The Cold

It has been a long, cold, boring week here. Between the end of the Lions game on Saturday until mid-afternoon on Tuesday, I was completely knocked out of commission by my cold and I spent most of my time sleeping.  

Sunday and Monday were definitely the worst of it with head congestion, a little cough, and exhaustion.  On top of me being sick, we spent the early part of the week in a deep freeze here.

With temperatures barely making it out of the single digits and me barely functioning, the dogs were forced to spend a lot of time relaxing inside.  Thankfully they were pretty good for the most part.  

I did ensure that they had some enrichment games for meals, and while heating up some soup for my lunch one of the days, I forced  myself to prepare some Kongs for the freezer so that they could have some entertainment while I rested.

They did spend some small amounts of time out in the yard each day.  Mina would happily zoom around, and if the neighbor dogs were out, there would be rounds of chase along the fence.  Smokey loves to run back and forth barking along the fence with Mina, and Peaches loves to join along too.  But they were never out more than 5 minutes.  It seemed to help keep them happy,  though.

I had a MLK day off Monday and took a sick day on Tuesday, but I was feeling a bit better on Wednesday, so I decided I would be able to work.  Since I was more active, the dogs were a little less patient, no one more so than Smokey who stood in front of me staring and whining.

Since we had gotten a decent amount of snow Monday into Tuesday, I knew I needed to get out and shovel.  I hadn't been out of the house since getting home on Saturday, but I was feeling a little better so I decided to spend part of my lunch shoveling.  The fresh air felt nice, but boy it was cold. As a reward for being so good while I was sick, I decided to get the dogs in the car and take them for a short drive when I finished shoveling.  Then I came home to finish my work day.

After a busy day, I was completely exhausted,  so I was thankful that the girls were willing to quietly snuggle while I rested.  I think all of the rest over the course of the week helped my body fight off whatever was ailing me, and when I woke up Thursday,  I felt so much better.  We got more snow overnight and I had to shovel again and took the dogs for another ride on my lunch.  Otherwise it was another quiet day.

On Friday afternoon I took a late lunch to take Smokey for another post-surgery check-up with Dr. Jason.  He had a great appointment and is healing really well.  We have one more follow-up scheduled in two weeks, and then I think he'll finally be finished with all of his vetting and available for adoption.  I'm excited for him to finally be able to get a home of his very own.

After work I knew that I had to do something with the dogs, so we got in the car and made the drive to Preuss Pets for a visit.  We hadn't been there since Peaches' birthday, so everyone was excited to go inside.  I got each dog out for a walk around the block and a visit to the store, and of course they got some love and attention from their favorite Preuss Pets employees. Then we came home for dinner, and then they each got a special treat that I had bought while we were at the store.  Finally we settled in for a quiet night at home.

While I still had some sinus congestion and my energy levels were less than normal, I was otherwise feeling pretty much back to normal, so when Vanessa invited us to join her while she ran some errands out of town on Saturday, I was happy to ride along.  I think the dogs were pretty happy to be out for a road trip and to spend some time with someone other than just me too.

We did a little geocaching, made a couple stops for her errands, and stopped for a yummy lunch before we headed to West Bloomfield to get out for a walk and some fresh air.

It was such a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, the temperatures were right around freezing, and the trail was excellent.  Really just a lovely Winter's day.

The dogs were in rare form.  They were definitely happy to be outside and they were CRAZY.  But eventually they settled in and started walking better so I could enjoy my walk too.

After our walk, we loaded up the car to start our trek toward home.  Everyone happily settled in for a quiet ride.  

After eating dinner and making a trip outside for a potty break when we got home, everyone was down for the count for the evening.   It had been a great day, but boy was I exhausted!  We all slept really well!

We're ending our week with a relaxing Sunday at home.  Yesterday's adventure really took a lot out of me, so I'm going to use the day to rest up for the week ahead.  Luckily the dogs are cooperating. 

As we enter the final week of January,  it's hard for me to believe how fast this month has gone.  But I'm so excited that its almost February.  Days are getting longer with sunsets getting later (today in Lansing the sunset is 5:44pm!).  The weather this week is looking good with temperatures in the 30s so hopefully we can get out and enjoy some winter fun.  I'm really glad we finally got some real winter weather this year because I've missed it the last few winters.  It may not be my favorite season, but it's a big part of living in Michigan and it sure is pretty.

But what I'm most excited about?!?  We're less than two months from Spring!  

Mid January blues

This week I spent the majority of my time attending a work conference in Orlando.  On Sunday, I dropped Smokey off in Marshall with fellow ISR foster Ruth for the week.  After a quick 1.6 Mike hike with the girls on the NCT in Marshall, I then drove 90 miles to Farmington Hills to drop the girls off for four nights and 5 days of boarding and doggy daycare.  

