The Red Hot Chili Pepper

  

   Happy New Year to everyone! As you know. I haven't been blogging as much. I've been busy with soccer, band, Science Olympiad, school, and the dogs. I thought I would get a New Year blog out before I get too busy in the new year.     We have a new foster, well she has been with us since November. Her name is Chili. Her nickname is Red Hot Chili Pepper. Chili is a tiny, tiny husky. She is the smallest husky we have ever had over the years. Chili makes up for her size with lots of sass. Sometimes when we pet Hoover, Chili starts to woo-woo and budges in. She is a big talker!  

    Chili has one big phobia just like Josie, she is petrified of going down stairs. The farthest she
has gotten is three steps. To try and coax her down, we've put toys and food on the steps. One time, she grabbed the toy but as she backed up, she scared herself and dropped the toy all the way down the stairs. She was so close!
    Chili is good at retrieving balls, but not preserving them. She chews on the balls so vigorously, she punctures the squeaker inside. Whenever we give her a ball, we have to watch her so we're not having to buy a new ball everyday. Hoover is the exact opposite of Chili. He lies down with his ball and squeaks it gently. Sometimes he just watches it.

  

    I guess you could say opposites attract because these two have become good chums. We're a little surprised Hoover cares so much about Chili's well-being. She was kind of a brat to him in the beginning. When they are outside and Chili gets out of Hoover's sight, he starts to whine and may get up to check on her. They both stand at the door when we get home and Chili becomes very excited. Chili will jump up and land her front paws on Hoover's head or back. Hoover just takes it like a champ.
    The year 2016 was rough for us. We lost a lot of good family members, but the year also brought me lots of good soccer opportunities. There were other things such as Josie's adoption and the success of Science Olympiad. I hope 2017 will be a good year for all of us!
   

The Highs and Lows of Living with Dogs

   

    Many things have had happened since I last wrote my blog. One of the biggest things to happen was Josie was adopted. She now has a forever home with kids and no dogs to tease. She does have a few things she will need to unlearn.
     I've got a new movie review. I went to a theater
in Indy with my mum to watch the new Japanese movie, Shin Godzilla. Shin Godzilla was spectacular! It was a good throw back to previous Godzilla movies and made a different but still iconic version of Godzilla. My only problem with the movie was how they talked about some heavy science stuff and rushed through it. We have a theory they rushed through it because they had no idea what they were talking about. I would give the movie an A rating. It was also fun to count the number of Godzilla shirts in the theater.
   
 Now we get to the heavy stuff. As some of you know, we had to say goodbye to Lizzie on Thursday. After close to 15 years, she was ready to cross over to the Rainbow Bridge. Lizzie had a tumor in her intestines. Let's not focus on the bad, let's focus on who Lizzie was. We got Lizzie as a foster. She was skinny and timid. We did do a darn good job of  putting some meat on her bones. Lizzie warmed up to us pretty quickly, but she was always a little wary of most people. Lizzie would look ticked off  most of the time, but we knew she was a sweet girl. Except there were times she wasn't happy with Hoover. She would stare Hoover down if he was hogging her bedroom. She loved to boss Hoover around. They were like Nikita and Wiley. The girls would rule over the boys.

      She could be openly affectionate but on her own terms. She would back up into us to have her hips rubbed. I think Lizzie enjoyed walks more than hip rubs. Whenever the word "walk" was uttered, you could guarantee the house would be filled with woo-woo's. When we opened the door, Lizzie would almost wear herself out, running up and down the sidewalk. 

    There were a few mysteries about Lizzie. She knew when it was time for dinner every night at 8:00. She would run downstairs and bark until someone came down to feed her. The puzzling part of this though is that she rarely finished her food. There were nights Hoover would help finish her dinner for her.
      In all, Lizzie was a spectacular girl. She was caring and energetic. We will all miss Hoover's third momma.

