppy. Come on graduation!