Meet Petrie: A Bundle of Friday Cuteness

My sister recently got a super adorable maltipom puppy whom she named Petrie. He lives in Portland with her, but she sends me a picture of him every day and tells me lots of amusing stories. It's no wonder I'm starting to feel a kinship with him -- look at his face! And his tiny pink little paws!

I tried to express this new feeling of kinship to Nat the other day when we were at Target together. We didn't really need anything from Target, but Target is not one of those stores where you go just to buy toothpaste. Sometimes it's fun just to go. Eventually, after looking at everything else in the store, we made our way to the pet supply aisle. I admired the dog toys and picked up a prickly porcupine. I stopped as Nathalie roamed farther down the aisle, and then I said, "This would be a nice toy for my nephew."

"What?" she said, as she turned back to look at me.

There. I had said it. Out loud. I had practiced saying it in my head a few times, sure, but had never said it out loud and to another person before.

"My nephew. This would be a good toy for him," I repeated.

She arched her eyebrows and gave me a look that said "Really??"

"Oh my goodness. Don't be one of those people."

"What? I'm just saying."

"You know what I mean. One of those people that calls their sister's dog their nephew."

She obviously did not approve. She kept walking, reached up and dropped a bag of Beggin' Strips into her shopping basket. Dog treats... for her nonexistent dog.

"Are you buying dog treats for America?" I asked accusingly. (America is our office manager's dog who comes into work every day, but the important thing to keep in mind here is that America is someone else's dog, a dog which she bought a big bag of treats for to store on her desk).

"Yea, so?"

Well, I'll be if we aren't two of the craziest dog people who are seriously in denial.