Learning to Walk a Straight Line

     We have some good news about Josie today. There are two possible adoptions for Josie. I am kind of sad Josie will probably be going soon. I really do enjoy her company. She is the only dog I've known that comes to my room every night to say goodnight to me. I know my mum will be happy though. Over the past few days mum has compared Josie to me. For example, neither Josie or I can walk a straight line. I've been told I weave side to side, irritating my parents when I

cut them off. When we go on walks with Josie, she walks from one side of the sidewalk to the other side. Sometimes this causes her to run into Hoover or Lizzie. My weaving has started to effect other things than just my parents now. My cross country coach told me I need to work on walking and running in a straight line. I realized the average cross country course is about 2 miles, with my weaving I probably run about 2.2 miles. I've almost tripped myself . I was going down a hill when one foot swayed and hit my other leg. I almost tumbled down.

      Josie and I are also very serious about our food. I'm often accused of eating too quickly or one that does not chew their food. Mum tells me to slow down and savory the food. Josie barks when she thinks it's time to get dinner. She anxiously waits at the top of the stairs for her food. When we put her food down for her, she wants to lay down and put her head in the bowl. We don't see her face again until she is done. There is one difference though, I have a forever home and Josie is still looking her forever home.

     My school year has started, along with soccer and cross country seasons. My schedule has been pretty hectic, but I'm making things work so far. I will admit this Labor Day weekend was a good break. I hope my body will be ready in two weeks when I have two soccer games and two cross country meets in four days. I do enjoy the exercise and all the big meals. Plus the ice cream!

     The fantasy football season is starting soon. I hope everyone can get a better draft grade than my mum, she got a C+.  My own team the, Pink Fluffy Unicorns from Scotland, will be attempting to get their second championship. May the best team win!

You Can't Stay Young Forever

    We've always doubted what we were told about Lizzie's age. At 11 years old, she seemed more active than Hoover, who was five at the time. Now that she is at 14, she has started to slow down the past couple of months. She use to lead the walks, but now she is at the back of the pack. We wonder sometimes if she is going to finish the walk. My dad has made it clear it is not a good idea to take Lizzie for a walk in the heat. She still gets excited when we pull the leashes out. When she sees the leashes, she starts prancing and woo-wooing. We tell her not to expend all her energy on those prances.

    We joke that the "ghost of Nikita" lives in Lizzie. Lizzie is starting to have the same problems as Nikita. Like Nikita, her hips are starting to bother her. She goes up the stairs a lot slower now. She sits down very slowly as well. Lizzie is starting to take residence in some of Nikita's favorite spots. Lizzie, we believe has started to lose her hearing, just like Nikita. When Lizzie is outside and barks to come in, and we open the door, she doesn't hear the door open. She is usually facing the yard and not our door. If we call her name, she won't respond. We usually end up having to touch her to get her to respond. Sometimes we startle her. 

    Lizzie still has a spunky personality. When my mum is going downstairs to get their dinner, Lizzie will try  to beat her down. She will then bark at my mum and spin around until she gets her food. I'm not sure why she gets so excited, she often only eats a few bites of food. 

      We give Lizzie glucosamine tablets twice a day to help with her sore joints. This is where she differs from Nikita, she refuses to take the tablets. Sometimes she doesn't even take it with peanut butter or ice cream. She is a very stubborn husky. Mum has found lunch meat to be an effective bribe. Though she has to be careful Lizzie doesn't get a finger.

     We are coming up on Lizzie's three year anniversary of her adoption. She started off as our foster dog, but we decided it was best for her to join our pack. I would say she has had some enjoyable years with us. She has been on plenty of walks, slammed down lots of treats and has tricked Hoover plenty of times. On January 28th Lizzie will turn 15.

Hoover's Long July

   

