What a gangly little boy you were! You came into our lives when TMBWitW’s sister called and asked if we could adopt you. You had been abandoned by the breeder, because you weren’t “pure” enough. We thought you were pure love, so that was good enough for us.

Crate training sucked… you wanted to run and play! But you did train very quickly and learned to only go potty outside.

You loved taking a bath in the kitchen sink - while you fit. That didn’t last long. You grew pretty fast.

Your sisters all loved you. TMBWitW liked to give you hugs, and Sara, Princess, Sadie, Mackenzie and Cinnamon would take turns playing with you.

Princess wanted to know if she could swim with you.

Never pass up the chance for a good nap. When you were only six months old, you were diagnosed with polyneuropathy, which is a big word meaning “the nerves and the muscles don’t talk to each other.” You started spending more time laying down than standing up. Dad bought a garden wagon to take on the walks, for the times you just couldn’t get all the way around the block. Mom and Dad agreed that they would do everything they could for you, but if it came to the point where you were in pain they would not keep you here for selfish reasons. Mom and Dad love you very much, and they want you to have a good quality of life.

Helping Dad is hard work - so it’s time for another nap!

A new addition was greeted with the same love you show everyone.

“May I have some more, please?” As time went on, your hips and back legs wouldn’t always work right. Even when you got up, you sometimes needed help getting in and out the back door.

Easter and time to share the goodies! You tried to convince MEG to hand over the jelly beans…

Guarding the hallway.

Your back legs kept getting worse, in spite of the help and the work. By this time you were having more trouble getting outside, and the walks around the block had stopped because you couldn’t walk very far at all.

Sometimes, after we visited Dr. Powell (the chiropractor, for Dad’s back and your legs) you would just hang out in the front yard. You especially liked to sit “behind” the Christmas trees, and you were sure that no one could see you.

MEG loved you with all her heart, and you loved her right back. She would go running to you, shouting “Logey Ogey!” Sometimes, she would lay on your back and give you a full body hug.

By now we knew that when you were whimpering, it wasn’t because you wanted to go outside, or move to another room. You were whimpering because even laying down, it hurt. Your hips hurt, your legs hurt, and your back hurt. Your right hip had degenerated to the point that there was almost no support there for your body. Even with Dad helping you get in and out of the house, it hurt for you to walk. Mom and Dad knew that the time had come to not be selfish about wanting to love you for as long as possible.

We did, however, spoil you as much as we could for the last week that you were with us. We knew that you were going to go on ahead of us, and we spent all the time we could loving on you, and making sure you had special treats (don’t tell your sisters!) and taking you to the dog park. You loved to roll on the grass, and Dad just couldn’t get enough grass to ever grow in the back yard for you.

By the time you all read this, Logan will be waiting at the Rainbow Bridge.

Our friends at Acoma Animal Clinic have been nothing but supportive while we made this most difficult of decisions. They helped us to say good bye to Logan this morning. I cannot say enough good things about the doctors and staff at Acoma; their compassion and caring for your furkids (and featherkids, and scalekids) is second to none.

LOGAN
February 2005 - August 2008
You showed us how to love everyone.
We miss you so much.

Today’s show is dedicated to Logan.

You can listen to the archive of The O Word and rate it. Subjects covered include Logan (of course!), Train Travel, a National Primary, McCain’s VP pick, Geochaching with Bob, and a celebrity political statement that - well, Rocks! Special guest caller from the island of Okinawa!

The show will be back on it’s full hour format, so join the discussion for what is sure to be a good time.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I’m going to try something a bit different today - I will be publishing as I go along, since I visit the sites I am writing about and in the past I have had site owners reciprocate the visit before I had posted the round up. So - check back often this entry is going to grow as time goes on!

First off, I want to welcome a few new members to my blogroll. First is Autorotate’s Flying Circus. In spite of having a big ol’ picture of Blackhawks at the top of his blog, it’s more of a conservative blog than a flying blog; Texas Fred pointed me to Autorotate and I would like to thank Fred for that. I gave you a brief glimpse of Autorotate yesterday, today you should go over there and explore his whole site. Today he has a post up about the left’s desperation to make McCain look bad, since they can’t seem to make Obama look good.

