Maltese Puppy

SURPRISE! You Get a Puppy

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Alternatively titled: In Which I Fly Home to Tennessee for My Mom’s Big Birthday Bash and Totally Catch Her Off Guard with Both My Visit and a Puppy, aka The One in Which I’m the World’s Best Daughter. Heh.

OK, back up, rewind.

My mom and dad were supposed to have come to California for a nice, long visit in August; however, due to some unfortunate circumstances back home, they had to cancel their trip. Which was actually for the best, as I was bed-bound and terribly ill for the whole of the month (though I finally have resolution! a treatable auto-immune disease, which hopefully can be maintained with meds!). However, my mom and 11 of her friends—all of whom grew up together and found their way back to Tullahoma eventually—were throwing a big joint 60th birthday party for themselves this past Saturday.  (They all turn 60 this fall, though my mom would like to point out she’s the youngest of the bunch.) And so I got this invite in the mail:

jeanie60

And thought maybe, just maybe, I could make it for the soiree. I checked Southwest, found $99 fares and, within moments, decided to just show up for the weekend unannounced. (With a little help with the planning from my daddy.) And, well, you can see how it all was received:

Oh right, what you really want to hear about is the puppy, eh? Well, you see, my mom has four little boy Malteses—or rather, three “its” and a male. Her sole female ran away two years ago, and ever since there’s been a void in the clan that only a little girl can fill. Plus, Mom wanted to continue on (our favorite) Kobe’s bloodline, so there was that to consider, as well. Because he’s just too pretty not to spawn (again), and besides SVV and I are totally swooping up one of his puppies the second they’re born.

You may recall that we tried last year to find a little girl, but kept getting foiled by Nigerian scammers. So around the time I decided to come home, I talked with the sis, and we both set out on a mission to find Mom a new baby for her 60th birthday (which isn’t actually until October 10). And lo, a few days later, I received an e-mail from Kari with the name of an amazing breeder, Brent, in Murfreesboro—just 45 minutes from my parents’ house—who happened to have one baby in his dame Olivia Newton John’s litter remaining, and she just happened to be a female. So we called Dad, the funding behind the operation, and ran it by him, and he headed up to meet Brent and the baby in question bright and early at 6am one Wednesday morning. He signed the contract, paid the deposit, and Operation: Get Mom a Pup was set in motion. Two weeks later, dad picked me up from the airport, and we swung by to get this little gem.

I walked in the door, there were hugs all around, then sent Mom back to Dad’s Vet to “open” her present (framing it as if it were merely a gallon of ice cream; Mom later said she thought it was a Baskin Robbins treat…little did she know!). To say Mom was surprised is an understatement. I love me surprises! But I have a big mouth, and considering I talk to my mom 17 times a day, it was terribly hard to not spill the beans. Then, Kari came in on Saturday to join in on the celebration, and fun was had by all.

We even took the puppy to the party—which had upward of 150 people present—and she behaved swimmingly. Of course, she was passed around like a joint at Bonnaroo, but she didn’t flinch.

And then the subsequent days, Mom and I spent following her around with the video camera because she’s just too cute.

Oh, and as if I didn’t already have enough on my plate, Katey Layne has her very own blog! It’s meant to be a collaborative effort between Mom, me and Kari, but I’m going to go ahead and presume that I’ll be doing most of the writing, as I can’t even get either of them to respond to a simple e-mail from me. Follow her follies here, pretty please, so she’s not discouraged by a lack of readers!

It was torture to say good-bye to this face yesterday, but luckily I’ll be back home for my mom’s real birthday (and some Danish friends’ inaugural visit to the Dirty South) in just a month!

(I told you this blog is totally going to the dogs!)

Unrelated, but another reason why the South is awesome, this group of 80-something ladies, the Red Hat Society, we ran into at the local coffee shop (singular, as there’s only one in town):

They all fawned over Katey, as well, and the one in the near right corner of the frame, upon swiping the rear of my sister’s Altima with her boat-like Cadillac, exclaimed: “I want one of my own, but my daughters say I’m not home enough to care for a puppy.” (She’s 89! I hope I’m that spry and social in 60+ years!)

