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<p class=MsoNormal>It’s me again – Norm!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I had a big day today and it started REALLY early. Did
you know that it is still dark at 6:00 AM? Dad fed all of us and of
course, I didn’t eat … it was WAAAYYY too early. Then mom
stumbled out to the kitchen … she is not a morning person, so it wasn’t
a pretty sight. I usually don’t see her eyeballs until somewhere
around 9:30 AM. She was so scary that when she tried to put my collar and
lead on me, I hid behind Dad in the kitchen. He thought that was pretty
funny but Mom …. NOT! Finally, we hit the road and went to pick up
Granny Pat. And I thought Mom was scary early in the morning! I
didn’t even recognize Granny Pat. I think she took “monster
pills” last night and they hadn’t worn off yet! I decided the
best thing would be to close my eyes and hope the scary visions would disappear.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Next thing I knew, Mom was parking the van and it was
raining really hard. Mom got out and started playing in the rain, Granny
Pat got out and disappeared around the corner of a building, then Mom got me
out! I was afraid I was going to melt ‘coz I’m so sweet …
Yeah, right! We sprinted through the rain drops and went under a big tent
… where it was wet, muddy, had hay on the ground and 2456 nickzillion dogs.
Some of the dogs had long legs, some had short ears, some had curly fur and
they were all very nice. A big giant dog slobbered on me when I went
under his chin! Then I saw the dogs that look like Grady, Hoagie and
Johnny (and me too!). Mom tried to dry me off and told me to sit on a
crate pad, but I just rolled in the wet grass. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>After a little while a man called “BASSET NUMBER SEVEN”!
Mom and I went into this big square with a white fence. I was trying
really hard to remember all of the things all of my DD buddies told me to
do. Hmmmm… roll over, get a belly rub, kiss the judge, stand still,
don’t stand still, do a flat basset ??? It was very confusing. I
decided it was better to do what Mom told me to do … except for the stand
still part, especially since she had liver and cheese in her pocket. Then
the judge gave me a pretty blue ribbon that said First Prize and Mom gave me a
kiss! When we went back under the tent, I jumped up into Mom’s
chair …. I wasn’t going to sit on the wet grass anymore! Mom
was not amused. Suddenly, I heard that man call “BASSET NUMBER
SEVEN” again and Mom jerked me out of the chair and we went back into the
ring. (Why do they call it a ring if it is square and doesn’t
make a sound?) This time I got a purple and white ribbon that said
Reserve Winner. Mom said that means that I was second place of all the
boys and that was really good for a boy who’s brains had not yet arrived.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I was really tired and I slept all the way home. Mom
hung my ribbons on my bed tonight … I wonder what they taste like?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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