Second up is the blog of Cyber Pastor Ed Boston and his crew, Do The Right Thing. Along with his crew of top rate writers (including his wife, Mrs. CP) it is another stop on my trail of keeping the True Hope alive. Today the Pastor is sharing an e-mail exchange regarding the BTR Moving Right convention.

Third (and I am remiss in that he’s been here for a while, and I forgot to mention him earlier…) is mdconservative, who is large and in charge over on Conservative Intelligence Report. My apologies for missing him! Talk about a good strong writer and thinker - go see for yourself!

On with the listing:

Dumb Looks Still Free is talking about the Greatest Moral Failure. By the way, DLSF wants you to vote Cthulhu in 2008 - why choose a lesser evil?

Richard At The Water has a nice picture up of some very serene folks at the end of the dock. Bonus time! First one to leave the correct answer in the comments wins a complete set of “The O Word” broadcasts, contained in a nifty and convenient spot on the web: What is the name of Richard’s first great-grandson?

GuyK is in fine spirits over at Charming, Just Charming.

Akinoluna has a funny one and a serious one. The serious one may show up as a topic tomorrow.

Third Wave Dave has a word about “The Obama Delusion” - good read!

RattlerGator didn’t watch Day 3 of the DNC (do not call?) but has an insightful rundown of Hillary’s speech on Day 2.

Blackfive - starts with a Message of Hope and moves out from there. Always something of interest and a good read. If you like your politics a little on the over-easy side, skip this link.

Doug at Political Pistachio has another review of DNC Day 2. No love lost there for the Clintons, let me tell ya…

Samantha over at Samantha Speaks has a good piece up entitled “Participating In Governement” - can’t give you details, that would ruin another entry here…

RegularRon has some fine words for Denver’s “finest” on The Old Right Daily.

For a brief (but much needed) break from things political, stop by and say “Hi!” to Steve (the lucky stiff who lives in some of the greatest landscape in the world) over at A sense of Place. Take all the time you need there, it’s very relaxing…

A good thought of the day over at Andrew Tallman.

Texas Fred (mentioned above) lets us know about the preparations of a certain low-lying city in the face of yet another (gasp! shock!) hurricane that is capable of swamping them.

At Mary’s World there is a review of Martha and Mary - go, check it out!

Jenn over at The Jungle is having a great time with her resident troll. Come to think of it, we all are. Don’t miss the visit from the Euro-weenie preaching on how to run a country…

And now, for the reason I didn’t tell you what was on Samantha’s site: Gawfer has a petition up that starts a discussion on a national primary - wouldn’t you on the tail end of the country’s primary rotation loved to have had the chance to tell Fred Thompson that you believed in him?

Carried By Christ has a word on Success.

Oddly enough, a founding member of CAIR calls Michelle Malkin an “enemy of the people.” Details on Amboy Times.

Old Soldier has some pictures up from the Olympics, taken by a guy he works with.

cube has an exclusive preview picture of The Obama’s stage for tonight’s speech on the BLOG.

Amazed In His Presence is another in my stops along the path to bettering myself. Today Johnny has a word about Thoughts and Thinking.

cookiecrumbexpress has some figures on democrat voting trends.

Scott, while looking forward to moving to his new calling in a new church, has a quick and easy-to-understand study on how Jesus is viewed by two of his apostles, on Our Sovereign Joy.

By looking at the MSM (DEM, according to BZ) you would think nothing but the DNC is going on right now. Join the discussion on Bloviating Zeppelin.

Mail Call! celebrates two years of Wednesday Hero postings.

For a fine example of patriotism, visit the lake at One Loon’s Tales. More love for America there than any five members of the deomocRATic party…

prying1 has a piece up on Rhymes of the Lost battalion - quite interesting, and worth the time to download.

Now, don’t get me wrong - I am sure there are plenty more good reads on the old blogroll - but if they don’t update, I don’t mention them in the (somewhat) weekly round up. If you are on the list of those who did not get mentioned, I am sorry, but time constraints keep me to mentioning only those what have the “New Entry” next to the blog name. I really do visit and read the updated ones, I have a lot of blogs listed that aren’t as active and I delete the ones that fall by the wayside. Economics of time and space, you know.

