Lazy Parents

Ok, so the parents aren't really lazy but they seem to be too busy to keep up on their blog these days. I thought since I am kind of a pain sometimes and cause them trouble that I might write a few things for them in hopes of helping out a little around here.

Grandma and Grandpa Troiano visited in the begining of July. I was still having some issues from my surgery and still had that darn cone around my head (which actually worked out well for me because Gma Sandy really felt sorry for me. She kept saying how pitiful I looked with that thing on....and she put up with me real well. I got a few licks to her face in and she didn't even get upset with me...haha...kind of like the spoiled grandchild already).

So, I guess this is what the outside of "The Childress Winery" looks like. I would say it is a very beautiful place and no idea why I would have had to stay home on this trip. I swear I would have never jumped in the water of the fountain or ran around peeing on the flowers...I would have been on my best behavior.

One evening they all left me home again as they headed down into Charlotte to go and eat at the famous Penguin Restaurant. Mom and Dad had heard about this place from a few different friends and then one night they saw it on "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives" and decided they had to go check it out. As you can see from the picture the place is pretty small and most often you have to wait for a table. I heard Dad say there were some people there that had driven 3 or 4 hours just to eat here because they had seen it on "Triple D" also known as "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives".

As you can see from the next few pictures our last couple of weeks in July were filled with rain. I don't mind when it rains so much, but it does really limit my outdoor time. No playing outside in the rain, I am pretty much limited to being put out the door to pee and then called right back in.

I heard the weather man say that in a week and half our area had recorded 14 inches of rain...man that sure seems like a lot. That must be why the back yard is always soggy and wet. We have even had a few episodes of hail. Which brings me to my next and final update "The Garden"

Mom has been really bummed about the garden, it hasn't done as well as she hoped. But really with so much rain all summer and hail storms, and then when it isn't raining it seems to be 90+ degrees with lots of humidity, I don't think it looks too bad. I think the worst part for her was she wanted to have fresh peas and she only got a couple of pods off before all the plants died. It was just too hot for them to survive this late in the summer. We are starting get a few cucumbers and we still have corn growing (although the corn seems to get pretty beat up in the wind and rain) it is surviving and has some ears growing.

This is one of the few pea pods mom got..I go out there with her all the time to check the garden and she was so excited when she started seeing some pods on the few plants we had left, then slolwy one by one before the pods could mature the plant would die. I watched mom eat a couple just so she could say she had some fresh peas, but I could tell by the look on her face they werent really ready or what she was hoping for.

Well thats about all I can think of that has happened in July..now we move onto August. I will try to make sure mom and dad do a better job of updating the blog.

Until next time, I will try to stay out of trouble.

Love Brutus

PS I have my own facebook now so if you havent already become my friend, check me out. You can search for Brutus Troiano to find me.

Thanks BT Fan Club

Well I am happy to report that I survived my not so little surgery. I want to thank the Brutus Troiano Fan Club from Ohio for the thoughtful card...it really did help me get through 3 weeks of misery.

I am not sure which part of the surgery was the worst (well we know which part was actually the worst as is evident by some missing parts now, but aside from that)...the feet and legs (from having my declaws removed) that had to be wrapped and constantly itched or the damn cone that had to be on my head to try and keep me from chewing on my feet. I honestly think the cone did more damage than it helped..I managed to run into everything and get myself stuck. Plus, after a few days I figured out that I could use the edges of it to rub off the bandages and get to my feet anyways.

So after numerous trips (and I mean so many that everyone at the Vet now knows me and Dad by name) to get my legs and feet rewrapped and to make sure I didnt rip out any stitches (yeah I did get the bandages off numerous times and caused them to bleed quite often), antibiotics becuase I got a little infection, many different doses of "Doggie Downers" to keep me calm and relaxed (haha...the Vet had no idea who he was dealing with here), a plastic cone that was broken into about five different pieces that Dad had to keep taping back together, I can officially say that I am recovered and back to playing and causing trouble.

