The dog days of summer...

Just came off a great weekend, the first weekend of summer and the best one I've had in a while. The weather was good, no rain, sunny skies all the way, just the way I like it. I got to spent a lot of time out doors playing in the yard with Zoe and the bumpy ball, and I even learned how to chase and catch a frisbee. Something totally new to me. I liked it. It was awesome!


In case you're wondering why I've been so quiet lately, it's because I haven't had much time to write, or much to say. The past month and a half has been kind of weird. For one thing, Mom and Dad haven't been around much. Especially Mom. She's been doing a lot of traveling lately so we haven't spent much time together, but I think now that summers here she'll be traveling a little less, hopefully we'll be able to spend a little quality time together over the next few weeks.

Just to give you an idea, here's a little run down of what it's been like around here recently.

May came in with a bang. Very busy month right from the start. Mom had to spent the first couple of weeks flying around from place to place on account of her job, so she wasn't around much.


Then Mom and Dad both went away on vacation for two whole weeks, which meant that Marley, Zoe and I ended up getting shipped off to someplace with a bunch of other dogs we didn't even know. They call it a kennel. A place where dogs have to live in misery while their selfish owners are out having a good time. Mom and Dad like to refer to as doggy camp. Wink- Wink.
Oh yeah, it was a camp alright, a concentration camp. Calling that place a camp would be like calling Guantanamo Bay a religious retreat. I thought going to camp is suppose to be fun, like it is in that TV commercial (Ain't got no bugs on me).
This place was anything but fun. So while Mom and Dad are off playing in a tropical paradise, I'm stuck in a kennel run smelling Marley's bad breath day and night.
What's so fun about that?

Finally after two long weeks they suddenly show up one morning to take us home. What a relief. I was so happy to to get out of there I couldn't even stay mad at them. All I cared about was going home. Thankfully the ordeal was over and somehow we survived. Needless to say, after two weeks in the pens we arrived home in a state of filth. Usually getting dirty doesn't bother me all that much but this reached a new level, even for me. I couldn't wait to get a good hot bath. It took a heck of a good scrubbing and fierce amount of grooming to get the three of us back into shape. And even after all of that Marley still smells like she's been laying in something nasty.
Of course it could just be Marley. Yuck!


Then, no sooner are we home and Mom had to run off to Philadelphia to attend some swanky affair at her Mom's old school, which kept her away over night. Yeah great, hope you had a good time Mom. ...NOT.

The next day she came home and right away had to start packing because the following day she was leaving for a two week trip to China. You know, that place where all the dog toys are made.

So off she went and for the two weeks, leaving just Dad taking care of us. Not that I'm complaining, I love him dearly, he does the best job he can, but he can be, ....well, how do I say this..... a little boring.


Usually when Mom goes to China she's all business. She spends most of her time running around from place to place, meeting with lots of people and eating all kinds of strange food.

Hopefully she didn't eat at this place.

While in China she usually works seven days a week, but on this trip she did manage to sneak away of an hour or two and got to do something really cool, like spending a hour or so talking with a class of kindergarden children.

They wanted to hear a little bit about America, and what the kids here like to do to have fun. Mom doesn't speak very good Chinese and most of the children didn't know much English, but that didn't seem to matter because Mom had lots of pictures to show them, which they enjoyed.

But of all the things Mom told them, the thing they wanted to know about most was me. ...... Reilly.

Okay maybe a little about Marley and Zoe, but from what I hear, I was the one they found most interesting. Mom said the kids were fascinated with my pictures and wanted to know all about me. And who can blame them, it's not often they get to see a dog of my pedigree. Who knows what they're used to over there. Maybe the dogs they have in China are just not as interesting. It could be that they don't like kids, or maybe they bite, or maybe they're just plain weird. I really don't know. All I do know is that they seemed to like my pictures. A lot.
Mom says people in China sometimes read my blog when they can get it. I guess some of them will probably read this. I bet it will give them something else to talk about the next time Mom pays them a visit. Maybe someone will think to name a new dog toy after me. I suppose they could call it a REILLY BONE.

