Happy Halloween!

Please keep in mind that while we humans enjoy Halloween, many pets do not. Please take precautions and keep your pets safe tonight. Just a few things to consider:

Chocolate is not safe for pets.

Most pets do not enjoy a costume.

Make sure your pets ID tags are on with their info.

Make sure your pet doesn't door dash, while handing out candy.

The ASPCA has many other GREAT Halloween safety tips for pets. Click ,HERE for the whole list.

Everyone have a safe and happy Halloween!

Another Sad Day

I'm just popping in for a quick minute today. My wonderful, sweet Schipperke, Bear, passed away suddenly and quite unexpectedly yesterday morning. He didn't feel well on Sunday. We just thought his arthritis was bothering him. By 3:00 a.m. yesterday morning, we knew something was seriously wrong. We flew out the door for Dr. K's office, where he was waiting for us. We were all with him, when he crossed the bridge. Dr. K feels that it probably was a blood clot brought on either by an auto immune response or a disease called DIC. He assured us, that there was nothing that we could have done.

Bear was such a bright light in my house. I know that it will be dim for a while, and never quite as bright before. Bear was a friend to everyone who met him, whether it was another pet or person. He became the official greeter of my neighborhood. We made rounds to visit all of the neighbors. He hadn't been getting out quite as much, because of his arthritis, but he still liked to visit.

Casey and I are still in quite a bit of shock. I may not be around for a couple of days, and I hope that you all understand. I'm still processing. This was an exceptionally hard blow, so soon after losing Slate the first of September. Please send good thoughts and prayers this way.

Goodbye Bear. You were a loyal, uplifting friend. You will be terribly missed.

Halloween Weekend

This weekend, I'll be celebrating Halloween a little early. Casey and I are joining our 501st Legion Garrison (MidSouth Garrison) for Ghouls at Grassmere. We'll be there as your favorite Star Wars Imperials. Oh yeah, there will be some Rebels there too. So if they kids are looking for something Halloween-ie to do this weekend, they'll probably enjoy this. If you come out and see these people:

Be sure to say "hello"! Here's a few shots from last year:

Hehehehehehehe

Ever just wanted to stay in bed?

Updates

Yes, my posts have been lacking lately. It seems that I'm in some fall doldrums. In all honesty, not much is happening in my neck of the woods. With all of the excitement of the past couple of months, it's nice to just sit back and relax. All is well at the house, but there is just not much going on that is blogworthy at the moment.

Refreshed

Well gang, I'm finally back from my hiatus. I'm actually back a day later than I had planned. The old back decided to act up on Tuesday making it necessary to stay home on muscle relaxers on Wednesday. I'm feeling much better now. I had no idea that just relaxing for a few days would recharge me so much. I can tell that I was definitely overdue for a rest.

The weekend went great. The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so it was the perfect day to go to Nashville Dog Dayz. Casey and I decided to take our time getting up and getting ready. We had a nice, late breakfast and were on our way by noon. We got there, and luckily, found a parking space quickly. We parked on the backside of the duck pond. Shingo rode all the way to Nashville like a little champ. He was SO well behaved for the hour and twenty minute trip. He worked on a chewie part of the way and slept the rest. He's not exactly well leash trained yet, but he still did well walking around the park and events. The only part that bothered him was when we walked around the duck pond. The swans were all honking and walking around, and I think it scared him a little bit. Those swans were WAY bigger than he is. We finally paid our admission and got into the event. We had a great time going to all of the different booths. Shingo especially enjoyed all of the free treats. I met LOTS of great people from great animal organizations. I made some really good contacts for Celebration Pet Day next year too! Shingo got lots of attention from other attendees, and he just ate it all up. After about two hours, Shingo was worn out and so were we. We decided to head out and grab a nibble, before heading home. Shingo was zonked for the ride home.

After we got home and recovered for a bit, we went to our friend Loki's house for grilled steaks with the trimmings. It was nice to get together and relax with good friends. We stayed out pretty late on Saturday, but it was a GREAT day.

Sunday and Monday, we just slept in and lounged. I caught up on some reading, and we had several good movies to watch. Casey also cooked up some things to eat for the week; pot roast and swiss steak. Yum! It was just nice to not have anywhere to be or anything to do. I badly needed a few days like that.

Even though I'm back to the normal routine, I can't wait to have a "relax" weekend again!

Fall Break

Ah, Fall Break. This year, I'm actually taking it with the students too. Well, mom has dr.s appointments on both Monday and Tuesday, but I'm still not at work. I don't have much planned intentionally. I just want to rest and relax. I haven't had a lot of down time lately, and I'm really starting to feel it. The only thing I really have planned is to go to Nashville Humane Association's Dog Dayz Festival tomorrow. . I'm going there partly for research and partly for fun. I want to network with other humane folks and make connections and get really good ideas of what works for them and what doesn't. I'm also going to have fun and to get Shingo out of the house. So, if you see this dog:

I'll be attached to the other end of the leash.

Other than that, I have several days of book reading, movie watching, and lounging to catch up. I'll be back on Wednesday. Everyone have a great weekend!

Window to My World

I know this isn't exactly on time, but I just got them. What's them, you say? Well, I FINALLY have the Celebration Pet Day pictures. This year I was so busy, that I didn't even snap the first picture. That's o.k., because one of our volunteers, Kimberly, is a professional photographer and much better at it! To see the pictures, click HERE.

SQUEEE...FINALLY!!!

The trailer for Hayden Christensen's new movie, Jumper, is out!! I'm now looking forward to President's Day.

Back to Normal

I've been lazy updating the past week. It's not that I don't have plenty to share, but I've just been so tired. I spent all of last week playing catch up with the things I had let go during the Pet Day frenzy. I really feel like I've just been going through the motions. It seems that I just can't get enough rest. I think maybe it's just the season. I tend to do this in the fall.

Mostly over the weekend, I just tried to rest. I spent most of the day, Sunday, just lazing around. I did go out in the afternoon for the annual Blessing of the Pets in honor of St. Francis Assisi at the local, Episcopal church. Since Bear had already been twice, and Shiloh and Fergie aren't much for outings, I decided to take Shingo. They had a lovely little service in the back courtyard. It was nice and shady, so the heat wasn't bad at all. Shingo was SO well behaved, especially with so many other dogs there. I held him in my arms most of the time. He just sat there looking around, and kissing everyone that came within reach of his tongue. He just loves everyone. Reverend Peter Whalen conducted the service and had a mass blessing during. Then afterwards, he came around and blessed all of the pets individually. In addition to the blessing, each pet received a certificate and a St. Francis medal. It was REALLY nice. I'm looking forward to next year's service.

Celebration Pet Day: Recap

It's taken a while, but I'm finally back. It didn't help that I got some sort of nasty stomach bug, right after the event. Everything went even better than I could have imagined. The programming all went smoothly, along with the dog show. The Society of Secret Identities was GREAT! Everyone just loved them. I don't have the total yet, but I think we made a little over $2200 profit!! I don't have much time to post all of the details today, since I'm SOOOOO behind. I'll have a more detailed post soon. In the mean time, here are some photo links of the event that you can enjoy (I'm relying on others photos, because like a goof, I ran off and forgot my camera!)

Here's some pictures that John over at Lake Neuron took. Click HERE.

My friend Derek, a member of the Society of Secret Identites, took THESE.

Oh, and check out our local police dog, Remy!