I became a mom again at age sixty-four.

Me, the one who doesn’t do mornings.

Me, the one who loves being a grandma because you get to give them back.

Me, the introverted one who doesn’t people much.

On June 24th, at 8 pm in the evening, 4-month-old, 9lb 4oz Poppy the Puppy was delivered.

She was delivered down the escalator at McCarran International Airport by some wonderful people who agreed to bring her on their family vacation to Las Vegas, all the way from Oklahoma.

The minute they put the little bundle in my arms, I was in love.

I was happily clueless about what I was in for because it’s been well over 20 years since I’ve had a puppy in the house.  I was much younger then and had some kids around the house.   Kids who helped with the puppy.

The first night, I played with her for a few hours, cuddled and loved on her and then placed her lovingly in her kennel to sleep.   After a few minutes of whines and a couple barks, she settled down and went to sleep.    I, on the other hand, laid in my bed listening for her, finally drifting off around 2 am.    At 5 am, Dave shook me awake with the words “your baby is crying.”

Did I mention I’m not a morning person?

“What, baby?   Why can’t you just put her in bed so I can nurse her back to sleep?”

Uh….yeah.

Once my cobwebs cleared, I got her out of her kennel and outside to potty before feeding her breakfast.   As she was inhaling her kibble, I tried to fix a cup of coffee.

I say tried because it’s hard to do anything when a nine-pound ball of fluff is zooming around biting your legs and feet.

I put the coffee aside, got dressed, and took the zoomer on a walk.  A walk requires me to see……..PEOPLE.   Sure, I put on my sunglasses and my “don’t talk to me” shirt, but I went.  My thinking was that the walk would tire her out and she’d relax so I could have my morning coffee and quiet time.

Ha!   I can hear those of you who’ve had a puppy laughing hysterically.

I haven’t had a whole cup of coffee and quiet time in the mornings in three weeks.

And you know what?   It’s fine.    What I do get is this sweet ball of energy that is excited to see me and play games in the morning.    I get the best laughs from her zoomies and the funny things she does. She gives excellent cuddles and love when she is not zooming and chewing off my hand.  I’m getting exercise a couple of times a day because I have to and have no excuse not to.  I’m exhausted when I go to bed at night, and I’m sleeping better.

We now live in Poppyville, and some of us are settling in quite nicely.

Some of us…

Stay tuned.