I stopped for a short visit with Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona since i was only a couple miles away.  Then I drove the 30 minutes to my hotel near the Detroit airport so I'd be close by for my Monday morning flight.  I ordered dinner at the little restaurant at the hotel, got my complimentary cocktail at cocktail hour, and went to my room to eat.  I must have been tired because I fell asleep sometime shortly after 9pm and had a great nights sleep.

My Monday flight was delayed and on top of leaving late, they had to de-ice the plane before we could take off.  When we finally arrived in Florida, I had to wait forever for the luggage which they made us gate check due to a full flight.  Finally, I boarded the bus to the resort.  By the time I arrived, I had missed the first of the sessions I was supposed to attend, so I checked into my room to relax for a few minutes before getting ready for our evening reception.

The rest of my time attending the conference was spent in meetings or at evening events basically starting at 5pm on Monday until I left for the airport at 11:30am on Thursday.   On the bus to the airport, I got notification that my flight home was delayed,  but luckily it was only a 20 minute delay so I made it back to Detroit in time to get to boarding to pick up the girls before they closed.  Then we made the rest of the drive home, finally arriving home at about 8pm.  I had to shovel before pulling the car into the driveway, but we were home.  It is always a long, exhausting week, and i was happy to have the girls back and to be able to sleep in my own bed.  

The girls went out for a potty break when we got home, and then Peaches put herself to bed and Mina put herself in her cozy cave.  Other than Mina following me from the living room to the bedroom when I went to bed, there was no movement by a dog from 8:30pm on Thursday night until after 9:30am on Friday morning.

I cooked Peaches eggs for her breakfast and that didn't even get them moving.  Finally Mina came out of the bedroom around 9:45am and I got Peaches up and sent them out for a potty break.

Then they both ate breakfast and headed to the living room for a nap.

I had a busy morning of work and like them, I barely moved away from my computer.  Around 2pm Mina wanted outside, so I sent them both out for a potty break while I took a break and made lunch for all of us.  Then it was back to napping for the girls while I finished my work day.

At 5pm they were still sound asleep, but I felt like we should at least get out of the house for a drive so I loaded them into the car and took a quick drive to the store to make a purchase and then we drove back home. 

When we got home, I gave them dinner in their Kong Wobblers, played a few rounds of fetch with Mina, and then settled in for a quiet evening at home.  It was a good start to my long weekend. 

Sadly, during the day Friday I started to notice signs that I might be coming down with a cold, and by Friday night my sinus congestion and sore throat led me to make the decision to cancel our Saturday morning shelter dog walk.  

By Saturday morning,  my cold had developed more.  Somehow I got lucky and the girls both slept in until almost 8am so that meant I got a good night's sleep too. After a potty break and breakfast, we headed back to bed to rest.  The girls are very good nurses.

After a relaxing day of rest at home, I had to load the girls in the car to make the drive to Marshall to meet Ruth so I could bring Smokey home from his mini vacation.   We arrived early, the sun was shining, and the temperatures were hovering around freezing,  so I decided to take the girls for a walk on the Marshall Riverwalk section of the NCT. 

Thankfully the sidewalk and bridge section of the trail were clear because the river walk itself was icy and treacherous. 

The girls were excited to be outside on a walk, and I thought the fresh air might be good for me, but about a half mile in my nose was running and my throat was burning.  Luckily we had to turn around to head back to the car.

We slipped and slid our way back to the car along the river walk with.the sun shining on us.

It was such a beautiful day, I wish we could have done more.   

By the time we got back to the car we had completed a mile on the trail which brings us to 10 miles for the year.

I let the girls walk around the grass and sniff around a bit before we got in the car and made the short drive to the park and ride to get Smokey.

Everyone settled in quickly for the ride home.

It was a quiet drive, and I made a couple of quick stops to make some curbside pick ups of a few things I knew I'd need over the next few days, then I picked up a pot pie from KFC for dinner and headed home.

I put away my purchases and then everyone had dinner.  Now we're settled in for a quiet night at home.

While Peaches can't decide if she wants to stay out in the living room with us or put herself to bed, she's currently snuggled up on the loveseat.

I'm so grateful that the house is clean and that I did a load of laundry when I got home on Thursday.  I haven't done much cooking other than heating up some soup so that has made things easy too.  In addition to my cold, the weather is going to turn dangerously cold overnight, so we won't be able to get out for walks for the next few days.  I'm hoping that we can stay quiet and warm inside and get some rest until I am feeling better and the weather improves.

Tonight I'm hoping to be able to stay awake for the whole Lions game.  We won't be doing anything fun for the next few days and I expect that we will spend the rest of our long weekend right here. 

 Frigid weather and being sick both stink!  

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!