Of the three books described in the opening of this Bookworm! series, this is the book that probably made you raise your eyebrows. Or as the author would describe it: cock your head to the side and perk up your ears in question. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is again a book I had in my hands, put down, and it appeared at Ruthan’s house. I borrowed it Wednesday after running 6 miles before work (i.e. REALLY tired that night so not lots of time to read) and finished crying in the Subway sandwich shop over my flatbread egg white sammich. I was reading it Wednesday night before meeting my winter Team in Training teammates to work on our fundraising. Turns out one girl is readying it for her book club this month and my friend Lauren has been reading it too! If you have (or have ever in your life had) a dog, you need to read this book. It is hilarious in points (monkey’s are inferior to dogs and Enzo, the dog, is indignant that the monkeys have opposable thumbs when he doesn’t); it is heart breaking in others (did you read about me crying in Subway?). No matter what you will not be wasting your time with this book. If you are a deep thinker (i.e. I am too good to read a book written from a dog’s perspective), be heartened—there were many parts that as I read them, I knew they held a deeper, more mystical message. I didn’t slow down to pick up those messages, I liked the part where Enzo was talking best. Makes me want to be a better Master to Maggie. (sorry Barton)

Oh, Kelly C—thanks for letting Ruthan borrow your book out to me. I took good care of it, didn’t drop it in the toilet or tub!

Subway sandwich picnic on Easter afternoon hike

Barton and Maggie like to help make sammiches too.

But then she will decide to go to bed early with me and cuddle up against my back, or she will get up early with me to go run. And it all makes sense!

Look! I have the BALL!!!

Look! I run so FAST!

Look! I jump so FAR!!

Look! I can shake off WATER!

Not sure why Paul didn’t take Maggie, Katie, Jake and Sam all to work with him, but now that Maggie is our #1 canine, she gets special treats. Like “Take your pet to work day.” Not sure why he is not claiming Bluesy and Barton right now…

I AM AT WORK W MY PERSON YES I AM THE FAVORITE PET DID I TELL YOU I AM WITH MY PERSON AT HIS WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Paul walks during lunch so of course, Maggie tagged along (WHATEVER MY PERSON IS DOING!!!!) and loved it.

Supervising my Person is soooooooooooo tiring...

Fido the Fit before his much needed---and deserved-- trip to the spa after keeping us safe through 14 hours of snow and ice on our trip back from Indiana at Christmas after only 12 hours of visiting (really 6 b/c we slept some too).

The house and pets took a beating too. Check out this picture of Bluesy amongst the chaos of leftover Christmas crap-o-la. No matter how ruthless we are at cleaning out before the holidays (and the kids were REALLY thorough this year), there is never enough room for all of our treasures. We are very good, after all!

Waiting for Santa was exhausting!

Paul takes a much deserved nap. So tired--this is even DURING a Carolina game with the kids playing all around him.

The pets have to handle so many schedule changes: Paul staying home from work, then the kids are there all day of some days, then all of us leaving for days at a time to travel, coming home late from parties (ok, late for us). Their whole world gets turned upside down. Barton and Katie even forgot they were not supposed to like each other!

Sign the Apocolypse is upon us.

I started feeling the old twinges of needing to make a list today though. This year we are not going to take on any major new projects. More like just finishing up that last 2% of the projects that never get done. We will keep you posted of course! Stay tuned.

I was stunned and grateful I had the newspaper to hide behind. He asked again. I had to respond. I defaulted to Paul’s evasive, “What, Buddy?” while I frantically tried to think of an answer. Was he thinking religiously like where is his soul? Was it an existential question–where are any of us really? Did he forget we buried him? The poor boy repeated himself a third time. I had to say SOMETHING!

“Jake died, baby, remember?”

“”Oh, yeah.” So sad.

Paul cuddling w Maggie. Tyler saw Maggie in our bed and got scared. Apparently he associated Jake being sick with being allowed to be in our bed (which was true), but assumed that if Maggie was in there she was going to die too.

Things are pretty quiet around here without Jake. Paul and I took Maggie and Katie on a hike Sunday morning before we got the kids. We both agreed it was good for us to do “the first one without Jake” on our own before having the kids do their first Jake-less walk.

Anna and Tyler both handled Jake’s death better than Sam’s. They cried when they first saw him laid out by his grave, but once we went through the photos and toys that we wanted to bury with Jake, they were ok. Tyler did a good job helping Paul bury Jake. Anna chose a photo of her as a baby, Paul and Jake that she wanted to put in the frame with the photo she has of Sam.

I did add an entry to “Kids Say the Darndest Things” page about Jake. Check it out!

Enjoying a favorite past time--riding in the car--on the 4th of July this year. He was diagnosed w lymphoma the next day.

