Himself is very sad for a friend

Ellen here... we had a wonderful weekend of adventures and agility and friends, and Himself will catch up on all that news soon.

But in the meantime, please hold our dear friend Mary-Ann Bowman and her family in your heart. Shockingly, suddenly, their sweet Cadi is gone.

CH Cruising Arcadia CD TD OA NAJ NF RN DD BDD CGC
Born July 11, 2005
BMDCA Versatility Dog
BMDCA Working Dog
Mother of the Kaibab G Litter

Cadi was seemingly well and healthy yesterday morning, and before the night was over she was gone. Mary-Ann and her family are understandably devastated, as are all of us, their friends and family across the country.

I continue to work to treasure each and every day I am given the gift of sharing my life with these creatures; this difficult lesson has been part of the fabric of my world for more than a year now. 

No one can carry the Bowman family's pain, but if you are inclined, you can visit Mary-Ann's blog and leave a note for her there. Here is a link:

Kaibab Blog

In Which Himself Does Agility In Style

O.M.Gee. Peeps, did I have the BEST DAY EVER. First, mommy wants you to know I slept all night in our hotel room, and I was a VERY GOOD BOY.

So there is this thing called "agility". This is where mommies and daddies spend LOTS of money to take their dogs to somewhere where they get to run around and play and everyone is happy. It is sort of like heaven.

This is me in my man-cave at the agility trial. My sissy Beckham is watching to be sure no one steals me. Akshully, several people stole me, but they were all friends of mommy and it was okay because they were just showing me around.

I met SO many new peeps today, I can't even name them all. I also met lots of dogs that are not like me. I loved them ALL! Some of them played with me, and some of them thought I was kinda weird.

Then. The Best. Thing. Ever.

I had a nap. Then, when I woke up, mommy and Auntie were having a social with a BIG bunch of friends. Mommy and auntie brought rice salad and juustalepia and wine. I had my dinner, then I came out to play. And everybody loved me. I ran around and played and everyone loved me. But my new friend Craic showed me a new game: "Puppy? What puppy?".

My friend MACH Craic and his mommy Carol are going to something called AKC Nationals next week. Mommy and Auntie say they they will do very well there, because they are a really good team. Mommy says that when she is "73" , she wants to be like auntie Carol. Auntie Carol is mommy's hero, because she broke her arm falling off a bar stool once.

Me and my auntie Carol. I love her!

I had so much fun in the middle of about 20 pikeys, aunties and uncles who shared dinner and drinks and they all LOVED me, of course. Auntie Emmy gave me a fun new toy.

Auntie says that if I hang around with her and mommy and their agility friends, there will be lots of these kinds of toys.

New Things:

1. I'm too tired to list everything! Good night.

In Which Mr. Himself Goes to Washington

Wow! I am quite the traveling man. I've already visited the following states: North Carolina, Utah, Idaho (TWICE!) and Montana. And tonight I'm in WASHINGTON. I'm on a really big adventure: an agility trip!

Auntie Emmy came to our house with my cousins Nai'a and Luka, and we all got in mommy's van and I took a nap. Then I woke up and we were in WASHINGTON! Mommy and Auntie wanted to go to some place called Trader Joe's, but first we got out and played in WASHINGTON!

WASHINGTON has the same cold stuff on the ground as we had at our house a few days ago. I peed on it and now it is mine.

So now we are at a "hotel", and I played with my cousin Nai'a and I had my dinner and now I'm in my house. Tomorrow is going to be my favorite day!

Also, mommy said everyone can know now: my uncle Joey is a fire chief and he and his family will be living by us soon! We are happy; we love our uncle Joey. And I know we will like our cousin Chuck (he's a fun boy dog) and mommy's sister-in-law Heidi and Joey Jr. and Avery. We are happy!

My new peeps:

• Grammy Chris and Grampy Jim Armstrong
• Marianne
• Chuck and Carolyn
• Betty
• Daryl
• A nice man from Missouri who has "Papillons" (?)
• More peeps, I can't even REMEMBER them all!

