GOBIBLOG #5

Howdy all,

Happy New Year! We all survived the holidays pretty well and have settled back into our normal daily routines which go something like this. Sluggers, Bruiser and I are rudely awakened by Mom in the early morning and put out in the cold. When we look pathetic enough, she takes pity and lets us back in. We immediately pile up on our bed in her office and sleep until she gets us up again, usually at about noon. She throws us out once more. All this is done, mind you, without a single bit of food (except sometimes she sneaks me a cookie before the others come back in). The afternoons follow pretty much the same pattern until 4:00 PM which is FEEDING TIME!!! Sometimes if we start cruising around and being annoying at 3:00, Mom will feed us early to shut us up, but this doesn’t happen too often.

Christmas was good. I got beaucoup presents, most of them edible. I did share some with the others just because I’m such a good egg, but in my heart, I really didn’t want to. The weather was weird for Chicago in December – warm and rainy. I’ve heard that the globe is getting warmer. I don’t have a clue what this means, but I use the phrase a lot so people think I’m erudite (which of course I am - just not about warm globes!).

Mom has been really busy with AEC stuff. Because the ground is so wet, she doesn’t spend any time on the cross country course, but goes to Lamplight quite often to look at all the nifty new jumps Not So Mean Dan has built. Don’t tell him I said so, but he is a really good builder. The one I liked best when she took me along with her on one of her visits is called “The Cheshire Cat.” It looks just like a smiling cat. Mom doesn’t have cats, but my very best friend Linda does, and I really like them! The pictures on this Blog is of a small sampling of some of the new jumps including my favorite. It’s pretty exciting, even for someone as worldly as me!

Speaking of Not So Mean Dan. He has gone way up in my estimation. Not only has he learned to feed me a cookie every time he comes over, but he and his friend have bought a puppy named Jasper. I LOVE PUPPIES - until they grow up to be dogs big enough to take cookies away from me. Jasper has been over to play a few times, and we have a really good time together. Mom always worries because of my history of back problems, but what she doesn’t realize is that I’m smart enough to be careful. I guess worrying is what Moms do!

Mom and her friend Jan who is helping her get money to pay Not So Mean Dan for the AEC jumps he builds have dreamed up a really cool idea. (Actually, the idea was first suggested in St Louis by Nice Jon, the pizza feeder, while they were having nightcaps, but I doubt if he’ll ever get proper credit for it.) It is called the “Lease to Own Sponsorship Program,” and it goes something like this. For a certain amount of money, (I don’t understand money at all so I can’t even tell you how much. Check under Sponsor Information on this website), you can “lease” one of Not So Mean Dan’s cross country jumps for three years. It will be used at three AECs only. There’ll be a sign with your name on it beside the jump. At the end of three years, the jump will belong to you, and you can arrange to have it moved to wherever you want it. I think this is pretty clever. I’ve suggested a jump shaped like a giant cookie that could have my name beside it, but Mom said I’d have to pay for it which again gets into a concept I don’t understand. I’ll keep working on it though. She’s a pretty soft touch. Maybe Not So Mean Dan will come up with a solution if I suck up to him enough when he comes over.

You probably wont be seeing a new Blog from me for a month or so. Mom is taking a trip and will no doubt lock her computer away so I can’t surf any of my “special” sites. She is going to “Tie Land.” Now, how stupid is that? She’s going to sit on an airplane for over twenty hours to visit a place that sells ties? What does she need ties for anyway? I fail to understand a lot of what humans do – and why they do what they do. You’d never catch a dachshund going to a tie place. Now if it were called “Cookie Land” … Anyway, my very best friend Linda will be taking care of us while Mom’s gone so life will go on as usual.

Have a good rest of the winter.

Lots of love,

Gobi