Home for the Holidays

It was great to get away on vacation in November over the Thanksgiving holiday. The trip to Florida was beautiful. No rain or snow all the way down or back driving. No bad weather. Only one day of cold while there, all the rest of our 8 days was filled with mostly blue skies and sunshine.

We took a break from everything! I didn't work out once, but I walked the beach, played shuffleboard and putt putt golf, swam, and even shot some pool. Mostly we just kicked back and enjoyed ourselves. We even got to see dolphins swim by from our balcony, and the sunrises and sunsets over the ocean were breathtaking.

No matter how enjoyable and awesome our vacation was though, it was so nice to get back home.

Home is where my heart is. I love our little town of Owosso, Michigan and all the people in it. Corunna is pretty decent too! Love all the Christmas lights and decorations, and love the support and closeness we have in this tight knit community.

But I love my house too. I live next door to where I grew up and spent all my Christmas's. Traditions that we've instilled in our kids have been memories that will carry on to the next generation.

This year our Abuse Bites Team were invited to participate in the Tree of Lights Parade in Corunna, Michigan. Our theme was Santa's Paws for a Cause to Stop Abuse & Bullying. We won BEST MARCHING/WALKING UNIT, received a trophy, and a $50 check!

The parade's theme was Mardi Gra Christmas. My sister, Sue had just passed away and her favorite color was purple--mine pink--so I bought the balloons in her memory and let them go in the middle of the parade.

We also took the dogs in Christmas Costumes to our local Nursing Home, Pleasant View Medical Care Facility, to visit my mom and others for a time of healing pet therapy.

On Christmas Eve we celebrated Christmas with our family . After a delicious dinner prepared by my loving husband, we all gathered together for several hilarious games to the theme of "Surviving Christmas". After each game, the WINNER got to choose and open one wrapped gift. Some were legitimate gifts (gift cards and such) while many others were hysterical pranks.

I never laughed so hard in all my life.

The first game we filled 5 baby bottles with Mt. Dew to determine who was the biggest sucker. For four of them, you could say, "Christmas Sucked" but for the lucky winner, Sam, she got to grab a present.

Sam Wins!!! She's the Biggest Sucker!

They entered arm wrestling contests, balloon blowing contests, a clothes relay, and a couple of games where you couldn't smile--everyone was ROTFL. I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Typically I'm crying because of the great loss I've suffered with my son, father, and now sister passing away. It felt good to have a fun time, celebrate, and laugh. Laughter is the best medicine that's for sure. And gifts given this time of year help to make it a merrier Christmas.

BUT the best Christmas gift of all is simply this, being with all those that love you and celebrating the birth of the precious Christ Child.

From our Home to Yours... Have a wonderful New Year!

DOGS BEHAVING BADLY

Last week we did the Perryfest Parade in Perry, Michigan. Since we were already shorthanded I thought it best to leave our little stinker "Baby Ruth" at home and just bring "Snickers" our Certified Pet Therapy Dog.

BUT Daddy (my hubby) said she could go. So I turned to Baby Ruth (our min pin, rat terrier, chihuahua mix) who was waiting impatiently by the door and said, "Guess what? Daddy said you can go?!" She started dancing in a circle all excitedly. Everyone laughed it was so cute.

So I grabbed both the dogs leashes. Then realized I didn't pack any waters or even a water dish for the dogs! OOOPS! After grabbing the waters last minute, we were out the door right at 10:30 a.m. like we had planned.

As we drove down our street I had a bright idea.

"We should let the dogs have a quick run before the half hour drive to get their energy out," I announced to my husband.

He pulled the van over at the soccer ball fields, and I let them both out, unleashed, not even thinking. Another OOPS!

We were laughing at first to see Baby Ruth running crazily around the whole open field along the creek, but then she stopped and started eating something.

I commanded her to "Leave It!" and every other dog command I could think of, which only encouraged her to eat faster. That was an even bigger OOPS!

I commanded her to come. Instead of coming to me, she stopped eating, dropped, and rolled in whatever it was, smearing her face entirely in it, and then since Snickers had ran back to the van, she did too. That's when we realized she was covered in poop and had a BIG CLUMP stuck to the side of her face! URG!

So back home we sped.

My son Jeremiah took her around back to put her on the chain, while I fled in the house to wash the leashes (she had even gotten poo on Snickers leash too!) The door was locked and none of the 5 million keys on the ring would work! REALLY?

Finally, I got the door opened, washed the leashes, and cleaned the sinks and counters, but I had no time to bathe Baby Ruth or we'd really be late. So I had no choice but to leave her on the chain until we got home.

Thankfully, despite the slew of mishaps that morning, the parade turned out fabulous! The parade director even told my husband, John, to drive slow through town because they were going to give us an extra long shout out about our Abuse Bites program and pay tribute to our son, Brian, who passed away last year.

I've been in a lot of parades, but their announcement, that morning, was so wonderful, it made me cry.

Later, I returned home and bathed the little stinker, which by this time, the poo was all hardened and stuck in her fur. Two shampoos later and she came out smelling like a dog I could cuddle and hold again.

But I'm learning that some dogs (like Baby Ruth) if given an inch, will take a mile, so they need more discipline and structure and probably shouldn't be unleashed for their own protection. I've also learned from experience that when she does eat something nasty, she always ends up sick.

We're actually a lot like dogs. We often go back to the same old garbage too, in our friendships, relationships, and other things that pull us down, which can make us physically and emotionally ill. So let's take care of those that we love, work on changing the bad behaviors, and staying away from the garbage in life.

I've had to work much harder with, Baby Ruth, than perhaps with Snickers, but I love her so much. Instead of hurting her when she's bad, I tell her NO, and focus on the times she's good and praise her for that!

Love and praise are the most powerful and effective tools for training dogs, but especially for dogs behaving badly.