I am hoping I don't have the nasty FLU!!!!

Well, kids are still dropping like flies at school....as well as the teachers. I am trying to safeguard myself by not working out today and just sitting on the couch. I don't do it very often, but I unfortunately feel a little bit feverish. So, I am just hanging with Mr.Smellyhead/Ippon/Buddy/EEPS... I haven't talked much about our dog. We love him and he is SPOILED ROTTEN. I think he may very well be one of the most spoiled dogs on the planet. One reason why I bought my Honda Element was to give him more room to stand and lay. He is one of those labs who has the long legs. He is quite tall and as my mom would say, "he is just so big". That is okay, Smap and I love him to death.

It is so funny to talk to other dog owners about their dogs quirks and routines. Smelly really has a lot of routines. He also is so smart, he can learn from other dogs. When Smap and I first started dating, Smap didn't have anyone to keep Ippon, so we had my dad keep him out at the farm. Dad has five dogs....four at the time. All four being labs (the smaller squattier type). Dad's only male dog, Fudge (all Dad's chocolate labs are named after chocolate and the yellow is named Squash...yeah, I know wierd), has this thing where when he wants to come inside he just barks at the door. Prior to staying at Dad's for the first time overnight, Ippon would just stand at the front door when he was ready to come inside after using the bathroom. Ippon is so well trained, we can just let him go outside and he will come right back when ready. Anyway, sometimes when we would get really into a tv show, we would forget about Ippon being outside after putting him out. After staying out at Dad's, he learned Fudge's trick of barking when he wants to come in. Very handy for us and for him. Unfortunately sometimes Ippon gets a little bossy and instead of just barking once to let us know he wants to come inside, he will let out like five in a row trying to tell us, "let me inside immediately damnit"....he is quite bossy.

Recently Smap and I are on the whole eating all organic etc....like a lot of people. We also have a composter and don't throw away hardly anything...we recycle EVERYTHING. Well, Smap would usually put the leftover oatmeal in the composter bucket, but one morning he decided he would let Ippon have it on his food. WEll, we created a HUGE BOSSY MONSTER DOG. Now every morning he demands his oatmeal on his food. Not to mention he knows when it is Sunday. He gets 2 small pancakes every Sunday as well. He won't eat his food unless he has had his pancakes already. He is so silly. I will usually wake up early on Sunday's and let Smap sleep in. Ippon hates him sleeping in, so he will walk back and forth between the den where I am back to the bedroom to hopefully pester Smap enough to wake up and make his pancakes...I know better. I let him sleep as long as I can... If I wake him up, I get in trouble. Ippon does too, but he obviously ignores it because he continues to do it every week.

More stories to come on my LOVELY best buddy. I love him.