Goodnight My Sweet Stinky Angel

It has been years since this blog has been updated. The numerous passings of so many old friends was too much to bear. And with this post I bring more sad news. Many changes have happened in our lives, and with time comes aging. Ike was a few months past 13 when he succumbed to a brain tumor yesterday. His decline was mercifully short, beginning with some cognitive dysfunction that lasted a few months and only seemed a minor concern, normal aging. Twelve days ago, he had a seizure in my arms and another the following morning. My fabulous work colleagues were quick to consult a neurologist and get him on a drug program to stop the seizures and decrease the swelling in his brain. Thankfully, he only had those two seizures. But as it often goes with older dogs, the decline is swift and death is greedy. We released him from his body-prison surrounded by friends, and I watched the last flicker in his dimming candle go out.
Ike was a giant soul. He was funny and adorable and endlessly cuddly and sweet. He loved road trips and hotels and pepperoni pizza. He would happily ride on my lap for 6 hour stretches and endure a shower of kisses. He loved sitting on chairs in restaurants like a little gentlemen waiting for his meal. He hated snow and rain and celery and most other dogs. He loved his big white cat, Odin, and his grandma and his mama and papa.
Even the day before his death, people stopped us on the street to meet him and tell him how cute he was.
His gas was noxious and he snored like an eighty year old alcoholic, but I wouldn't trade one moment I had with him. He is embedded in my soul; my sweet Ikenstein, my Steiner, my Buttface, my Snorey, my Buddyface. There will never be another you, but I know there are many of your descendants out there. I see their faces on Pinterest and You Tube. And I hope to encounter one who needs a home. Or, you can come back to me, my sweet, just jump into new body and find your way home. I will be watching for you.

Just vote!

Crickets.

So I guess you guys have been hearing a lot of crickets when you come to my blog because it's been 16 months since I've done anything with it! A lot has happened since I last blogged - my dad got a new job in CALIFORNIA and then my mom got a new job too. My dad traded in my ancient car and got a new car and then we had a garage sale and sold a bunch of stuff and then loaded the rest of our crap into a huge truck and I rode shotgun with my dad and we drove down the coast. Then we stayed with our friend Mildred and her two white schnauzers Milo and Niko who I tried to beat up all the time. It took us a month to find a place to live because you pretty much have to be the first person at the open house to get an apartment. I picked this place in Oakland in a super cool neighborhood with an Art Deco movie theater and tons of restaurants and shops. The house has lots of windows so I can sleep in the sun which is pretty awesome because in Bellingham, there is only sun for like a minute a year. But here in California, it's sunny almost every day but they say that this is the rainy season and it won't be sunny all the time anymore. I have a huge palm tree in my backyard and the grass is starting to come up outside which is really weird because it's November and I grew up in a place where the grass dies in November.
I don't know if you remember this, but there are cats who live with me, and my good friend Odin, the big white one, turned 18 over the summer but he's still doing great. Saffron, the orange one who has never really liked me, is 14 and we found out that she has cancer but she's doing ok because she is taking a pill that is making her get fat again and they say that she could still live another couple of years with this pill because it tells the cancer to stop. She had a different kind of cancer on her tail a couple of years ago but it got hacked off and she was fine. Even though we don't get along, I would appreciate some healing vibes for her because she will have blood work done next week to see if her liver is tolerating the pill that is stopping the cancer, and if her liver doesn't like the pill, she needs to stop taking it and that would be really bad.
My mom's new job is at a veterinary specialty clinic and she works in internal medicine where they see all the weird diseases and lots of sad stuff. She misses her old friends at The Cat Clinic, but she likes working with dogs again even though they kick her ass a lot.
Now it's time for some pictures.

Here's a picture of me in my Halloween costume which is a  velociraptor. Totally scary, huh?

 Here's a picture of me and Odin in the sun today. When did my face start turning white?

And here's a picture of my mom and my Auntie Kathryn and David Gray! They met him right before we moved
and my mom and Auntie were the happiest ever because they totes loves David Gray.

Lola needs your help!

Hey everybody, my cousin dog Lola severed her achilles tendon and had surgery to fix it and the surgery failed and now she needs another surgery for two thousand dollars (the first surgery was a grand) and my uncle needs your help to finance it. If he can't come up with enough, they will have to amputate otherwise she will be dragging a useless leg. And the worst thing is she's only 5 months old. My uncle rescued Lola from abusive and neglectful neighbors who were starving her. She was out having a good time with their other dog, Boo, when she ran under the deck to their house and there was some metal sticking out that they didn't know about and she sliced her leg. So please, please, please help Lola save her leg so she can have a normal life. Please repost this or link to my blog!

Barf-o-rama!

Ok, so today my grandma was doing laundry, and the pantry door was kind of open so I opened it the rest of the way and found all the containers of cat food and dog food. And I sort of chased the containers all over the floor until my kibble container opened and I totally ate a ton of it until my belly was bulging. And my mom got home for lunch and I jumped on the couch and burped in her face and then my grandma spilled the beans to her! I pretty much ate about 3 cups of kibble which is like a few days worth for me so I had to go work with my mom where they made me eat hydrogen peroxide. Then I barfed all over the floor which was pretty awesome, especially because there were strawberry tops in it which looked like huge blood clots! Then I had to sit in the cage for a few hours while my grandma went to Costco because she didn't want me barfing in her car again. So I barfed in my cage - a cat cage! - and no one saw it so I ate it. So, if you ever get into the pantry and eat tons of food, don't get caught!

This is a picture of my fatness - I sort of had a waist still, but it's gone now!

Steeeeeeve!

So I want to officially welcome Steeeeve to the blogosphere - you got your work cut out for you, buddy. You have big shoes to fill and a real Doofus to endure, but welcome, welcome, welcome - I can't wait to get to know you better - that is if the power hasn't gone to Tanner's head and he lets you use the blog.


Also, the super secret project is still underway and hasn't been forgotten. It's gonna be great!

For My Homey.

Thanks for the cheeseburger, Joe Stains!

RIP, buddy - you're already so very missed.