Newton's Blog

Missing My Boy :-(

I am not sure what has triggered it; but today, I am missing Newton a lot. I have been listening to his tribute song for the past two hours over and over. Maybe it is because I have a ton of work to get done today and am doing it while sitting on the couch watching football. Anytime I would sit on the couch and work, Newton would lay right next to me with his leg against my leg. He didn't cuddle often, so when he did, it would make my day.

This year, the West region has been re-orged and I moved from the Pacific Southwest to the Great West (which is an expanded Southwest). There will be lots of traveling in my future both with work and for pleasure. In February, I will be going to San Francisco and Salt Lake for work and Reno and Cozumel for fun. I need some R&R.

After I had to help Newton to the bridge, I found great comfort in writing him letters every night. I think that I am going to have to start that back up again. I miss him so much. It just isn't the same without him by my side.

Happy New Year!!!

Cheers to 2010! May it be filled with peace, hope, love, health, happiness, and laughter :-)

Divine Mastiff - Holiday Party

Every year, Mary has a holiday party for all of her puppy buyers. This year, it was pot luck style at the Robards's restaurant. It was so good to see everybody and the food was yummy. Homer and Maggie made the day complete so that I could get my Mastiff fix :-) For the gift exchange, I gave a sling shot chicken that makes noises. I thought that it was pretty cool. It would have been one of Newton's favorites for sure. I got some treats and a toy that Chloe will get to play with when she comes over.

Merry Christmas

I hope that everybody has a safe and enjoying holiday. Make sure to take the time to tell the ones those close to you how much you care about them.

Party at the Bridge - Happy 5th Birthday Newton!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!! I hope that you are having a great time partying with all of your friends. Make sure that you stay out of trouble. I miss you.

Drinks with Stephanie

This evening, Stephanie and I met at the White Chocolate Grill for drinks. It was so good to see her. I really miss not seeing each day when she would come to take Newton for his daily walks. Stephanie has been Newton's pet sitter since he was 8 weeks old. She has since become a great friend. Newton loves Stephanie and her family and would get so excited when they would come over. I was very lucky to find somebody who cared so much about Newton and took such good care of him.

Thank you for everything Stephanie! We need to hang out more often

Newton's Necropsy Report

Today, I was up at Colorado State University with my friend, Laura, whose Mastiff, Chloe, was having some general procedures (teeth cleaning, etc.) done by CSU's community practice. While I was up there, I started to think a lot about Newton. I had CSU do an autopsy on Newton, but up to this point, didn't have the heart to read the autopsy report in great detail. Based on the details in the report and additional clarification from Newton's Oncologist, I found myself in a state of shock.

Newton's Osteosarcoma was in remission. There was no microscopic or gross evidence of Osteosarcoma present. What the autopsy did reveal was primary splenic Hemangiosarcoma with pulmonary metastasis. Leave it to Newton to be unique.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everybody has a great Thanksgiving. This is the first Thanksgiving that I will be celebrating since I helped Newton to the bridge. It feels very weird. He has always loved turkey. Laura and I decided to go to Los Alamos, NM to visit our friend, Tracy. I'm glad that I will be taking a mini-vacation. I need one! I was debating on whether to bring Newton's ashes with me. I decided that I would have to be strong and leave him at home.

We had the best dinner. It was so yummy. I'm a huge fan of Honey Baked Ham's turkeys. This year we went with the Cajun turkey. The seasonings were amazing. I can't believe how much we ate. I'll be looking forward to our hike tomorrow.

Hanging Out with Karen and Cindy

Today, I hung out with Karen and Cindy. We were working on some Bone Cancer Dogs, Inc. stuff. Although we have been brought together by an unfortunately disease, I have made a lot of really good friends from the BoneCancerDogs Yahoo! group, http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/bonecancerdogs/. I is always nice to know that you are not alone and that there are others out there who understand the bond that people form with their pets. Newton is my child.

Each year, the Bone Cancer Dogs groups has a reunion. In 2010, it will be in California. I am looking forward to going to the reunion. I can't wait to meet the many people who have supported me during my journey. We are family!

Limb Preservation Foundation Breakfast

Today was the Limb Preservation Foundation breakfast. I am glad that I was able to attend. The guest speakers were very inspirational and brought tears of joys to my eyes. Much of the research that they do at CSU's Animal Cancer Center helps in the treatment of humans. I also ran into Hope there. Her Lily is quite the fighter.

I also got to pick up their 2010 calendar. Newton is Mr. October and I must say that he is quite handsome. Personally, I think that he is the best looking one in the calendar :-) but I may be a bit biased.