COMMENTS
  • September 1, 2009

    What a wonderful surpise for your Mom. Katey is way too cute and I’m surprised you didn’t stuff her in your suitcase.

    • October 6, 2016
      Linda

      hi! I know you haven’t made an entry in a while. I would love to know where you got your adorable puppy. We lost ours back in July. Yours looks so much like her. I hope you get this message.

      • October 6, 2016

        We found her on a newspaper ad in Nashville! Have you tried the old-fashioned classifieds?

  • September 1, 2009

    Um, she’s adorable! I want her! Off to check out her blog now 🙂

  • September 1, 2009

    I don’t know what is cuter: that puppy or the Red Hat Society!

  • September 1, 2009

    What a cutie Katey is!!! And I don’t often use words like cutie!

    You’re a good daughter. I sincerely hope my mom doesn’t catch wind of this…

  • September 1, 2009

    You are such a great daughter! And the puppy is WAY too cute for words.

  • September 1, 2009

    Honestly? posts like this are why your blog is one of my absolute favorites.

  • September 1, 2009

    Awesome surprise and adorable addition to the Luna clan! 🙂

  • September 1, 2009

    How cute!!! What a great surprise for your mom. She is so adorable.

    I love love the last picture of the Red Hat Society. Love the hats!

  • September 1, 2009

    You ARE the best daughter ever! How fun!

    CUTE PUPPY.

    And those ladies are awesome.

  • September 1, 2009

    What a cute little puppy!

    The red hat ladies always make me think of that Simpsons episode.

  • September 1, 2009

    Adorable!!! What every Mom wants for her birthday- a dog, a visit from her daughter, and reassurance that she raised a smart, thoughtful and fun one in her sixty years 🙂

  • September 1, 2009

    too cute! LOVED the southern accents. my mom’s side of the family is all from lousiana and so it’s like whoa – hey! family! 🙂

    what a great surprise. love it!

  • September 1, 2009

    She is adorable. Your mom is so lucky:

  • September 1, 2009

    So glad the surprise went off without a hitch! and oh my, that puppy is preshus!

  • September 1, 2009

    So, I definitely cried during the 1st video 🙂 So sad I missed seeing you guys 🙁

  • September 2, 2009

    So cute! I love the surprise video for your Mum where she’s all, ‘ but it’s not my birthday’ and then your outstanding sneakiness with the icecream in the car trick! Happy Birthday Mama Luna for next month!

    Katey is adorable, I want to steal her but I don’t think my cats would be down with that!

  • September 2, 2009

    You totally win daughter of the year award! And this line, “Of course, she was passed around like a joint at Bonnaroo, but she didn’t flinch” had me laughing 🙂
    P.S. Not sure if you saw my response on my blog yet, but my wedding dress was from Sincerity Bridal.
    P.P.S. I want to be in the Red Hat Society one day!

  • September 2, 2009
    Bethany

    What an adorable puppy! The “Surprise” video was great. Also, I have a Red Hat Society in my town too.

  • September 3, 2009

    What a great post – I loved seeing your mom so happy! And you already know, I LOVE that puppy! What a sweetheart!

  • September 4, 2009
    Mister Sister

    I love how you have everyone believing you are the favorite daughter.. heh.. “favorite daughter” wouldn’t have had anything to surprise mom with if it hadn’t been for the REAL favorite daughter!!

  • September 4, 2009

    So sweet. I don’t know what I like more the puppies or the ladies who lunch. = )

  • September 10, 2009

    Gorgeous pup! Your dad’s video skills crack me up.

  • September 14, 2009
    SVV

    Oh. em. gee. I watched this again and she is too cute for school. Can’t wait to meet our surrogate mother 🙂

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