Old Man Dog's Special Adventures

The slight humidity in the air partners with the light breeze to take away the boiling heat of the past few days. I roll all the windows down and open the sunroof to soak it in, smiling as my sweet pup sprawls out on the passenger seat and savors it, too. We're on the way to the park for an adventure. I can't remember the last time we took a just-the-two-of-us walk. I feel a tinge of guilt, but I remind myself that it's okay to be over-cautious to protect his heart.

Tonight I'm throwing caution to the wind and letting Old Man Dog live it up. Tomorrow will be a stressful day for us both: he'll endure dental surgery, I'll endure the wait. We'll let tomorrow's worries wait while we enjoy our adventures together.

I refuse to rush him. I let him lead the way, sniffing every post, tree, and blade of grass along the way. Okay, maybe not every blade of grass, but I'm not keeping track. I take pictures of his curious face as his nose guides our steps. I smile as I think back to our early walks together and my brave little guy prancing his way ahead to explore. We've temporarily traveled back to our younger days.

"I love sniffering all da things. Every single thing. Dis, dis, and dat one, and dat, too, and dis.."

"Do I haz something on my nose?"

 Half an hour passes before I have to lead him back to the car. The mosquitoes are getting the better of me, and I'm sure they are biting Squirt, too. He finds a few more spots to sniff along the way, and we linger just a little bit.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Old Man mode sets back in as soon as his paws hit the seat, and he curls up for a nap. It's been a while since he's walked and sniffed that much without a break.

Back at home Scout and Danny run around while Squirt gets a partial Doggy Spa treatment: a good brushing, a mani/pedi (nail trim), and a good belly scratch. Danny squeezes his way in for a brushing, too, because he can't resist an opportunity to get his handsomeness to its full potential. Squirt doesn't mind, though, because he knows even Dannys need some extra love sometimes.

As the sun slips away I know it's time to start winding down our adventures. The only thing that could end this perfectly is puppy ice cream, so I split the pup cup between the three bowls. This will be Squirt's last bit of food before tomorrow's surgery, so I amp it up with a little whipped cream for the boys. Carpe diem, right?

nom nom nom.

All three boys devour their peanut buttery frozen goodness, and lick every speck from their bowls and the floor. They double-check they've gotten it all, then dutifully double-check each other's bowls.

"But why is all da ice cream gone?"

Squirt follows me to the living room. He's ready to snuggle up and doze on the couch. I feel his little toes tapping my leg and glance down to see his eyes beckoning me to pick him up. We both know his accuracy for jumping up has decreased, and this makes me his personal elevator. And he snuggles in, satisfied once he's touching my leg. His tiny Old Man snores come just minutes afterwards. This is my cue to cover him up with a blanket so no chills interrupt his rest. After all, Old Man Dog had many adventures today.

My heart is full of joy, and it keeps the worries out of this dog momma's heart. I'm thankful for this peaceful evening and the peace within me. It won't be long before I snuggle up on the couch, too. We'll sleep here tonight, my Old Man Dog and me, instead of him sleeping in his crate like usual. I tell myself it's so he doesn't have to be alone, but it's really due to my selfish desire to get all the snuggles I can before the morning. That 7:30 check in time at the vet will come too soon. Until then it's time for us to recharge for whatever tomorrow many bring.

Thankful Thursday

I was MIA for a during a little bit of a funk, then life was happening super-fast, and now I'm here to get back to it.

I'm thankful for...
support and prayer of family and friends.
strength and perseverance from God.
new opportunities.
affirmations for these chances and choices.
silly kiddo sayings overheard -- including my new favorite phrase "I'm a hungry Marvin!".
technology that allows me to shameless stream animals from around the world at any given time - particularly during a phase of insomnia.
coffee.
coffee.
coffee.
the new windshield wipers my husband put on my car.
Gilmore Girls.
painting.
church.
Lent services.
a God whose unfailing love and grace surround me every day, hour, minute despite my unworthiness.
singing with friends.
fresh air and sunshine.
long conversations.
being surrounded by dog snoring.
laughter.

