Peaches' Big Day

Happy Sunday! This week we celebrated Peaches' 13th Birthday and the 7th anniversary of her coming into my home.  Because of her history, I really wanted to make a big deal about this milestone.  So last Sunday,  we gathered together some of Peaches' favorite people and dogs friends for a party.

The theme for her party was a Pup Mitzvah, and in preparation for her big day, I actually learned quite a bit about Mitzvahs.  It was pretty interesting. 

I spent the morning finalizing the food preparation for the day.  It was a busy morning.  Peaches and Mina didn't take long to prepare, but they each wore their party dresses for the big day.

After a busy morning, I loaded everything into the car for our trip to Preuss Pets where we would be holding the party in their classroom.  We were joined by Lauren, Vanessa, Katelyn and Brooks, Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona, and Tom, Barbara, Sherman, and Ruby.  

Fiona was excited to see the dogs.  Smokey and Mina were both pretty happy to see her too.  Ruby was happy to see Vanessa.

We had brisket and BBQ chicken sandwiches with some simple finger food for sides and puppy chow for dessert.  The dogs all got a piece of pupcake and some frosty paws to celebrate. 

There was a lot of giggling by Fiona, and lots of kisses by Mina.

Brooks also got plenty of love from the dogs.  

And of course there were presents.

Time flew by and before I knew it, the party was over.  I know the toddlers and dogs all had a great time, and it was so nice to gather everyone together to celebrate our special girl.

Before we left the girls stopped for a picture with their party dresses.  I loaded up the car and got Mina and Smokey settled in, and then went back inside to spend some time with Fiona as she explored all of the fun and exciting things that Preuss has to offer. Finally, after a fun afternoon, it was time to head home.

When we got home, everyone ate dinner, and then Peaches put herself to bed with some of her new toys.  I think we had a very successful birthday celebration.   

We woke Monday to my first day back to work for the year, and to a very special girl's birthday. 

It was a cold day, and Peaches happily lounged throughout the day while I was busy at work.  It was a long and exhausting first day back, but the day went pretty quickly.  

After work, I got Peaches into the car and we headed downtown to Rotary Park where we met with a group of geocachers for a geocaching event celebrating Peaches' birthday.   It was a nice little gathering with our local geocachers and Peaches got lots of love and even a few treats.  After the event, I took Peaches for a pup cup before heading home.

And then I spent the evening snuggling with Mina after Peaches put herself to bed.

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day.  The temperatures were cold, but the sunshine sure did make me happy.  

I had another busy day at work, and the girls did their best to help.

After work, we all got in the car to head to Mason for another of Smokey's post-surgery check-ups. 

He was so happy to see everyone at the vet office, and his check-up went great.  His shoulder wound is healing nicely and looks great.  He received another light therapy treatment to help the healing process continue, and we scheduled another follow-up appointment in two weeks.  I'm hopeful that might be his final appointment and then he'll be available for adoption.   

When we got done with his appointment, we made a stop in downtown Mason for a walk around town.  It was cold, but it sure was nice to get some excercise and fresh air. 

Somehow we had a really quiet Wednesday.  It was really cold and I had no real desire to spend much time outside, so we made the most of brain games, chews, and short trips outside throughout the day to keep the dogs busy and happy.   Mina spent a lot of the day sharing a dog bed with Smokey which is pretty unusual for her.  

We had a dusting of snow overnight, and after a really busy Thursday morning of work, I finally took a late lunch break.  We made a quick trip to the gas station, and when we got home, I decided it would be a great time to get the dogs out for a short walk.

First I took Mina and Smokey for a mile walk around the neighborhood.   It was so nice to be out enjoying the sunshine.

When I got back to get Peaches for her walk she was pretty excited.  So off we went for her walk, which ended up being a mile too.  She had the best time.

I was so glad that I had decided to take advantage of my lunch break to get everyone out for a walk.  It felt great to stretch our legs, and spending time in the sunshine was glorious. 

With temperatures falling after work, I wasn't excited to get out for another walk, but I decided I'd take everyine for a quick walk around the block together.  They all were walking so nicely that i decided to gi farther, and we ended up having a really enjoyable mile and a half walk.    

On Friday snow was in the forecast starting mid-morning.  As I looked outside at the fairly clean sidewalks, I decided I would take an early lunch to get the dogs out for a walk before the snow started.

Surprisingly, everyone decided to walk really nicely, and while it was pretty cold and the light wind in my face made it even colder, I was having an nice walk.

I spent most of my hour lunch out on a 2.7 mile walk and felt great when I got home ready to get back to work.

I spent the next hour listening to Smokey whine while I worked, until I finally fed him lunch in one of his puzzle bowls.  Then, after lunch, Mina spent the next 20 minutes sitting next to me obsessively squeaking one of her squeaky toys.  I finally got some peace, but mid afternoon everyone needed some entertainment, so they each had a Kong to fill some time, and then it was puzzles for dinner.  

Finally, we all settled in for the evening after I finished my dinner.  

