Rapid Fire Updates from 2011

Birthday, Sounders, Trips to Portland and Whidbey Island, Playing ball and not playing ball, in-home dog training (but not really because she said I was so good already and said she felt bad taking my dad's money), being a star pretty much everywhere I go... and even a party at my house. It's been a good year.

You saw my B-Day celebration, and below you can see me sporting a Seattle Sounders jersey before our trip to Portland. Ha! I've got serious style.

This was my bigger event of the year, the trip to Portland. We stayed at a hotel right on the water, which is different water than we have here in Seattle. This water is a river. There are a lot of bridges across rivers. There was a nice park and a river walk and lots of people to say hi to me. But, the real joy of staying in this hotel?

I could go anywhere! And I did. I rode the elevator. I ran down long carpeted hallways. I hung out in the lounge. I rocked the lobby. And best of all, the revolving door! Oh my god, this thing was freaky at first, but once I figured it out, it was so cool. This is how you do it: you dive right in the first open space, and then you hop along with the spinning glass, and then it opens up for just a brief second and you must dive face first out, and presto! You're outside. Amazing. Amaza-balls as some might say.

Dive in. Hop along with the spin. Dive out. Magic. This pretty much sums up my year, but in case you need proof, here's some pics! This is Trip, and I'm out!

Birthday!

It was my birthday and I didn't even know it! But, my family sure did and they helped me celebrate in style! I had SUCH a great day. It started a few days before when they kept saying things to me, "It's going to be your birthday soon." "Someone's turning one!"  I didn't know what they were talking about, but when the day came, I learned birthdays are not something to be ignored.

Birthdays are like Christmas but only for you and no one else!

I got toys, treats, and yes... dessert! Frozen Yogurt made special for dogs like me! It was yummy and nummy and all things good for my tummy. Sigh. Birthdays are nice.

I even got Birthday hats! I started with one, but by the end of the night, well, I looked like this! Lesson learned – you never know what you'll look like at the end of a day-long party!

I'm so pooped (literally and metaphorically), all I can say is, This is Trip and I'm so out!

New Hood, New Parks, New...

It's been a whirlwind my friends. A literal whirlwind. I live in a new place with steps galore! It has nice wood floors and though I slip and slide on them, they feel good on your belly when you get hot. There are three floors here, and I can go anywhere I want! My favorite pastime is to sit at the top of the stairs with a ball in my mouth, and drop it. It bounces and bounces until I just can't take it anymore, and so I race down the steps after it! Rinse. Repeat. This is how fun should be described in the dictionary.

When you're a dog and you move, there is much to get used to and explore. Inside is just part of it, and really, I'm fine anywhere my dad is... I mean, I pretend like he's nothing special, but if he wasn't there, I'd probably freak out.

Outside is where I find myself most excited about the new place. I get new smells, new dogs to meet, new places to pee and poop, and new parks to explore. On my morning walk, there are three parks I go to sometimes:

1. Play structure park. It has a human name, but in dog words, it's play structure park. It has a play structure and when my dad walks me and no one is around, he lets me off-leash and if I climb the steps to the top of the play structure and look out, he hands me a treat from below. This never gets tiring. I'm always up for it when he says, "Go to the top!"  Sure thing, pops, just give me a treat! This is the park we go to most everyday.

2. When we first moved in to this place, we often went to "Muddy River" park down the hill in the low part of the valley.  There was a great place to run off-leash here as well, but I kept finding dirty Kleenex to eat and presto! – Dad stopped taking me there.

3. On special mornings, I get to go an extra hill up and take a lap through "Strange Statue" park. This place has a weird little vibe, and at first it sort of skeeved me out. Now, I am used to it. We have a routine when I come here. I sit right by one of the strange statues, and dad takes the leash off. I stay, under repeated stay commands (I really only need to hear it once). And he walks all the way around this curve in a strange wall and then holds up a treat! I tense, and wait...wait...wait for it... "Come!"  And I'm off to meet him and get my treat and then we run crazy circles and figure eights in the grass until he calls me back with another treat. This usually only lasts a few minutes, but it's fun. And I like walking up the extra block because on the way home, I trot along the busy street and people in cars stop and stare. I pretend not to notice, but it's kinda funny how people smile when they see me.