For those of you kind enough to share your thoughts, thank you for your concern about Logan. He will be missed.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I have a few new members of my blogroll, whom you will be meeting more in-depth tomorrow, but I wanted to point out this member’s thoughts.

From Autorotate’s Flying Circus (who I met through Texas Fred) comes this piece, truly extending a hand across the aisle:

At about 9:35 PM EST last night, it became crystal clear that the heads and powers to be in the Democrat party made a huge mistake in turning its back on Hillary Clinton and her followers. It may be a sign that the apocalypse may be upon us when I find myself rooting for Hillary and her supporters, but more than likely, it is a representation of how far left and how for lunatic-fringe the Obama camp that has hijacked the Democrat party has become.

Hillary gave the speech she had to give last night, but it was a speech that endorsed a Democrat in the White House much more so than Obama, and rightfully so. Earlier in the day, her husband, former President Bill Clinton questioned in a speech whether it “Is better to vote for a candidate who you agree with on every issue, but can’t deliver on his promises (Obama) or to vote for a candidate who you disagree with on some, but will get the job done (McCain).”

I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but when it comes down to it, the better of the two candidates in the Democrat party didn’t win. To make matters worse, she wasn’t even paid her due respect in the VP selection process and the real losers out of all of this are the blue-collar Democrats who make up the majority of her base.

Many of us now in the Republican party were born into blue-collar families and still fit into that category. Many are the sons and daughters of steel workers, coal miners, meat packers, foundry workers, truck drivers, laborers and seamstresses. Good, wholesome, hard-working, God fearing Americans, just like many of those who represent the blue-collar sector today. We weren’t all born with silver spoons in our mouths as the fringe elements of the left would like you to believe. We didn’t have it all handed to us. Most of us, like you, are still working hard, day in and day out to reach for the aspirations and dreams that have made this country what it is today.

This is why, today, I am making and emphatic push, and drive of the utmost importance, to welcome those blue-collar Democrats, those disillusioned and disenfranchised, those misled and misrepresented, to our party.

It is a sad commentary that the party of Kennedy that asked us to think not of what our country could do for us, but we could do of our country, has been hijacked by those who believe it is the government’s sole purpose to create a womb to tomb free-ride for those with no desire to work, courtesy of those same hard working men and women who make up the blue-collar component of the Democratic party’s tax dollars.

It is a sad day that the party of Roosevelt, who rose up and fought steadfastly against Nazi fascism and Japanese religiously fueled extremism to defend this great nation and protect democracy and freedom around the world has been taken over by fringe groups who resorted to encouraging cowardice is in the face of the greatest threat to this civilization since Hitler rolled into Poland.

And lastly, we should all weep that a party that once truly stood for the little guy, the working man and woman, has succumb to elitists with hidden agendas and activists of groups whose agendas are far from the moral and spiritual integrity of the common church going and American proud Democrat. This is truly not the same Democrat part, the party that many of us in the Republican parties fathers and mother’s believed in.

Zell Miller recognized this in 2004, a life-long Democrat statesman. Sen Joe Lieberman recognized this during primary election, where the party who he gave a career of lifelong support and service to, who reached across the aisle to accomplish the goals of the American people, turned their back on him, because he wasn’t far enough left, or didn’t cater to the fringe elements of the party. Despite of that, Liebermen went on to win election as an Independant, and will likely announce his affiliation to the Republican party next week during the RNC.

Yes, to this my friends, I welcome you.

Now many of you have heard that the Republican party only cares about giving tax breaks to the rich. This is partially true, but only because the Republican party believes that all tax payers in America deserve to pay less taxes, poor and rich alike. We cannot continue to punish who those in the extreme left considers to be rich, for we will end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

On health care, you’ve heard that Obama can provide you with free health care. But, I ask you this, is it any better have a health care program that is substandard in quality and takes months if not years to receive critical treatment, and costs the working man and woman more money in taxes than if they had bought a plan on their own? Is it fair that the family who is struggling to make ends meet on their own pay tax dollars not only for their own health care but for those who have no interest in working and contributing at all?

And on national defense, can we trust that Obama has the experience to deal with crisis of grand scale, not if, but when they occur? There is no better testament to the success of our men in women in uniform that we have not had another attack on American soil since 2001, and for extremists to sabotage and undermine many of the blue-collar Democrats own sons and daughters, serving in the ranks today, is criminal.