New Things:

1. A hotel!
2. Goose poop on the lawn
3. Washington!
4. School bus air brakes
5. Pinecones
6. IPA

In Which Himself Conquers A Mandarin

Well, another day at the office. It was an epic battle, but in the end, I defeated the dreaded Mandarin.

Auntie Emmy sent a couple of pictures from our visit to Shateau Sheltie on Saturday. I think I look particularly fierce in this one. This carrot is seeing its life pass before its.... eyes? (Do carrots have eyes? I'll have to think about that.)

And in this one...how cute is my bum in the air?

I had fun today, but mommy needs to sign off and get ready for our next big adventure! Stay tuned, peeps, lots of fun to come in the next few days.

My new peeps today:

• Terri
• Amanda
• Leslie
• Many unnamed students

New things:

1. Toes pinched in door (mommy is SORRY!!!)
2. Mandarin orange

In Which Himself Goes In An Elevator

HoooEE! I had some fun today. My cat sissy Bandia is now playing with me... at least, that's what mommy says she is doing. Here is what she does: she sashays past me and swishes her kitty tail in my face. Then I herd her like a good Rottweiler should, and she gets on something juuuuuusssssst out of my reach. Then I lose track of what we were doing, and I go find a toy, and then she comes by, and we start over.

I went to mommy's office again for a few hours. And guess what? I met MORE new people! 

• Maiya
• Tara
• Amanda
• Annette
• Vickie

And THEN we went for a short car ride, and even though I was SLEEPING, we went in a big building in a little room that smelled funny and moved and I met my mommy's friend Diana! Mommy and Diana talked for 50 minutes, mostly about me. It is sure good that mommy has ME to talk about with Diana.  What else would they talk about for EXACTLY 50 minutes?

Mommy has no pictures today, but I had some New Things even so:

1. Elevator
2. Coffee (yuk)
3. Hiccups (okay, they weren't new to ME, but mommy thought they were funny)

In Which Himself Encounters SNOW

Peeps! I had a MONDAY! I don't know what this means, but mommy was moaning about it. This was my first Monday in Montana, so as far as that goes, it was pretty darn good. First thing when I went out to pee, there was THIS!

Mommy thinks I look surprised. What do you think?

I was puzzled by this stuff called snow, but I liked it. It was fun to run around and I fell over TWICE.

After a nap and lunch, mommy and sissy and me went to her "office" on "campus". There, I visited the folks I met last week, and met some new ones, too:

• Shirley
• Ric
• Keith
• Laura (I like Laura because she told my mommy that I can come to the "office" and visit when I need to)

Here I am under our desk at work. Mommy thought I would fit in this  house for a few weeks.
 I don't think she is right, do you?

After I got home, I got to play with this thing! Only then my sissy Bandia decided that SHE likes it, and she even smacked my bum when I was watching her. She is so cool. I think she has secret powers, so I don't mess with her.

New Things for Monday:

1. Monday
2. SNOW!
3. My mommy's office
4. A wiggly board that my sissy Bandia is hogging.

In Which Himself Stays Home, but Still Has an Adventure

Guess what? My mommy's camera ate a bunch of videos and photos. That will teach her to not download them promptly.

But this one was saved. Good thing, because it shows how handsome I am.

We stayed home today, but I still had a big adventure... I walked in our big yard WITH my sister Beckham! My sissy has been kinda grumpy with me in close quarters, so mommy had a "bright idea", and we went out in the yard where sissy could GET AWAY FROM ME! Pretty soon she was a lot more relaxed and all of a sudden I noticed she was telling me important things... and I listened to them. My sissy is The Boss Of Me.The End.

Downward Facing [Frog] Dog

I was at Uncle Dave and Auntie Emmy's house last night (Shateau Sheltie). My new friend Nai'a and me played; I like his tail best of all.

