Birthdays, Stressors, and Relaxers

It's time to once again get up to date on the happenings of the planet's most prolific beagle bloggers - Baxter and Daisy.

  We had our birthday on Saturday. Happy Birthday, Daisy!  Happy Birthday Baxter! It was a great birthday. We went for 5 beef stick walks and had premium dog food out of a can for dinner.  YUM!! I love beef sticks and premium dog food out of a can. It was the best day ever, Daisy.  Yes it was. And we should thank all our friends and fans for their birthday wishes, Baxter.  I like getting birthday wishes but I like getting beef sticks and premium dog food out of a can better! YUM!!  I like beef sticks and premium dog food out of a can too but I think I appreciate knowing we have so many friends and fans thinking about us on our birthday even more. 

Premium dog food out of a can!! YUM!!

  We were lucky to get anything after all the bad things you did this year, Daisy. On Easter you bit Grandma Mary and then she passed away.  She passed away months after Easter and it wasn’t because I bit her.  You bit her finger when she tried to give you some Easter ham.  I didn’t mean to bite her finger. It was just too close to the ham. And she didn’t bleed too much.  No one gave us any Easter ham for the rest of the day all because you bit Grandma Mary.  I was sorry I bit her and I miss Grandma Mary a lot. Last year she brought a half a smoked turkey for Christmas and Kathy made a whole turkey too.  And Hank is the only person in the house that eats turkey so there was plenty of turkey for us! YUM!! I love turkey!! 

  Biting Grandma Mary was nothing compared to the trouble I got into over the summer when I bit Kathy.  That’s right! We were sitting on either side of Kathy and we got into a fight and when Kathy tried to break us up you bit her chest.  I didn’t mean to. I was trying to bite you and I missed. Kathy was mad at me for a long time but I was extra nice to her and she forgave me.  Now when we even start to get into a fight she spanks us both.  We don’t like getting spanked so we try not to get into too many fights any more. 

Sorry, Mr. Feathers...

  Last week Mr. Feathers (one of our cockatiels) started flying around and when he landed near you, you snapped at him and bit him and he died.  He startled me. I felt really bad about that because I like the cockatiels. At least we still have Harry the cockatiel.  For now…I like the birds because we get to scrounge the bird food they knock on the ground. You better leave Harry alone, Daisy!  It’s all Hank’s fault I bit Mr. Feathers.  How can that be, Daisy? Hank wasn’t even home.  Didn’t you read Hank’s last blog post? Two Sundays ago he went out to get us some chicken from the Pizza Ranch.  I didn’t have to read it, Daisy. I was home. He called the Pizza Ranch and ordered SIXTEEN PIECES OF FRIED CHICKEN. YUM!! Then he left for almost an hour but when he came back he didn’t have any fried chicken for us.  Well Baxter, it seems the Pizza Ranch was very late getting our fried chicken and Hank made a big fuss about wanting his money back.  I’d make a big fuss too. This is fried chicken we’re talking about. Hank should have brought you there to bite them!  I would have been happy to. But the Pizza Ranch people gave Hank his money back AND gave him the fried chicken.  Then why didn’t we get any fried chicken?  Because Hank told them to keep the fried chicken!  You should have bitten Hank! That was our fried chicken too!  That’s right Baxter. It wasn’t fair for him to call us his fried chicken consultants and then not consult us about whether or not to take the fried chicken. I think I had chicken on the brain when I snapped at Mr. Feathers. 

The rising cost of beef sticks at Kum & Go(left) and Casey's is very stressful.
Last year they only cost a dollar for 2 beef sticks.

  We’ve been watching ‘Criminal Minds’ with Hank when he gets home from work and you remind me of some of the criminals on that show, Daisy. I think you’re a serial biter.  I think it’s because we have so much stress in our lives, Baxter. In the TV show the criminals start acting up because of some stressful incident. They call it a ‘stressor’.  I don’t have any stress, Daisy. I take lots of naps and get lots of fresh air and exercise taking Hank and Kathy on long walks.  I take naps and go on the same walks you do Baxter, but that doesn’t mean we don't have a lot of stress. The rising price of beef sticks has me very stressed out.  That’s right, Daisy. Casey’s raised the price of their beef sticks from 2/$1 to 2/$1.08 (we wrote about it here) and then the Kum & Go raised their prices from 2/$1 to 3/$2.  The Kum & Go betrayed us. Raising their prices right after getting their 2014 Daisy and Baxter convenience store beef stick award was very rude. We went to the Kum & Go for our birthday and the beef sticks are still 3 for $2.  We went for our birthday lunch at Casey’s and the beef sticks are 3 for $2 there also. Only the Jiffy has 2 beef sticks for a dollar any more.  Hank played chess in Jackson earlier this year and he said the beef sticks were 2 for $1 there. Maybe Hank will move to Jackson!  I hope so but until then we have to live here with high priced beef sticks. I think you're right, Daisy. Just thinking about it is making me stressed out. 

What if murdering beagles named Daisy becomes a new trend thanks to the 'John Wick' movie?

