The Hardest Day

This morning, Ashley and I decided the time had come for Dudley to go to the big dog-run in the sky, as his condition had quickly deteriorated these last few days. It was one of the hardest things we've ever had to do, but it was the right thing. We can all rest assured that Dudley is in a happy place, sitting on a warm pillow, snacking on a snausage, while keeping a watchful eye over his family.Be in peace, Dud-pug, Dec 1992 - Apr 2009. We loved you and could not have asked for a better dog.

Huh???

I need a woman's mind to help decipher the following. Today, Ashley and I spent a lot of time cleaning the house. We split the duties equally, and it just so happens I clean the kitchen. As we were preparing dinner this evening, I noticed Ashley was going to make fried okra, normally a pleasant delicacy. However, we don't own a deep-fryer, so Ashley has to heat the oil in a pan and then place the battered okra into said pan. If you've ever fried anything this way, you will know that there is a lot of collateral damage i.e. oil splatters on everything. Thus, I wasn't too happy about this since I'd just cleaned the kitchen. During the dinner preparations, the following conversation actually took place:
Ashley: "I'm not speaking to you."
Jeff: "Why, what did I do?"
Ashley: "You yelled at me."
Jeff: "I did not. In fact, I didn't say anything at all."
Ashley: "True. But it was the way you didn't say it."
Yes, that last line is a direct quote. What the ^%$* does it mean? :-) Obviously it is waaay too sophisticated for a man's mind to comprehend...

Nothing too exciting going on here. Beautiful weekend in Dayton--got up to 86 today. We worked in the yard some, and took Bode to the park (no fat lips this time). Here are a couple cute pictures. The first simply shows that Bode is getting older--turning 17 months this week--and has lost the baby look.The second happened today during lunch. I was reading the paper and realized it had gotten real quiet. I looked up and Bode was out cold.Pleasant week to you all.

Nothing But Bull-Pics

No preamble for this post. I'll just dive right in. The other day, Auburn did something I thought was real smart. In the days P.B., we would keep multiple water bowls filled around the house--heaven forbid the dog have to walk more than ten feet to get a drink. As Bode has gotten older, a favorite thing for him to do is grab the water bowls, and he has yet to learn that a full bowl when grabbed by one with minimal grabbing dexterity will likely spill. Thus, we now only have the one water bowl in the kitchen.

As you might have heard, Dudley has been diagnosed with diabetes. Before you panic, let me say it's very treatable with daily injections of insulin (and it only costs $18 per month, so it's not like we're breaking the bank to do it). Dudley will start on insulin this Wednesday. The symptoms of diabetes in a canine are a lot like those in a person (e.g. drinking a lot of water). The increased water intake has made Dudley pee quite often, and many times in the house (it's a pain to get old). Therefore, until he gets on insulin, we've had to pen him in to keep him off the carpet/furniture in the event of an accident. We sit him on some towels, try to make him comfortable, and, yes, we're doing a lot of laundry. In his little area, we have also placed a water bowl.

Now, back to the thing Auburn did that I thought was smart. I had forgotten to fill Auburn's water bowl and didn't realize it. For almost an hour, Auburn kept going over to Dudley's pen and staring into it. For the life of me, I had no idea what she was doing, and then it clicked: she wanted the water. I checked and her bowl was indeed empty. I apologized profusely (which she probably heard as, "Blah bah, blaaah, blah bah, Auburn"). I commented to Ashley about Auburn's behavior and how smart I thought she was. Ashley's response? Well, she wasn't near as impressed as I was. She said, and I (mis)quote, "If the bitch was so smart, why didn't she just kick her empty bowl into the wall?" (As many of you Holiday newsletter readers know, b---h is a perfectly acceptable word. If you don't believe me, just watch the Eukenuba Dog Show and count how many times they use the b-word--and I quote, "What a pristine looking bitch...") Anyways, evidently Auburn isn't as smart as I thought...