Yesterday we buried my man’s best friend. It was so quiet when I fed Maggie and Katie this morning–no Jake to bark his hungry head off. Paul wondered when he was going to stop looking for him in every room. Never. My mom said it best: it will leave a hole in your heart the shape of your pet. And Jake was a big big dog, with an even bigger personality.

The boys after another of Jake's past times--swimming. This was also July of this year, at a local lake one morning before work. Probably after a 3rd past time--Jake tricking us into thinking he was coming out of the water when it was time to go. It always took a few tries to get him back on the leash.

Jake is hanging in there like the stubborn dog he is. We still give him the max dose of prednisone that the vet originally prescribed. That makes him eat lots and pee more. When we let him out in the morning and after work, its about a 2 minute steady stream. No wonder he is panting when we get up.

He has good days and bad. Yesterday he was running after the ball and the Frisbee some when we were in the back yard. But then when it was time for bed, he had a hard time climbing up. There is a small section of my brain that thinks that he is playing us. Because we are not sure how much longer he will be with us, he pretty much gets what he wants. He gets a can of soft food each morning (also b/c he can’t swallow the hard food so he wasn’t eating much), he doesn’t get yelled at as much when he tramples the garden and eats the tomatoes off the vine the day before Paul was going to pick them, and he sleeps on the bed with us at night. Most nights Jake and I are sacked out before Paul even starts practicing guitar so a couple hours later he has to wiggle in between us. That is always funny b/c he either does it in the dark or leaves the light on , then has to figure out how to get the lamp clicked off.

Often times there is a milestone that dying people hang on for. We are wondering if that might be the Dog Splash for Jake. Each year the city pool in Burlington closes for a week for cleaning and draining the pool. Before they do they let dogs come swim for $5. We took Jake, Maggie and Katie last year and had a BLAST.  The only reason we left was b/c the dogs’ paws were bleeding from running on the concrete and climbing out of the pool (they were not interested in the zero gravity entrance). The 2010 Dog Splash is next weekend (September 11) and we have our reservations set. Here is a picture of Jake at the 2009 Dog Splash:

COWABUNGAAAAAAA

Anna is playing softball again this spring. She is on a team w a different coach, but a couple girls are the same from last year. Funny thing about softball–the socks. One is purple and one is gold. The purple one went missing (wherever missing socks go) after 1 game. Instead of just wearing regular socks, she wore the gold one and a regular sock. Didn’t want you to think it was a gang sign or anything.

PS–the purple sock turned up this past weekend (after about 3 weeks on vacation). It was under our bed.  Imagine that–a dirty sock 2 feet from where the clothes got pulled off and dropped. Who would have thunk it??

Anna rounds 3rd on her way home.

Tyler is playing baseball (T ball really). He is the only kid who gets overhand pitched to and he SMACKS it every time. He has a great swing and really crushes it. He gets that from me I am sure. The main thing he has been doing though is GROWING! This past weekend I think he ate and laid around the entire weekend. He even put himself down for a nap (normal for me, NOT for this 6 year old boy).

What do growing 6 year old boys and lazy 77 year old dogs have in common?

A few weekends ago Paul and I went to see Simplified play at the Blind Tiger again. Their songs are great and it is always a good time (made better by the recent legislation banning smoking in bars and restaurants). Turns out the band’s drummer broke his wrist so they had a new kid who did ok. Just a little different vibe since he was new.

We like that band so much that their song, “Home,” was the one that we walked down the aisle to at our wedding. Lyrics:
Never thought I would be the one who,
Found someone to make me feel like you do,
It’s true I dreamed of you,
And you came in right on cue,

At the Simplified concert April 16.

Tyler and I were playing basketball one afternoon (which means I was rebounding for him–I am allowed 1 shot per 1 million Tyler shoots). All of a sudden he stops and runs over to the yard by the fence. He wanted to pick me flowers and insisted that I put them in water right away so they would last. Here is a photo of my gift:

What more could a girl ask for?

I have been reading quite a bit lately (Paul would say “as usual”). I recently finished House Rules by Jodi Picoult. She could make the phone book a best seller. LOVE her writing style. I also finished Walking on Broken Glass. It was ok. I am part way through The Irresistible Henry House. It is quirky so far. Henry House is an orphan who is adopted by a Home Ec Dept of a college in the 40′s so his 6 “mothers” rotate weekly for a semester, then he gets a new batch of mother every 4-5 months. It follows him through life to watch how messed up this makes him. It is supposedly fiction, but I think these programs really did exist. I introduced Paul to Bill Bryson and Dave Berry. That’s right, Paul is STILL reading! He even said his next book will be FICTION. Imagine that!!!

We have been riding a lot more now that the weather has warmed up. We are doing our first mountain ride this weekend. Can’t remember exactly how much climbing, but its a lot. Hopefully the bike Garmin will work to measure climbing feet like it is supposed to. Last weekend there was such a drastic change in pressure w that big storm that it said at one point that the incline we were on was 850% grade! WHOA!

