Hey you guys, it's 2008 already! This is my theme for the new year. Daddy sent it to me (well, he sent it to mommy for me) because he says that some of his co-workers seem to think they are special, but..........ha ha, they are really just bumps on a log. Some of my brothers think they are special too. Ha! Daddy's getting a new job soon and he will be closer to home so he and I can snuggle more in the morning! Yay!

So did everyone have a nice holiday? I like the holidays because Mom and Dad are home and play with us all the time. I've been having great fun playing 'tag' with Mom. I see her coming and I steal something of hers, like her undies or socks, or sometimes an earring if I can get it. Then I flaunt it in front of her and just dare her to get it from me. MOST of the time I win! (that means I end up getting a cookie to bribe me to let it go.) (but sometimes Dad yells at me and says, "Casey, give it to me." I must obey Dadddy, so I lose out. But that doesn't happen very often, hee hee!). Yesterday was Dr. Martin Luther King day. We didn't go anywhere to celebrate it because it was so cold out. (it was, like, maybe zero with the wind chill, and that's too cold for us to be outside!). But I watched some stuff on TV about it. Then I watched Animal Cops Houston. And, have you been following the 'lections? That stupid Mitt Romney still thinks he can be president. Mom says he's got a lot of teflon on him. She calls him the spin-doctor. She says if he is elected president, he will probably never be at work! That's because he spent more days outside of Massachusetts when he was governer than in Massachusetts working for us, the people that elected him. Loser, Loser, Loser. I will never forgive him for the dog thingie. Read one of my summer blogs to see what I have to say about that!! Also, I keep hearing a lot of dogs and cats talking about how they don't want a black man or a woman for president. Well, I don't even want a person for president, they have really screwed things up! How about a dog for a change, or here's an idea, how about the BEST PERSON for the job, regardless of if he or she is human or not?

I have been going exploring lately. Mom gets mad, she says I'm 'bolting the gate' whatever that means. I just wait til she puts her coat on and then I run out the door with her and go to the gate and squeeze through it. I pretend I can't hear her when she tells me to wait. Then I go to the car and hop in and she takes me for a ride somewhere! So far I've been to the bank (got a cookie from the drive-thru teller), Spoleto Express (got a cookie from the drive-thru person), Coopers Corner, (got little treats from Mom for being good), and to grandma's house on Christmas (got prime-rib off of Dad's plate). It isn't like I haven't traveled you know, I go to the vet and all. It's just that I used to get kind of car sick but now I don't. Plus I see dogs out walking with their owners and I can bark at them all I want while we speed by!!

I am so worried about the world right now. Mom says we might have a recession, and that would mean fewer cookies and toys for us. I am so glad that we heat mostly with the woodstove so that we don't have to pay the huge heating bills that other people have to pay. And Mom and Dad have pretty good jobs that probably won't go away if things get bad. Mom doesn't want us dogs to worry about stuff, but I can't help it. I live in a nice house with a nice yard and I feel safe. My pillow is nice and soft and I always have breakfast and dinner. We have trees and birds and flowers, but the climate in general is getting dirty. Have you seen the world clock yet? http://http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php It keeps track of lots of stuff, like how many people are dying, how many trees are being cut, and so on. I don't see anything about homeless dogs or dogs used in pit-fighting or experiments. Don't forget that stuff happens too. People are animals, and I don't mean that in a complimentary way.

Great chatting with you. I need to get back to some serious napping before aunt Lisa comes to let us all out today. Mom and Dad are working in Boston all day. That means auntie Lisa checks up on us in the middle of the day. She's cool, but I'm not showing her my money trick yet (that's where I turn in cash for cookies. If she wants to see that she'll have to give me the cashola first! My personal stash of coins is just about gone. See ya.

This is how I imagine myself! I am such a little angel! (not!) Well, no turkey for us Dogs yesterday...they brought leftovers home but we haven't seen them (yet). I'm still working on looking pathetic so maybe I'll see a little snackeroo later in the day. I plan to spend my day inside mostly, probably thinking on my pillow. It's really cold and windy today and I prefer not to be outside unless I absolutely have to be. I feel sad for all the dogs and humans that have to live outside when it gets cold. There should be enough homes and food for every dog and every person. Everything is so expensive that I'm afraid there will be more homeless dogs and people this winter. How can we keep up? Mom says that she's even thinking of getting us a different dog food because our food is so expensive now, but she's afraid to because it was one of the few brands that wasn't making dogs sick a few months ago. Mom is always emptying her pockets of change leftover from her coffee and giving it to the people on the street in Boston when she is at work. And she puts together food for the survival center here at home http://www.thensc.org

Today Mom is going to Snow Farm with her friend Sue to look at all the art and crafts for sale. She likes that stuff. Snow Farm is near where we live http://www.snowfarm.org and it has lots of cool stuff I guess. Not much for dogs, probably. Sue's dog Shannon went over the Rainbow Bridge recently. I don't think I ever met her, because she was very old and had bad joints and Dad says I'm too rambunctious. But I guess she was a Lassie-type dog and was very nice. Mom said Sue rescued her long ago from a terrible place where she was left all alone. People that rescue dogs are good people. You can usually trust them to do the right thing. Like Mom and giving change to the street people. Except for there are some rescue people who are a little sick and are called 'animal hoarders'. I guess they are the ones who end up with 100 cats or 50 dogs because they think they are helping but they really aren't. And some of them actually let their rescued pets breed and make more puppies and kittens. Wacko.

Maybe Sue and my Dad's friend Uncle George will get a puppy soon. Not to replace Shannon but because everyone should have a dog! It should be a law! Hey! Winston could go live with them...Uncle George likes Winston a lot, but I don't think that will happen because Uncle George wants a hunting dog, like Max, the lab-dog that my brothers talk about sometime. (He died before I was even born.) But you know, Winston has caught birds at the birdfeeder in the past, maybe he should go to live with Uncle George; and he's very good at catching snakes too!


I saw that Mitt Romney guy on TV this morning, because he is still running for president. He still looks like a moron to me. He is "ahead" whatever that means, in Iowa. I guess people have forgotten that the way people treat their dogs is a reflection of the way they will treat humans. OK ok, let's not go back there again. Mom and Dad kind of think there is no choice for the elections. They're not crazy about any of the people running. I think this whole election thing is out of control. Humans have moved to a point where their leaders aren't really their leaders....they are people created by a team of imagemakers. AND, you humans have to have an awful lot of money to be in an election. That doesn't seem right. Now, in the dog world, it's quite simple. The top dog is in charge. And the top dog gets to be the top dog because he or she has the benefit of age, wisdom, and the ability to make a point and back it up with a scuffle if necessary. The point is they do the work themselves. They act in the best interest of the pack. Scuffles are only when necessary, and usually only a little bit of a scuffle is required. And the top dog does the scuffling him/her-self; the top dog doesn't send out all of his puppies far away to scuffle and get killed. And if the pack doesn't like it, the pack is free to choose another leader (if their choice can topple the current leader), or leave and find a new pack. Everyone feels secure with a good leader who doesn't need to do stupid things to make it look like he is powerful. (insert Mitt Romney's name here. Or George Bush. Or, your choice.) A good leader gets along with all of the pack members and knows their quirks. Here at my house I am the pack leader. Well, Bailey would disagree with that but I am still the pack leader. I have Daddy to back me up! Daddy for President! Uh-oh, Mom is looking to do a little work before she heads out the door. That is my signal to find a sock or something else to tease her with so she won't be grumpy. Gotta go!