We did have a slight panic one morning when I woke up to find my feet about 3 times their normal size. As you can see in the pics below they were pretty big and funny looking. The Vet said apparently I had slept wrong on them and since they were bandages all the blood had pooled in my feet and were not getting any circulation....oh is that all...haha. Thankfully they went back to normal after a few hours and having the bandages redone again!

At least this whole mess is behind us now and I can get back to life as normal...although I keep hearing mention of some kind of obedience classes and I have no idea what this could be all about but I would imagine by the two words "Obedience" and "Class" I can not imagine it is good! Thanks again to the BT Fan Club....I feel very honored to officially have my own fan club.

Thats all for now until my next adventures.....

Brutus

Hey... I'm Going To Rehab Tomorrow

So a couple of weeks ago, one a Saturday that we FINALLY had off from Tiki Tan, we decided to take a trip up to Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC.

If you don’t know what Bowman Gray is, it is the longest running weekly short track that is still sanctioned by NASCAR. Who really cares right? Well, that is true. But what makes the place cool is that it is a quarter-mile track that is built around the outside of a football field that the local Winston-Salem Division 2 or 3 college team still uses. The stadium serves as both a racetrack and football stadium.

On top of that, it is just a cool looking place and they pack fans in there every week for just regular weekly shows. They get maybe 6,000 to 8,000 people normally… and for big shows, can get over 10,000. That is impressive for a weekly short track.

So after inviting everyone we know (ok, maybe not, but a lot of people), it was just Jennell, JT and Dale heading to the stadium. Of course, a tradition when going up there is heading to Kurleys BBQ. It is one of my favorite places to eat and has great food. They get it out to you faster than any fast food restaurant and have the best hush puppies going. It’s in Welcome, NC, which is where the Richard Childress shops are located. I guess a lot of the RCR guys eat there every day. It is a place straight out of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network. Of course, the day Guy Ferri goes there, I’m sure I’ll miss it!

After Kurleys, we were off to the stadium. It had rained plenty leading up to Saturday, but it wasn’t supposed to rain then. So things were looking good. Once we parked and paid for our tickets (we went on $1 ladies night… meaning all women were just $1. And regular tickets were just $10), we were decideing on where to sit. There are plenty of options there and not one bad seat. So we decided on the front row of the beer garden, so we could drink some beer.

Now the front row at BG is special because the track has no catch fencing, expect for in turns one and two. On the straights, you are sitting right by the track with nothing separating you from the track other than a concrete wall.

It was going well and racing was just getting ready to start. We had our beers in hand when came one of the track’s regular fans. And as you can imagine, sitting in the beer garden section, he was something else. Broken foot/leg/toe or whatever he had, he sat right behind us and eventually moved himself right down beside Jeremy. The guy knew EVERYONE! And he smoked enough for EVERYONE. And he didn’t care is his ashes were going into JT’s beer and left over hush puppies.

And, most unfortunate, his family was sending him to rehab the next night, so you know what they told him… go to the stadium and get drunk. And he was. And he told EVERYONE. He told us and we didn’t even know him. And he told everyone that was sitting in the front row, second row, third row and evern whistled and yelled to people in the top row to tell them. It was a real treat.

After one race, we decided that we’d had enough. And with the contact buzz we were getting from his beer drinking, we decided to find some new seats so we could watch the races and hear the race cars.

We sat in turn one, up high this time. And the view was awesome, as you can see. You can see the whole track well and really get a feel for the racing, even though you aren’t right on top of it.
So after the second race of the night… the wide started blowing, and before you knew it, the rain was falling. Most people headed for the exits, but we just stayed put. We thought it would pass. And it did. But then it started raining again. And after about 2 minutes of thinking about it, they called the race.

So Jennell’s first stadium experience was a short one… but it included all of the highlights… big crowd, good seats, Kurley’s BBQ… and even a possible trip to rehab.

We can only imagine what she’ll see in a full show there. We’ll be back soon for sure!