Today is Cookie’s birthday. She’s 8. I’m the worst doggie mom on Earth. Her AKC papers, hence her lifelong sense of entitlement, clearly state that her date of birth was October 27, 1996, but for some reason I’ve been celebrating it on the 26th of each October. Oopsie.

She got a new yellow, stuffed duck toy and some of my scrambled eggs for breakfast. Not much fuss this year…you know how it is as we chicks grow older. I don’t know which is more unnerving…the fact that I’ve had her for eight years or the fact that I was only 25 when I brought her home.

Anyway, here’s a photo of the little monster the day after I brought her home. Six weeks old. 2 1/2 pounds. Full set of needle-sharp puppy teeth. See those little stuffed animals under the Christmas tree in the background? Yeah, those lasted about a day.