Happy New Year

Christmas was a hoot this year. I got to play with my friend Micah, whose energy is boundless. He ran and ran around the yard, and I chased him too! What a blast. He's way younger than me, but it was so much fun to try to catch him that I didn't even care if it hurt a little. Of course by the end of the day my butt was kind of sore, but it was worth it!

Mom and Dad's family were all there. They brought piles of presents and lots of food.

See all that stuff on the table? I didn't get any of it. Dad did give me a little hunk of beef later. I love holidays. I always get something. I'm always hopeful. You know, people should be better at hoping for blessings too. God always does wonderful things for those who trust Him to do stuff. If we don't trust Him, He waits until we do. Me, I'm going to remain hopeful forever. 'cause I know my Mom and Dad, and I know God. The special treats are always available!

Christmas Wisdom

Now that Mom has started typing for me again, I can bring you some Christmas wisdom (sorry, I just can't seem to get my paws to work on her computer keyboard).

We all need to remember what Christmas is all about. It is NOT about dog treats stuffed in a stocking. (I like that of course). It's about forgiveness. Yes, half the time I'm preaching to the choir, but Christmas is all about forgiving people. It's why Jesus came!

Many years ago, Mom had a neat dog that could talk. (Not like me,but close). His name was Rex and he spoke to her Uncle when he came to the back door with "Hi, Rich." Special dog, huh?

Soon into the family Christmas celebration, Mom's cousin Chuckie accidentally caused the dog to be drowned in the river. Mom was devastated. Did she hold a grudge? No, she forgave him. Important to do. The incident stuck in her heart to this day, but she never ever said anything bad about Chuckie's mistake.

I have to forgive RileySue a lot around here. I want to bite her, but most of the time I just ignore her. She does bite me on occasion, not too much. Anyway, I forgive her because she's a Diva and has very little manners. So my advice today is please forgive everyone this Christmas. It's Jesus' bottom line reason for the season!

Finally- Mom helps me with the blog!

You know, this waiting around for Mom to help me do a blog is annoying.But I just don't have fingers to type with: she has to do it for me. She's been so busy lately that I was beginning to think she'd never get going on this again.

It's been cold here in North Idaho lately. Now, I have a warm fur coat, but sometimes the cold lulls me to sleep. When I'm so rummy when I wake up that
Mom has trouble getting my attention.

And speaking of attention, what's up with RileySue getting the meat treats every meal? Apparently she has to take a pill all the time now and Mom hides it in a piece of meat for her. Hey! What about me? She stabs me at meal time with those diabetic syringes. I say unfair! Give me the meat too!

I've tried stealing it, but Mom always stops me. Life is so wrong sometimes. I have a perfect garbage gut, and RileySue is an over-sensitive-gotta-throw-up-often kind of doggy. So she gets the meat. Humpf. Jeepers.

Good thing I love my Mom.

Doggy Thanksgiving

Today was a really fun day for me. We had all sorts of company- our daughter Dana's boyfriend brought "Dutch," a very cute
Beagle. And I mean CUTE! I got a little excited and wore myself out chasing him around the yard and house. But it was worth it. He's a cute little guy. Oh, that's right I'm a boy dog too. Sorry. oops.

Then there was Micah. He's always fun- we chased each other around for quite a while before Dutch got there.

Of course Riley Sue wasn't in the chasing mood, but even she tried to have a good time for a very short few seconds. She's kind of anti-social. At any rate, Thanksgiving this year was great fun. The humans sat around playing a game called "Catch Phrase" - even Mom played for a while too. She NEVER plays games. Must have been the brain bleed that altered her personality or something. That's ok, I think she had a good time.

So here I am, my butt is hurting so I'm just lying around on the floor, trying to stay out of trouble. You should have seen us all trying to eat together. Interesting. 4 dogs all being fed at once. Where was Cesar Millan when we needed him? I ate mine perfectly. Riley finally got the program. Micah and Dutch kept stealing each other's food. Really funny to watch. They both have great noses and could smell the turkey in the kitchen. Both are bigger beggars than me and THAT's quite an accomplishment.

Family is so important, you know. Getting along is important- and having fun is part of it all. I'm so glad this family loves dogs and each other. They don't get uptight over stuff- so it makes the evening pleasant.
And someone please tell Dana's friend that everyone likes him.
What a great time we had today!

Spa Day

So here I am after a day at the "spa." My groomer (Bark 'R Boutique in Spokane www.barkrboutique.com ) added a bunch of new services and boy am I happy about it. Margaret rubbed sugar into my dry skin. Wow that felt good. Being a diabetic makes my skin really dry, so all that pampering made me feel wonderful. Ok, that stuff is normally for girls, but having someone massage my skin felt grrrrrreat!

Then there was the toenail clipping with a dremel tool, and teeth brushing. I really hate my teeth brushed but I do know it's supposed to be good for me. snarl. Then Mom bought me a new collar, which looks pretty snazzy. All in all it was a good day to be gone from home.

You know, both dogs and humans need pampering. Dogs especially need regular grooming and/or a "spa treatment." People should do the same or they start smelling like us dogs. I've been told that I stink sometimes, but you should smell some humans...wow...knock me down with the odor. At any rate, a spa day for everyone is always a good idea.

Interesting Experiences

So here I am, jammed in the doggy door to the garage, with a blanket stuck to my head. And it almost looks like I'm stepping out of Heaven into reality (all that bright light and stuff on my nice white fur). When I saw the picture I thought I must be losing it. But maybe not.

You know, we dogs have an uncanny knack for knowing things that you humans tend to miss.Did you know that Great Danes, for example, were once thought of as extremely spiritual dogs who could detect the presence of demons? Yep. My Mom's Newfoundland, Joshua could do the same. One day he paced in front of the television until she turned the channel to "Patton." Then he settled down and went to sleep- but the original channel was set to "Stepford Wives." Smart dog, I say.

I pretty much get along with everyone most of the time but there are a few people I don't care for. They just give me the heebie-geebies. It's kind of funny, but my Mom's friends who were once criminals or cops,and some Christians and relatives, seem to be fine around me. Others, not so much.

One night I was so worried about intruders that I laid down in front of the door! There were police all over the front yard with their flashing lights- and I just didn't want to take the chance, so I took my nap in front of the door. Let them come over the top of me. Good luck, I say. There is always more to a situation than you might think. The spiritual reality is pretty normal for us. So enjoy the blanket on my head and the bright light in the background, and know that it's because that's where I live most of the time: in a different realm.

Mom's Funny

Well, Mom is back to "normal", at least 99% of the time. But I have to tell you, she's a riot.

A few days ago she took me to the grocery store with her. I'm pretty sure she forgot I was in the car,'cause she was gone a really long time. She apologized to me, and said something about forgetting something or another. My legs were crossed from having to go pee, but other than that it was ok.

She told me that a few days after her hospital stay she put face cream in her hair. I didn't get to see that, but it sounded like something out of an old slapstick comedy routine. (Don't tell her I said that, ok?)

She put the paprika on a shelf by the telephone instead of in the cupboard where it belonged. Pretty comical that no one in the house noticed it there. When her brain came back, she moved it.

Of course, the people in charge of the house while she was "out" put all the bowls in the wrong cupboard. They also melted one of the plastic bowls in the dishwasher. It went from round to oval in one easy swipe. She had to fix those little things too. So, see? She does have more than one brain cell.

All in all, she is doing very well. Her brain is being restored and she only ties her shoes wrong every other day instead of every day. She's getting there. :)