This has nothing to do with writing, but I wanted to write it and post it anyway

The sad and scary thing about pets is that by having one and loving one, you're pretty much guaranteeing yourself heartbreak at some point. They don't live as long as we do...and that totally sucks. Before anyone who knows me panics, NOTHING is wrong with my babies. I just wanted to take this moment to appreciate one of them in writing...Always try to appreciate what you have while you still have it...that's my motto. : )

Snostorm is my baby. She's my first dog. She's all white with little brown spots on her fur and skin. That's pretty rare for a greyhound. She's getting even more spots now that she's getting older. Here are just a few of the things I love about her:

1) She prefers me to my husband (yep, I know that's selfish, but Joe, our other baby, prefers my husband, so it works out okay)

2) Her fur is the softest I've ever felt on a dog, like a rabbit's fur, ironically (greyhounds chase rabbits, that's their job.)

3) Her fur smells sort of sweet, like old pancake syrup or something.

4) She's smart enough to understand what I'm saying most of the time. I'm not exaggerating. She gets it when I say "upstairs" or "wait" or many of the other words that other dogs (poor Joe!) just don't understand no many how times they're repeated.

5) She's smart enough to know that stepping on my foot hurts me, so she is very careful when she comes to stand next to me. If she accidentally does it, she moves off very quickly before I can even say anything to her about it.

6) When the leash gets tangled around her front foot, she's figured out that lifting her foot from the ground will free her from the loop of leash.

7) She sits in the doorway of the bathroom to watch me getting ready in the morning.

8) Unbidden, she comes and lays down in my office in the big square of sunshine that comes through my windows.

9) Her fur feels like silk when she brushes up against me and I'm wearing shorts and have just shaved my legs (I know, too much information!)

10) If I'm writing and she wants attention, she comes around to the side of my chair and plop her head in my lap.

11) She leans forward when you're standing and she wants to be petted, putting her head between your thighs (but she's not sniffing or anything, that's just how she asks to be petted).

12) She snuggles with me on the big bed when my husband is not there.

13) She can open doors by pushing them open with her snout.

14) She loves people and is very patient with new people, including children.

15) She tilts her head to one side in this very funny "huh" way, when I say something that catches her attention. Once when I was describing the condition of the roads to my mom over the phone, I called them "Snowy," her nickname, which baffled her to no end. She knew I wasn't calling her, but she couldn't figure out why I kept saying her name.

There's lots more than this, but that's all I've got for now. I may add to it in the future...we'll see. Snostorm (whose full name is actually Emerald Snostorm) is the inspiration for Fritzy, the greyhound for my mystery, Bitter Pill, another reason I'd really love to see that book in print. The dedication will be all hers!

Talk to you Monday!