Saturday morning started quietly, but that didn't last as long as I would have liked because I had a list of things to get done for the morning.  Then with the sun shining, I headed outside to shovel the driveway and sidewalk after our snowy Friday before heading out mid-day for some volunteer work and some fun. 

We had a lovely mid-day drive to Rockford to complete a home visit for a potential adopter for ISR.  Of course, I also planned to take advantage of the opportunity to get out on the North Country Trail nearby.

We reached a trailhead about 5 minutes from our home visit location with 30 minutes to spare, so I got everyone out for a quick walk for a potty break and to stretch our legs.  In 20 minutes, we got in 0.85 miles, lots of sniffing, and three good potty stops.  Then we were back in the car to head to the home visit.

After completing the home visit and having a lovely conversation with the very nice couple, we headed back for another hike brfore making the trip home.

While the sun was gone, the temperatures were above freezing, and we had a lovely walk.

I loved all of the beautiful snow-covered pines and the dogs were walking so well.  

As we got close to the trailhead parking, I stopped the dogs to try to get a picture of them on the trail.  The next three pictures were my attempt.  Smokey and Peaches had no desire to stand still, at least Mina listened to me.

We finished our second hike with another 3.3 miles and a total of 4.15 miles on the trail for the day.  That brings us to 7.4 miles for the year.  Only 92.6 miles to go!

It had been a great afternoon,  and now it was time to head home.  I grabbed a stromboli from Three Brother's Pizza in Lowell along the way so I could enjoy it for dinner when I got home.  After dinner,  it was a quiet evening. 

This morning I have a few last chores to finish around the house before I load up the dogs for a drive to Marshall.  There we will meet fellow ISR volunteer, Ruth, and Smokey will head off with her for a week of "vacation." Then the girls and I will take a quick walk on the NCT in Marshall before we hit the road headed to Farmington Hills to drop them off for boarding for this week.

I will be making a stop to visit Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona before I head to my hotel for the night near the airport for my Monday morning flight to a conference in Florida. Ugh!  It's going to be a long, exhausting week, so I'm planning a quiet and restful evening at the hotel.  

Wishing you all a wonderful week.  I'm already counting the days to next Friday and a long weekend! I'm sure there will be some adventures then!

You say Goodbye; I say Hello

Happy New Year and welcome to 2025!  I can't believe how quickly this week has gone.  It was much too fast!  But it seems like time just goes by faster and faster as I get older.  We started our week finishing out 2024, a year that brought plenty of challenges.  While I wouldn't say it was a bad year, it was definitely full of frustration and struggles.  Thankfully, we end the year, and start the new one, in a much better place.  I'm definitely thankful after all that we dealt with with my dad's health that he is still here and doing well.  

With temperatures in the 30s, sunshine in the forecast, and no students around, we started Monday with a little adventure on campus.  There are several geocaches on campus, and I have found a majority of them, but there were a few tricky ones that required a little more work that I hadn't yet found, but I was going to remedy that!  

There was one particular cache that had multiple stops and some tricky math to solve for the final coordinates.  Vanessa hadn't found that cache either, so I reached out to her to see if she wanted to join us for a little fun.  We met on campus mid-morning, and ended up walking nearly 3 miles around campus finding answers and doing math to get the final location of the cache, and while I held onto three dogs, Vanessa climbed down a hill to make the find.  I'm always thankful when she is able to join me and appreciate her teamwork because I would have never been able to do this alone...with three GSPs!  It was a perfect little adventure to start our day.

After making this find, Vanessa headed off and I loaded everyone into the car to complete the task of finding the remaining 4 caches on campus that I hadn't yet found.  Mina and I had a nice mile walk through Baker Woodlot  to one of the caches, and I was able to make the other finds quickly without dragging any dogs out of the car.  

We headed home to grab lunch, and then we headed out again for another little geocaching adventure.  The weather was just too nice not to take advantage of it.  We had a wonderful afternoon adventure and got home just after sunset.  It had been a really nice day.

On New Year's Eve, we woke to temperatures that were a little colder and some snow in the forecast.  We didn't have any big plans for the day, but I knew that I wanted to get the dogs out for a walk and I had plans to attend a geocaching event that morning.  I decided I'd take the dogs for a walk at Sharp Park near the Lansing Mall since the geocaching event was being held at the Mall food court.  As we were driving, it started to rain which was quickly followed by big, wet snowflakes.  I was happy that we were able to get in a nice 1 1/2 mile walk without getting completely soaked.  We got back to the car and the dogs settled in while I headed into the Mall to meet with the geocaching group. 

When the event ended, I decided we'd make a quick stop at Home Depot on the way home to burn a little more energy.  I couldn't believe the number of people that were there, and everyone wanted to give the dogs some love.  It was a great trip and all three dogs were very happy with all of the love and attention they had received.  We even ran into one of our dog park friends who said seeing the girls made his whole day.

When we got home, I turned on the football game, and after lunch, everyone settled in for a quiet afternoon.  

I made some special snacks for our New Year's Eve festivities at home, and we watched some movies all snuggled in for the evening.  

Of course, I turned the channel to Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve before midnight so we could watch the ball drop and welcome in 2025.  Then we headed to bed.