This week, the camera was operated by Miss Ashley. Here are some action shots of me and the not-so-light dude. First, here he is on my shoulders.Bode is getting heavy. We had to go to the doc this past week--6/10 kids in his class got pink-eye...Bode was one of the lucky 60%. Fortunately, Ashley nor I have yet to get it...but my eyes are sort of itchy. At the doc's office, Bode weighed 29.4 pounds, and he's not even 17 months old. Ashley doesn't like it when I call him Bode-the-Hutt...

Here's Bode and Daddy reading about all the wonderful sounds Mr. Brown can make. Not quite Stephen King, but interesting none-the-less (particularly so on the fifth reading...)
Next, we have Bode and Daddy playing trains. Note how Daddy is responsible for construction while Bode is in more of a supervisory role. I think we have the makings of a future government employee.Here's a great shot of Bode sitting on my back. I thought I'd see how many push-ups I could do with a 30-pounder weighing me down. The position you see me in is about as far as I got...(and before you make comments, yes, that is the stupidiest look on my faceWe reached another milestone this week. See if you can figure out what it is from this picture.
Did you figure out what it was? Note the cup Bode is using. There's no lid i.e. no sippy-cup top. Yessiree, Bode-man is drinking like a normal person. Well, almost like a normal person. Sometimes he gets too ambitious and tilts the cup too far. And while we're in training mode, all he gets in the cup is water.

That about does it for this post. I apologize that there are no pictures of Auburn or Ashley. Evidently the bitch wasn't pristine enough to photograph this week :-)

Pleasant evening to all.

Happy Easter...Here's Your Fat Lip

Happy Easter Sunday to everyone. It is a beautiful day here in Dayton, and I'm not just talking about the weather. Lent is now officially over, which means I can eat sweets again. Yes, you heard (read) that right. I gave up sweets for the past 46 days (or 1,004 hours...but who's counting). And my definition of "sweets" was rather strict (I'm old school, baby). Anything that I would normally eat for dessert was prohibitted. No chocolate, no ice cream, no cookies. I didn't even allow myself an after-dinner mint. The results were rather surprising. I lost six pounds, which is quite a lot for a little slim-jim like me. What was more impressive was this past week, we had our annual weigh-in/waist measurement at work. My waist was a shocking 29.5 inches. Now, before you gasp, the guy doing the taping was a bit generous with his "cinching of the tape" (the footprint on my stomach is evidence on how snugly the tape was pulled). I probably won't continue this exercise is sugar-abstinance, but I think the lesson of this little adventure is clear. If you are trying to lose weight, simply give up the sweets for 1,000+ hours...if I can do it, so can you.

Yesterday, we went to the park. Bode loves the swings, and he's really starting to like the slide. He's able to climb the stairs like a normal person (i.e. not crawl up them) with a little help from Mom or Dad (we hold his hand). Of course, if the person holding his hand isn't paying close enough attention, the little dude can still fall down (I'm the guilty one, your Honor). Below is what happens when toddler-lip meets steel-stair.Poor little guy got a fat lip--he looks like he was in a rumble. And yes, I fully admit that it was Daddy's fault (well, I also blame the economy and those greedy Wall-Street bankers, because everything is their fault these days). Fortunately, the amount he cried was disproportionate to the amount of blood (lots of blood, minimal tears), and once we got home and got some juice, Bode-man was his normal self.

Do you know those restaurants where you order your food at the counter (e.g. a Subway or Noodles and Company)? We frequent such a place for lunch. It's usually pretty crowded, and there is limited seating. Now, can someone please tell me how a normal, sane person would think it to be acceptable behavior to show up at such a place, see the long line at the counter and the limited number of tables, and have somone from their party snag an open table even though there were ten people in front of them in line? How is this different from simply cutting in front of everyone in line? If you are one of these people, well, I apologize (actually, I don't...you should be shot :-)

We are off to the Home Depot. Bode loves it there--so much to see, so much to feel. The added bonus is the store is huge, and all that walking makes for a long afternoon nap!

Pleasant day to all.