There's a Reason for the Season

First, let me say that the puppies are doing excellent in their crates.  The crates sit back up against the wall and face Wes' side of the bed.  Both puppies go into their crates and sleep most of the night.  They whine when they need to go out.  I am really proud at how well they are doing.

I woke up early this morning with the dogs and let Wes sleep in.  He is such a good person and hard worker.  He tries hard at everything.  He's the kind of guy who would work all evening, go to bed late, and wake up early the next morning to take care of the dogs while letting me sleep in.  He always puts others first.  I snuck out of the room with the dogs before he woke up so he could sleep.  It was beautiful this morning and really cool.  It was only in the 50s.  I sat outside with the dogs and drank my coffee.  I talked to God and thought about what the day would bring.  My little angel puppies were out having fun while I was obviously in deep thought and not paying attention.

What do you mean you are tired of us digging holes?  We weren't digging holes.  I am a perfect puppy.  I don't lie and I always keep my nose clean.  I am not a trouble maker.

How can you stay mad at them for long?  I would make a horrible parent.  I can't even get mad at my dogs.  My kids would get away with everything.

Wes and I had a lot of errands to run this morning.  I had to go to the doctor and have blood drawn for my thyroid again.  Wes had to go to Stafford Hospital to pick up his chest x-ray so his doctor could compare it and see the nodule on his lung.  My good friend told me that it was National Donut Day.  I celebrate most anything "National" because it seems patriotic to do so.  I had to celebrate National Donut Day.  Wes serves our great country so that we can celebrate holidays like these.  It just seems UnAmerican to not stop by and celebrate this American tradition.

I am pretty sure that we went to one of the healthier Dunkin Donuts.  There were a bunch of skinny girls in workout clothes sitting next to us.  Skinny girls who workout don't eat junk food.  They were the kind of girls you would see in a Natural Food Market buying organic vegetables.  I felt really good about the food decisions we made as we devoured our organic, fat free, sugar free donuts next to the skinny workout girls.

Plus, I had a Rasberry Coolatta.  I could tell it was made with real fruit extracts as it turned my mouth blue.  I counted it as one of my fruits for the day.

To top it off, the donut was free.  I love eating healthy on a budget.

Just in case the Rasberry Coolatta wasn't sugar free, I took the dogs for a walk when I got home.  I was feeling really good and was on a high from all that healthy food, so I might as well use my new found energy on something productive: puppy training.

I took the dogs in pairs.  I matched a puppy up with an older dog that I thought would fit well.  I first took Topher and Bella and then Tanker and Shiloh.  We walked a mile.  I spent about an hour with each pair.  It was a good workout for each dog. 

They behaved mostly the way I expected them to.  Bella was over confident.  Shiloh was a bit cautious.  While walking Topher and Bella, we met a turtle.  Bella and Topher were not scared of him, but he was scared of us.

We worked on "sits" and "waits."  They were not near as obedient out on a walk as they are at home.  We did eventually accomplish each command, but it took some time and patience.

Making them sit is one thing.  Asking them to look at the camera is another.  I am only so good at dog training.

We walked by many new things: boats, campers, big trucks, a diesel truck, a turtle, and a beach ball.  The beach ball was the scariest for Bella.  She did not want to go near that ball.  In about five minutes time she had gotten used to it and was trying to play with it.  Because Bella was scared of it, I took Shiloh by it on our walk.  It did not phase her at all.  She just about tripped over it as I was trying to get her to notice it.  The puppies had opposite reactions to the beach ball than I would have expected.  Shiloh was the puppy who was a little skittish and Bella was Miss Confident.  It just shows that you never truly know a puppy.

There's a reason for the season.

I think that applies to just about everything in life, from experiences we go through to people we meet.  I truly believe God takes care of us.  Our lives have been such a blessing.  Every triumph, every hardship, every person we have met, every friend who has stayed, and even the people who come and go, they all have a chapter in our life story.  They all have impacted our lives and made a difference in some aspect of shaping who we are today.  There is a reason I no longer work.  There is a reason Wes is going through what he is going through.  There is a reason we got into therapy dog work.  There is a reason we live where we do and a reason we have met the people we have met.

Wes and I were just discussing the things we wanted to do with our yard.  We do not live in an ordinary subdivision with plush green grass, sidewalks, and sprinkler systems.  We live in a recreational community that is hilly, has narrow windy roads, has a river that runs through it, boats, deer, fox, eagles, falcolns, and even a bear.  There are lots of trees.  Grass does not grow well in our yard.  It is all natural.  I think of our yard like a campground.  Peaceful, tranquil, and private.  Yard work can be a challenge when you want to grow ground cover or move rock.  It is hilly and quite the workout on your back.  We talked today about getting quotes to have someone come move rock for us and landscape our yard so that it looks a little more put together.  When I took the dogs for a walk, I met a man working on a neighbor's yard.  He lives here in Aquia Harbour.  He works with his son.  He loved our dogs.  He even wanted to do therapy work with his hound once, but she proved to be too "nosey" for therapy work.  He introduced himself and told me if we ever needed help with anything to call and ask.  I told him that Wes and I actually were just discussing hiring someone to landscape our yard.  I told him that we normally do yardwork ourselves, but Wes has two bulging discs in his back and was just diagnosed with Lyme Disease.  He was very, very friendly and said he would come by anytime to take a look at what we wanted done.  I was so happy.  It made my day.  I looked no further for landscapers.  I did no research on the internet.  I have a good feeling about this nice man.  God provides for us.  We just have to know how to listen to and trust him.

I thought the mile of walking would wear the dogs out.  I was wrong.  I got home from my second trip of walking and Topher, Bella, and Shiloh went out and ran laps in the yard.  You would have thought they had eaten donuts.  Eventually they all layed down and napped.

Later during Tanker Meds, the pups loved on Tanker and thanked him for his epilepsy.  They enjoy getting ham and turkey four times a day.

Puppies: Tanker, we love you.  Are you our mother? 
Tanker: No, don't you know I have a...well, nevermind.  I am not your mother.



Then we went back outside to enjoy the beautiful day.  It was very nice today.  The windows are open and the skies are blue.  Neo even broke out of his room to look out through the back door while we were outside.  He's not so bad.  As long as there is some sort of barrier, we can manage with the Neo Nuts.