OK, technically this isn't from this weekend, but Labor Day weekend. It was just too cute not to share. The dogs are not allowed on the bed normally so it took several tries to get Maggie to realize Paul was OK w it. We have one blurry pic w Barton on there too...only after I staged it though.

On our way to the Dog Splash! 5 very excited heads in that back seat!

Jake was so excited to take a running leap off the deck into the water chasing the ball Paul brought. Katie and Maggie were much more cautious.

Tyler going down the slide. Notice the similarity to Jake?

ZONKED! All of the dogs were so tired after the pool. Katie and Maggie just climbed in the car to lay down. Jake tried to fight it, but this was only 10 minutes into the ride home.

Sunday morning the kids and dogs let us sleep until 7am! Might be a record in our house. We played around with the kids in our bed for awhile, then Paul got them breakfast and cartoons. I managed to get away with reading in bed until 7:45am! So when Anna asked to play the game Trouble at 8am on a Sunday, how do you say no?? Well, if I had known how Paul would respond, I might have waited until I had a little more caffeine. He is RUTHLESS! It literally took Tyler about 20 turns to get a man out to start the game. Then 2 turns later Paul landed on him, sending him back to home. Same to me and Anna. It was so dang funny, I started to take pictures. Tyler just sat under the table w the dogs until his turn came around, then he would take his turn and slide back under the table. The video of the game winning move is SO funny. I have asked Paul to post it so we will see if it is edited at all. Meanwhile, check out these pictures!

Click here to view the embedded video.

4:50am–alarm goes off

5:50am–leave house w kids and Paul

6:30am–triathlon training w Team in Training heroes @ Belews lake (what the kids call Quiet Lake b/c when we go at dark o’clock they have to be quiet since all of the locals are asleep.) We swam 1 mile, they road 4 miles and ran 1 mile. I ran 3 miles after the swim instead. Tyler found 2 more clams to bring home to join Clammy, the clam he found at Quiet Lake 2 weeks ago. Yes it is still alive and lives in his trash can. Did I tell you a nuc. power plant drains into this lake?

8:45am–left the lake, McDonalds for breakfast, drove home

10am–it takes all 4 of us three attempts to get Barton in to the cat carrier. Bluesy sat in the driver’s seat of my car with a dog leash on him. I take the cats to the vet for their check up. They are fine, Paul and I are $200 poorer.

Noon–home, kids play outside, Paul and I whirlwind clean, give them lunch and clean out my car.

1pm–pile in the Fit. Yes, 300 pounds of dog in the back, 2 kids in their car seats in the back, then Paul and I in the front.

1:30pm–return home, we forgot a wallet; back on the road everyone naps, except poor Paul.

2:30pm–arrive in Burlington for the Dog Splash, the dogs and people can swim in the Aquatics Center pool. It was CRAZY FUN until Maggie and Jake’s toe nails started bleeding from climbing out of the pool.

4pm–leave pool with kids in dry clothes and dogs w bloody feet.

5pm–arrive home, drop off dogs and fix dog feet to stop bleeding. Leave again for dinner

Losing track of time–Ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Natty Greene’s Golden Ale and Ceasar Salad pizza is my new favorite food.

7pm–home, pass out on the couch

We will ALL sleep well tonight. HOPEFULLY kids and dogs will sleep past 6am….

Well this weekend Jake must have really been missing Sam when Anna decided to play beauty shop w Jake. Check out the photo:

I wish I would have captured the table full of pink "tools" Anna was using.

Yesterday Paul and I took the dogs hiking on the trails around our house. Sam collapsed on the way back. We took him to the lake right away to cool him off. He didn’t rally. Paul and I traded turns carrying him out (he weighed about 105-110 lbs) for about 2 miles while the Sam-less person lead the other 3 dogs and the day pack w water, etc.

We got him home and cooled him off, but he died between 1:30 and 4am this morning. We buried him here at the house this morning after I got back from a quick trip to work and Robin came over. Our friend Lauren had told me awhile ago about doing a clay paw print for a friends’ dog who died so we did that. Tyler helped me do the imprint. We chose pictures of all of us to bury with him and pulled out pictures of Sam that we could keep out (I plan to scrapbook them tonight). It has been a very sad day with lots of questions from the kids. They keep asking why he died, what is he doing in heaven right now, do the other dogs know he is gone… Tyler is angry that Jesus is the only one who ever got to come back. He says it isn’t fair.  This afternoon Anna took some dog bones out to Sam.

We miss him.

Jake watching the Dog Whisperer

Jake is focused on the TV

I worked at home today and Tyler was here with me. We were watching the dog whisperer and Jake sat on the couch the whole time watching with us. He wasn’t just sitting and looking every once in a while, he was really into the show. He sat there and watched intently for 40 minutes before he fell asleep during one of the commercials. I am hoping that he has learned something by watching!