ROSIE: Grr, grr, bark. Dad is busy rehearsing so I can get to the computer. He is singing something about Christmas – does that mean I get new toys?
RICK: Rosie, Lana, and I have been on the road for the last seven weeks and it is good to be home for a weekend. We’v been to Alabama, east and central Tennessee, Illinois, and Kentucky. We have done a lot of traveling and Rosie isn’t the best traveler. She wants in the back, then the front between us and then on Lana’s shoulders, then cries and whines if she doesn’t get her way.
ROSIE: I know how to work them when we travel. If I lay down on Mom’s shoulders I can see out the windows and she can’t get out of the car when it stops. I have a pillow up front between Mom and Dad that I lay on when I am sleepy. I can rest my head on Dad’s lap so he can’t move.
ROSIE: I got to see Aunt Jo in Kentucky. She loves on me and lets me kiss her face. She has a cat but she let me in her house and I didn’t try to bite it. I have been in all the buildings Dad has sang in. He puts me in my crate and gives me treats. Sometimes, if I hear him I sing along. Bark, bark, bark. Mom makes me quit.
RICK: It has been so hot this last couple of months that Rosie has had to go inside the buildings when I am performing. She usually gets put in an office but occasionally has to sit by Lana at the sound board. She does fairly well as long as children do not try to touch her or Lana. For such a little girl, she has a big mouth of teeth and a big bark.
ROSIE: Aunt Kim has another dog and and her son Nick, (my sitters) has a cat bigger than me. I am not amused. I can’t go over there anymore. I used to climb the back yard fence and sit at their back door until someone let me in. Aunt Kim also has a pool and love floating on it.
RICK: Finally, Rosie is slowing down a little. She will be twelve years old in January. She quit climbing the fence and actually tires out. The vet said she has the heart of an athlete and could live a long time. Oh, my, God help us all!