It's June!

Last Sunday we turned the calendar to June.  I don't know how we've gotten here already, but here we are.  June is hands down one of my favorite months of the year.  When I was younger, I would have told you it was my favorite month, but that has shifted a little earlier in the year as I've gotten older.  But I still love June for it's long days full of sunlight, late sunsets, the end of the school year (even though this doesn't directly impact me anymore), and generally nice weather.  It is one of the most perfect months in Michigan, in my opinion.  And we're going to try to do our best to make the most of it.

I started this week with a plan to get back into some sort of routine.  While I like flexibility in my life and schedule, when there are multiple competing priorities, a schedule and some routine can definitely help life feel less chaotic.  Since Monday's are full of meetings at work and I always feel exhausted by the end of the work day, I have decided that Monday is going to be a day that I take off from visiting my dad.  I want to start the week with giving myself a chance to get out with the girls and get us all some fresh air and exercise, and then take some time to rest up for the rest of our crazy week.

So, after work on Monday, the girls and I jumped into the car for a trip to Soldan Dog Park.  We hadn't been there in over a week, and it's always so much fun for us all when we go.  This park makes Peaches so happy and helps with her anxiety level, which honestly has been getting worse, I'm sure in part due to our crazy schedule and lack of exercise for us all.  We had a nice long visit and then came home to enjoy dinner and a quiet evening at home.  It was a good way to start our week.

On Tuesday, the temperatures were a little warm for Peaches.  As she's aged, she doesn't tolerate heat as well as she used to so I have to be careful to make sure she doesn't overheat.  So, over my lunch, I took the girls for a ride in the country and made a couple stops for them to take a short sniff break.  Then after work, I headed out for a visit with my dad.  Tuesdays will regularly be one of my days to visit my dad for the foreseeable future.  He was having a really good day, and he was up and sitting in his wheelchair when I arrived.  We had a really nice visit and he was more talkative than normal.  He felt a lot more like himself than he has in probably a month.  Before I left, he had gotten into bed, and I made sure he had everything he needed for a comfortable evening.  I left feeling really great about the day.

Wednesday morning, I started off the day with a doctor's appointment.  Since the temperatures hadn't gotten too warm yet and I knew I'd be able park in the shade, I brought the girls along for the ride.  I can see them from the exam room, so I kept the windows down so they could stick their heads out and watch the squirrels.  After my quick appointment, I knew I wanted to take them to the East Lansing dog park for a good run before we headed home because by the noon hour we were expecting rain to move into the area for the remainder of the day.  We spent about 25 minutes at the park before Peaches let me know she was ready to leave.  On the way home, we ran out to Felzke Farms to pick up our first strawberries of the year from the first picking of the season.  Then it was back home for my work day. 

After work, I headed out to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walk.  I had been monitoring the weather, and it looked like we might get lucky and not get stuck walking in the rain.  When I arrived at the shelter, it was pouring, but by the time I got everyone harnessed and we were ready to go, the rain had slowed to a sprinkle.  

I got lucky because one of our walkers cancelled late, so I got the chance to walk a dog myself this week.  I walked Lil.  She is a very sweet girl, but boy did she pull!  The weather remained perfect through out whole walk and we got back to the shelter nice and dry.  The five dogs that walked with us were all very happy that they got out of the shelter for a walk, and I enjoyed my walk too.

Thursday was a crazy day.  I was so busy that I barely had a chance to stop for lunch.  Thursday is also one of the days that I've decided will be one of my regular days to visit my dad.  The temperatures were cool enough that I decided to bring the girls along for the drive.  They hadn't had much fun all day, and there is a nice shady spot to park that I can see from my dad's room, so I figured that would give them at least a little entertainment for their day.  Unfortunately, my dad was having some anxiety while I was there, and that always makes our visits a little more of a struggle.  I was able to distract him a bit, and we had a conversation about when he was younger, which I really enjoyed.  Finally I could tell he was getting tired, so I got him comfy for the evening and then headed out to make the drive home.  Before we drove all the way home,  I found a park near the rehab facility to get the girls out for a little walk.  It was pretty quiet and there was a big grassy area, so I even let Mina get in a few rounds of fetch.  It was a short stop, but I was glad I could give them a little fun for the night.