But then again, maybe not.
Now that I think of it the idea seems kind of creepy.

So anyway, that was last week. Mom is home once again and everything is getting back to normal. Like I said, I really enjoyed this past weekend playing in the yard chasing after my new frisbee. I'm looking forward to having a lot more fun this summer. I find the summer much more enjoyable then the winter, although I'm not crazy about the heat it's okay because we have air conditioning. That's something not too many dogs in China can say. Kind of sad actually, -but true. I guess that's just the way it is.

So here are a few more of my weekend pictures. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come soon. Maybe next week I 'll try to talk Mom into taking us to the park. That's always a lot of fun because it's full of great things to smell.

Sometime just can't believe how lucky I am.
LIFE IS GOOD.

Happy Father's Day..

Goodbye Ilene...

We had a little family tragedy this week. My cousin Ilene passed away in Philadelphia last Monday.

Ilene was a thirteen and a half year old Golden Retriever, who was a happy and spirited friend to everyone she met. She was also a trusted and loyal seeing-eye dog, and a loving companion to my Mom's Mom, Peggy Garrett.

We're all going to miss her very much....






*

Dogs just want to have fun...

Okay, I know it's been a while since my last posting, and I do apologize. People keep asking me why my blog hasn't been updated in over three weeks. I wish I had a good excuse but I don't. The plain old, boring truth is: I've just been too lazy to write and too busy with other things lately, so I guess I got a little behind. I'll try to do better in the future to keep my postings up to date, but I can't make any promises.

First I have to tell you, I'm feeling pretty good about myself these days. I put on a little weight over the winter and grew about another inch. I'm also much stronger and faster then I was last summer, and probably a little more mature, although I don't feel very mature. This past winter was a real a drag. No snow, raining all the time, being cooped up in the house all day with grumpy Marley.
Yeah, it wasn't much fun. So I'm totally ready for summer. In fact, I'm so ready I can almost taste it.

The memories I have of last summer are a bit faded by now, but pleasant, nonetheless. They say one year to humans is equal to about seven in dog years. If this is true, that would put me somewhere around ten and a half in human years. I suppose you could say, at that rate, a single day of your life is equivalent to about a week in mine. So you can you imagine what it must be like for us dogs, having to endure something that resembles seven years of winter, waiting for your summer to arrive. It's no wonder so many mutts end up chasing their own tail. Truth be known: winters here in the northeast just plain suck. It's lucky I didn't pull a Cujo myself and bite somebody. I have to thank Zoe for that, if I didn't have her to play with day and night I
don't know how I would of spent my time.
But- enough said, I survived, it's over and I'm ready to shed my winter coat. For me it's all about the spring now and I'm just so there. I'm in love with the spring. If spring were a girl, I'd ask her to marry me. Everything about it is good. It's a time when everything old is new again. The days are getting warmer, the flowers are in bloom and the grass is once again green. What could be better then all that?


I know I should be inside writing my blog, but all I want to do right now is run around outside and have fun. Yes, that's right, I said fun, and I don't mean work. I mean real fun. The kind that makes you want to get up early to watch the sun rise over the trees while pooping on the front lawn, where the grass is still perfect.

The kind of fun that make you want to pull on a rope or chase a ball or run with a stick.

The kind of fun only a dog knows how to have. Like when you just happen to find something delicious lying outside in the dirt, and you just know it was meant for you to eat, even if no one even knows what it is, . . or what is was, . . .or where it came from.
Who cares. Eating stuff is fun. Yum-O!

The kind of fun you have barking at the brown guy that comes to your door and rings the bell. The one who always has a brown box under his arm, wears brown shorts, and drives the big brown truck with the squeaky breaks. Oh yeah, that guy is fun.

