The Funeral

I dug the grave under a bush that has lots of flowers on it. Andrew made a cross out of some sticks from the tree in our backyard and some string. Amber found a pretty gold box and lined it with some tissues. She also wrote a note that read "Rest and peace Clod. I love you." She wrote her name and drew a sad face with some tears rolling down the cheeks. Sara joined us while I put Clod in the box and helped Amber wrap it up. She placed the box gently in the hole I dug and we all said a few words before shoveling dirt back in the hole. Sonny came over to see what was going on before quickly losing interest and going back to play with his plastic bucket. Dogs.

Turtle Heaven

Tonight changed the way I look at this picture. I snapped it on the drive into work because of the way the sunlight broke through the patchy cloud structure. I didn't know it'd have a deeper meaning tonight.

I'm a softy. That's not breaking news. I always try to do the right thing, no matter what, because right is right even when nobody is doing it, and wrong is wrong even when everybody is doing it. Here's what happened.

After dinner, I put our turtle, Clod, into the small pool we have outside so he could swim around outside of the aquarium he lives in. That's something I do everyday. He swims around and hunts for pieces of dried shrimp we bought for him at the pet store. Tonight was no different. But somehow, I got distracted and simply forgot where he was. I also assumed the dog was in the house.

Well, you can put two and two together to figure out what happened next. Clod was missing and I couldn't find the dog. (I refuse to use his name because I'm still so mad at him.) A little frantic searching in the backyard and I see the dog and I know immediately what he's up to. After shooing him away, I inspected Clod and immediately noticed how serious the damage was. Without going into detail, this was serious damage to Clod's shell. I thought he was gone, but after watching him for a couple of minutes, trying to decide what to do, he started moving. The guy had to be in pain. Serious pain. Andrew was with me and we decided to carefully pick him up and put him back in his aquarium to rest, and hopefully just fall asleep and go to turtle heaven during the night.

I know it's just a small turtle I'm talking about here, but I'm just sick thinking about it, knowing that my absent-mindedness played a large role in this situation. I know that the dog was just doing what dogs do. But I'm still disappointed in him. Tonight, I failed in a big way. I have a heavy heart for the pain I caused to an innocent turtle and the sadness I brought into the house.

Football Weather

College football started today. Well, there were a few games on Thursday, but today is Saturday and that's college football day. So, in this guy's world, it started today. Especially with all of the Big XII games being played. It was so nice outside that we sat out in the driveway to listen to the games on the radio. It was sort of like being at the game, except we had great parking, the snacks were a lot cheaper, the seats were more comfortable and our dog was sitting on the field under the tree growing in the middle of it.

Pharmacy Phor Phido

Our dog has been going darn near crazy scratching and itching. It's like the Itchy & Scratchy show over here. During the day, during the night, during a walk...he's gotta be going mad. I swear his back legs are looking more buff from the workout he's been giving them. Poor guy. It's not fleas causing the problem, we know that much. It's gotta be some sort of allergy. My wife was talking to someone about the problem and heard about a possible remedy. So, I ran to the grocery store and picked up some very human medicine to hopefully relieve the irritation. We're crossing our fingers that the jingle of his dog tags are silent tonight while he gets a decent night's sleep, and a lot of relief.

Waiting

Watching the commotion around him, Sonny supervises from high atop the first floor.

Eye on the Ice Cream

Andrew wasn't sharing any of his ice cream with Sonny. But, if anything fell to the floor, Sonny was gonna be the one to get it.

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

The staredown. Man vs. mutt. Guess who won?

A Dog and His Bone

I was at a meeting for the youth program for the baseball coaches in the league and forgot to grab a photo at 7:15, so you get a picture of Sonny instead. It's probably more interesting anyway. He's a good dog.

Cincinatti-style Chili

Sunday night, we were watching a show on the Travel Channel called "101 Tastiest Places to Chowdown". At #65 was this place in Ohio called Camp Washington Chili. They kept talking about Cincinatti style chili, and all it is is chili on top of spaghetti noodles. If you get cheese on it, it's called a three-way. Add beans to the chili, it's a four-way. Add onions, it's a five-way.

We realized we had some leftover chili in the fridge, so instead of putting it on top of a hot dog, we thought we'd give spaghetti a shot. It wasn't bad! It was a nice departure from the old frank. Sadly, Sonny was only able to gaze upon our italiany-cheesy-chili goodness. Poor puppy.

Sonny's nightly ritual

Every night, like clockwork, if we're at home, Sonny will begin looking at the mantel over the fireplace. That's where we store his chewy sticks/rawhide bones. We hide them inconspicuously behind a picture frame. Tonight, he tried to get a little closer by jumping up on the kids' school desk. I guess the closer he gets to what he wants, the more we'll understand what he's trying to tell us, as if we don't already.