Friday is another one of my days to visit my dad.  It's the perfect way to end our week because I can stop and pick up the walleye fish fry at the Eagles nearby, and then join him for dinner.  Nicol and Fiona had visited him earlier in the day, as had my mom, and Nicol had called to tell me that he was struggling a bit.  My mom even called to tell me that I probably didn't need to visit him, but I was already pulling into the parking lot, so I figured I 'd just cut my visit short if necessary.  He was clearly tired and dealing with some anxiety again when I arrived, but I ate my dinner and chatted with him a bit.  Then we were surprised with a visit from my Uncle Charles and Aunt Dawn.  It was really nice to have them there for the visit too.  While dad wasn't very talkative, I could tell that he was enjoying the company.  They probably stayed a little over an hour, and I stayed a bit longer, but I could tell he was ready for bed, so after a couple hours of visiting, I decided it was time to head home.

As I was driving, I decided that as soon as I got home, I'd get the girls into the car and take them out for a run at the Padgett Park Dog park.  It was 8:30pm by the time we got to the park, and while there were a couple of other dogs there when we arrived, it wasn't long before we had the park to ourselves.  I was thankful for the 9:15pm sunset which allowed me to give the girls about 45 minutes at the park.  There was lots of running, sniffing, and fun, and both of the girls were happy that they got to have a little adventure.  

Saturday morning I was up and out of the house by 8:45am to make the drive to the shelter for our Saturday morning dog walk.   We had a nice group with 6 dogs joining us on beautiful morning.  Good Cheer and Mumbai are two of the dogs who joined us.  They are a couple of really nice girls, and Good Cheer was adopted on Saturday too!  

After our walk, a group of our walkers and a few of our local geocachers joined together to do a little Spring cleanup along our walking route.  It felt good to clean up the area and make it a little safer for our dogs as well.

After finishing up the cleanup, I drove home to get the girls so I could get them out for a little fun.  

We headed to the MSU Horticulture Gardens for a nice walk. It was just too nice not to take advantage of the day.  It also gave me the chance to enjoy some of the lovely flowers.  

I ran a couple quick errands on the way home, and then realized it was nearly 2pm and I hadn't eaten lunch yet.  Then I remember an email I had received from a local restaurant-Slice by Saddleback-offering $10 off any purchase.  I decided I could probably get a good deal on a quick lunch, so I headed that way.  I chose the slice and caesar salad combo, and after the coupon, my meal cost me a whopping 52 cents.  I ate the pizza slice and part of the salad for lunch leaving a little more than half the salad for later.  I was pretty happy with that deal.

By  the time I got home and ate lunch, it was nearly 3pm, and I was pretty pooped.  While I had some yard work that I had planned to get done Saturday afternoon, I decided to sit down and rest for a bit.  The girls were napping away, and I was so relaxed.  It felt nice to just sit down and not feel rushed.  By 5pm, the girls were up and Peaches was a little anxious, so I figured a quick trip to Preuss Pets was in order.  Then I came home and mowed the lawn before making dinner.  The rest of our evening was pretty quiet.  

I'll be making a visit to my dad this morning.  I had considered making a Saturday visit so that I could have the entire day off Sunday, but enough other family members were planning to visit him on Saturday, that I decided a Sunday visit would make more sense.  

We are starting the morning with some light rain sprinkles, but it looks like that should clear up for a while, leading to a decent day.   Depending on the weather, we'll see what our plans will be.  I'd like to do some yard work, but I'd also like to get the girls out for a little hike to burn off some energy before we start our week again.  We haven't spent any time on the North Country Trail recently, and there is also another trail challenge in Chelsea that I'd like to do with the girls, and we haven't started that either.  And if it rains all day, we may just have a lazy afternoon at home.  No matter what we do, I'm looking forward to a more relaxing day before our craziness starts all over again.