The kind of fun that makes you want to chase a herd of wild deer from the yard, even though they're ten times your size, just because you can.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. That's what make a dog's life happy and full. So forgive me dear readers of silly blogs. I'll be back to pecking on my keyboard very soon. I'm not going away. Life is for the living and I have some catching up to.
So for the next few weeks I'm going to take it easy, enjoy the spring weather, and do what a dog was made to do.

JUST HAVE FUN!!!

Reilly goes to work.

Wow, I had a great day on Tuesday. I went to work with Mom and had lots of fun catching up with all my friends at the office. It's been a while since my last visit so naturally everyone was happy to see me. I got there early and made my usual rounds; up and down the halls, bouncing around from room to room, checking to make sure everyone knew I was there. I can tell it really makes their day. Everyone I meet just seems to smile when they see me.
I suppose they're very fortunate to have me around. It's makes me feel good to know they really appreciate me up there. It's like a party breaks out whenever I arrive. Mom says I even help reduce the stress level in the place. I guess that's a good thing, although I can't see why anyone there should be stressed about anything in the first place. It seems to me, all they to do in that place is sit around all day in their little rooms, waiting for little old me to arrive. What could be stressful about that? It's not like any of them need to worry about anything important, like fending off a herd of wild deer at a moment's notice, or having to deal with someone ringing the door bell every other minute. Those are the things I find stressful.

Come to think of it, it makes me wonder just what goes on up there on the days when I'm not around. My guess is: not too much. That's probably why they're always so happy to see me, they're all just bored. I suppose I should feel sorry for them, it must be a very lonely just sitting around all day in their little rooms, waiting for me to show up just so they can have a little fun.

I guess that's what I don't understand about people; if it's so much fun to have a dog around the office, and everyone is having fun, then why wouldn't they just have a dog there all the time?
I mean, if it's possible to have fun part of the time, why wouldn't they just choose to have fun all of the time? That would be the thing to do. It all makes perfect sense to me, I don't know why they don't see it. If they had a full time dog in the office everyone would be much happier and have less stress in their lives. It would even give them something else to talk about around the dinner table at night.

You know, sometimes it's so hard to figure people out.

So anyway, here's a few pictures Mom took of me at the office with some of my friends.

This is Diane. She didn't even like dogs until she met me.
Hey, what's not to like?


Here I am with my friend Aaron.
He's cool, he and I talk guy talk.


Here I am with visiting with Kim.
She probably would like it if I had a brother.


There was another dog visiting while I was there.
His name was Arthur and it was the first time we met.
At first I thought he was a little full of himself, being
French and all, but in the end we got along fine.
Even if he does have a funny hair cut.


Here I am with Lissette.
I think she was getting a little carried away.
I think I'm going to have a little talk with her.



This is Irma. As you can see, we really like each other.




Lastly, this is my good friend Theresa.
I like her a lot, but I think she's a little afraid of me.
Somebody needs to tell her I don't bite.

I can't wait until my next trip to the office with Mom.
Who knew a day at work could be so much fun.

Reilly The Deer Hunter ...

Spring is in the air and I'm having a lot of fun. I'm completely over the whole snow thing, that can wait until next year. Right now I'm all about playing outside, warm sunny days and the smell of fresh cut grass. If this is what they call spring fever, I don't want the cure.
I'm feeling great!

Something cool happened on Friday; I chased away a couple of deer all by myself. Marley and Zoe were nowhere to be found so it was totally up to me to defend the yard against the intruders. I was playing outside with my wubba when I first caught sight of them. As I recall, there were about five of them, but there could of been more. They were lurking in the woods just beyond the back yard fence. They didn't see me but I saw them and I knew just what to do. I sat perfectly still and waited to see how close they'd come before I made my move, but I didn't have to wait long. Before I knew it, two of the brazen creatures came strolling right out in the open like they owned the place. I couldn't believe the nerve of these things. I couldn't wait another minute, so I jumped up, and in my loudest, and most my authoritative voice. I let them know who was in charge.

"Hey you deer! Get the buck off my property" I said.

I'm only about 45 pounds but you wouldn't know it by my bark. To them I probably sounded like a mountain lion, or even a bear.

