I seem to be much better at keeping a daily journal with paper and pen than I am at keeping a daily Web log, but I had to take a moment to post the happy news that I have won a second Maxwell Award from the Dog Writers' Association of America after being nominated in two categories this year (my fourth & fifth nominations since 2001): Best Newspaper Column and Best Internet Feature. I won for my column, "Pets & Their People" in Inside Publications, which publishes several newspapers in the Sacramento area. I found out on Valentine's Day--a nice V-Day surprise! I confess that I am glad that I didn't travel all the way to New York for this year's awards because they were buried in a terrible blizzard. It was cold enough there last year (with no snow) to freeze a polar bear's hiney, and all I came home with was a raging case of Salmonella poisoning from the spoiled egg salad sandwich I bought at JFK Airport. I remember sitting in my window seat watching the Westminster Dog Show on cable when my stomach began to rumble and clank like in that Turbo-Lax scene with Jeff Daniels in "Dumb and Dumber." I won't go into detail about the rest of the trip; suffice it to say, it was not an experience I care to repeat. Anyway, I've pretty much concluded that if I don't go to New York I win, and vice versa. It always seems to work out that way. Still, I love the doggie weekend in NYC and wouldn't mind being present just once when my name is called out at the awards banquet. Either way, I'm thrilled about Win #2.