Another Must-See Destination for My Bucket List!!!

Getting ready to celebrate one of the most legendary children's authors of all time this week -- DR. SEUSS!!! -- and came across this gem:

There's a sculpture garden in Springfield, Massachusetts that has Dr. Seuss and a bunch of his characters.

Um, WHAT?!?

Let's pack our bags and go RIGHT NOW.

Furthermore, they are building a museum right by the garden that will be all about Dr. Seuss. It's set to open this June. 

Guys, this is magical.

I must visit there someday.

Here's where I found all of this lovely information in case you, too, are interested.

Thankful Thursday #5: a day late, but it's here.

I've been getting home and just dropping on the couch after teaching all day while sick so no post last night.

Late start = time for a post today. 

(Hoping it will get change to no school because it's a MESS out there.)

This week I'm thankful for....

Dr. Seuss. 

We're prepping to celebrate his birthday next week and I am SO excited. What an awesome proponent of not letting critics stop you from doing what you love and to let your imagination run wild. 

Painting.

I've picked up a paintbrush a few times lately for the first time in a while and love how calming it is. More than that, it's fun to create things on paper. 

Blasts from the past.

Our school hosted my former school in basketball a few days ago, and it was fun to see some of my FIRST students out there playing. It was great to catch up with some of the families and the students, too, and have them come into my classroom to graffiti my board. :P How awesome to see where God is guiding them. 

Warmth.

Earlier this week it was over 70 degrees and broke some record highs for our city. It was glorious. We celebrated one day by taking Danny and Scout to the dog park. (Old Man Squirt stayed home because getting super-excited or over-exerted is bad for his heart.) They even got in the water - yes, even Danny, but he just wanted a drink. Scout just may be our water lovin' boy after all! I've been holding out hope that we'd have a swimmer.

Scout doing what Scouts do best.

Partners in crime.

He likes it! He really likes it!

And pup cups after the park because warm days NEED ice cream.

Random laughs. 

Like these turkeys casually strolling across the street in the middle of the city that stopped us on the way to church.

Oh, hey, turkeys.

Thankful Thursday #4: music & more

I've decided I'm going to shake up the Gratitude Challenge - sometimes I'll follow the prompts, sometimes I won't. Sometimes prompts can be so constricting.

This week I've been especially thankful for:

-a husband who is very handy and can fix things (even when I did something stupid that made them break to begin with)

-friends who can laugh off my embarrassing moments better than I can

-Spotify. Yes, I'm a little late to jump on that bandwagon since I have been a loyal Pandora listener, but I love getting to create playlists and listen to them repeatedly. Nothing says "Good morning!" like some good coffee and good tunes. This one's been on repeat most of the week.

-Sunrises. Even being able to travel in the daylight again has been delightful as we gain a few minutes of daylight back each day, but this week the colors have been stellar.

-Time to create fun things with the Cricut, like this:

The Old Man Dog

Squirt went to the vet yesterday for his annual exam and his vaccinations. I took him back to the vet who took care of him last year when he had such a terrible episode with his heart. The vet was impressed with how well he's doing in spite of his congestive heart failure, but he did mention Squirt had some fluid in his lungs. He also commented on Squirt's cold paws being slightly blue as well - a sign his heart wasn't working optimally. We may need to bump up his heart meds for that.

Lately Squirt has been having some rough periods of yelping when we pick him up and having some trouble with the stairs. I wasn't surprised when I told the vet and he suggested we start thinking about some options for arthritis pain relief. We're looking into giving him a joint supplement to help with that.

All in all I know that he's amazing for continuing to be happy and relatively healthy for being 12 years old. I love all of our dogs, but he's my first dog child. He came into my life and brought so much joy into my life during a time of adjusting to a lot of newness. He was my best friend and my family all in one then. He even helped me meet my husband and Danny-Dog. You can bet this little guy's always going to hold an extra-special place in my heart.