Needless to say they were stunned by what they heard. Even I was a little stunned. I didn't know I had it in me. Their reaction was immediate. It didn't seem to matter that I was 50 feet away and about a 100 pounds lighter then the smallest one. I could see they were scared shitless. They couldn't have been more afraid if I were in a Hummer full of drunken rednecks and armed to the teeth.

It didn't take but a second for those deer to turn tail and dissolve into the woods, faster then spit. It was great. My first solo encounter with the dreaded deer and I was fabulous. I only wish Marley and Zoe were there to have seen me in action. I can't wait until the next time, but I doubt we'll be seeing any of them around the yard anytime soon.

A little while later dad found me playing with a bumble bee and took it away from me because he was afraid I might get stung. I felt like saying "What are kidding, didn't you just see how I handled those deer, I was fabulous. You think I'm afraid of a fuzzy little bug?"

So that's my big story for the week. Next week is Easter so I'll have something to say about those rabbits and their silly eggs.

Oh, before I forget, I should mention that Monday is Mom's birthday and I'm very excited about that.I'm thinking about giving her that bumble bee I found as a gift. I don't think she has one of those yet. I'm not suppose to tell anyone how old she's going to be because she's a little sensitive about it, but she probably wouldn't mind if I gave you a little hint so here it is: If we were talking dog years, she'd be pushing 357.

Wow... that's old. I'd better not say anymore.
It's getting late, I need to go find that dead bee before I turn in.

May the green be with you...

I would like to wish all my friends and blog readers a safe, happy and fun St. Patrick's Day.
As a dog who comes from a long line of good Irish stock, I will of course be celebrating my heritage by participating in the wearing of the green, (bandana that is).
Since I'm still young of age I won't be doing any heavy drinking or fighting this year, but I wouldn't mind sinking my snout into a nice hot plate of corned beef, if only I could get some.


Mom had to take a trip to China this week so unfortunately she'll miss spending the holiday with dad. From what I'm told, they don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in China, but if they did, I'm sure their version would be inexplicably weird.
Just try to Imagine what a Chinese Leprechauns might look like.

The very thought of such a thing frightens me.




I must admit, I don't know much about this Saint Patrick fellow, except that he somehow managed to drive all the snakes out of Ireland. A formidable amount of work for an Irishman. Now if only someone could drive the snakes out of Washington we'd all have something to celebrate, but enough about Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
Seriously though, this holiday is all about having a good time, and that's just what I intend to do, have a good time.

So dare I say: break out the green, pour yourself a pint, open a box of lucky charms, and let's all join in and singing ourselves a good Irish song about drinking and dying and let the good times roll.

And while you're having a good old time, remember to raise your glass and give a toast to all our troops serving in the middle east, where a pint of Guinness is still a rare and beautiful thing.

Now, just for fun I've included a few Irish jokes.
I didn't write any of these so spare me the scolding if they happen to offend you.

Please keep in mind, they're just jokes, .... And I am just a dog.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO ALL !!!

Pat and Mick landed themselves a job at a sawmill. Just before morning tea Pat yelled:
"Mick! I lost me finger!"
"Have you now?" says Mick. "And how did you do that?"
"I just touched this big spinning thing here like thi...

Darn! There goes another one!"

Two Irishmen were walking home after a night at the pub when a severed head rolled along the ground. Mick picked up the head and held it to his face and said to Paddy
"Jez, that look like Sean" to which Paddy replied
"No Sean was taller than that."

The Doctor was puzzled "I'm very sorry but I can't diagnose your trouble, Mahoney.
I think it must be the drink. "
"Don't worry about it Dr. Kelley, I'll come back when you're sober."

A farmer named Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside except for a pet dog he for a long time.

The dog finally died and Muldoon went to the parish priest, saying
"Father, the dog is dead. Could you possibly say a Mass for the poor creature?"

