First off:  Thank you Seth!  You are my hero for the week.  The boss ma'am finally gave me and Lyle the rawhides that you sent us on Monday and boy o boy were they ever good!  I owe you one.

Yesterday marked the end of an era that began November of 2002.  Before that time, I would lie on my bed and look out over an open field.  In the long time since then, I've barked at countless construction workers.  I was awoken many, many mornings by the sound of the cement mixer being hammered clean.  Didn't they know that if they would have sprayed it out before they left they could have avoided all of that noise?  I also remember the day that the mixer got its payback when it grabbed the hand that had banged it so many times over the countless months...  I never did hear what happened to that guy.  So many construction workers, so much to bark at.

Well, as I was saying, yesterday it all came to an end when my new neighbors moved it.  If I were a pessimist, I'd say it was the end of an era, but being the optimist that I am, I recognize it as the beginning of a new era.  You see, the family that moved in has children.  While I had to limit my barking at the construction workers to 8:00 am to 2:00 pm or so that they worked on the house once or twice a week, playing children holds the promise of barking at all hours.  Or better yet, maybe they will wish that they had a dog of their own and will make up for it by feeding me lots of treats.   I haven't met them yet so only time will tell.

On another note, the boss man has been fretting about me again the last few days.  Yesterday he invited the boss ma'am to join in on his fretting.  Today he asked Dr. Hathorn to fret as well.  Sometimes I think that he has too much time to dwell on things.  Anyway, he told me that he is worried because the last few weeks, I have been breathing louder and louder when I relax.  Not while I'm awake, not when I am asleep, but more when I am in that Zen place between.  Also, there is that bum thing - but the less said about that the better.  Anyway, he called Dr. Hathorn this morning and she said that she would like me to come in for a  quick exam.  The boss man told me not to worry though because it is the kind where she pets me all over and probably not the kind where she pokes needles in me.  All I can say is that he had better remember to bring my Naw'Somes!  That and also:  Die cancer!  Die!  Perhaps I've been getting lax about saying that.  Die cancer!  Die!

One last thing that I've been thinking about is that there is talk that I might have a guest soon.  It seems that there is a war going on.  This war hasn't been making the canine nightly news so I thought that maybe it was over already because the boss's brother-in-law has been home since last September.  I knew that Seth's boss man was called away but since he just had to go to Washington D.C., I didn't really give it much thought.  Then again, I've never claimed to know much about the military.  I have two bum knees (not to mention this cancer thing) so I'm not eligible for service. 

So anyway, one of the boss ma'am's friends from work is being called up this month and his 70 year old black lab won't be able to come with.  Well, it isn't that I want to share my treats with another mouth, but I understand that she will need a home for a while.  There is still a chance that she might not come to stay with us, but if she does, I'll do my best to make her feel welcome.  I might even let her have a rawhide or two while she is here!

Well, I guess I've barked on long enough.  Keep your dewclaws crossed for me that I get some treats today.  Oh yeah, and that the cancer is not coming back too.

Peace, out.

Little Bit