Lil' Shitski

The comment from Peanut yesterday made me think I ought to explain about Pumpkin's name tag.

The Pumpkin girl's name is "Pumpkin." That is stamped on one side of the name tag along with my last name and telephone number. On the reserve side I included one of my many nicknames for Pumpkin: "Lil' Shitski." Definitely a term of endearment. At least in the strange home I grew up in and the one in which Glenn and I raised our daughter!

The flip side of Darby's name tag says "Short Stuff" -- another term of endearment in the family I grew up in where the two men (my father and brother) were tall and the three women (my mom, my sister and me) were short -- and I was the shortest.

Pumpkin is as sweet as can be.  Gentle, cuddly, quick to learn,  but when it comes to playing, she is a little Spitfire, (Leda called her that) a little Stinker, and little Troublemaker--a little Shitski! 

Here are just three examples of Pumpkin's Shitski-ness:

Ha!  I shall steal your ball and run away with it!

Ha!  I shall grab your soft chin in my sharp baby teeth and p-u-l-l.

Ha! If I can't catch up with you, I will grab you by your haunch!

My favorite Shitski act by far is one I haven't managed to capture on film.  Picture this:  the two dogs running madly around the back yard.  Darby who is faster and for now anyway, more agile, manages to out-maneuver Pumpkin and gets away.  As Darby runs across the yard and back again, Pumpkin lies in wait.  As Darby streaks by, Pumpkin leaps out at her, grabs her tail in her mouth and proceeds to hang on like an anchor until she drags Darby to a stop!  

Lil' Shitski!