     This hasn't been one of Hoover's greatest months. It seems like he has only gone outside to go to the bathroom and even that is a challenge. Except when he wakes my dad at 4:30 to go out. Sometimes he just does it as a practice run. When dad goes to let him out, Hoover sits down in the living room and won't go out. Hoover knows not to disturb the food goddess while she is sleeping. Hoover will walk right by mum to get to my dad.       
     This month has been really bad for Hoover because fireworks were going off for a few weeks before and after the 4th of July. We went for a walk on the 4th of July with the dogs. At around the midpoint of the walk, we heard fireworks. As I was walking Hoover, he instantly ran towards my dad for protection when he heard the booms. For the rest of the walk Hoover walked right next to my dad. He must have thought I was not a big enough shield to protect him. 
    Another bad thing this month for Hoover was the thunder. There were several storms during the month that caused some anxiety. One day when the storm was so loud, Hoover and Lizzie crowded around me. Josie was at the top of the stairs running in circles. She is stair-o-phobic. Hoover jumped on the sofa with me for comfort. I petted him to help calm him down. On another day, I decided to help soothe Hoover by playing some calm music. As I watched him while the music played, I noticed his eyelids were beginning to droop. He was soon asleep and I found myself becoming drowsy. So I took a little nap just like the big boy.
    All this coupled with the heat, has made Hoover outside-a-phobic. It's a struggle to get him outside and even harder to get him off our steps. We try all sorts of things to get him off the steps. It's not really a good idea to wait 12 hours or more to go to the bathroom. We eventually put him on a leash and tricked him into thinking he was going for a walk. However, once we got him out in the yard, he didn't want to move. When we tried to get him to move, he started bucking like a bronco. We couldn't help but laugh. He forgets his phobia when the neighbor's dogs are out and rushes the fence to talk to them.
    I hope Hoover has a better August. I know he enjoys the cooler temperatures come September and then he will want to sleep outside. Unfortunately, the IU football season starts and we can hear the cannons firing when we score. For Hoover's sake, I hope IU has low scoring wins. Is that even possible for IU football?

Josie is Still Here With Us to Celebrate the 4th of July

  
   Happy roarth of Kaijuly! Sorry, I have been watching Godzilla movies all weekend. The El Rey network finds all sorts of reasons to show Godzilla movies. They have Godzillathons for Independence day, Halloween, and December holidays. It is a good time to be a nerd. I have been celebrating in other ways too. I marched in a parade for my soccer club. The conditions weren't the best though. It was raining off and on. I juggled and dribbled the entire way. I was having a good time but I didn't look like it. Several people told me I looked like I wasn't enjoying myself. I was just focusing on the ball with a frown. I think I broke my juggling record once or twice. Too bad no one videotaped it, so no official record.There were several occasions where I managed to juggle great distances.
    Have you ever seen "Castaway"? I have my own Wilson.  I decided to take my reliable two year old ball, Bessie to the parade. Bessie has been through a lot, her cover has started to come off in a few places. After today, Bessie is soaked but she didn't let me down. In a couple of weeks she will be going to the IU soccer camp again.
   I had a soccer filled week recently. I traveled with the Olympic Development Program to Dayton, Ohio. It was fun competing at a high level of play and being with my teammates. We didn't have the best record, in fact we finished last but we were more skilled. We were the smallest team there. It was a good experience. 

   I don't understand why no one has adopted Josie. We have had her for about two months and only a couple of people have expressed their interests in her. All of those people have adopted another dog. Josie has many redeeming qualities. She LOVES being around people. She enjoys resting or running with us. She can be goofy. She chases her own tail. She also runs away from us or chases us around a table (depending on your view). She also has a thick skull. She runs into many things and I have accidentally kneed her a few times. She just keeps moving. She listens really well, too. Please check her out at Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue.
    I hope everyone had a dry Fourth of July, unlike Indiana. I hope your dogs were sheltered from the fireworks. Hoover and Josie were ready to seek safety when they heard a boom. We're not sure Lizzie can hear them. Happy Independence Day!

Another Star in the Sky

    We have some sad news to report this week. One of our former foster's, Alue, also know as Perseus, passed away on Thursday. He lost his battle with cancer. We're going to remember him in this blog. He had many adventures with Nikita and Hoover, and let's not forget his sister's Aurora and Nyx. Alue wasn't one to play much, but Alue was known for his jokes. He always knew how to make Hoover laugh. He was also a food hound. He once got into our pantry and pulled the dog food out into the family room. Luckily, Nikita snitched on him by finding my dad and barking at him to come see what Alue had done. 
     Alue was a very mellow boy. Wherever he was he was quite relaxed. Of course this mellowness lead to an unfortunate incident. We were on a walk with Hoover and Alue. We stopped at a smell site and Hoover decided to mark it. This lead to Alue being urinated on the head until mum pulled him away. He didn't seem to be aware of what was going on. It was like he was in his own world. Needless to say Alue got a head cleaning when we got home.
    Alue was a fashionista. When he was our foster, we took him to a Northern Lights dog event to show him off for possible adopters. While he was there, he was the best dog to wear bunny ears. He walked all over with those ears on and never tried to pull them off. For being such a good boy, he got a Jack n the Box burger. For those who know Alue, he LOVED his food. 
     After several months of fostering Alue, he was adopted by two great dog lovers, Brad and Teresa. They now volunteer for Northern Lights and help out in many ways. They spoiled the boy, but he deserved all of it. My mum helped me put together a little slide show to say thanks to Alue for the snuggles and laughs. Alue is now north of the Rainbow Bridge with Nikita and his sister Aurora. 