Father Patrick told the farmer "No, we can't have services for an animal in the church, but I'll tell you what, there's a new denomination down the road apiece, and no telling what they believe in, but maybe they'll do something for the animal."

Muldoon said "I'll go right now. By the way, do you think $50,000 is enough to donate for the service?"

Father Patrick replied
"Oh for goodness sake, why didn't you tell me the dog was Catholic."

An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman were without tickets for the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics but hoped to be able to talk their way in at the gate. Security was very tight, however, and each of their attempts was met with a stern refusal.

While wandering around outside the stadium, the Englishman came upon construction site, which gave him an idea. Grabbing a length of scaffolding, he presented himself at the gate and said,
"Johnson, the pole vault," and was admitted.

The Scotsman, overhearing this, went at once to search the site. When he came up with a sledge hammer, he presented himself at the gate and said,
"McTavish, the hammer." He was also admitted.

The Irishman combed the site for an hour and was nearly ready to give up when he spotted his ticket in. Seizing a roll of barbed wire, he presented himself at the gate and announced,
"O'Sullivan, fencing."


Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and says to the first man he meets,
"Do you want to go to heaven?"
The man said, "I do Father."
The priest said, "Then stand over there against the wall."
Then the priest asked the second man, "Do you want to got to heaven?"
"Certainly, Father," was the man's reply.
"Then stand over there against the wall," said the priest.
Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and said, "Do you want to go to heaven?"
O'Toole said, "No, I don't Father."
The priest said, "I don't believe this.
You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?"
O'Toole said, "Oh, when I die, yes.
I thought you were getting a group together to go right now."

An English man and an Irish man are driving head on , at night, on a twisty, dark road.
Both are driving to fast for the conditions and collide on a sharp bend in the road.
To the amazement of both, they are unscathed, though their cars are both destroyed.
In celebration of their luck, both agree to put aside their dislike for the other from that moment on. At this point, the Irish man goes to the boot and fetches a 12 year old bottle of Jameson whiskey. He hands the bottle to the English man, whom exclaims,
'' may the English and the Irish live together forever, in peace, and harmony.''
The English man then tips the bottle and lashes half of it down.
Still flabbergasted over the whole thing, he goes to hand the bottle to the Irish man, whom replies:
'' no tanks, I'll just wait till the police get here!''

Mom's away and all hell is breaking loose

Mom had to go away for the night and as you can
probably tell from this picture, Dad's in charge.
Or so he thinks....

After the party I stunk
like a junkyard dog,
so I thought I'd grab
a quick shower and
freshen up a little.

Oh yeah, that did the trick;
I'm totally fresh now.

I think I'll have one more treat before I go to bed.
I hope I don't have a hangover in the morning.

I'm still waiting for the snow! ...

I'm very disappointed.
When I went to bed last night I was expecting to wake up this morning to see four or five inches of nice, white, fluffy snow waiting for me in the back yard. What I got was about a half inch of wet snow, mixed with slush. What a letdown. This whole winter has been one big bust. It's almost March already and the snowy season is almost over. I'm very disappointed, I've been waiting almost half my life for a day of fun in the snow but so far all I've seen is a bunch of slush. Yuck!!!

Damn you Al Gore, and your Global Warming.

I've only had one opportunity this winter to play in snow, and even that was a disappointment. It happened about four weeks ago; I woke up one morning to find about two inches of light power had fallen during the night. Naturally I was very excited, being the first real snow I'd ever seen. I couldn't wait to get out there and sink my paws into that fluffy white stuff, but unfortunately my day of fun in the snow was short-lived. As the sun came up, so did the temperature, and by early afternoon most of the snow had melted away, leaving nothing but a slushy and muddy mess. I will say this: It was nice while it lasted, but it did little to quench my lust for snow. I love snow. I'm still hoping for a big one. About six or seven inches would be good. Maybe we'll get a nice big storm some time between now and St. Patrick's Day.
Yes... that would do me nicely. I guess all I can do is hope.

Here's a few pictures of me taken playing in the little snow I did have just before it melted.