Tuesday, January 30, 2007

My 1st Birthday Party!




Wow, I had a wonderful birthday on Saturday. I got everyone up at about 6:45, and Dad took me and Laz on an extended root session in the back yard. Then, I rested a bit while Mom and Dad cleaned up a little, and then we went to North Star Mall to pick up my cake. Laz and I hadn't been to the Mall since Mom's make-up session, but it was a lot of fun. Then, people started to arrive at my party! We had 14 dogs and 42 people. As Dad said, I sure do have a lot of social capital! Mom says that I am so likeable that I should be Secretary of State! The photos show my two cakes-- dog cake on the left, and two photos taken during the party. Yes, that is my snout and paw going for the dog cake. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and in the high 60s. It took Lazie about two days to recover from all the excitement and play. There were a lot of Labs there who played fetch a lot. Thanks to all the people who came, and I will see y'all in August for Lazie's big numero tres. I've been working on my espanol commands with Dad!

Mosi

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Asleep at the Wheel



Last Saturday Kevin and I experienced a wonderful music event. We saw "Asleep at the Wheel" in historic Gruene Hall in Gruene. It was the best concert I think I've ever been to. One of our friends, David, who also came to the concert, gave me a few CDs to listen to and now I have them on my new iPod from Kevin for Christmas, so I can listen all the time. Asleep at the Wheel really put on a great show. Perhaps Kevin and I will try to see them when they play with Willie Nelson, Ray Price and Merle Haggard on their upcomming tour. I think the highlight was Dancing with Kevin to Goodnight Irene!!!

Julie

PS I got to wear my red boots. :)

Thursday, January 18, 2007

My visit with Sarah and Gary




What a great week! We had guests, and that is always fun. Sarah and Gary were here visitng while the Ice Storm happened. They almost got stuck in Dallas on Friday night, but they got a rental car and drove to our house and got in early Saturday morning. They were supposed to leave on Tuesday, but no flights were getting into San Antonio ( or most of Texas) and they stayed until Thursday. I got to snuggle a lot with Sarah while the humans watched TV and movies. The ice was kind of funky, but as the picture shows, it did not slow me down at all. I got to show off some of my new tricks and my immense skillz-- like barking and chasing deer, barking at people walking by, and jumping on people. They all cheered for me while I was doing it yelling my name! A couple of times Mom rolled me though? That was mainly when I was being really wild or trying to get into the sweet rolls or the cobbler our neighbor June made for us-- the scraps of that were soooooo good!
Please remember my party and birthday on Jan 27!

Moses

The Ice Storm of 2007




We had a bit of weather I have not seen since last March-- freezing precipitation! Mom came home at Noon on Monday, and then Mom and Dad were here at home all day on Tuesday and Wednesday. I guess school was supposed to start on Tuesday? Here are some pictures from the big event. The car is a rental car used by Sarah and Gary (see Mosi's post), notice the ice on our house, and the ice did not stop me and Moses from rooting around, but we did not do as much as we usually do because our paws got cold. The ice is melting a lot today, and we should warm up over the next few days. Mom and Dad got a kick out of the excessive team coverage on the news of this minor cold weather event. Most of the roads did not even freeze!

Laz

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Basketball Season




Well, I snored through baseball season. I hear Lazie, Mom, and Dad talk about playing hockey. Football was great, but I always got penalties for offsides, pass interference, and unsportsmanlike conduct. Now, it is time for basketball. Dad and Laz are really good, and I couldn't keep up, so I had the wonderful idea of biting the ball so hard that it punctured. Dad took the ball off my teeth and the air came out of the ball. It didn't bounce as high or move as fast. Now, I really like playing this game as captured in these great action shots of me. Don't forget-- my birthday party is in 2 weeks!