Inches Away

     A lot has happened since we planted the flowers in our garden. I had my first track meet, the soccer season started and we got a new foster dog. I'm sure you want to hear all about Josie, but I'll save the best for last.
      My first track meet was a home meet. We were going up against the Edgewood Mustangs. I was running the 800 meters. Unfortunately, this is one of the last events. I had to wait maybe two hours for my one race. When the time came, I ran a pretty good race except for one very unfortunate mistake. I was pretty tired and when I reached the finish line, I thought the dash line in front of it was the finish line. I stopped a little short, this allowed two people to pass me. At least I learned this lesson at a small meet rather than a city meet. 

    Track is helping me be in better shape for the soccer season. We're playing pretty well this season. We're already doing better than when we were at our worse season. We are currently 2-1-1. Things have been going well this season. We are playing tougher teams than we did in the fall. We haven't scored many goals, but we've only given up three goals. The coach says if the other team can't score, they can't win. 

    Now for the part you've really been waiting for! We got Josie on Saturday, April 23. She is a husky mix. She is a really sweet girl. She LOVES being around people. She is a little jittery right now but that is probably because everything is new. Lizzie has made it clear that she is the boss. Josie knows Hoover is a push over. The boy has no backbone. He acts tough but he really isn't. Josie likes to be up close with people. She slept right next to my bed Saturday night. She would make a good roommate. She is not real big and she is quiet. Josie enjoyed my soccer game on Sunday. If given the chance, she would have ran up and down the sideline with the ref. She loved all the attention from kids and adults. I know she would love to be the center of attention in your home. If you want to know more about Josie, visit http://awos.petfinder.com/shelters/northernlights.html  
   I hope to redeem myself at the next track meet. This time I will run 900 meters. Of course there will be more soccer games coming, too. Maybe by the next blog Josie will have her own home.

Saying Goodbye

         Well, I just got through the worst February of my life. Both my grandmother's passed away within 48 hours of each other. It has been a tiring two months. I know my mum was feeling really tired. She was caring for her mom the entire time. My dad's mom passed away in a nursing facility she had been at for a few years. The only good part of these two plus months is I got to spend time with relatives. Except now I'm a little confused about my family tree. I met some relatives I never knew existed. 

    My mum's mother, before she passed away, said she wanted more red around. My dad and I needed to rent a car to go to Iowa for her funeral. My mum was in Iowa with the good car, and it wasn't safe to take the other car out of town. Dad thought he was getting a Nissan Altima, instead, he got a bright red Dodge Charger. Boy, did it roar! It was fun cruising down the road listening to rock and roll. It just seemed appropriate that the car ended up being red in my grandma's honor.

     This past Saturday we decided to honor Nikita and the grandmothers. We never got an opportunity to do something for Nikita when we had to put her to sleep. So in our garden, we put down a fake rock with "Grandma's Garden" on it. We also planted flowers around the rock and then we spread some of Nikita's ashes over the flowers. Finally, we put a picture of Nikita in the garden. It felt good to do something to recognize all of them.    

