I almost forgot the best part of tonights State of the Union…the rebuttal will be given by the person I wanted to run for President, Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.
Tonight is a big night…at least in my world. It’s the President’s State of the Union. Of course, at the end of his term is not as exciting as it was in the beginning. ..but I still like to watch these “shows”! I call it a show because that is what it’s all about. It is not so much the content of the President’s speech as it is everything happening around him. What are important are things like:
Steve Job’s wife will be sitting with the first lady and I believe Warren Buffet’s famous secretary will be sitting as the President’s guest. That tells me we are going to talk about Innovation and Reforming the Tax code.
I heard that the speech is going to focus on Fairness. I don’t know why, but this just rubs me wrong. Maybe it is all those years of my parents saying “Life isn’t fair…get over it.” To me fairness points a finger at someone to say yours is better than mine or I am being wronged. I don’t think that is the right message. I think it should be opportunity. Do we have a level playing field for opportunity? Maybe that is fairness? I am not sure I just know that the Fairness Theme doesn’t resonate with me.
So, don’t forget to watch the SOU.
Cool? or Not Cool?
You know how it is when you are in a new place and you have to meet new people. Well, it is really important you don’t get in with the wrong crowd. So, I have decided it is very important for me to look cool on my walks in the neighborhood…that way the other dogs will want to be friends. I have decided to take my toys with me on the walk. I mean…everybody likes toys. I carry it with me everywhere we go (except I put it down to do my business and then pick it up when I am done). Mom thinks I look ridiculous but she puts up with it. What do you think? Cool or Not?
This is my with Buddy. I love Buddy! I take him on our walks as well.
I love this guy too
Looking Good
I snuck into Mom's bed in the middle of the night. I just love sleeping on a Pillow.
GOOD MORNING DC!!!! It’s me Toby (don’t know who I am? Check out my Page up above…the one that says Toby!), I am trying out my Radio Voice on you. What do you think? So, I have been with this lady for 6 weeks now (I call her Mom) and I am loving it! I am spoiled rotten…it’s a nice change from life on the road. Apparently I have family in Texas who sent me all kinds of toys for Christmas. I have a grandpa who likes to video chat often just so he can check me out. My Grandma keeps saying she is coming for a visit so she can meet me.
We have settled in a nice routine and I am pretty sure I am here to stay. So now I think it is time for me to figure out what I want to do with my life. I mean there has to be something beyond sleeping, playing with my toys, going to do the dog park and having my personal assistant Katherine take me for a walk.
I overheard my Mom on the phone signing us up for some dog obedience classes. I don’t really understand why. I sit, I stay, I even let her put the treat right in front of my nose and I don’t make a move to eat it until I hear her say, “Okay”. So what if I don’t lay down when you give me the “down” command. I hate that trick…it isn’t worth a treat. But apparently we are going to go obedience class. Mom said something about bonding. I also overheard a reference to Therapy Dog Training. That might be cool but I got to see what other kids are in that class. It may or may not be cool.
I do have to tell you…I have one complaint…well maybe not a complaint but a minor issue. My Mom takes LOTS of pictures of me…I mean I think she is obsessed. I am trying to not let it go to my head. I know I am handsome…I can’t help it that I was born this way. In fact, most of “my people” are good looking. So I am used to having my picture taken or having people “oh and ah” over me. But my Mom is over the top. In fact, I bet if you looked at the photos on her phone…I am in 90% of them. Here are a few I took off her phone:
You have no idea how exhausting it is to guard the house all day while Mom is at work.
I am wearing the Cone of Shame - Kept pulling my Stitches out from the Surgery that Took My Balls!
Yes, I let her dress me up as a Reindeer. I look cute don't I? Don't worry, I never left the house wearing this.
I will do anything for a Treat!
I have been volunteering with an animal rescue organization, Lucky Dog Rescue. http://www.luckydoganimalrescue.org/ I have been fostering rescue dogs taken from high kill shelters in the Carolinas and brought to the DC area. It has been great. These poor dogs have been through so much and I open up my home to them, help them work on their manners, and then get them into a forever home. Its not easy, but it is extremely rewarding. It also tends to be time consuming…but again worth every minute. I knew there would come a time when I would have a foster dog that I just could not give up. That time came on December 3, 2011.
I was supposed to pick up a 3 year old male Yellow Labrador Retriever off transport and just OVERNIGHT the dog. When you overnight the dog you just get the dog off transport, clean him up, feed him and take him to the adoption event the next day. I was only going to overnight this dog because I was fostering a basset hound named Cooper and he had not been adopted yet.
