It's Been a While

I still like to play in my bed, mom!

I'm glad the sun shines here, too!

What are these creatures, mom? And can I go say hi? 

It's been quite a while since we posted on blogger.  We've been a bit busy.  Last year we decided it was time to look for a new home, away from the city, away from the garbage and noise.  We found a townhouse community being built in a north/northwest suburb that we were familiar with, and decided that would be our new home.  So we watched as our house was built - first the groundbreaking, then the first floor, the second floor, and finally the top floor with a roof over it all.  We closed on it in late November, but because of the holidays and the travel we do to go see family at that time of year, we didn't move in until January.  Since then we've been in the process of making this house our home.  Each day it feels a little more comfortable, a little more like home.  It's been an adjustment for Riley.  She used to like the balcony that overlooked the busy street in the city - she could look out and see all the people and dogs walking by.  Now she likes to look out the window next to the front door and bark at any movement she sees.  She still likes to sit in the sun by the sliding door, but instead of having a neighborhood filled with people walking around with wires coming out of their heads, not paying attention to the world around them, we get to walk around a new neighborhood where we can see ducks, and geese.  While it's a change, it's a worthwhile change, in my humble opinion.  And I think Riley would agree.  

Noise Pollution

Can you hear me now?  That was a tag line in a commercial a while back for a cell phone provider advertising their coverage area.  But it could also be a question asked because our world today is just so full of noise.  Living on a busy street in a big city, I hear music from cars, people shouting down the street to each other, barking dogs, wailing sirens, and the rumble of heavy trucks.  Going out and about, I hear music blaring in the stores, TV screens talking at the gas pumps, and the pounding of jack hammers at the numerous construction sites.  

The sounds of nature, the birds singing, the woodpeckers pecking, the rustle of fall leaves, get drowned out by all the sounds of man.  There's a stress that comes along with these sounds of man that can lead to people having short tempers, and bad dispositions.  It's a continuation of the stresses of the work day without a place to experience something different, something relaxing.  

I've spent a part of this year in a very different place than the big, busy, noisy city.  A trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, and a trip to the mountains of North Georgia where the Appalachian Trail starts provided that something different...and I enjoyed the quiet and the calm and the tweets of a different kind.  And I'm trying to bring just a little of that back into my everyday life, to hear the world around me rather than let it be lost in a cacophony of sounds. 

Perhaps we'd all take just a little better care of the world around us, and of each other, if we could hear the sounds of our world just a little more.

It's Spring!

In just about an hour spring will arrive here in the Midwest.  The sun is shining and the snow has melted and the temperatures are feeling much better than the cold blast we had earlier this year.  And I think everyone is ready for the warmer temperatures. While this past winter was not as bad as the one before (when we became known as Chiberia!), it still had its challenges - including leftover potholes! It's times like this I keep thinking about how much Riley would love to have a yard.  When we still had our snow piles, Riley got to romp in the snow a bit on her leash with a dog who lives on the next block.  The look of pure joy on her face made me smile, and want more of that for her.  So as I start 'spring cleaning' and clearing out a lot of junk, I am also thinking about the future, and perhaps getting that yard for Riley…and for me!

For Benny - Hugs and Kisses Day

It's a Hugs and Kisses Day for Benny from Two French Bulldogs. Lily and Edward would like you all to join in! 

Happy Gotcha Day!

Two years ago today I made a decision to adopt a little beastie who was named Laney by the rescue.  She was three months old and weighed all of 5 pounds!  She looked different from her siblings, as you can see by this picture which was on the Petfinder profile of her sister, Lucy (the little black pup). Along with her brother Lenny, they were listed as Poodle-Wire Haired Terrier Mix.  

I brought her home, named her Riley and life's been an adventure every since!  We went through housebreaking, puppy teeth and puppy shots and an Indiana road trip by the time she was 6 months old.  By the end of April she had made a two day ride in the car down to Florida and was boarded for the first time.  Since then, she's traveled a few more times to Indiana and Florida and has been to northern Georgia both summers, she's welcomed company and has learned to snuggle in bed with mama, and that when the Game of Thrones theme starts, she's in for snuggle time on the couch.  

Yesterday she got a Kong Wubba that she played with and today we walked over to Kriser's and got a selection of treats, including a treat bag they gave us when I mentioned it was her Gotcha Day.  

So Happy Gotcha Day, baby girl!  May the adventures continue!

A Very Special 13th

This weekend a very special blogger friend is celebrating a very special birthday.  That's right! It's Sugar and she's lucky 13 years old!!  We got to meet Sugar in the fur this week, just in time for this special weekend!

Happy Birthday, Sugar, with smiles, from your friend Riley!

A Morning at The Glen

Yesterday morning Riley and I got into the car and drove north for a little bit to 'The Glen' in Glenview.  We were going to meet up with one of our blogging friends, Sugar!  After arriving just a little bit early (we weren't sure how bad traffic was going to be), Riley wanted out of the car.  We walked around by the stores a little and by the fountain with the Navy statues.  Riley was a little confused because while these statues looked like people, they sure didn't smell like people.  I told her this was to honor the Naval aviators because this whole area used to be the Glenview Naval Air Station.  Before long a car pulled up and there was our blogging friend Sugar and her mom!! After some initial sniffs, we all walked together for a while.  We saw a family of ducks and some Canadian geese and some real nice lilypads that Sugar's mom said looked like a Monet painting!  The park area of the Glen is pretty, with a real prairie feel.  You can even see some of the nice little touches behind Sugar - there are cut outs in the wood in the shape of dragonflies! Riley and I had been to the Glen once before after finding out about it from Sugar's mom.  But we both agree it was a lot more fun to enjoy it with friends!