    During all this sadness, there were some good moments. About two weeks ago, Science Olympiad regionals occurred. It was a very nerve racking time, but it was also one of the best moments of my life. It was extremely fun! Everyone on the team did great. I was happy to have medaled in all my events. The Tri-North teams finished second and third at regionals. Now we are advancing to State! It is going to be exciting. Another great thing is I won't have to get up as early for State. The state competition is in Bloomington.
     The following Saturday I had a soccer tournament in Bloomington, Illinois. It was a 3 vs 3 tournament, and there were four players on the team. We did well. We placed second, despite only having one practice. However, our final game was off to a dismal start. Right before the game one of my teammates threw up. We had no subs for the game. Then another player twisted his ankle shortly after the second half started. He was out on the field limping like the "Karate Kid" ready to play. The other team had five players so they gave us one. This game was for second, but there was no trophy. It was a fun and tiring tournament.
      I now want to thank all the nice people who cared for our dogs while we were in Iowa. I didn't get permission to use their names so I won't name them, but they know who they are. I hope Hoover didn't overwhelm them with too many kisses. It's good to be back home with my dogs.

Remembering Nikita

    Well, I just got through the worst January of my life. I won't talk about all of it because some of it is spilling over into February. I'll just say both my grandmothers are in hospice. Oh joy. It may be a while until the next blog comes and this one will be a bit shorter. The first thing to happen this year was the passing of Nikita. She was at least 16 and she had been struggling. We put her to sleep on January 3, 2016. I think Hoover missed his adopted mom, he didn't eat much for a couple of days. Nikita was a good old girl that had many adventures. She raised 9 foster dogs and the doofus Hoover. She went on lots of walks, fought a vacuum cleaner, and like any husky, she enjoyed the snow. My mum said she was the best puppy ever. Nikita was a great girl! My mum made a slideshow showing Nikita's life, here it is in case you haven't seen it. 

Holiday Wishes

    A lot has happened since the last blog post, which was around Thanksgiving. For one thing, I've turned 13. For my 13th birthday we went to see Star Wars with Lora and Justin. I will not be giving any spoilers for the few people in the world who haven't seen it yet. Star Wars is probably my favorite movie of 2015. It had some good characters and a satisfying plot and no Jar Jar Binks. Oops, hope that wasn't a spoiler. After the movie we went to Ellettsville to eat Mexican and discuss the movie. It was a constructive conversation with my nerd friends. It was good to see some of my favorite characters come back to the big screen.
    With the holidays upon us, mum had to make a holiday card. Mum had some trouble with Lizzie and Nikita, they proved not to be very cooperative. Hoover was a star. Mum said he was more cooperative than me. Mum's original plan was to have the dogs wear reindeer antlers and I would wear a Santa hat. She ditched that plan and just took head shots of us and photo shopped in a card. Hoover got to be Santa while the rest of us were elves. I wanted to be Santa. Mum said Hoover had a better body
to be Santa. 

    The last blog was about Thanksgiving break. Now I'm on winter break, except there is no snow. I'm looking forward to this winter break. There may be Science Olympiad practice throughout break. Plus I will hanging out with friends. The "Cozy Corner" has been rebuilt. Hopefully, Hoover won't take it over. This winter break is looking promising, except we need snow. 
    We finally got our Christmas tree up. So far, it hasn't fallen over like it did last year. The best part is we have new Godzilla ornaments to put on the tree. Nikita couldn't really help decorate the tree this year, but it is nice to have her around. We didn't think she would make another Christmas. She still enjoys watching us get ready for Christmas and getting snuggles. I think she is going to love her bone. I wish she could have snow for Christmas.
    I would like to wish all of you a happy holidays! Don't forget about your pets when it is time to give out presents.