No, America, this is not the same Democrat Party. This truly is a party where the will of a few is carried out in the name of the many.

Let us on reach across the aisle again, just as Sen. John McCain has done so many times during his many years in the Senate, to come together, to work for the common good and safety of the great country. A country not for the fringe, the or the extremists, or the anarchists, or the socialists, or the elitists, but a country of the people, a country for the people and a country by the people.

Welcome to the blogroll, Autorotate, and keep up the great writing!

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I feel like I “owe” my readers some kind of a post, but I’m torn. Do you really want to know the deepest things going on in my mind? My thoughts of “how dare I play God with the life of another”? Second guessing the decision we have made?

Sleeping on the floor next to Logan so he knows how much I love him?

No, I won’t bother you guys with all that. It will come to a peak soon enough.

Friday’s show (to jump subjects, and hope that Saturday morning will never really have to come) should be a good one. The show itself will stretch back out to an hour long. It is my understanding that a certain young Gunny on a certain Rock will stay up late to call in. At least, that’s what he said while I was chatting with him this morning. So - 0700 Mountain Standard Time Friday morning (0700 PDT, 0800 MDT, 0900 CDT, 1000 EDT 2300 Tokyo time) and we’ll have a grand old time.

Hope ya’lls week is going to be more joyous than mine.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

TMBWitW and I had to make a very hard decision this last week. Actually, it wasn’t a hard decision, so much as it was hard to make the decision. The decision was made when we decided to keep Logan as our youngest dog, that when the time came we would not be selfish by wanting to keep him around. It was hard to admit to ourselves and each other that the time had come.

For those who have been following the story of Logan: he is in pain most of the time now, and nothing can be done. In order to provide him with the best quality of life, and not prolong any kind of suffering, we will be sending him Home this Saturday morning (unless he gets much worse sooner). You can bet your bottom dollar we are going to be spoiling him as much as we can this week.

If I don’t publish a lot this week, please understand.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

A little later than normal, but that’s the way Friday goes sometimes.

Good show this morning, on The O Word - go listen to the archive (forgive the voice, it’s still recovering) and rate the show! Subjects touched on were the Olympic Medal Count, Telegraphing Your Punches, Typo Vigilantes, Building 7 (WTC), Cindy’s House, and a word about a possible Tiebreaker at the Elections.

Big thanks to prying1 (his book listings can be found here), mdconservative, Mrs. CP(AnnieB) and of course my favorite squid Gawfer for joining me in the chat room.

prying1 has a scanned copy of a poetry booklet from the “Lost Battalion” circa WW1 and has a post up about it on his regular blog, Digging a Little Deeper. He has also made it available to any who are interested to download it, and you would be free to print it out if you so desire.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Sick.

Friday, after the show, was spent cleaning the house (with TMBWitW, who took the day off) so when the dogsitter came on Saturday she wouldn’t notice that we have five dogs who shed constantly.

We needed the dogsitter because TMBWitW’s aunt was in Kingman visiting the cousins. We left here at about 0600 to get to Kingman in time for breakfast with our very good friend, her fiancé, and her daughters at the Cracker Barrel. I had the slightest hint of a sinus headache. One of the cousin’s son had spent Friday sick, but that was not revealed to anyone until after we had left, at around 2000.

Soooo….

I woke up Sunday morning with no voice, swollen glands, and post-nasal drip. TMBWitW had a sinus thing going on. MEG sounded like a harbor seal and was running a slight temp. They stayed home while I went to church, although I did not sing and spent most of the service trying not to cough. Should’ve taken a laxative.

Monday - no conscious thoughts from any of us. TMBWitW managed to get hold of her doctor. They called in a prescription for her. With the help of Thera-Flu and Tylenol Cold, I managed to get my symptoms under control. MEG got an appointment for Tuesday morning.

Tuesday - TMBWitW went to work, and got sent home. She worked from home for a while, then went back to bed. MEG’s appointment revealed an ear infection. They called in a prescription. I boosted Tylenol’s stock some more.

Wednesday - TMBWitW works from home on Wednesdays anyway, so no biggie. Although, she didn’t get going until 0800 instead of her normal 0600. Not that I noticed - I slept until 0930. So did MEG.