Here's a pic of me with one of those strange statues. See what I mean?

New smells, new morning parks, new great afternoon parks (another entry to come), new baristas at new coffee shops (another entry to come), and new places to play ball. Moving is a lot to figure out, but once you get it down, you feel pretty good. You feel like you accomplished something, and that right there, is a good reason to take a nap. So, my people, I nap! This is Trip and I'm out!

Holiday Lights

My first round of holidays were nice, but somewhat anti-climatic. I was moving and there was a bit too much to do to really get in the holiday spirit. Still, it was my first Christmas and dad said I needed to learn to love holiday lights.

So, I watched him put up holiday lights, and I watched while we drove through neighborhoods spotting other holiday lights. Blue ones are my favorite because I am a dog and dogs can see blue. I also like white ones because my dad says they're nice and they sparkle pretty. He uses more white ones than blue ones. He also has these things he calls "Fabulous Spheres of Light." I think it's a ball. It's round, looks yummy enough to eat, but instead he hangs out of reach and 'oohs' and 'ahhs' at it.

The real joy of holidays though is the smells. Food is around constantly. Good food in ridiculous quantities. No comments on the excesses of human nature from me, nope, not gonna complain. I mean, the smells are simply intoxicating. I don't beg, though, as it's just not cool. I do have a way of making my eyes look tired and sad, and I combine this expression with a sincere, if somewhat over-dramatic exhale – known as a sigh. This combination often works to get attention, but for the most part, doesn't yield results other than my normal treats.

The good shit came on XMAS. I didn't even know what XMAS was, but now I do and I'll save the comments about what a ridiculous notion Christmas is, and also I won't even comment about Christ's birthday being celebrated in December or any of that. The important thing is, I got hella treats and toys. They even wrapped some up in paper which I was able to destroy and they laughed! I mean, I'm a golden retriever – I love destroying paper! Honestly, it was as good as what was inside. If I had to pick the one thing I got that I loved the most, I'd have to say Christmas Dragon. It's a flying dragon toy with a Santa hat. How cool is that?

I decided, in the future, I will pay a lot more attention to the holidays. They seem like a good time, and I'm sure I'll get even more good shit next year. For now, this is Trip, and I'm out!

Fall & Football Season!

Fall is another season, and it brings yet another season hidden within it. I had no idea what was coming my way, but it's football season! And this means, I'm sleeping and suddenly everyone yells and scares the shit out of me! Hooting and hollering and I jump up in the middle of a dream thinking we are being attacked by a night monster and then everyone is jumping around me and I'm confused as all hell and people kiss my face and slap my butt as they slap each others hands and I have to wait until halftime or the game is over until I can pee and poop and play ball on my own. Football season is fun, but a bit disorienting if you fall asleep.

Go DAWGS! They yell this at me a lot. Go DAWGS! Ok, go Dawgs, I get it. I'm a dog and the team you like is called the Dawgs. Hilarious. Really.

Go HAWKS! They yell this, too, but not as much. And I'm not a hawk.

They also sometimes grab my stumpy and shake it at the TV and say, "Give 'em the stumpy magic!" I think it must be a good luck symbol for them, but I don't like people touching my stumpy. It's my stumpy. Back off. Football season or not. Back the f**k off my stumpy. Well, my dad can touch it, but he kisses it, too! And that's sort of gross. It feels funny, too.

Fall also means towels. I get wet, and so I have to get toweled off. It's a bit irritating.

Fall also means leaves, which are fun to chase all over. My dad says leave it. I say a leaf blowing in the wind is fair game. I just can't resist.

Below is a picture of me chasing leaves. But then the unexpected happened. I found something. It's a circle toy and it flies through the air really pretty. Too pretty not to chase. So I found it in the park, and then my dad took it and threw it. It was so amazing how it flew, I went and got it. The only problem, I just can't seem to pick it up without this happening!

I'm totally blind, but totally happy. Do you see the circle? That's my new toy. Do you see the leaves? That means it's Fall. Do you watch Football? I have to go take a nap now. A game is coming on, and I have to sleep until everyone yells at the TV and scares me wide awake! I think this is how the game is played. So, this is Trip and I'm out!