  Another thing that stressed me out is this new movie that came out with Keanu Reeves. You know him, Baxter - the handsome man in the Matrix movies.  I saw the commercial. The movie’s called ‘John Wick’. Why’s that so stressful, Daisy?  In the movie John has a beagle named Daisy and some bad guys kill his dog.  So what? It’s just a movie.  That’s easy for you to say – they didn’t kill a beagle named Baxter in the movie.  I think it would be pretty cool to have Keanu Reeves killing a bunch of bad guys to avenge me.  That part is cool but I don’t want to have to be avenged. Now every time I hear anything I get all jumpy and start barking.  You’ve always barked at anything that moves, Daisy.  I know but now I’m especially on edge because I know there’s a bunch of bad guys trying to do bad things to beagles named Daisy. 

Thinking about Monica and Katie visiting us is very relaxing...
and filling when they bring beef sticks! YUM!!

  Maybe instead of thinking about stressful things we should think about things that make us happy. Like when Monica and Katie come to visit.  That’s right Baxter! I always feel better when we see Monica and Katie. Sometimes Katie brings us beef sticks!  YUM!! And not just any beef sticks. She brings us giant Slim Jims or giant Squatch beef sticks. YUM!!  They’re the biggest beef sticks I’ve ever seen. Hank cuts them into bite size pieces and Katie gives them to us.  Then Katie and Monica both pet us until they have to leave. I wish they could visit us every week. 

All my worries melt away when we visit Lee in Traer!
I inspected his pumpkins and guarded his potato patch!

If there’s one thing I like better than getting a visit from Monica and Katie is when we get to see Hank’s friend Lee Gordon Seebach.  Lee came to visit us in the spring and we went to visit him twice this summer. We got to eat pizza both times!! YUM!! I Love pizza! YUM!!  Lee spends the winters in the southwest but the rest of the year he lives on his land in Traer where he works on his garden and paints.  That’s right, Daisy. Lee’s a famous painter. He had an exhibition in Omaha last month. You can see his website here.  He grows pumpkins and potatoes on his land. He gave us a bunch of red potatoes and pumpkins to take home the last time we visited.  The pumpkins are still on our front steps but Hank and Kathy ate the potatoes. We got to eat some but they weren’t as good as the pizza. YUM!! I love pizza!  The pizza came from the Pizza Palace. The crust was thick and fluffy. Kathy got a cheese pizza and Hank and Lee shared a Ham and Pineapple pizza! It was really good!  When we visit Lee we all stay outside but the weather was really nice both times. Did I mention that we ate pizza both times we went there! YUM!!  You might have brought it up, Baxter. 

It's hard to be stressed at the duck pond!

  Another relaxing activity is taking walks to the duck pond. We just started doing that this year, Daisy.  I like the duck pond, Baxter. We never went there before but one day in the spring Hank took us there so he could take pictures of all the duck and geese.  Now Hank and Kathy take us there every Sunday. Kathy feeds bread to the ducks and geese, Hank takes pictures, and we try to scrounge bread and goose poop.  One day at the pond we saw Levi. Levi is a high school classmate of Matt’s and was dropping his pet goose off at the pond.  The goose’s name is Mr. Goose. He’s 14 years old and when his mother died at Levi’s farm he was very lonely so they brought him to the duck pond so he could make some friends.  Hank take pictures of Mr. Goose every week and puts them in our weekly photo album so Levi can see Mr. Goose. I don't really like sharing our photo album but I suppose it's for a good cause.  I don't mind Mr. Goose and the rest of the duck pond animals in our photo album but I wish the duck pond wasn't in the middle of a cemetery. It gives me the creeps sometimes.  I know how scared you get when Hank watches The Walking Dead, but don't worry about the cemetery. If any zombies start coming out of the graves, I'll tear right through them. I bet zombies taste great! 

It's always fun to visit with Bill, Marilyn, Becky, Mary, and Abby!
Especially on our birthday when Becky gives us a present!

  Another thing that makes me happy is when we get to see our friends Bill and Marilyn and Becky and Mary and Abby from down the block.  That’s right, Daisy. When we take our evening walk and we see them on their front porch we get to sit and visit with them.  Bill and Marilyn are really old and don’t get outside much in the winter but we see them almost every day when it’s warm out.  They all pet us and then Hank and Kathy talk to them while I take a nap.  I don’t nap. I’m keeping an eye out for cats, squirrels, and those bad guys from the movie.  There you go again, Daisy – thinking stressful thoughts again.  You’re right Baxter –I’ll try to take more naps.  There’s one thing I didn’t nap through Daisy!  What’s that?  Becky got us a box of 28 Slim Jim’s for our birthday! OH BOY!!!  Wow! I’m feeling less stressed out by the minute. How long will 28 Slim Jim’s last, Baxter?  I don’t know – let’s see…28 divided by 2, carry the 1, remainder of 8…A LONG TIME, Daisy.  Maybe even longer than that. Happy Birthday Baxter!  Happy Birthday Daisy!