The Three Different Teams

    The last blog post was about fall break, this blog post is about a few things that have happened in between. Now that Thanksgiving break has started, I have some time to write.
     My soccer team went to a soccer tournament the week before Halloween, which was located at Center Grove. We started out really well winning our game 4-0. Our next game was against a team from Ohio. We thought they would be really good coming all the way from Ohio, but fortunately, we beat them 4-1. By then we were already in the final on Sunday. However, on Sunday we had to play a game before the championship against the other team that had already clinched a spot as well. They rested some of their players in preparation for the championship; we did not. We beat them 2-1.  We then met the same team in the championship game about two hours later. It was a tough game, but we came out on top winning 3-2. We all got plaques and the team got a big trophy. We gave it to our keeper because he saved us several times.
     I'm on a third team now. I joined my middle school's Science Olympiad team. I'll be working with one of my soccer teammates. It has been fun so far. I'm working on a project called air trajectory. Air trajectory is launching ping pong balls at targets using an air cannon. The design is hard to describe, but it has a lot of tubes. It will be fun to fire! I'm also studying invasive species and oceanography. I practice Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and our competitions are in February and March. 
     Now to my other soccer team, ODP. Last weekend I went to Memphis with ODP. It was an interesting drive. We got to stop at a truck stop! Our team manager said she didn't want us hanging out with the truck drivers so we had to buddy up. For the rest of the drive we got to watch three movies and eat pizza. This was quite a long drive, we got to the hotel at 11:00 pm.   I was lucky, my game didn't start until 12:30 on Saturday. I got to sleep in. Our first game went well because we won 6-0. However, we got arrogant and lost our next game 2-1. We played in a consolation game the next day and won that game 2-1 on a penalty kick. The drive home was very long. Probably because they replayed the movies and we didn't have anything to drink with our lunch. I was happy to get home because it had been a long weekend , but it was a very enjoyable weekend. 
      Because it is Thanksgiving break, the "Cozy Corner" is back. Lizzie and Hoover have already visited the corner and it is still standing. It will be my residence for the week. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and stuffs themselves with turkey and other yummies. Also, Finney will be at  Wonderlab on Friday talking about the Iditarod sled dog race. After attending Finney's presentation a few years ago, I decided to start writing about my dogs and created this blog.
     

An Extraordinary Fall Break

    You've probably noticed by now there have been fewer blog posts. That's because I have more homework now, and there has been a lot of soccer. However, I will post when possible. Now is one of those times.
     This past week has been my fall break. I've done quite a few relaxing things, such as build the cozy corner. I've spent a lot of time in the cozy corner this week. I sleep quite well in the fort. One day I woke up at 10:30. I had breakfast and then turned around and had lunch. 
    We also went to Brown County during fall break to get pumpkins. We found some little pumpkins that were neat. That was all we bought. We also went into Nashville. Not the Tennessee one. I wasn't hit by the Nashville fever. I did however like the ice cream. It wasn't a long stay at Nashville.
    We did several other cheap things during fall break. We went to the IU soccer game, IU volleyball game, went to the book fair and got a few books, took the dogs for a hike, had a couple of soccer practices, and had a fire pit.  
     We did one more spectacular thing during my fall break. We went up to Anderson for a brushing party with Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue. However, instead we walked dogs all day, which was fine with me. We met five dynamite girls on Saturday. The first girl we walked was Shiloh. Shiloh was a sweet little girl. She had extremely soft fur. The thing I will remember about Shiloh is her love for a tennis ball. It was love at first sight. You couldn't separate the two. 
     Another dog we met was Skylar. Skylar is a lanky red head. She is extremely fast and has a heart of gold. You have to be very fast to run with her. Skylar loves people! We were total strangers to her and she cuddled right up to us. Skylar loves belly rubs just like Hoover. They could form the "Belly Rub Lovers" club. 
      September was an older dog. She was a real sweat heart. She was very mellow, the opposite of a few other dogs we met. Mum was tempted to take her home. I was begging to take them all home. Mum was so caught  up with her, she didn't get a picture of her. The Northern Lights web page has her picture and video: September . You'll want to check her out.
      No one could compare in excitement to Meisha and Keisha. We were told Meisha is Keisha's mother. As soon as we got them, they tried to burst out the gate. To try and wear them down, I had to run them. I found it difficult to keep up with Keisha. Whenever I took off with Keisha, Meisha would try to run after us. Unfortunately, mum's running days are long gone, poor Meisha. I did run Meisha a little, she wasn't as fast as her daughter. They both had one thing in common, they both love to roll around on the ground. It would be nice if they were adopted together. They experimented with putting mother and daughter in separate kennels, Meisha was too sad and didn't eat for a couple of days. 
      I can't forget to mention two other good doggies. They are not up for adoption anymore because the president of Northern Lights loved them so much she adopted them. We met Kasey and Henry. I call him Big Henry. Kasey is a pure white husky. I had the privilege of walking Kasey. Henry is a huge handsome malamute. They are a great pair.
    I had a very enjoyable fall break. I had a good mix of sports, dogs and books.