S = Sophie

S is for SOPHIE.

My beloved dog, my other love of my life. She is my malte-poo. Except both her mama and daddy (by birth) are malte-poos, so we (I) refer to her as a malte-malte-poo-poo.

I know everyone says their dog has the best personality, and that's sweet and all, but the truth be told: Sophie really does.

Trey and I were married in June of 2006. Trey is a deer hunter. I have strict rules when it comes to this hobby of his, however. No wild animals (dead or alive) will be brought in our house. No guns will be cleaned in or near our house. And never, under any circumstances, should an animal be killed, stuffed, and mounted only to live in our home. No, friends, that is clearly off limits.

So our years are divided into new seasons. Trey has "deer season' and 'bow season' and I have 'open toe shoe season' and 'holiday shopping season'. Match made in Heaven, people.

What does this have to do with Sophie, you ask? Easy. The first "deer season" came along a few short months after our wedding bliss and this particular newlywed was not a happy camper. He was leaving me to go wake up at the crack of dawn to sit up in a tree somewhere and wait for his chance of possibly seeing a white-tail mammal? It made no sense to me.

So I did what all good wives do. I complained. I nagged. I begged for a companion. If he was going to go sit in the woods and read (yes, he reads in the woods) then I was surely going to get something from it.

Being the naive newlywed that he was, he agreed to drive 20 minutes outside of Hattiesburg to 'look' at a brand-spanking new maltepoo a nice family was selling. He told me we were only going to 'look' and there would be no buying on this particular trip. I smiled sweetly and nodded, but knew in my heart of hearts we would be leaving with a brand new puppy.

We walked in where a 3 lb furball met us at the door. It was love at first sight. I picked her up, took one look at her and declared her name "Sophia Isabella Bernstein-Skaggs". She was mine and I knew it.

Trey, not wanting to cause a rucus, took out his checkbook and paid the nice little family as I craddled Sophie like a baby and planned future days at the park.

1 year and 7 months down the road, Trey is so in love. With me, of course, but also with the little brat we call Sophie. She is a diva and loves to kiss.

I can already picture some of my readers looking back at her name: "Sophia Isabella Bernstein-Skaggs". Dramatic name for a maltepoo, i know. Truth be told, Trey and I worked several summers are a camp in Maine for girls. Most of the girls at this said camp were Jewish. We (I) thought Sophia Isabella Bernstein sounded like a camper at our beloved summer home away from home and we (I) should name our dog accordingly. So we (I) hyphened the last name with Skaggs and we had a name: SOPHIE.

I love her.

Sophie, sleepy.

Sophie, cuddling with her daddy.

Sophie, modeling her pink parka.