Today - I spent most of last night keeping TMBWitW awake with my constant coughing and hacking. When she got up to go to work, she told me to call the doctor and get something, or she would muffle me herself. Medicine sure does make her cranky.

I sure hope I have a voice in time for the show tomorrow morning. BlogTalkRadio, The O Word, 0700 Mountain Standard Time (that’s 1000 on the east coast, 0700 on the west coast).

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

It’s not too late! Run over here to listen to the archive of today’s show. You also have the opportunity to rate the show, and leave a comment.

What did I talk about? I’m glad you asked: Olympics Medal Count - “winner” of the 26th annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest - did you know they keep score during the womens beach volleyball? - the age of the Chinese Gymnasts - McCain and Obama to participate in a two-hour forum at Saddleback Church Saturday evening - and Wild Phil tells a joke!

A big thank you to those who listened in live: Prying1, Wild Phil, Gawfer, and for the last few minutes, the Ron and Tom show joined the chat room.

Next week - same time, same place!

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Apparently, my site was unavailable yesterday for some time. Since it was a Wednesday, and TMBWitW was working from home, I had no idea. A big THANK YOU to Texas Fred for leaving me a message about the fine service you can expect from StartLogic. Robert, I’m almost there.

Let’s take a quick tour, shall we?

Political Pistachio starts us off with a few questions about the reliability of one Barry Soetoro. Never heard of him? That’s the way Obama wants it to stay, apparently…

Richard has a bunch of juveniles hanging around his place on the lake.

Evolution Right is having a series of bad times - go on over and help him see through to the clear blue. (note - pessimists, don’t follow the link. we’re trying to cheer him up…)

A quick word about promoting eternal damnation over on Amazed In His Presence.

Blackfive has the latest on Georgia (the nation) and embedded reporters comparing notes on then and now.

Bloviating Zeppelin has a matter of grave importance to consider. (WARNING: graphic image, not for the weak of stomach)

GuyK has an idea on how to get the liberals and the conservatives moving in the same direction…

Words of encouragement over on Carried By Christ.

Third Wave Dave uses a clip of Baxter Black (check out YouTube if you haven’t heard of him) to point out just how lucky we are.

I just popped in on my friend Texas Fred and it doesn’t look good. He’s fed up. Anyone between Fred and the nearest crook-in-suit should probably duck. Just sayin’…

Good Thought of the Day over on Andrew Tallman’s page.

Seems Obama is not the only one who’s word is being questioned - see cube’s entry on the BLOG about China and some age issues…

Jenn has good news for the left.

American and Proud has confirmation of Jenn’s report.

Samantha is busy this week, but she managed to get a word in edgewise about Murtha and post-firefight recall. Good read. Be sure to follow her links, too.

Alaska Steve has a picture of something that was picked up on the side of the road. Hint: I wish I had that.

Gawfer has a video of some precision moves.

Talking about “stressful schedules” over on Akinoluna.

RattlerGator (a new member of my blogroll, in case I didn’t mention it earlier) has a very good piece up regarding the Georgia/Russia war.

This one is a double-link. The Bull is having problems with segregation in his child’s middle school. Old Soldier has blogged about it. Check out the original article, and give Bull your support.

Kathi is talking about a burn clinic run by volunteers in Iraq.

Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds has the results from a fraud survey - hang on to your wallets before reading this one!

The Loon has a piece up on what Virginia’s Governor, Tim Kaine (D-which stands for dumb) has claimed - that the Obamanation brokered the cease-fire between Russia and Georgia. Really? A junior senator from Illinois managed to broker peace between countries without going there, in the middle of his campaign for president? He is truly remarkable - if for nothing else, then the lengths his supporters will go to make him appear larger than life.

cookiecrumbexpress has a great quote from Reagan posted.

A word from Regular Ron regarding the vestiges of the so-called “Fairness Doctrine.”

Just John is pondering his course of action regarding a couple of guys he oversees who are acting like they just joined the outfit, instead of supposedly being in the leadership of said outfit…

Mary gives us a well-written review of My Heart Remembers.

Amboy Times has more information on the Georgia/Russia war.

On Our Sovereign Joy, Scott shares the news that he may be moving to a new congregation. Best of everything, Scott!

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!