Our purple houseguest –

Update: Faces and places have been blurred to protect the innocent…and I’m not talking about Barney.
Our visit started so well, as many do. Barney arrived, and was immediately released from his cardboard coffin. Lincoln was ecstatic. Honestly, he went straight to the box, grabbed Barney, and kept him close for the next few days. They cuddled. They laughed. They lounged around and enjoyed each other’s company.

Barney hiding from Lincoln

That was a silly hiding place. Snow is so much fun!

Lincoln even took Barney outside to play hide and seek in the snow. It was the first snow of the year, and Lincoln was excited. Barney, not so much. All he did was whine about how he wanted to go out and party and drink some shots. 

Evidently Barney got a bit of cabin fever, and decided it was time to start drinking, even though it wasn’t even 12:00 p.m. He said, “Well, it’s noon somewhere, so let’s start the party!”

So, we got tired of the complaining and brought him in to warm up. Wouldn’t you know, we left him alone for a second, and he had already raided the Patron and made himself a margarita. Not to mention the straight shots and the beers. Sheesh.

Somebody seems to have an little "problem".

You know, it was all fun and games until my perfect little angel dog was involved. Were it not for the horrible influence of the purple one, I’m certain that Lincoln would still be amongst the innocent. As it turns out, though, Lincoln seems to be a “pleaser” who succumbs easily to purple peer pressure. Sad, but true, I’m sorry to say. 

Somehow perfect Lincoln got involved in the debauchery...hmmm.

Now let’s be clear: We enjoy adult beverages around here. Why else would there be Patron at our bar, right? Not to mention the red wine that I drink on a regular basis (purely for health reasons, of course). I’m just sayin’…we’re not teetotalers. At all.  But we do not drink and drive. It’s not just frowned upon, it’s dangerous. Little did we know that the purple bugger was going to jump behind the wheel of my car, throw my dog in the back seat, and take off. As soon as that happened, we knew nothing good could come of it. Sure enough, whoop, whoop…that’s the sound of the police.

Before we could shake a purple dinosaur tail, somebody was in custody. As you’ll see from the photo journal, it did not go well for Barney. Rumor has it he was insulting, insolent, recalcitrant, and full on non-compliant.

He was swerving all over the road. He tried to blame the dog in the back, saying he was distracted.
Everyone is afraid of the blue lights in the rear view - even Barney!
Somebody had an attitude from the get-go...and it wasn't the person dressed in blue.
Barney didn't do well on his field sobriety tests. He exhibited all six clues on the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. That is VERY BAD.
I think they call this cuffed...

...and stuffed"!
Being in holding is never fun, but he just can't seem to wipe that smirk off of his face.
The breath test process did not go well for Barney. The report says he was "insolent, non-compliant, verbally abusive, and fully combative throughout the encounter".
As you can see, things went from bad to worse in a hurry. It's never smart to resist arrest.

 

After being booked, Barney has to wait in the holding cell before he gets to plead his case to the judge. I hope he has a better attitude there.
It didn't go too well in front of the judge, either. Somebody has a real bad attitude. Who is going to post his bail? Unless somebody will, it's off to jail.
It's off to jail for Barney. Escape is unlikely, my friend. Do the crime, do the time.

Barney doesn't act like this is his first rodeo. Makes me wonder if he's been booked before?

Just when it looked like Barney might spend the night in jail, somebody bailed him out. We suspect our beloved yet gullible three-legged red had something to do with it. Rumor is that his heartfelt plea did not fall on deaf ears, and all of his many doctors chipped in to help him out in his time of need. They can obviously afford it.

Wouldn’t you know it though, Mr. Purple decided he had enough of it here. I told him that he was not free to leave because he was under the conditions of the court, and that if he absconded, he would not only be in violation of that but he would also be a BAIL JUMPER.  He didn’t seem to care that the doctors would lose their money (oddly, that may be the one thing we agreed on during his entire stay), and yelled, “I’m outta here, Lincoln. Stay outta trouble!!”

Lincoln grew very attached to Barney, as you can see.

Sadly, Lincoln had a hard time saying goodbye and tried to follow him as he headed down the road. Alas, the purple one had to walk that road alone, as Lincoln, the three-legged red couldn’t make the journey.

Saying goodbye can be so hard...
It's a long and winding road...I wonder where he'll end up next?

This whole unfortunate incident reminds me of this saying I heard once…”There is plenty of law at the end of a nightstick.  ~Grover Whalen

No mets at my party…but I did have an unwelcome guest.