My new friend Luka doesn't think I'm all that amusing. Auntie Emmy sez it is because I was making crazy monster faces at him.

New Things leftover from Saturday:

1. Stairs! I can go up FOUR, and down ONE!
2. Sheltie tails.

New Things today:

1. Ramp! I can go UP and DOWN the ramp to my pee yard!
2. NASCAR! Mommy says we like Jr., and he did all right today.
3. Big yard with sister Beckham (twice!)
4. Cellulose packing peanuts
5. Avocado
6. A thing that makes noise when I look at mommy, and results in yummy stinky salmon TREATS.

In Which Himself Reveals His Name

Happy St. Patrick's Day, my peeps! My mommy is Irish, but she stopped "celebrating" St. Patrick's in American fashion a few years ago. Maybe she's getting old, I don't know. Instead, she is celebrating by taking me to Auntie Emmy and Uncle Dave's house (Shateau Sheltie)! I had lots of fun with my new friend Nai'a. Mommy has pictures and video, but she's too tired (AGAIN!) to post them... maybe tomorrow.

This morning we went to a place called Go Fetch, where I slept while mommy and THE Beckham played agility with  auntie Emmy and some nice folks named Wendy and Lonnie and a boy with a dog named Marley (but I forgot his name).

I explored the store at Go Fetch and met new people there, too. My mommy was telling everyone she LOVES me, and especially how I march up to new people with my stubby wagging, even if I never SAW them before!

Then we got home and I got a bone from Go Fetch. Bones are fun.

My mommy was listening to some of her favorite music this afternoon, and I finally decided to tell her my name.
I am Bodhrán  .

(Ellen here....) This name has been kicking around my life for years, mostly in the form of this tune by the Young Dubliners. I THOUGHT it might be Himself's name, but I wanted to be with him for a few days before I decided if it was right. I'm thinking it is. Take a listen to the song...it features the Irish drum, the bodhrán.

As I've learned about the bodhran over the last few years, I've learned they have an, um, interesting place in Irish music. You might say that they are an acquired taste, but once you fall in love with them, that's it.


And now say it:

BOW-ron

That's not so tough, now is it?

New Things:

1. Go Fetch training center AND shop!
2. A lemon half.
3. Nice ladies at Go Fetch, and new auntie Wendy. Also Lonnie and a neat boy whose dog's name is Marley, but I forget his name.
4. AUNTIES! Shirley, Annie, Shirlee, and Joni! AND Uncle PHIL! He was lots of fun. He made me growl.
5. Shelties! Nai'a, Luka and Skye.
6. A Border Terrier puppy! His name is Scotch, and we played. 
7. Raw carrots.
8. My name.

In Which Himself Experiences a Home Invasion

Well, so THAT's how the big boys do it! Mommy and Uncle Joey stayed up late talking, so we all stayed up. Then we went to bed and I slept until 6:00 AM! After pee, brekkies and play we all went back to bed and slept until 9:30. Now we're up again and I had second brekkies. Gr'ma Michelle said maybe I didn't need it cuz I wasn't all that hungry... mommy sez learning this puppy stuff again after EIGHT YEARS (that's how old my sister Beckham is) is kinda scary! She's afraid to not feed me enough. Seems that won't be the problem. Turns out Gr'ma Michelle was right... later in the day I ate all my second brekkies for my elevenses, and it was yummy, even the weird egg.

I had a VISITOR! I woke up from a nap to a feeling of warm and cozy, like when I was sleeping with my littermates in North Carolina... 

HOME INVASION!! (The Movie)

Cast: Buzz Cat (as The Invader),
Himself (as Himself), and 
THE Beckham (as THE Beckham).

The Plot: Himself wakes from a nap to find his Day Room has been invaded by The Invader (known far and wide for catching zzzzs with unsuspecting Rottweilers).

THE Beckham makes a cameo appearance. 

