Puppy and Her Toy Basket

Ginger got so many toys for Christmas that Susan decided she needed a basket to keep them in. Ginger loves her basket of toys. The first thing she does every morning is get all of her toys out of the basket (giving each one of them a little play time). Then she gets into the basket. Here's a picture:

Ginger's First Haircut

You might have noticed in the previous post that Ginger was getting pretty woolly. She got to looking like some furry worm running across the floor instead of a puppy. We decided to get her a trim. We wanted to avoid having a foo-foo looking dog, so we insisted on just a general over all trim. We are very pleased with the results. There is one mystery, however. Why do dog grooming places feel compelled to put perfume and some kind of decoration on the poor little critters after they've already been subjected to the trauma of a haircut?

Any way, here are some before





and after pictures.





Although it's not as obvious in the photos, we think she is getting a little lighter in color, especially her legs and face. Her ears are staying darker. We think she is the ideal puppy.

Ginger and our Granddaughter

We had the privilege of looking after our Texas granddaughter last weekend while her mom and dad entertained a visiting friend. This is always a pleasure because she is such a well behaved child (as are all our grandchildren when they visit). This visit she got in some serious playtime with our puppy. Our granddaughter lives in a house with two dogs, but they are much bigger than she and interaction is difficult. Our granddaughter and Ginger are much the same size, so they can play much better. They also have a common interest--our granddaughter's toys. Most of these toys are almost a decade old because they date from the birth of our first grandchild. As a side note, it's interesting to see that some things never change--all of our grandkids have had the same favorites.

Here are some pictures:

Ginger giving her friend a kiss.



Joint examination of an interesting toy.



Ginger about to sneak off with one of her faves.



And for an added treat, a short movie of our granddaughter and Ginger. Our granddaughter is practicing her cheer for when Mizzou's BCS championship game opponent takes the field in 2009.

2008 Cotton Bowl Pictures

Here's a photo of Susan and me in our Mizzou regalia.



I was trying to take a picture of Truman the Tiger when these girls got in the way. I don't know who they are.



Marching Mizzou--the best marching band in the world. Too little of them at half time. However, the Missouri Waltz will look better if the band goes back to white spats. The Arkansas band was really bad--they looked dopey (they apparently thought the circus was in town) and didn't sound very good either.



The final word.

Mizzou 38--Arkansas 7

Chris, Tim, Susan and I went to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New Years Day. We met up with some friends of theirs from vet school, who drove down from North Wichita. All of us Mizzou fans were a little disappointed that Mizzou didn't get a BCS bowl bid given the quality of their season. However, it has been 37 years since Mizzou played in a New Years Day bowl game (Susan and I were at that one, too, and it didn't have nearly as good an outcome. We sat in the rain and watched Mizzou lose 10-3). This game was great and the Cotton Bowl is a quality event. A lot of Missouri's players come from Texas and it's prime recruiting ground. Turns out that Dallas is also home to the largest concentration of alums outside Missouri. It had the added benefit of being only three hours drive from Austin.

Missouri was a only a 3.5 point favorite, but dominated the game almost from the beginning. Arkansas had beaten LSU, who is playing for the national championship, so everyone expected the SEC team to give Mizzou fits, especially because Arkansas' running back had won the Doak Walker Award as the best running back in the country. He turned out to be the second best running back on the field yesterday. Tony Temple, Missouri's tailback, set Cotton Bowl records for rushing yardage (281) and touchdowns (4) and was the game's most valuable player. The day was cold and we were in the shade of the scoreboard for much of the game, but it was worth it to see Missouri just overpower a good team.

This has been a weird football season. Missouri lost only two games--both to Oklahoma, who lost two games to teams that Missouri destroyed. Missouri beat teams that beat both of the BCS championship teams (Illinois, who beat Ohio State and Arkansas, who beat LSU). Aside from the two losses to Oklahoma, it was a good season. Mizzou beat Kansas (when Kansas was ranked #1) and won the Big 12 North. Most of the team is back for next year, so I am optimistic.

I have some pictures, but I took them with Chris's camera because I left mine in the car. As soon as she sends them to me, I'll post them here.