Today is my 8 month life-saving anniversary, and I found out yesterday, there isn’t a lung met in sight. I had to have a CT, not just x-rays, because of my “history”, whatever that means. I’ll tell you one thing, it means you don’t get fed in the morning, and by now, I’m on to that trick. If I don’t get breakfast, I just head straight out to the car, because I surely know what’s coming – back to the people with too many letters after their names.

Here is what my discharge papers say regarding my lungs, “The metastasis check was clear so there is no evidence at this time of osteosarcoma. Or of other neoplasia that has spread to his lungs.” We were all pretty happy to hear that no mets showed up at my party. (We got that line from Sammy and think it’s pretty funny)! Plus, since the CT is like an x-ray on crack, it means I don’t have to go back for a while. Whew.

Now, onto the uninvited party crasher. While I was knocked out, part of what they did was an MRI on my brain (I couldn’t let Ginger’s Mom have all the fun…I never did find out if they took her skull too, hmmm).  Evidently the MRI showed that my brain tumor was starting to grow again. Here is what they had to say about that, “Following the administration of contrast, there are three distinct areas of contrast enhancement of the left forebrain and contrast enhancement of the flax cerebri. The largest portion of the contrast enhancing areas of the brain is approximately 1 cm in diameter”.

In dog terms and not doc terms, that means it’s really, really small. I heard my Mom ask about surgery, and the vet said that we should be more worried about the cancer than the tumor. WHAT? That seems odd to me since they didn’t find any cancer, but my Mom says that just a great indicator as to how small that stupid tumor is and it’s a positive comment on how slowly it’s growing. The vet said I could just as easily die of old age than from any of my diseases.

P.S. I have a birthday coming up this month, just so everyone knows. I’ll be nine. The vet says I’m officially a “senior” dog. SERIOUSLY? My Mom says you’re only as old as you feel, and I still feel great, so I’m going to ignore the geriatric jokes that are coming my way all of a sudden.

Even though my tumor is back, my Mom says we’ll keep living life to the fullest and make sure that we make the most of every single day. I’m glad to hear her talk like that, for sure, because before I came along, there is no way she would have been so positive. I’m telling you, my Mom and I were brought together for a reason, and I’m sure glad she is the one who rescued me from the pound that day. Even with all the bad things that have gone on in my life, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Everything that is happening to me sort of reminds me of this one saying, “Living is strife and torment, disappointment and love and sacrifice, golden sunsets and black storms. I said that some time ago, and today I do not think I would add one word.” – Sir Laurence Olivier

Tripawds everywhere…

As Lincoln snoozes after his long and exhausting day, I’ll fill everyone in about our Tripawds Soiree. First off, despite all of the typical weather concerns that abound around here, we ended up with a beautiful, sunny, incredible day in the PNW. The Washington contingent was present in full force complimented by Rene, Jim, and Wyatt, our respected, revered, and beloved Tripawd leaders.

Yes, that is, in fact, Lincoln’s paw over his head. He obviously feels strongly we turn the lights out at, um, yes, it’s 5:09 p.m.

Anyway, we had a great time and have the photographic proof to prove it. Check it out. Of course we wish there could a tripawds party where everyone from everywhere could be together, but for now, we’ll have to live with this. Today was pretty great though, despite everyone who couldn’t be there.

Captain Jack made it, courtesy of his Mom
Here is Sammy...one of my favorite subjects. He's so photogenic.
Handsome, isn't he?!
Julian is pretty handsome too, I think!
Wyatt...he's pretty handsome too. They made it easy on the photographer!
Captain Jack's Mom says hello to James.
Lincoln gets his Tripawds bandanna from Rene.
James and his Mom, Nancy, before they had to run off to the agility competition.

We had a great time seeing everyone again and especially meeting Rene, Jim, and Wyatt. We were so glad to meet Laura and are so sorry that we didn’t get to meet Jack before he left (he was still there, though, in more than spirit).  Spirit JD’s Mom was with us too, thank goodness. She is such an amazing person and we’re happy to hear that she may be looking for a new canine family member. Yippee for some lucky dog.

So, this is pretty much how our night has ended. I did confess that I’m pretty sure this wine is no longer available at the local Fred Meyer because of my family. This is it. Our last bottle of the Three-Legged Red. Fortunately, we have our own version of a “three-legged red”…he’s just not available for consumption. And this, see, below, this is how our three-legged red closed out his night.

Goodnight everyone…thanks for the super fantastic day!