Celebrating an important birthday...by Kristin Wallace

My baby turns 1-year-old this month. I’m talking about my 4-legged fur-baby, Cocoa. She’ll officially be one on June 23^rd. Being a puppy mommy has been quite an adventure. 

 

Here are some things I’ve learned:

 

·      She’s a “deer head” Chihuahua in that she resembles a deer, with a longer nose and face. (as opposed to an “apple head”, which has the classic round features seen in most commercials and dog shows. In fact, the deer-head is not recognized by the AKC. 

 

·      Cocoa is a bundle of energy, and she only stays still if she’s sleeping. 

 

·      She is VERY stubborn. Training is difficult. I’m pretty sure giving her a treat her to “stop” doing something has mostly taught her that doing the bad thing results in a treat. 

 

·      She has a temper like a angry toddler when not allowed to do what she wants. (Her nickname is Cujo and she’s earned it.)

 

·      Unlike many Chihuahuas, she seems to like most people and animals. She tries to greet most people we meet on our walks, but then gets skittish and runs away.

 

·      She’ll bark at other dogs when they’re far away and then cower when they get close. 

 

·      Her new favorite activity is playing “chase” with my niece’s huge bunny (Bun-Bun). 

 

·      Cocoa adores my roommate and goes nuts when she comes home from work.

 

·      She loves her Gammy (my mom).

 

·      She will eat almost anything, including poop, dead lizards, wood chips from plants, grass.

 

·      She LOVES to tear up anything of the paper variety and if you try to take it away from her, she will turn into Cujo.

 

Here’s to another year of adventures, Cocoa! Now, let’s see pics of your fur-babies!

Kristin Wallace is a USA Today Bestselling author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith. She has three best-selling series: Covington Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales, and Palm Cove Tales. Look for CHRISTMAS CHARADE, a brand-new Covington Falls Chronicles book as part of the Holiday Fake-Out box set. 

Christmas Charade - Covington Falls Chronicles

The story revolves around Magnolia (Maggie) Lewis. She left Covington Falls over a family rift and the desire to follow her dream as an artist and sculptor. Now, she has to return for her cousin's Christmas wedding. She can't go back alone, however, because everyone thinks she has a boyfriend. (It was just a tiny lie.) A non-boyfriend who has no idea he's about to get dragged into her family drama. 

Convincing Liam Sullivan to be her fake date to the wedding is only the first challenge. She needs to make sure she doesn't fall in love with him for real.

   

 

AMAZON  /  ITUNES  /  BARNES & NOBLE   /  KOBO 

The Most Famous Birthday of the Year by Milou Koenings

I'll be having a birthday in a few days.

Happy birthday, me!  

I have to say it, because on that day most of the Western world will be celebrating someone else's birthday instead. (Not that I'm jealous or anything...)

Is it the best or worst of times to have a birthday? 

Kids whose birthdays fall in the summer vacation, like my sister, kind of know what that's like.  No school birthday parties, and although you might get a party, half your friends are away on vacation.

But believe me, it just doesn't compare.  There's no way anyone's going to come to your birthday party on Christmas Day!

People usually assume I must have hated this when I was a kid.  I can see how some people could, but funnily enough, I didn't really mind.  I'm kind of private and shy by nature anyway. Even as a kid, my ideal birthday party would have been having a nice birthday lunch or dinner with my family and my cousins, with maybe a few presents – and wasn't that exactly what we were doing?  Only everyone was getting presents, so it was even more fun and made the party last longer. Then we'd all go to midnight mass together, which I always loved.  

And I was lucky, because two days later, once the excitement of everyone's new toys had worn off, my parents would do it all over again just for me, and I would get an extra gift from everyone.  And I guess I've got pretty thoughtful relatives – none of them ever gave me one gift expecting it to count for both occasions. Not once.

The only celebrities my sister has to compete with for birthday attention are Nelson Mandela, John Glenn and Ricky Skaggs. (Sorry, Sis – impressive as they are, I still win in that department!) But since it's in the middle of the summer, she too missed out on school parties.

To make sure we still got to celebrate with all our friends, when we were young our parents would throw one big bash a year that was a joint party for all our neighborhood friends and classmates.  We got to choose when.  One year, it was an end-of-the-school year blast.  Once, we had the greatest Halloween Party ever, for which Mom and Dad turned our house into the most amazing haunted house ever. I still have no idea how they did it!

This year, I'm hoping for a very quiet, reflective, prayerful birthday with my family, out of the limelight.

But no one is willing to let me get away with no birthday celebration at all. So there will be one a few days after the fact. Only this time, it will be at my newlywed daughter's home. She and her husband are throwing their first dinner party in their postage-stamp-sized apartment. (It's BYOC: Food provided, but bring your own chair!) We'll all be shoulder-to-shoulder, but all together – which is the best present I could possibly want, for any occasion.

Happy Holidays - and every day!

Milou Koenings is a USA Today best-selling author. She writes romance because, like chocolate, stories with a happy ending bring more joy into the world and so make it a better place.

You can find her on her website, www.miloukoenings.com, on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. 

Amazon
Sweet Blizzard: Trey Bennett's an ex-con. Loren Williams is an East Coast socialite. He saves her life when they're stranded in a blizzard, but she could make or break his. Will love make it all right in time for Christmas?

A sweet romance about the healing power of love, this wholesome, clean-read novella is part of the Green Pines Romance series. Available at Amazon.

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