Squirticus the Old Man Dog chilling on a gorgeous summer night.

Thankful Thursday #3: Today

I'm going to keep it short today - and not use a prompt. I'll throw in a bonus prompt one of these weeks to compensate.

Today I'm thankful for a great day. A long day with spending 13 hours at school, yes, but it could have felt much longer. I love my job, and I love days where we can celebrate the hard work the kids do.

Today I'm also thankful for two cups of coffee (the half-caff stuff...because it allows me to drink MORE coffee with LESS jitters!) and one cherry Pepsi. Because even though I love my job, I would not be able to do it without the caffeine that fuels me.

And a quote from Gilmore Girls will wrap this up perfectly, naturally:

source: pinterest

Thankful Thursday #2: Technology

And now for another installment of the Gratitude Challenge!

Prompt 46: Technology

Technology has been a part of my like since - well, before birth, really. And it's grown to be more of an integral part of life. Now it seems like we can hardly function without it.

One thing I truly love about technology, though, is that my phone (which is almost always with me) allows me to constantly have a camera with me. I love taking pictures, so this is a much better option than constantly carrying around an actual camera. I know this firsthand because I really used to carry a camera almost everywhere.

 It also allows me the chance to instantly photo-document things -- like the goofy way our dogs are sleeping -- and share them seconds later with my hubby on nights he's working. I know we'll also utilize this when we have children so they (and he) don't feel like he's missing out on as much with his work schedule being what it is. I also love how I've been able to incorporate this into my classroom this year to share what we're up to each day.

Another huge plus is having all this information at my fingertips. It can be something trivial like looking up who played a character in a movie, but it can also be something more useful like directions. Y'all know I am not known for having a stellar sense of direction, so using my phone as a GPS is a necessity. I also love being able to Google answers to questions whenever. We like to kill time on road trips looking up facts, history, or places to see while we're traveling because yes, we are just that cool, thankyouverymuch.

We are truly in the age where the sky isn't the limit anymore. Sure, technology can frustrate us or stress us out, but it also is a wonderful tool to have by my side each day.

source: here

Gratitude Challenge: Things You Like About Winter

Okay, so I missed this past Thursday...but here we go.

I wanted to jump to this prompt because last week we had ice, ice, ice, and more ice. We already had Monday off of school, but we also had Tuesday off as an "ice day". We were definitely in the throes of winter!

Prompt 49: Things You Like About Winter

• Weather that makes you layer on the warmth and cozy on up into blankets
• Christmas season! The music, the decorations, the smells of special baking and cooking, EVERYTHING!
• Time to recharge with family on Christmas and New Years
• Using the fireplace
• Crocheting warm things
• The way a layer of snow muffles the world to create a quiet surrounding that makes it easier to think, breathe, and be still. 
• SNOW DAYS - they are made for PJs and hobbies to be shamelessly enjoyed.
• The beauty of fresh fallen snow and layers of ice on trees
• The delight and excitement of kids when it snows and the dreams of all they can do outside
• Seeing yards full of snow creations

Added bonus: here are a few pictures from around our yard after last week's winter storm.

Thankful Thursday #1: The Gratitude Challenge Begins

source: here

I stumbled upon the Gratitude Challenge one day while getting sucked into a black hole browsing Pinterest.  You can find it here. Feel free to join me - whether you are a blogger, a paper & pen writer, parchment & quill, whatever! Get your gratitude on!

Prompt 1: Why start the Gratitude Challenge?

Life is messy and it's not always the fun kind of messy - you know, like baking and decorating sugar cookies kind of FunMessy. Nope, sometimes it's more like the "finding the leftovers you can't even recall making and now it's growing weird colors and smells" kind of messy. That's the kind you wish you could sneak back and let someone else deal with it instead.

All of this bloodshed, destruction, distress, anger, and ugliness in the world today crosses lines we never even dreamed we'd have to worry about. It makes your heavy heart ache and tears frequent when you face the barrage of bad news.

