When the holidays come around, I am still stuck in the position of only having a few people to buy for - Mom, Dad, brother and boyfriend. I used to go all out and get close friends gifts, but now that I am living alone and supporting two mouths with eight paws, they are just going to have to understand.

Speaking of Maizie and Marleigh, I have to admit, they take up a great deal of my shopping time. Especially considering the fact that I have to leave them for eight days while I go on a skiing trip. It is weird, I know, to feel guilty for leaving your dogs behind, but if you had to face those big brown eyes as you were packing, you’d understand.

But, let’s be honest, I don’t just spoil the girls when I am leaving for an extended period of time. Even if I am gone for the weekend, I pick them up with more than enough biscuits and bones to hopefully make up for my absentee parenting.

Maybe that is why I am panicking most about what I am going to get Maizie and Marleigh for Christmas. Regardless of the fact they can’t open presents with their paws, I like to believe they are fully aware of what is going on the morning the family gathers by the tree. We all have stockings, my family and our pets (eight dogs and one cat collectively) each have a gift stuffed stocking hung on the mantel.

I want to make sure Maizie and Marleigh have a perfect Christmas morning. Not just because I leave the very next day for my eight day ski trip, but because I love them as much as I do my two-legged family members. Will I end up spending more on them than on my family members, who knows. But, I know they can’t return it, so, I’ve got that going for me.

-- Chloe Ochse --