Summer

Summer is a whole 'nother ballgame, as they say. I don't know who says it, but I've heard it. It makes sense. Summer is lots of walks and beaches and coffee shops and parks and people, oh my!

But, it's really hard to find time to write in the summer when the weather is so nice! My dad is always taking me somewhere fun. Summer is also hot. I have discovered a few things about myself this summer, since it's my first summer. Here is a list of things I learned about summer:
1. I like shade. This is the most important lesson and informs everything else about summer. Since summer is hot, I have found shade to be a priceless commodity. And, I am good at finding shade. I will walk close to a building, or near a rail, just to get a little relief. If there is a large, blank sunny space in front of me, I will hurry as fast as I can to the next shade spot. My dad laughs and sometimes drops my leash. "He'll stop at the next shade spot."  And he's right. I will!
2. Since I have to hop on my one, big front leg, I work extra hard, which makes summer extra hot! Shade becomes even more necessary. I like it cool.
3. Since summer is hot, my dad gets iced lattes, and I get the ice! I love ice! Who knew? Ice from my dad's iced latte is so yummy. I once got a plain ice cube from someone, but it didn't have that soaked in milk and espresso yumminess I crave. I'll be out there wandering off, or deciding not to bring the ball back to my dad because it's fun to watch him get mad as I run circles around him (even with 3.5 legs I can run circles around my old man) – and then, he shakes his ice in the latte and it's like I've been hit by a tractor beam! I come running straight there. I'm addicted to iced latte ice.
4. It takes longer for it to cool down at night, and so I've been given a fan when it's oppressively hot. I think it's oppressively hot more often than those who give me the fan, though. I'd appreciate being able to decide when I need it. A fan is nice. It feels good. It is like my own private breeze, and I can roll over and expose my privates to it if I want. That also feels good.

So check out the pic of me here – I'm growing so fast! And, I'm stylish. My leash matches the car!

Anyhoo peeps! I've got places to go, and rest to get before I have to go entertain the masses in the hot August sun again. Sigh, it's hard work being me. This is Trip, and I'm out!

4th of July!

A parade! I went to a parade! You'd never believe it, but there I was, dressed in red, white and blue all ready for my first ever 4th of July Parade! There were firetrucks and kids on bikes and Uncle Sam on stilts and tractors, trailers and all sorts of weirdos dressed up! It was a real parade!

I should probably tell you, this is no ordinary parade. It's the Maxwelton 4th of July Parade, held on Whidbey Island (also known as Grandma's house because that's what they tell me when we get on the ferry boat - do you want to go to Grandma's house? So I sort of think of the whole damn island as belonging to my Grandma). Maxwelton is a small beach community where lots of farmers and summer island folks gather and families have generations of tradition marching in this parade. It's a really cute parade. Cute like me, cute.

Of course, with all the crazy attractions, I wondered if I'd be a star or be lost in the shuffle. It is decidedly so (just like the Magic 8-Ball says) – I am a bona fide star. I rocked that parade route like I was starting the parade. First, we drove almost all the way there. Then, we caught a shuttle bus and my dad carried me on and sat me in his lap. It was hot, but awesome. Then, the bus dropped us off at the start of the parade route and we saw the whole thing waiting to go. We got there just in time, so we headed down to meet some people, hell, I don't know who they were and I don't care, but... I basically led the parade. I hopped on my 3.5 down the middle of the road with people lining both sides of the street in lawn chairs all oohing and awwing at me. I looked side to side, but really, there were just so many I couldn't stop and say hi to them all.

Later, after the parade and after we took a walk on the beach and after another shuttle bus ride, we got back to Grandma's house. I was exhausted. In and out of sleep, I heard my dad worrying about me. Something about fireworks and would I freak out... I didn't really care, or have the energy to let him know not to worry. It was so damn hot and I was so damn tired, I just crashed. I crashed hard. The 4th of July at Maxwelton was pretty cool, but really tiring. I mean I was out like a log. Out hard. Like now – This is Trip and I'm out!