View from my backyard!!

It was such a beautiful afternoon here in St. Paul! I hope you got to enjoy it because I sure did!! Every time mom would let us out into the backyard we would make a mad dash to the fence ... because guess what, there's this bunny in our neighbor and friend's yard that just loves, loves, loves to taunt us!!! The bunny just drives my siblings Mister and Missy crazy! Me?? Well, sure i'm interested and my ears perk up a little bit but nothing like crazy boy Mister and my sister Missy ..... after all this time and as much as that bunny hangs out in the our neighbor's yard you would think they would get used to it and learn to share. 

Our neighbor has the most beautiful backyard .... we're so lucky that we have neighbors who have such beautiful gardens. Thank you J and M!! :) And thanks for being such terrific neighbors!! :)

My new job: visiting with cancer patients!

So tomorrow my mom and I have to go through orientation training so we can start volunteering at the Riverside Cancer Clinic here in Minneapolis. We'll get to visit with cancer patients who are going through chemotherapy. My job ... to get lots of hugs and kisses and to put a smile on their face and help them forget about their chemo treatment ... even if it's just for a moment!

So today, I got to go to one of my favorite places in the world -- I went to Pampered Pooch for my spa treatment!! Oh, they are so cool there. The owner, my Uncle Keith is just one cool dude!! I didn't get to see him today though because he's vacationing in Seattle this week. What I want to know is why he didn't bring me with him!! Oh well .... I got to go to Pampered Pooch and now i'm looking all spiffy and i'm smelling so pretty that i'm going to get extra hugs and kisses tomorrow at training. I'm also going to get my picture taken for my new volunteer badge with Regions Hospital.

I'm not sure exactly when mom and I will start visiting the cancer patients, but I can't wait. I'll be sure to blog about it after our first visit!! Oh, and i'm getting ready to start volunteering at The Lab (which is this really cool program of St. Paul Public schools serving at-risk youth) ... more to come on that soon!

And one last exciting news for the day ... when mom brought me home from my spa treatment she let me into the backyard, and the gate was unlatched, so guess what ... I decided to take a tour of the neighborhood. I roamed around for about 15 minutes. Mom was not very happy with me. She was running around the neighborhood like a crazy woman screaming my name out loud. Hasn't she learned that I always come back!!

Okay, later friends ... back to napping!!

Start seeing everything as God!

Mom  has been reading a lot of poetry lately ... she especially loves these mystic poets, Rufi and Hafiz. She tells me their poems are so powerful. This morning she read to me this really cool poem by Hafiz. It's titled "I am So Glad", but you'll soon see that Hafiz is writing about me ... yes, Nung-Nung!! :) Okay, not just me but all my friends.

He starts by saying, "Start seeing everything as God!". Hmmmmm ...what happens when you spell God backwards??!!

I told mom she could post the poem on my blog. I've been a little lazy writing on my blog (I'm too busy resting and napping!) so I thought having my mom as a guest contributer would be nice ... so enjoy Hafiz' poem my friends ... and remember to start seeing everything as God!!

I keep telling mom that there's a bright light that shines inside all of us ... it's my job as a therapy dog to help people see that light that shines inside of them. Mom saw it me when she rescued me in October, 2008. Now I'm helping her see her own light.

I am So Glad

~ Hafiz

Start seeing everything as God,

But keep it a secret.

Become like a man who is Awestruck.

And Nourished.

Listening to a Golden Nightingale

Sing in a beautiful foreign language

While God invisibly nests

Upon its tongue.

Hafiz,

Who can you tell in this world

That when a dog runs up to you

Wagging its ecstatic tail,

You lean down and whisper in its ear,

"Beloved,

I am so glad You are happy to see me.

Beloved,

I am so glad,

So very glad You have come."