Happy Thanksgiving

This morning I woke up with many things to be thankful for, but for specificities sake I will focus on just one - Pippy.

So, here is my list of the top 5 reasons I am thankful for Pippy this Thanksgiving Day...

1. Her patience... Each morning I wake up early (6:30 at the latest - that early) and proceed to do my daily devotionals and make myself breakfast. I do all this while Pippy sleeps, rests and waits in her makeshift bedroom. Her bedroom consists of her dog bed, flannel sheet, treat, and her favorite toy, Stuwie, in the bathroom upstairs. Yes, this sounds odd. A dog in the bathroom. But Pippy has taken well to her bath-bedroom. I don't close the door, instead Pippy is contained by a baby gate.  When I make my way up the stairs to retrieve Pippy she is usually just standing or sitting in her room, peering through the baby gate, awaiting my arrival. She never cries or whimpers. She must hear me downstairs moving around and opening cabinets and drawers, but she never lets on.

2. Her head tilt... Pippy's classic move. She has done it since the day I met her. Here is how it goes: Pippy sits (with perfect posture might I add) and then as if to say, "What you talking about Willis?" she tilts her head to the right and holds it there for a few brief moments. Occassionaly she then switches the tilt to the left - just trying to ham it up I think! She knows how to work her audience.

3. For being the best car trip companion... If you do the math, Pippy is a toddler in human years, but she is so much better in the car than I ever was as a toddler! She never asks "are we there yet?" and she doesn't raise a fuss when we get stuck in traffic for hours on end. She usually just sleeps. And if she isn't sleeping then she is probably simply relaxing, taking in the views as we travel along our route.

4. Her repertoire of tricks - okay so maybe just one... The living room is three shorts steps down from the kitchen but Pippy makes each of them an event. The "Run and Jump" is Pippy's go-to performance. A human will take a toy, throw it down the stairs and Pippy will run down the first step and then take a flying leap off the rest. It is completely unnecessary from a mobilization perspective, but clearly a source of thrills for my puppy.

5. And last, but not least, I am thankful that Pippy nudges me out of the door each day to walk in the great outdoors no matter what the weather. She does this silently and without any fanfare, but when I look at that cute little face I can't help but get off the couch and get my walking shoes on. She wants to be out in nature, experiencing all the sights, smells and critters our neighborhood has to offer. Come rain or shine, Pippy is always up for a walk in her red sweater. I've walked through my neighborhood more in the past four months than I did in the twenty years I've lived here. There was so much I never noticed and appreciated. But now I know what I've been missing, and I have Pippy to thank for that.