Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me… Happy birthday dear Me, Happy Birthday to me… 

(BTW  (that’s ‘by the way ‘for you texting challenged readers)  If you are singing along, please don’t use the classic ‘Happy Birthday’ tune… I couldn’t afford to pay the royaltys if everyone sang it….)

 Wag!  Wag!  Cake!  Hats! Presents!  Circle…. oh happy day!  Today is my birthday…   sniff… sniff… do I smell cake?  I do indeed hope so…. I love cake… 

Of course cake is not as good as squirrel but then again what is?  Well, okay, I’ve not actually had squirrel… except in my doggy naps…  but I’m guessing it is the best thing EVER!

So I’m the big 3 today… in people terms I think that means I’m actually 21 today… which of course means I can now finally have a mixed drink…  I’m hoping they put some Kool-Aid in with my water… that would be the best mixed drink ever…

Hey… is that package over there a dog gift for me?   Sniff… sniff… doesn’t smell like squirrel or even those cat fur booties I was hoping for…   (just joking about the cat fur booties… cat fur makes me itch…)  I actually wished for some new tennis balls when I blew out the candles on my cake…  also a new Golden Retriever calander might be good too… I’m almost out of months on my old one.

…I say ‘blew out’ the candles, but I really sort of just snorted them out… so I’m not sure if I actually will get my wish…  I also got in a couple of good licks of the cake icing before the people took the cake away…  they said something about ’everyone doesn’t like dog slobber on their piece of cake’ … what’s that about?  … or course, I got my very own piece that was full of extra slobber so I’m good…  munch, munch… gulp, gulp…  lick, lick… lick…

… oh boy, it’s present time and it looks like the people want me to open the package… sniff… sniff… well I can’t open it with my nose… maybe I’ll just slide it around on the floor until it falls open…   sniff… sniff… lick… lick…  slide, slide…  boy, I hope they’re not video taping this…  wouldn’t it be sooooo embarassing this to show up on YouTube?  I mean it’s bad enough we have to all watch that Tillman dog being all cool with his skateboarding thing… 

Okay… I give up!  I think it’s now pretty obvious that I can’t get this open by sliding it around with my nose… Hey, boy!  How about doing me a favor and use those opposable thumbs of yours to open this up for me….   (man, what I could do with opposable thumbs….)

Okay… out of the way now… let me see… sniff… sniff…. could it be?    Is it?  YESSSSS!!!!! TENNIS BALLLSSSSSSSSSS….. a whole bag of them…. and check it out, they’re different colors…   yippee!!!   …. okay, who’s going to throw one?  I’m ready to play…

So… it looks like I got my wish after all!   Even without blowing out those 3 candles…  and even better I made it another dog year…  and what a cool year it’s been….  I started my blog this year, met tons of new friends, started my own newsletter (you’ve subscribed, right?)  I’ve been on CNN.com, been in artwork, had my picture displayed in Times Square and even got to bark on the radio all the way over in Australia ….  I sure hope all my friends had a great year too!

… could next year be any better?    I’m thinking it just might be! 

Keep On Wagging!    

(by the way… there’s a little hint about what’s next for me at the KeepOnWagging.com link above)

Max