Mosi

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Ripken in Hall of Fame


I was pleased to hear that Cal Ripken won election into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday with the third highest percentage of votes in history. He was a star player on the Baltimore Orioles as I grew up. I can vividly remember his rookie season when I was seven years old. He was immedately my favorite player because I mistakenly thought his name was Cow. That was, however, my way of hearing the name as called by broadcaster Chuck Thompson. The next year, my Mom bought me an orange Orioles shirt that I wore about three times a week. I convinced her to put an Iron-on number 8 on the front and back. I can remember wearing it to my Great Uncle Earl's funural reception and people asking who was number 8? As his consecutive games streak continued, my brother and I would calculate and ponder how long it would take to break the mammoth record set by Lou Gehrig. Later, I can remember tagging along with he and my Mom to some Presbyterian Conference in Baltimore just so I could get a glimpse of Camden Yards' construction in progress. After graduating high school, I can re-count hours spent in the bleachers and standing room with Jim Winn cheering for Cal and giving him a standing ovation every time he stepped to the plate. We worried that the streak might end because of the strike, but Cal continued to play. In September of 1996, the time came for Cal to break the consecutive games streak. I was lucky enough to find a ticket to the game and shed a tear as he circumnavigated the ball field. Two months later, my Dad was diagnosed with his brain tumor, and while I was crushed at his rapid deterioration, I would hold my ticket and look at my photos taken at the record-breaking game. Cal continued to play consecutive games as I ventured off to California for grad school. I would drive to Anaheim when the O's were in town, take some reading, and stand up each time Cal came to the plate. When I worked for the San Diego Padres, I would always check the Orioles score and one evening, I was shocked to hear that Cal sat out a game and the streak was over. His career continued for a couple more years, and he announced that 2001 would be his final season. As a newly married person living in Arizona, I was torn about how I could see Cal play one more time. The Orioles nearly never played the Diamondbacks, and they had already made their road trip to Anaheim. As extremely poor newlyweds, Julie and I ventured 1250 miles from Scottsdale to Kansas City on a road trip to see Cal once more. I shared Cal and Orioles stories with Julie in the car as we traversed the barren west. We went to two of the three games in the series and Cal homered once. Even since his retirement, Cal has been in my thoughts. As a grad student searching for jobs, I would talk myself into applying for positions in the Northeast thinking-- well, at least I would be near Cooperstown for Cal's induction. Now, I am here in Texas with no plans to make a pilgrimmage to Cooperstown for the induction ceremony this summer. I will get there someday in the future, and you can be sure that at some point in the future there will be a photo of me standing with the Cal Ripken display at the HOF. Congratulations Cal, and although we have never met, thanks for being an important part of my life as I grew up.

Kevin

Monday, January 08, 2007

Found Newey's home


I thought we might be stuck with him for a while, but thanks to Jack's Mom we found Newey's home on Saturday. His name is Chocolate and he lived up the hill from us and was not very far from his home. While he and Moses got along pretty well, I did not like him very much because he was intimidated by my size and strength. I had to use my tough-guy bark a few times to get him to back down.
While we did find his home, he showed up at our house last night at about 4 AM. I think most of the neighborhood heard me and Moses barking. We let him sleep on the porch, and Mom took him back home this morning. I guess he liked hanging out with our pack.
In other news, we had a great day last Friday when we hiked Panther Canyon and went swimming in Landa Park. I had so much fun. I also had a lot of fun playing basketball with Dad yesterday afternoon. I have been working hard to control my rebounds and keep them in the court rather than knocking them down the hill and chasing them. Mom even played a bit, but she doesn't jump as high as me or Mosi. Well, that's about it for me.

Your pal,

Lazarus

Thursday, January 04, 2007

My new playmate


Hi, it's Mosi here. I wanted to introduce this guy who has been playing with me a lot this week. Mom and Dad call him Newey because he ran into our garage on New Year's Day. He seemed scared of the fireworks, but has been with us for three days now. We are trying to find his owners, but no one has called us yet. This is great because he plays with me a lot-- he doesn't really know how to play the games I like to play, but I am adapting. He is also a slow eater and he has shared a couple of meals with me because I have trouble focusing on my own bowl. I have overheard that Mom and Dad think he's about 6 years old, but he's a good guy. He went to my vet the other day and checked out well. Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good new year and please come to my birthday party on January 27. It should be a great time!

Moses

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Year's Day




Happy New Year 2007! I hope you all had a good new years like we did. On New Years Eve, Julie and I were invited to a party at the Freheit Country Store. They roasted two pigs. It was a troubling experience for Julie, but I thought it was fun to visualize what we were eating. I guess her boys are less evolved than her... Speaking of the dogs, when we returned home about 10:30, Laz was hiding in our closet because local doofs were shooting off fireworks. He calmed down a lot when we got home and even was willing to sleep in his bed. All his pals in the neighborhood were barking and wailing. I hope the lamos appreciated their crappy cherry bombs.
On New Years day, Laz and I started a new tradition of going swimming in the Comal River. The air temperature was about 50 degrees and the water was probably about 60 because we went in near the springs. Laz absolutely loved it and Mosi even waded in a few times. Once again, ol' party pooptress did not come in, but she did take Mosi over to some people at the park to meet. Then, we went home and got to see USC win the Rose Bowl over crummy Michigan. The Trojans did not play their best game, but Michigan was clearly overrated as usual and the win was fairly easy. I have talked to the pack and these are our New Year Resolutions.

Julie-- To be more patient with Moses
Lazarus-- To be more patient with Moses
Moses-- To work dilligently with training and be more obedient
Kevin-- To be more patient with Moses

Happy New Year!

Kevin