Hello and happy Sunday! We've made it through another week of quarantine and are doing well. I hope that you are all finding some purpose in your daily lives to help get through these times. It's important to find ways to stay connected to family and friends during this time. It's also important to remember that this will end and to find ways to make the best of every day. We are all in this together!
This week has been a bit more challenging than the rest, mainly because of bringing Piper into the house. While she is sweet and adorable, she is also very anxious and we haven't yet gotten that under control. No matter how much exercise and mental stimulation she gets, she just doesn't know how to relax. And while she has shown small amounts of progress, much of the day is spent with her pacing around the house and yard. We are working with her vet to help her, but in the meantime I've had a lot of anxiety to deal with and it makes it hard to find time to rest or relax and is mentally exhausting. But we'll get through this eventually. I'm lucky to have found some parts of our routine have helped her settle, at least for short periods of time, and loves to snuggle on the bed quietly every morning. I'm using those moments of quiet to keep my own sanity. On a positive note, she isn't shy, she is inquisitive and a quick learner, she is fairly well behaved, and she is enthusiastic about life. And I think we've finally mastered potty-training! She's got some good GSP qualities and she is going to make a great family dog once her anxiety is under control.
Adding to the craziness, I have found that my Jeep needs some repair work(it won't start currently), and finding ways to get the Jeep and me to a repair shop in the middle of a pandemic is a challenge. Since I am not doing much driving, I decided to delay the Jeep repair for a short awhile. That will be a challenge I'll face this week instead. I realized over the weekend that as much as I am not driving currently, having a working vehicle is important in the event of an emergency.
Of course I discovered that the Jeep wouldn't start as I was leaving to get Piper to her initial vet appointment, so I had to get creative and find an alternate, yet safe, way to get her there. Lucky for me, the vet office used by the rescue is only 2 miles from my house. So Peaches, Piper, and I took a walk to get there. Thankfully that worked out well for us. We had to walk there a second time this week in order to drop off several urine samples for some additional testing. I'm just thankful that we were able to make it work and get Piper the vet care she needs.
Meanwhile, the rest of life has continued on in our new normal. Working from home is going well and I think the girls are happy to have me home all of the time. I worry how Maddie will handle the change when I go back to work in the office, so I think it's been good that I'm leaving her home alone for short periods while I walk Peaches and Piper. I feel fairly confident Peaches will be fine, she isn't nearly is needy as Maddie. We have a good routine for my work day and the girls spend much of the day sleeping..with the exception of Piper, but I have found ways to keep her busy and to relax during the day as well. It's definitely been a learning curve since she got here.
I was talking with a friend yesterday and realized I had set a lot of goals for us to complete in the month of April...to keep us busy while in quarantine. Our first goal was to complete our North Country Trail Hike 100 challenge. Since the North Country Trail association decided to allow any miles walked during the month of April, no matter where you walk, to count toward our 100, I figured this would be the perfect time to finish for the year.
We had reached 50 miles on the trail by April 1, and with only 50 more to go, I figured this was the best way to ensure Maddie could complete the challenge this year. But at the suggestion of another NCT friend, I decided that Peaches and I are going to complete 100 "hike from home" miles this month (Maddie's goal is still just 50 miles) and then, hopefully later this year we'll be able to get back on the NCT and finish our final 50 miles on the trail as well..totalling 100 miles on the trail and 100 miles at home.
With that goal in mind, we have gotten out almost every day, sometimes twice a day, to make progress toward our 100 miles for the month. We've only taken one day off and have made pretty good progress. So far, Maddie has completed 32.5 miles, Peaches has completed 63.5 miles, and I have completed 64.5 miles(Maddie and I took a 1 mile walk by ourselves one day and it was such a nice time). At this point, Peaches and I need to average 3 miles per day for the remainder of the month and Maddie needs to average 1.67 miles per day, in order to reach our goal. I'm sure we'll get in another 3-4 miles today and I see no reason we won't get this done. Although I realized yesterday that it's getting hard to find new interesting ways to go on our walk and I'll be happy to get the Jeep fixed so that we can at least go to some parks occasionally. At least this has been a great way to keep us active.
I'm also part of a plank challenge with a group of friends at work. It's a great way to stay active and connected with friends during this time. In order to meet the challenge, each of us have to average 3 minutes of planks every day through the end of May. While this has been a bit more challenging for me, I have been keeping up with my three minute average every day and can now hold my planks longer than when I started. Since I'm getting better at them, I have decided that I'm going to increase to 4 1/2 minutes 6 days per week with one rest day. I've enjoyed this challenge more than I thought I would because it's a great way to push myself to get better at something I am not very good at currently. Maddie is a great cheerleader too!
I'm also on a creative journey, working on the 100 day project which is a way to dedicate time each day for 100 days toward doing something creative. I've been trying to work on my book...and I'm learning what a challenge that is going to be. It's scary to push yourself in an area that is so uncomfortable, but I'm doing my best to hold myself accountable to writing every day. I'm on day 13 so far and it's already been tough, but I'm hoping that over time, it gets easier. I really do want to complete this book. This is going to be the hardest challenge for sure!
I've been enjoying having the time to cook more meals at home and to be able to eat healthier. But I've also enjoyed the chance to bake a bit, especially making zucchini bread from the frozen zucchini from last year's garden.
As the weather starts to get nicer, I'm looking forward to getting out to do some yard work and eventually get my garden started for this year. Plus I have some projects around the house that I'll be starting too.
While I know that everyone is dealing with our current situation in their own way. I have found that setting goals for myself and planning for some future activities is the best way for me to continue to move forward through each day. I'm actually enjoying my new normal, the extra quality time with the girls, the more relaxed way of life...and the ability to not feel guilty for just staying home. I figure this is a good test for my future move to the U.P.
