I think I’ve told you before that we lucked out with our dog, Pearl. She has a generally calm demeanor, doesn’t really bark a lot, and just goes with the flow. She’ll run like mad in the yard when she’s outside, but if we say it’s naptime, she’ll curl up on the couch or our bed and is snoring deeply within seconds it seems. She’s also really good around food. Never really noses at the kitchen counter. We’ve even left some popcorn on a bedside table and left the room. She never pays attention to it.

Barbara is another story. Barbara decided that the cookie table my mom put out for Christmas was oh-so-tempting and that the Christmas cannoli were quite delectable. No matter how much shooing and scolding, the second we took our eyes away from the table, Barbara was into another plate. Don’t worry, we didn’t get another dog. They are one and the same.

For some reason, Maddy has been trying to get Pearl to come to the name Barbara. No idea why, but for a couple of weeks she’s been randomly calling her that. She did it again on Christmas, and that’s when we decided that like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Pearl also has an alter-ego named Barbara. So Pearl wasn’t with us on Christmas but rather Barbara with her cookie-eating ways.

And once Christmas was over, Pearl was back. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess, or maybe we just polished off enough cookies to make her lose interest. I’m thinking it’s time for a walk with Pearl to burn off the extra calories.