I arrive at Transport and the most handsome Yellow Lab gets off the bus. He is well behaved, sweet, and very good-looking. I load him up in the car and within one hour I was thinking, “Crap…I might want to keep this amazing dog.” So I check with our adoption people to find out what I might need to do if I wanted to keep him. It turns out he already had 6 pre-approved applications in for him and he was definitely being adopted by someone the next day at 11 a.m. So, I was told if I wanted him I had to make a decision ASAP. I immediately said, “MINE!” And that was how I got the best Christmas gift ever.
I really feel for someone because they must have almost the most amazing dog. He is 3, so he is passed the puppy stage. He is completely trained…walks great on a leash, great with other dogs, loves kids, believes he should sit on the couch, rides wonderfully in the car, never had an accident in the house, knows basic commands…. What else can I say? He is perfect!
I forgot how much I love having a dog. We are having a blast. The only minor complaint I have, and I know it is my own fault, is that he hogs the bed. I am going to have to kick him off…I just haven’t brought myself to do it yet.
He is about to get his own blog page, just like Carson had. He is definitely not as stubborn and defiant as Carson…at least not yet.
ONe more time…Gonna try to start blogging again. Got a lot of flack from friends at home.
Over the Christmas Holidays I was lucky enough to deliver stockings to the patients stuck on the Melanoma floor of MD Anderson over the Holidays on behalf of Julie’s foundation, JMKL Foundation. The stockings were amazing. Julie’s mom made them and then Julie’s daughter’s Girl Scout troop decorated them. We then took donations from friends to stuff them with lots of goodies. I rounded up several of our good friends and we spent an hour handing out the stockings.
I had seriously underestimated how hard this act of kindness would be. First of all…I was blessed to have my good friend Kathy go with us. But Kathy is also fighting a terminal cancer and you can tell because she has lost all her hair. So, to spend time with her delivering these gifts to other people in a similar situation…well it was eye opening. She had a smile on her face the whole time and held up much better than I did. I also think the patients appreciated her upbeat happy attitude.
The problem with delivering the stockings was…it was on the Melanoma floor. I had spent some time on that floor when Julie was sick. We got off the elevator with two boxes full of stockings and headed to the nurses station. I couldn’t make it down the hall. I was completely not prepared for my reaction…but every memory came flooding back and I couldn’t breath. I saw the room where we ate pizza and hung out while waiting for Julie to die. I was in the Hall I had walked all the time…the hall I would walk to bring her kids to see her. I was immediately taken back to that last day, Nov 24, 2007 and I was completely unprepared for how hard it would be.
Eventually I pulled it together and we started delivering the stockings. The patients loved them! Here they are stuck in the hospital and we were bringing them just a little holiday cheer. Plus, my friend Angie was dressed up like Santa’s helper looking all cute…I know people appreciated her Santa hat and big smile. We were doing great until we arrived at the room where Julie died. I couldn’t go in and I could not deliver that stocking. As we moved on I peaked into the room. It seemed so much smaller than I remembered in my mind. How did we fit all those people in the room for the final hours? Then, I passed by the room and the area I had stood just after she passed. It was the spot her where her Mom walked out of the room, looked at me and said exactly what I had been thinking: “And then there was 3.” (Children/Siblings). I don’t know why that memory is burnt in my head. It was also the location where I stood and called a few good friends to let them know it was over.
It’s funny how we remember things. Delivering those stockings was hard but therapeutic. Julie would have loved getting a visit from a group like us. It was great to put a smile on everyone’s face and I look forward to doing it again next year. I plan to not cry next year. I am also looking forward to having Kathy deliver them with us again.
The older I get the more the important things in life start to smack me in the face. Gone are the days of the easy problems…so and so broke up with me…I don’t know if I should break up with so and so…I don’t know what I am going to do with my life. Now we have friends facing terminal diseases, infertility, questions about marriage and divorce, addictions. Serious problems.
This weekend I celebrated a friend’s 40th birthday and hung out with a friend fighting cancer and I am reminded life is all about the simple things. We have to stop and smell the roses. That 30-minute conversation in the pool worth a life-time…simple. Laughing with friends over dinner about things you did at 16…simple. Watching you try on hats before the Chemo takes your hair…simple. Brunch…simple. Laughing on a hotel bed with friends….simple. Cooking you dinner…simple. Playing Charades…simple. Sitting in the spa pool with friends…simple.
But these are the things we rush through. These are the things we sometimes say we are too busy to do. But in the end…these will be the things I remember and cherish.
No matter how busy my life gets (or yours or anyones) we have to remember the simple things are all that matters.
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