Results of the Dogathon

It's been a two-nap day for the Big Dog

and about a twelve-nap day for the Little Dog. Others of us have managed to stay up all day but did have a rest in the comfy recliner on the porch.

Dogathon

Magi, Grant and Keri's Welsh Corgi, pictured on the right in the center picture, was 2 years old, so they had a dog birthday party on Sunday. I believe this is really an owner party, but you didn't get invited unless you had a dog. There were 5 dogs, and I was lucky to get a 4-dog picture. Their backyard is very large and the dogs had lots of room to spread out. The big brown lab, Mya, is only 7 months old and was the silliest dog there. Our dog, Mojo, wasn't too sure about her at first but eventually came out from Bill's protection because he did have the most mojo at the party. Magi was definitely the best ball catcher. The Yorkie, Abby, was the smallest and had some of the best agility moves. Lilah, the black dog, couldn't figure out her best of category, so unfortunately won best growler and fang bearer at the other dogs.

Oh yeah, Mojo also won in the only male category, not that he knew it.

Two Times Lucky This Weekend

Dear Friends,

I am a very lucky puppy this weekend. On Friday night, Grant, Keri and Magi are coming over so that Nina and Bill can try to teach Grant and Keri how to play bridge. Ha Ha! Magi and I will be busting up the place so much that there won't be any serious learning going on.

Better still, on Sunday afternoon I'm invited to Magi's 2-year-old birthday party. I don't know any of the dogs other than Magi that will be there, but I'm really looking forward to meeting Abby, Mya, and Lilah because those sound like Chick names. Bugsy I'm not sure about. Could be a gun-toting dog or a rabbit. It's BYOB and something to grill for the grownup's and Keri will provide the sides. PLUS, she is making a special treat for all us dogs. GRRRReat!!!

On the right is the picture of Magi that was on the invitation which of course came on the internet. I do all my correspondence on the internet. I'm particularly fond of my owner's blog. Anyway, I think Magi is eating a shark. Better to eat a shark than be eaten by a shark is my motto too.

I will probably have some photos from the picnic to share. Later with love, Mojo Cotton

2008 : First Black; First Woman

I took these pictures from my TV!

The Democrats made history this year when the Democratic primary races boiled down to whether the nominee would be the first woman, Hillary Clinton, or the first black. Ultimately Barack Obama, the first black, won. I was very proud of my party. Now Barack has a white mother and a black father (from Kenya) and I've always wondered why that seems to arbitrarily make him black and not white. But I guess it's not my call. My brother Mike and I have been supporting Obama's campaign in a small financial way. I hope that if he is elected he will be able to fix the increasingly broken health care system in the U.S. and insure the financial stability of social security for our children.

The Republican nominee is 71-year-old candidate Senator John McCain. He has served our country for many years and is a decent fellow. Enough said.

Busy for 10 days doing what?

What can I say? I haven't posted for 10 days. The rapid pace of retirement or, in my case, disability. Yes, just a couple of days ago, I heard from my Prudential rep (who is never friendly, but that must be their job, to be quite stern with you, a poor sick or hurting person) and they granted me disability from December 2007 until February 2009. And speaking of that word granted, I actually thought of that verb when I picked out Grant's name. Grant - to give - it seemed, well, nice. Some people can take all the nice out of it. Her name is Alisa and she told me I had to file for disability thru 3 levels of refusals (unless they "grant" me it).

So on Monday or Tuesday I sent in the online application for social security disability benefits. There is still other stuff I have to do like take my certified birth certificate which I luckily have to my nearest social security office and begin to write down all the medical info I have, which is considerable since I've been at the facial neuralgia since May 2004 and Crohn's disease since 1973 or more recently June 2007 (when all hell broke loose).

Meanwhile I have had, in the last 10 days, about 2 good ones and 8 bad ones. The good ones are not what a "normal" person would call good, but to me, they're awesome. They allow me to do such things that I enjoy, like read, do jigsaw puzzle, and play with Mojo (or as Irma, the cleaning lady calls him, Moho).

Vandy's Bed & Breakfast

or Day Care Center for Bambi? I didn't see the parents of Bambi here, but surely they were close by. He was resting peacefully in my backyard garden, probably having munched on a few delicate geranium buds when I spotted him and took the right-sided picture. Then I went outside to take one closer and he spotted me: left-handed picture. I think he was giving me the evil eye, don't you? Well, I gave it right back to him until I scared him off. They are cute, but not when you know they are eating your plants, or have I mentioned that ad nauseum?

Happy 5th of July

Usually we go to Nashville for their most wonderful fireworks display and concert by the Nashville Symphony, but this year I was definitely having a bad face pain day so could only "face" making it as far as Brentwood where we knew we would get home quicker. Nashville firework traffic is quite intense.

Of course, it was a trade-off; the fireworks were mediocre, but we did get home in 5 minutes. We were shocked at that! So shocked and happy that we had to stop at Sonic, the local drive-in for banana-fudge sundaes.

Mojo was happy to see us, of course. I may have mentioned that he is a real terror, quite a bold little pup. Well, he learned his lesson when I went outside for a minute when we got home to talk to our neighbor across the street who was shooting off fireworks for his 3 small children. He is married to a doctor, and I mentioned that I was surprised she let him engage in such a dangerous sport. He said back that didn't I see her sitting right there in the driveway micromanaging the event like an OSHA representative. At that point Mojo decided to slip through my leg, even though I had it blocking the door. No sooner had he started racing down the sidewalk to go see the neighbors, then they set off a firework causing a flash and a loud bang. Wow! Did he ever do a 180 degree turn and race like the devil was after him right back into the house!