DAY 333, Sunday, 2/3/13

Oh, wow. The Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet was great. There was even a contestant this year named Biscuit. I had my eye on a little filly named Aurora, though. She was really cute.

DAY 334, Monday, 2/4/13

Gosh, I’m pretty. Bob took me to a new salon today to get groomed. He said he had heard good things about this new salon and that he likes to support local businesses as much as possible. Personally, I think he just wanted to give more people a chance to see how beautiful I can be. After we got home, Bob took me across the street to show the clerk at the convenience store how pretty I am today, but the man said that I’m pretty every day. Now, that’s one smart man.

DAY 336, Wednesday, 2/6/13

Yeah, I know, I missed writing in my diary yesterday, but I have a good excuse. I was sick. Bob and I went to the place where Tony works because Bob had a meeting there early in the morning. Bob noticed that I was extra quiet, but he didn’t realize until a bit later that I actually wasn’t feeling well. I just didn’t have any energy. So, when Tony came home from work that afternoon, he told Bob to take me to the vet. Dr. Romans wasn’t completely sure what was wrong with me, so she took some blood and gave me a steroid shot and an IV. Bob can be so dense sometimes. He thought the vet was going to give me “electric lights,” but they were actually “electrolytes.” That made me feel better, but they also made me have to pee a lot, so Bob slept downstairs on the couch, and I woke him up every 90 minutes to go out. By morning, I was feeling better, though not 100%. By this afternoon, I had most of my energy back, but I also had a severe case of diarrhea, so Bob went back to the vet’s and got me some pills. He worries about me too much, but then again, I worry about him too. That’s my job.

Hopefully, I’ll be back to normal by morning. We’ll see. I want to thank all of my fans who called and wrote asking about me. It’s nice to have people who care about you.

DAY 337, Thursday, 2/7/13

I’m feeling better today, but Bob is concerned that I still don’t have my usual pep, so he took me back to the vet today. They ran all kinds of tests and still haven’t been able to find the source of the problem. Stay tuned.

DAY 338, Friday, 2/8/13

All the tests they have run on me have turned up negative, thank goodness. They still haven’t figured out what made me sick, but I think I’m getting better. When Bob took me out today, I walked much more briskly, and I had normal bowel movements, but when he put me on the long leash and took me to the green space in front of our apartment complex, I didn’t run like I usually do. So, I’m still not 100% yet. They don’t know if I’m actually getting over what ailed me or if I’m just responding temporarily to the steroid injections, but the next couple of days should tell.

Bob has slept on the couch for the past several nights just to keep tabs on me, and he has gotten up many times in the middle of the night to take me out—without complaining. I appreciate that.

Tony suggested that I’m just depressed because all the snow melted. Maybe, but we’re expecting more snow this weekend, so that should take care of that, huh?

DAY 339, Saturday, 2/9/13

I’m bAAaack. This morning, Bob took me to the clearing where I usually get to run, and I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. Of course, the fact that there were several inches of snow to play in provided some incentive. The bottom line, though, is that I had my energy back. Maybe Tony was right after all: maybe I was just lethargic because I missed the snow.

DAY 340, Sunday, 2/10/13

Humans! Sometimes all you can do is just try to humor them. This morning, for example, when Bob and I came in from our walk, he said to Tony—in that baby voice that he likes to use when trying to imitate me—“Daddy, daddy, we went hunting for snow crickets.” Yeah, I know, but he actually said that. So, when Tony asked me if we found any “snow crickets,” I replied, “No, they must have run off with the pink unicorns!”

DAY 341, Monday, 2/11/13

I’m very pleased to report that Uncle Wayne is OK. That tornado that hit Southern Mississippi swept right through his front yard, uprooting a century-old oak tree and tossing it across the street, but the damage to Wayne’s house (the house that Bob grew up in) was minor, and Wayne was not hurt. The tornado, however, continued up Wayne’s street, uprooted four more trees along the way, and completely obliterated the hardware store two blocks away. It also damaged several buildings at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, where Bob and Wayne went to college. When Hurricane Camille tore through the area in 1969, Bob worked as a volunteer at the shelter in the school’s sports arena and directed traffic on the highway that bisected the town. I’m just glad to know that Uncle Wayne is OK.

Be sure to check my diary tomorrow as I will have a big announcement.

DAY 342, Tuesday, 2/12/13

I promised that I would have a big announcement today. Well, here it is: Bob and I have a new job! Remember when I wrote last week that he and I had gone to a meeting at the place where Tony works? Well, that was a job interview, and we were successful. To tell the truth, they only wanted to hire me, but I told them that Bob and I were a team and that they would have to take both of us or neither, so they hired him too.

So, one week from today, we will be the new Recovery Programs Administrator for Behavioral Health at the Northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Authority. Of course, my main job is to help Bob, but I’m excited to know that I will also be able to help lots of other people now.

This is a very big step because Bob has been on disability for about 12 years and has not worked full time since 2001. He said he would not have had the confidence to try returning to work without the support of Tony and me. Actually, it’s about 10% Tony and 90% me, but we won’t dwell on that.

And that’s my big announcement.

DAY 343, Wednesday, 2/13/13

I’ve been very busy the past couple of days getting ready to start my new job on Tuesday. Yesterday, I sent Bob to PetSmart to get me a new bed for our new office. Today, he and I went back there to get a new water dish and tray to take to the office. I want to be fully prepared on my first day of work. I’m not really sure what Bob is doing to prepare. I sure hope he doesn’t embarrass me.