This week has been a bit more challenging than the rest, mainly because of bringing Piper into the house. While she is sweet and adorable, she is also very anxious and we haven't yet gotten that under control. No matter how much exercise and mental stimulation she gets, she just doesn't know how to relax. And while she has shown small amounts of progress, much of the day is spent with her pacing around the house and yard. We are working with her vet to help her, but in the meantime I've had a lot of anxiety to deal with and it makes it hard to find time to rest or relax and is mentally exhausting. But we'll get through this eventually. I'm lucky to have found some parts of our routine have helped her settle, at least for short periods of time, and loves to snuggle on the bed quietly every morning. I'm using those moments of quiet to keep my own sanity. On a positive note, she isn't shy, she is inquisitive and a quick learner, she is fairly well behaved, and she is enthusiastic about life. And I think we've finally mastered potty-training! She's got some good GSP qualities and she is going to make a great family dog once her anxiety is under control.
Adding to the craziness, I have found that my Jeep needs some repair work(it won't start currently), and finding ways to get the Jeep and me to a repair shop in the middle of a pandemic is a challenge. Since I am not doing much driving, I decided to delay the Jeep repair for a short awhile. That will be a challenge I'll face this week instead. I realized over the weekend that as much as I am not driving currently, having a working vehicle is important in the event of an emergency.
Of course I discovered that the Jeep wouldn't start as I was leaving to get Piper to her initial vet appointment, so I had to get creative and find an alternate, yet safe, way to get her there. Lucky for me, the vet office used by the rescue is only 2 miles from my house. So Peaches, Piper, and I took a walk to get there. Thankfully that worked out well for us. We had to walk there a second time this week in order to drop off several urine samples for some additional testing. I'm just thankful that we were able to make it work and get Piper the vet care she needs.
Meanwhile, the rest of life has continued on in our new normal. Working from home is going well and I think the girls are happy to have me home all of the time. I worry how Maddie will handle the change when I go back to work in the office, so I think it's been good that I'm leaving her home alone for short periods while I walk Peaches and Piper. I feel fairly confident Peaches will be fine, she isn't nearly is needy as Maddie. We have a good routine for my work day and the girls spend much of the day sleeping..with the exception of Piper, but I have found ways to keep her busy and to relax during the day as well. It's definitely been a learning curve since she got here.
I was talking with a friend yesterday and realized I had set a lot of goals for us to complete in the month of April...to keep us busy while in quarantine. Our first goal was to complete our North Country Trail Hike 100 challenge. Since the North Country Trail association decided to allow any miles walked during the month of April, no matter where you walk, to count toward our 100, I figured this would be the perfect time to finish for the year.
We had reached 50 miles on the trail by April 1, and with only 50 more to go, I figured this was the best way to ensure Maddie could complete the challenge this year. But at the suggestion of another NCT friend, I decided that Peaches and I are going to complete 100 "hike from home" miles this month (Maddie's goal is still just 50 miles) and then, hopefully later this year we'll be able to get back on the NCT and finish our final 50 miles on the trail as well..totalling 100 miles on the trail and 100 miles at home.
With that goal in mind, we have gotten out almost every day, sometimes twice a day, to make progress toward our 100 miles for the month. We've only taken one day off and have made pretty good progress. So far, Maddie has completed 32.5 miles, Peaches has completed 63.5 miles, and I have completed 64.5 miles(Maddie and I took a 1 mile walk by ourselves one day and it was such a nice time). At this point, Peaches and I need to average 3 miles per day for the remainder of the month and Maddie needs to average 1.67 miles per day, in order to reach our goal. I'm sure we'll get in another 3-4 miles today and I see no reason we won't get this done. Although I realized yesterday that it's getting hard to find new interesting ways to go on our walk and I'll be happy to get the Jeep fixed so that we can at least go to some parks occasionally. At least this has been a great way to keep us active.
I'm also part of a plank challenge with a group of friends at work. It's a great way to stay active and connected with friends during this time. In order to meet the challenge, each of us have to average 3 minutes of planks every day through the end of May. While this has been a bit more challenging for me, I have been keeping up with my three minute average every day and can now hold my planks longer than when I started. Since I'm getting better at them, I have decided that I'm going to increase to 4 1/2 minutes 6 days per week with one rest day. I've enjoyed this challenge more than I thought I would because it's a great way to push myself to get better at something I am not very good at currently. Maddie is a great cheerleader too!
I'm also on a creative journey, working on the 100 day project which is a way to dedicate time each day for 100 days toward doing something creative. I've been trying to work on my book...and I'm learning what a challenge that is going to be. It's scary to push yourself in an area that is so uncomfortable, but I'm doing my best to hold myself accountable to writing every day. I'm on day 13 so far and it's already been tough, but I'm hoping that over time, it gets easier. I really do want to complete this book. This is going to be the hardest challenge for sure!
I've been enjoying having the time to cook more meals at home and to be able to eat healthier. But I've also enjoyed the chance to bake a bit, especially making zucchini bread from the frozen zucchini from last year's garden.
As the weather starts to get nicer, I'm looking forward to getting out to do some yard work and eventually get my garden started for this year. Plus I have some projects around the house that I'll be starting too.
While I know that everyone is dealing with our current situation in their own way. I have found that setting goals for myself and planning for some future activities is the best way for me to continue to move forward through each day. I'm actually enjoying my new normal, the extra quality time with the girls, the more relaxed way of life...and the ability to not feel guilty for just staying home. I figure this is a good test for my future move to the U.P.
Honestly, who wouldn't want to stay home and start every day just like this? Please stay safe and healthy and know that we will all get through this. I am hoping that we will come out the other side with a better appreciation for our loved ones, our freedoms, and the simply pleasures of life.
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