Today was my first full day without Triscuit with me. Working at home was such a treat for both Triscuit and me. Every time I would get up to get a drink, check the mail, etc I would go over and see her, pet her, and talk to her. She kept me company and tried to convince me to take her for a walk. Today - the house was especially quiet without the click clack of her claws, and her tags on her collar shaking as she would do a good shake. To round out these past few sad and trying days - I ended up having to get a root canal today while at the dentist getting my crowns (from July) redone. Hopefully my luck will change and this weekend will be great!

On June 10th, 2000 - Triscuit came into this life, and without us knowing it at the time, the perfect dog was born. She bred to race and had a successful racing career (Triscuit’s racing stats) for two years. The first race she ever raced in she got 3rd and the next race she got 1st. Almost to the day, our little racer got 3rd place in a race in 2002. Within a few months of retiring, Amy and I had were the luckiest two people to meet her at the the Greyhounds Only rescue kennel where we instantly fell in love with our girl. Greyhounds will often lean on someone if they feel really comfortable with them and as soon as she leaned on me - I knew we just had to have her in our lives.

She was the best dog I could have ever asked for. She never complained, rarely barked, never jumped up on anyone, had amazingly soft “bunny fur”, and was always the first thing I saw coming home (she would greet me at the door) and the last thing I would see when I left (she would stand by the window as I would leave). Everyone that met her loved her - even non-dog people. She loved to run in the backyard as I would cheer her on “Go Triscuit go”, take walks (oh my how she loved to take walks), eat McDonalds food, and more than anything, to relax with me and Amy. She loved peanut butter, cheese, hot dogs, and hearing the microwave oven (possibility of hot dogs) eating grass, small dogs and other greyhounds, and hated sitting.

When Evan was born, Triscuit was very curious about him but grew to love him, even if he did pull her leash on the walks because at the end of the day, he gave her tons of table scraps.

She was the best dog that I have ever met and I feel so fortunate to have known her. She showed me patience, calm, and unconditional love. She will be forever my beloved girl who brought a smile to my face everyday.

Her last moments in life were around 230pm today (October 15th) with me and Amy by her side. The neurologist found a tumor in her spine that was causing Triscuit to lose function of her tail and her back legs, and soon other parts of her body. Since her quality of life was really bad and the fact they could not operate, we made the decision to give her the peace she deserved. She was calm and at peace right until her last breath. She was one of a kind and I will miss her forever. Thanks to everyone who offered to watch the cats, Evan, brought us food, and sent positive thoughts.

Tonight I will eat a hotdog and a piece of cheese then take a walk because I know that is what my beautiful girl would want more than anything in the world. I will miss you Triscuit!

We just got a call from Triscuit’s neurologist. He is going to do a MRI in about an hour to see what is going on. He thinks there is a good chance it is either a slipped disc or possibly a tumor. If it is a slipped disc - they can do surgery and the outlook is good. If it is a tumor - they are usually inoperable and the outlook…not so great. Send positive thoughts.

I was hoping to use the Wordpress iPhone app while somewhere fun or boring but instead I find myself in an animal ER while my beautiful girl Triscuit is getting looked at.

A few days ago T started having problems with walking and today I had to carry her everywhere. We are not sure what is going on but it looks like a spine issue. T is only 8, but with that said, just lost her best friend Wish (a fellow grey) last week.

Please send positive thoughts…she is such a sweet girl.

Yesterday while I was at a certain repair shop (not the dealership) I overheard a conversation that blew me away. I was waiting to get my tire fixed (flat) and at the parts desk, I heard the following:

Guy 1: “Did you watch the rebate last night?”
Guy 2: “You mean the debate? I watched it and man John…(pausing because he cannot think of his last name)….”
Guy 1: “McCain”
Guy 2: Yes - man, I do not trust him…he lies so much. I think I even trust the other guy Osama more.

At that point - I decided to go into the waiting area instead of looking at floor mats so I could play some Scrabble on my iPhone.

The Wii is by far one of the coolest if not the coolest console I have ever owned. The one thing I do miss from my PS 2 days is the voice interaction I had while playing games. I just read about something really cool that will perhaps take care of my want for voice interaction:

This from the Nintendo news site:

The new Wii Speak Channel arrives on Nov. 16 and uses the Wii Speak, a microphone that sits on top of your television. This accessory is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99. People who buy the microphone are given a code that allows them to download the Wii Speak Channel from the Wii Shop Channel at no charge. The Wii Speak lets people in up to four locations who have traded Friend Codes chat with one another at no extra cost. When you use Wii Speak in real time, your Mii appears on your TV screen and mimics your chat. You also can leave audio messages for your friends and family members or use Wii Speak to narrate captions for your photos.

As a history major - I tend to look at everything and find trends, think about what historians will write about our time, and all kinds of fun things that drive Amy crazy. The other day while I was thinking about playing Super Mario 3 on my Wii, I thought about the definition of being social (”interactions between people”) and then thought that my son Evan’s generation will most likely view our generation as very unsocial. We wrote letters that took days to deliver, interacted with people very limitedly, played games by ourselves, and worked independently.

Our definition of communication has completely changed. When I thought about it, I went to college before cell phones were really popular. If you wanted to get in touch with someone it was by phone, email, or by the chance of meeting someone. No one had digital cameras so most of our college pictures are tucked away in a shoebox somewhere in one of our friend’s closets. We had the beginning of networked games, but our interaction there was limited to typing in “hi” or “Don’t go in the dungeon without me Ken!”.

Now - we have instant access to other people’s statuses and whereabouts by the second. SMS, email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, cell phones, etc - people share what they are doing that moment, while other people can comment, look at your whereabouts, get notified the second any change has been made (RSS, etc), read about what you are doing/what you have done all in a community setting. People take photos and videos now and within seconds share the photos and video with family and friends…and even “strangers”. If you want to get ahold of someone - you can do so electronically and it is a good chance I will be talking to whomever I want within a matter of moments, not minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.

The definition of face to face communication has also changed. The majority of us have high speed connections which allow us to chat via video so we can see our friends and family at any time, any place within seconds. No more waiting to see cousin x until our yearly trip to Germany. Same goes with business. Why have your office fly to somewhere to sit in a room with others while you could save money and time by doing business via video? Of course it is still nice to meet in person on occasion, but it is not always needed or the best solution.

Even gaming - all of my favorite games are highly interactive with my friends online. I cannot even tell you how many times I had to explain that I was a girl and not a 10 year old kid playing So Com II because we planned our attacks and defense using voice. I have friends online that I know I can play games with at almost any time…from scrabble to planning a sniper attack on the enemy.

On trips, I take photos with my iPhone and send them instantly to family members so they can see their grandson in his latest cute pose. Sharing no longer waits.

I look forward to talking to Evan about how he perceives me and my generation compared to what he knows and understands about the world. I am sure he will one day comment on how crazy it was to not have instant or almost instant access to everyone and everything.