Best Birthday Ever!

     Saturday was my birthday. I would guess that most women my age would say that they have had wonderful birthdays and maybe a few where they spent the day crying because they felt underappreciated by their kids or their husband. I've had a couple of bad ones, and lots of good ones and some that just seem like "any other day" of the week. Saturday will be a day I won't forget. I did get gifts I loved from my husband, kids, grands, dad and beautiful flowers from my sister.

I had lunches with friends, fun presents and

 Facebook wishes from people I've known since childhood.

AND...

Zoe came to live with us!

     Some of you may know that we already have a beagle. She was 15 in June and my daughter said that she really thinks of her as a sibling. Nike (my kids were both runners) is doing fairly well for such an old dog, but she no longer wants to sit in the chair with us, or curl up on the foot of the bed. She comes up for a quick rub on the head and then pretty much wants to be left alone. We've always known that we would get another beagle, someday. After a lot of discussion (imagine me begging) we decided that maybe it would be better to get Nike a little sister than to "replace" her later. We were already fighting a few old dog accidents (we bought a carpet cleaner) and they say that puppies are good for elderly dogs.

Nike spends much of her day napping.

Nike as a puppy.

My husband says Zoe is mine, but look at him.

     I started looking for a purebred beagle about 2 months ago. They aren't all that easy to find, even in the Midwest. So many breeders want you to pick your puppy from an internet picture, send a deposit and either pick your pup up in person or at the airport where it is flown in. We want our puppy to pick us! We found Zoe and her 7 siblings at an Amish family home about an hour from us. There were 4 little girls and we let her pick us two weeks ago and then we had to leave her there and wait until Saturday to pick her up! She is 7 weeks old today.

She has already discovered toys.

     We were concerned about the putting them together for the first time. We took them out on the deck where I could have Nike on a tether and pull her away if things went wrong, but it was fine. The puppy chases Nike all over the place trying to get her to play and Nike watches over her with more patience than she really feels.

     We haven't had much sleep the past two nights, but we know that will get better. It is sort of like having a new baby in the house. I think some would think we are crazy because we have our dogs longer than we have had any house we have owned! But, we love her already!