Devon on the road to fame

Bob always says that I am the celebrity he accompanies. Pretty funny, don’t you think, since I am just a dog? But guess what? It turns out I AM a celebrity (not exactly sure what that means, but it has something to do with everyone always fussing over me). Why, oh why, don’t they just feed me, instead? I loved that cookout, remember, folks? Oh, well.

In any case, Elaine, Bob, and I went to the theater tonight at Lee Auditorium. Nice place, by the way – I get a big wide aisle seat every time we go. I highly recommend it – lots of room to stretch out. The show was called “On the Road to Fame” and it had a lot of song and dance in it which is just about my favorite form of entertainment, next to the symphony. I am really a classical canine, but that’s a story for another day.

You know what was cool about Fame? Cinny Beggs, who has worked her you know what off to bring good theater to Moore County, singled out YOURS TRULY and introduced me to the entire audience as a “very special guest ! Wow…I love her.

Bob invited me to stand up and do a kind of doggie-bow to the crowd. For a working dog, albeit one who admittedly gets my fair share of attention, it was very exciting to hear my name called out over the sound system in that large auditorium. At first I got really excited because I thought I had won something…

Alas, that was not the case. Nevertheless, for a few special minutes, your friend, Devon Baillie, was truly on the road to fame. And I loved it!

Thanks, Cinny, for being my friend, and a good Friend of MIRA.

XOXO,
Devon

Ridin' in the golf cart

We just spent two amazing days in the beautiful city of Roanoke, VA. where the wonderful people at Uni-Select Corp. held a fundraising dinner and golf tournament to benefit MIRA. We stayed at the very nice Sheraton where we stayed last year, so it was pretty easy for me to find my way around and take Bob wherever he wanted to go. Beth even noticed that I headed right for the main door when we got out of the car. Not sure why she found that surprising as part of my job is to remember where the doors to things are, but then, she is just human, while I, on the other hand, am a MIRA guide dog ! She’ll learn…

So, let me tell you how this event unfolded. After checking in to the hotel we “freshened up”, which is a funny thing people do when they try to make themselves smell and look better after a long day. They should take after us and just get down and roll around on the carpet or in the grass a little. I gurantee they would be happier with the results, and, furthermore,  they would get a good back scratching in the process, but no one ever listens to me.

Anyway, then we went to dinner at a really nice Mexican themed restaurant called Arbuelo’s. It was the second time Bob had been there so he knew exactly what he wanted to order, while I, of course, got a bowl of ice. It was o.k., though, because all of the pretty waitresses came by and took my picture. It was like the premiere of a movie with the flashing cameras everywhere. I love being a celebrity…..

Next day we “hit the links” (that’s golf talk that I learned on the trip) It was a “shotgun start” which I found rather puzzling since I didn’t see a gun anywhere, much less a shotgun, and I am pretty careful to be on the lookout for such things in case Bob could be in danger. All I saw were a bunch of guys in golf carts all headed out to the course in every direction at the same time. No guns, thank goodness.

I rode in the cart perched in front of Bob while Beth drove. The two words I have to say about this experience: Bigger Carts! Geez….a dog my size has to really scrunch to fit in there. As it was my tail hung out of the cart if I didn’t get in just right. Ah, the indignity…..

Still, it was a great day, mainly since Bob let me have a teeny, tiny piece of his chocolate chip cookie which we got on the first hole, and also because we almost saw a bear! True story. One lady even got a picture of the bear when it ran in front of her cart. I kept my eyes peeled after hearing about it, but, alas, I only saw a lot of Canadian geese. The maintenance man stopped Beth and Bob all worried that I might chase those geese. Silly man, he obviously didn’t know that I am a MIRA dog, which means that the thought wouldn’t even cross my mind, however, I sure would have loved catching a glimpse of that bear!

When everyone got tired of whacking that little white ball and chasing it around, they came to their senses and went in and had lunch. And guess what? Are you ready for this? I hit the motherlode: not one, but TWO hamburgers (no buns though, gotta keep my svelte figure) The sun must have gotten to Bob, for as you well know by now, I could do handstands and I wouldn’t get any human food. I heard something mentioned about forgetting to bring my dinner. All I can say to that is “thank God for poor memory.”

So, that’s about it from Roanoke. Those Uni-Select folks are the best. Linda Scott and Rick Anderson made it all happen and they are super nice and such very good friends of MIRA. We had a wonderful dinner and golf outing, on top of making a lot of new friends while raising funds and awareness for MIRA.  John O’Connor, the Vice Chairman of our Board, won third place with his foursome and everyone had a lot of fun. What could be better? Check out our photos at the photo gallery!

Love,

Devon

ps Lots more photos can be found in the photo gallery!

Golf Rocks!

I know most dogs probably don’t watch much golf, however, if you read my piece from Roanoke, you know that I am a bit of a golf junkie. (If only they would make those carts a little larger…) Anyway, Bob, Elaine and I watched Rory McIlroy run away with the US Open last weekend. Are you sure he is only 22 years old?  I couldn’t believe it. Four rounds in the sixties, in a world class competition…Wow!

As a MIRA dog who has been trained since puppyhood to strive for excellence in everything I do, I can really appreciate Rory’s effort. It is a beautiful sight to watch a person, or an animal for that matter, perform flawlessly and calmly under great pressure. I just know we are going to be seeing a lot more of young Rory McIlroy from Ireland.

The thought makes me want to do a little Irish jig!

Love,

Devon O’Baillie

It’s pretty hard to convince Bob to take a vacation, however, he finally agreed, so we are playing in the surf in sunny Florida for two weeks. Although it’s warm for me, I still love coming here because we sleep in a little later and I have the chance to enjoy the sand and surf. Dogs need vacations, too, don’t forget…..

So…just so you know….I won’t be checking in that often, but I’ll post if something exciting happens. Until then, I’m off to the hammock with Bob to listen to a good mystery!

I love vacations.

Yours,
Devon

Bob & Devon with the Hootie Queen

O.K., here’s the deal. If you didn’t go to the 2011 Miss Southern Hootie competition you missed out on the biggest laughs of the year. I’m not kidding, either. I’m still chuckling, and it’s two days later that I am writing this ! Those guys were amazing….Joey, Jack, Adam, Howard, T.C., Joey S., Ted, Tony and Dave… with guest appearances by Liam and Pat – names that will forever be mentioned at MIRA with love and admiration for all of their hard work and dedication to this project, and for making Saturday’s performance a night to remember.

I personally was a little frazzled, and I ‘ll tell you why. It isn’t often that I have to guide and protect Bob in a crowd of over 300 in one room, and, quite frankly, I have NEVER seen him dressed like he was dressed on Saturday.  What was with those clothes, Bob? And where on earth did you get them?

You see,  Bob and I were in a skit with Dave. I got the part about being a “blind date” and me telling Bob that his tie was really tacky – which it certainly was – it had Tabasco bottles printed on it, for starters. But that was nothing compared to his shoes and pants. Those faux snakeskin shoes could have been boats, they were so big and ugly, and as for the pants….well, Armani they weren’t!  I barely recognized Bob, and that’s saying something coming from me.

Still, the whole night was all in jest for a good cause. And you know something – it warmed my heart to see so many people I had never met before turn out for the show. There were people of various ages and diverse backgrounds – all having a good laugh for a great cause. My friend T.C. earned the crown, and if you could have seen him in his Tina Turner routine you would know why, but truthfully, every guy who turned up week after week for rehearsals and showed up on the big night and put their all into it are kings in my book. Or should it be queens, I’m not sure….??? In any case, they are all winners!

Enjoy more pics in our photo gallery.

XOXO,

Devon