New Things for Friday:

1. Egg in my brekkies
2. Coffee grinder noise
3. Black dishwasher (is there a PUPPY in there? And why won't he come out and play?)
4. Water coming out of the rain barrel in the pee pen (that was COOL!)
5. Sharing my bed with a cat

Day One in Montana

In Which Himself discusses his first full hours in Montana...

Ye cats and little fishes, it's been an eventful day in Montana! I'm on my fifth or sixth wind for the day, madly playing and biting my mommy's lunch-lady arms. Also, I like to pull my mommy's hair and she finally had to put her hair up on top of her head to get it out of my reach (she said my poos are going to look like soap on a rope... I don't know what that means, but I'll think about it).

I'm really busy, but in the meantime, here's a quick recap of today:

• Went to mommy's office, where I slept in my van for a few hours then I met the following (not necessarily in this order, and my apologies for any I missed):
• Coffee lady
• Beth
• Magda
• Fran
• Susie
• Mignon
• Chris
• Lisa
• Roberta 
• Amy
• Korla
• Karen
• Jamie
• Leslie
• Tammy
• Patrick
• Bonnie
• Lynanne
• Jason
• Many unnamed college students
• I went to my new doctor's office, where I met:
• Sandy
• Sarah
• Another Buzz! This one is a Border Terrier; he has a funny fuzzy face.

Here's my New Things for Thursday:

1. Man on crutches on campus (he petted me for 10 minutes and I forgot about his crutches)
2. Squirrels on campus
3. Wheelchairs on campus
4. Skateboards whizzing by on campus
5. Bikes on the sidewalk on campus
6. Deer poop on campus
7. Fortune cookie (mommy and uncle Joey got takeout Chinese)
8. A REALLY BIG yard at mommy's house. 

My mommy has some pictures but she is out of "energy" (??) and says she'll catch up on those later. Good night, my peeps.

"Welcome to the west, little feller!"

In which Himself gives a little back story...

Hey Peeps! Himself here, checking in from Montana! Boy, did I have a day yesterday...check this out.

Yup, that blue line shows my travels! I went from Raleigh NC to Charlotte NC to Salt Lake City UT to Idaho Falls ID to Stevensville MT! All in one day! And in Montana, I met my mommy!

My new mommy. She was pretty happy to meet me.

Along the way I met some really cool people. There was this super nice new uncle named Tanner, and his brother Jacob, and their dad Kim! I also met a really neat new auntie named Mary-Ann... she was the Puppy Love Train Conductor and organized all these new uncles to deliver me to Montana. Auntie Mary-Ann has a blog that my mommy really likes, maybe you would like it too.Kim is the guy that handed me to my mommy.

I played with my new auntie Emmy... I'll get to know her really well, my mommy says, because they travel together to agility trials. And my new uncle Dave, who mommy says is the best petter of dogs EVER because as long as you are sitting by him, he pets you. You don't even have to DO anything. I also met my new uncle Joey, who is my mommy's brother, and mommy said he and his family are moving to Montana soon (but I don't think they will have anything to do with dental floss... now where did THAT come from? I don't know how I know things, but I do). My new uncle Joey is staying with my mommy at our house for a while, so I will get to know him really well.

After I played a while with my new BFF Harper B, my mommy and my uncle Joey and my auntie Emmy and my uncle Dave drove me to my new home, where I met my new sister Beckham (she's like me, only bigger) and TWO CATS! That was fun. I don't know how I know, but cats are not like me and my sister Beckham.

So then I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I was still with my mommy and my new sister Beckham and my new brother Buzz Cat and sister Bandia Skittie!

And today was a really fun day, but before I tell you what I did on Thursday, here's my Wednesday New Things:

1. One Berner BFF.
2. Two kitties.
3. One big sister.
4. Two new aunties and FIVE new uncles.
5. One Elk for dinner (mommy says it was real Montana fair-chase sourced elk, whatever that means).
6. One new mommy.