We were up and out the door for our New Year's Day adventures by 10:30am, with our first stop at the Meridian Mall for the Welcome 2025 geocaching event, where I ate an early lunch and met with Vanessa to head out for a day of adventures.

When we left the event, we made the drive to Fallasburg Park to get started on our North Country Trail miles for the year.  We parked near the covered bridge and started our hike on a nearby spur trail which would make our hike a nice loop.  

We had never hiked this spur trail before and I was really happy that we decided to do it.  It was a nice section of trail with some hills and lots of twists and turns.  Plus we were able to find a few geocaches along the way.  Smokey started the walk with Vanessa while I had the girls, but Peaches wasn't happy that Vanessa was on an adventure without her, so we eventually switched dogs to keep Peaches happy.

We finally reached the NCT section of the trail and we were being pelted by freezing pellets of rain.  We continued on our journey along a section of road walk and eventually reached a nice wooded section of trail.  After some slippery sections on a hill, we finally reached a flatter section of the trail and before we knew it we were back at the covered bridge.  When we finished, we had completed a 5 mile hike with 3.25 miles on the North Country Trail.  It was a great adventure and a good start to our New Year.

While we had experienced some snow, overall, it had been a really nice day for hiking.  The temperatures were hovering right around freezing, which is very comfortable hiking weather.  I barely needed my gloves or hat, and the dogs didn't need their coats.  I even let Smokey spend the day without a T-shirt.  And after a nice day of adventures, I eventually had a really quiet evening at home.  It was the perfect way to welcome a new year.

The temperatures fell overnight and Thursday started a long stretch of days with high temperatures only in the 20s.  Thursday morning was cold, and I had hoped that we could have a peaceful day at home.  Thankfully the dogs were willing to comply.  We had a nice morning and everyone spent plenty of time napping or quietly entertaining themselves with a bone or toy.   It was really nice.

Around 2:30pm, I decided it was time we get out for a little exercise and fresh air, so we drove out to the Island City Dog Park in Eaton Rapids so the dogs could have a good run.  The wind was calm so the 27 degree temperature was tolerable.  The old dogs spent 23 minutes running and sniffing before they decided they were ready to go.  I put them in the car with the heat on and stayed for a little while longer playing fetch with Mina.  

On the way home from the dog park, we made a stop in Charlotte at the old courthouse.  They always have this area festively decorated for the holidays and we hadn't made a visit this holiday season, so I thought this would be the perfect spot to stop for a short walk. I was happy to see that the lights were still on for our visit.

The wind had picked up by the time we got out for our walk and the wind chill was pretty frigid, so we took a quick half-mile walk around the block so the dogs could sniff and explore.  Then we all got back in the car and made the drive home.  We really enjoyed our little outing.  

Friday arrived and we started with a slow morning at home.  More cold weather meant meals in brain games, Kong's with peanut butter, and some snuggles.  It's kind of the perfect way to start a cold winter's day. 

We then headed out around noon to run several errands.  I dropped off donations at the shelter, picked up a gift basket I won in a raffle, got the girls in for a nail trim, and dropped off some recyclables.  Then we stopped to do some grocery shopping, visited the Jerusalem Bakery for some hummus and pita, and then stopped at Preuss Pets.  All three of the dogs got their individual trips into Preuss and a short walk before we headed home.  It was a busy afternoon.  We drove by the Capitol Building on our way home, and sadly, the State Christmas Tree was dark.  That is a sure sign that the holiday season has ended.  

There were brain games for dinner and then everyone got a chew.  Mina and I played several rounds of fetch with the new nerf ball that was in the gift basket we won.  

Our Saturday was a day full of chores around the house and prep for our Sunday plans.  While i was busy, the dogs kept themselves busy with chews and a little wrestling.  They did brain games for their lunch, and I took a break from my chores to snuggle with Peaches.  

After our snuggle session,  I was back up working around some other chores around the house.  Finally I decided it was time to get out of the house for a bit and off we went.  I picked up an early (and free) dinner from Qdoba with a gift card and coupon I had and then we drove to Soldan's for a visit. 

Everyone got out for a walk and a trip into the store.  It was only 19 degrees and the wind was blowing...boy was it cold!  But everyone enjoyed their walk and their time sniffing around the store.  When we got home, it was time for dinner in brain games and then, after a little chewing on cow's hooves, soon everyone was sound asleep.

Tomorrow we have a full day of fun planned, and then a big game for the Lions tomorrow night, so I decided to finish writing tonight so I don't miss posting something for the first Sunday of the year.

The coming week has some highlights and lowlights, but I'm hoping for an overall good week.  Sadly, Monday I have to go back to work after really enjoying the last two and a half weeks on vacation.  But the most exciting part of the week

also happens on Monday as we will celebrate Peaches' 13th Birthday and 7 years since she came home with me.  We're going to make the most of this birthday week because we never expected to get here and never know how much time we will get.  So this week will be all about Peaches.   I'm going to give her multiple days of fun to celebrate, and I am sure she is going to love it.  I look forward to sharing all of the fun when I write again next week.  

Now I'm off for a relaxing, quiet evening.  I hope you can do the same.