Beautiful Weather

The weather has been so beautiful these past 4 days!  It's been a little taste of spring with sunshine and temperatures in the 50s or 60s--  way too nice to spend all day inside.  It's been a wonderful opportunity to take Molly and Ori for longer walks and to go out and wander more often.  Nick and I realized that when Molly came to us in August we were no longer going for walks around Hickory with Tink since at that point she was walking around the apartments but not any further.  So this is really Molly's first weekend at longer walks which are fabulous for her back end.  Both Moo and Ori appear to be really enjoying the longer walks (and then the longer naps as a result!)  Ori is loving the opportunity to say "Hi" to every person she meets.  A little kid carrying a stuffed monkey came up to her this afternoon and she turned herself inside out trying to get to the monkey, even making her own monkey noises as a result!

Apparently yesterday when Nick came home, all three of them ran home from the dumpster.  Nick said that even Moo was at a full gallop!  I saw a little bit of her running foot loose and fancy free this afternoon in the warm weather and sunshine.   It makes me smile to see her happy and doing well.

Overall Molly is doing well.  She's developed this habit of joining us in bed on top of the covers in between Nick and me in the middle of the night.  She won't sleep on the side of the bed, it has to be right in the middle!  What is left of her coat is shiny and healthy looking.  Unfortunately she's still loosing hair on her back legs.  I can't seem to get her to gain any worthwhile weight and to add insult to injury, I was greeted with a blow out on the carpet in the living room this afternoon.  The first one in over 2 months, but man, what a mess to clean up!  I think we're going to be ok....clean up, vinegar, Borax, vacuum, steam clean, now baking soda then a final vacuum.  Hopefully that will do the trick.  Mid clean up, Ori decided to add her own peepee to the list of things to do!  In her defense, she was right by the front door she just didn't understand my "wait a minute" so I could get up and get my flip flops on!  Then while I'm steam cleaning, I turn around and O is chewing up the place mat that was under Molly's food and water bowl!  Oh my little monkey!

Ori is consistently going down the stairs but she is very opinionated about where she wants to go.  She's quick to put the brakes on but generally waiting her out, she eventually thinks it through and making a "sunny choice," going my way : )  We start obedience the first tuesday in April.  I'm excited as it's the first step in our formal training with O!  Her coat is beautiful and shiny.  I love her brindling and how perfect she looks when the sun shines on her.  Both girls did great in their baths on Saturday night.  Peanut butter on the tub is a great hit and help!  Ori continues to sit in the bathroom and watch Moo get her bath and dry, taking it all in!

March 5th came and almost went... I realized that afternoon that Tink had left us 5 months ago and the weight of that thought hit me pretty hard.  5 months...really? I'm attempting to grasp that length of time without her. We still have her little red hoodie with the rest of the girls' coats.  It hung there for her for so long that neither of us have been able to move it just yet.  It's currently in the wash, but I'm sure it will find its way back to the doggy coat rack.  Moo and O help us smile in so many ways and remind us of our little one every day.  It's good and wonderful, healing yet painful.  I look at Ori's smooshy little face while she is pressed tightly against me.  I listen to her snore and sigh and I feel my heart come alive in a way I didn't think it could again.  It's slight, but it's there.  I watch her roll on her back first thing in the morning and lay there "stuck" like another little one we had and I smile.  The thought of having Ori here for many years to come is exciting.  We didn't move into our little rancher with a fenced in back yard for Tink, but Lord willing, Ori will have her own place and fenced in yard to run around and play in one of these years. 

We've been blessed with some fabulous little doggies in our home.  I asked Nick last night: How do we get all the cute doggies?  His reply:  We keep 'em!