Yet even in this mess there's a lot left unsaid about how many beautiful, good, lovely, and delightful things are still out there for us to enjoy. It's the good stuff that's more powerful than the bad.

source: here

Me? It's rather use my time and energy reminding people of the beauty rather than fueling the sadness and anger. So here I go - the Gratitude Challenge.

Here's how it's supposed to go:
52 prompts.
1 each week.
1 whole year.

EEP!

Yes, once I blogged for a 365 day challenge, but my faithful readers (hi, family!) will remember my actual total was in the two hundred range. 288 to be exact. But there's a certain pressure that comes with deadlines like this. I'll commit to once a week ish, and 52ish prompts. Quite frankly, I will consider this challenge a success if I manage to do at least 10. I do miss having motivation to blog. I miss having the luxury of more free time to blog. And I miss taking the time to truly reflect on the awesome things going on and capturing snippets of the good in my life. I miss sharing these snippets with people that don't mind reading what I write.

So here we go.

See you next Thursday as I aim to tackle another prompt!

#yogarevolution

I let myself get behind on this daily yoga practice -- Yoga Revolution -- one for every day in January. Like almost a week behind, guys.

It's not that it's too hard. Adrienne is amazing. It's more that I let life get in the way.

I have issues with time management. I know, who doesn't, right? But I feel like I'm really, really bad at it. A lot has to do with my tendency to sabotage myself by envisioning all the ways I'll fail before I even try something - a product of my anxiety. The battle rages on, and while I find myself winning more than I used to, I still have days where I push myself back into a teeny, tiny box and hide away from potential...anything, be it good or bad.

I tried to tuck myself back in that box tonight and talk myself into giving up.
It started with a debate about whether to jump right back into the challenge where I left off or
diving in on today and just skipping the days I missed altogether.
Before I knew it, I was painting my nails. Um, for those of you who aren't familiar with yoga, it is heavily dependent on your extremities. I'm no yogi, but I'd have to venture a guess that wet nails really probably aren't recommended by any experts.
Fortunately it was a quick-drying polish so my procrastination/sabotage was short-lived.

Despite my inner voice's groanings, I turned on the video (from where I left off, for those of you who were being smothered by the suspense) for today, got my butt on my mat (by mat I mean "blanket" I wrangled away from the sleeping dogs...don't worry, they still have five left), and Did. That. Practice.

And you know what?

I feel freaking awesome.
I am more relaxed.
I feel stronger.
I am good-sore.

And I am ready for more tomorrow.

Hopefully with an earlier starting and ending time.

(Christmas break always messes up my sleep schedule. It doesn't help that I had wicked insomnia over Christmas break and saw 3 a.m. more often than I would have liked.)

But this is a step toward victory, my friends.

Goodbye 2016 & Hello 2017.

The new year is here
and with it comes potential
for the challenges
for the good

and everything in between.

2016 wasn't a bad year-
it also wasn't extraordinary in itself
(though it was filled with some extraordinary times)-
and I wasn't as passionate about bidding it farewell like I was with 2015 or my tonsils -
which I had taken out this year
and wouldn't wish that experience on even my greatest of enemies
(but that's a story for another time).

But 2016 was a year of finding my feet again
and fighting for my voice to surface and be heard -
assertiveness
strength
health
and for that I'm thankful. 

It was a year of learning
and working
on continuing to grow in our marriage
embarking on new adventures together
embracing this love for & the art of photography
taking a grand family adventure to the beautiful and captivating Hawaii
(Confession:
If you catch me daydreaming ,I'm probably back there again
savoring the laughter with family,
togetherness,
the vibrant colors,
the sunshine,
the hikes,
the dreamy beaches,
the photographic everything,
and the ocean breezes.)

It wasn't a bad year,
and it wasn't extraordinary,
but indeed it held greatness.

So I have a hearty hello for 2017.
If it's half as full as this year was - well, that'd be wonderful.

One thing's for sure:

adventure awaits.