Making the Most of 60+

 Tomorrow I'm 64. WoooHooo! 

Actually, I feel 30. Except for the stiff back from sleeping on the couch for two days because my new foster dog has anxiety issues.  He's adorable, but is still getting used to us. 

I always look at each decade as an adventure. Something to meet with joy & awe.  This decade had me opening my own business and facing the challenges of running it during Covid. 

So for this new year of my 60 decade, what challenges shall we find? Adventures shall we plan? Or goals shall we set?  Okay, let's give it a go. What would be good things to do/see/experience for 64? 

•  Build my business 
• Publish another Book on Amazon (It's written but now comes the edit)
• Post some short stories on The Midnight Brain
• Rescue more dogs 
• Buy a home
• Get organized
• Lose 10... okay, 15 pounds
• Make friends
• Plant a garden
• Paint a mural 

So what's your plans for this year of your life? 

Open House! Come on in!

An open house can be stressful, but we've done a few and the one tomorrow will be no different. We're up early straighten up the house and clear out.  Sometimes we go to Barnes & Nobel to sit in the cafe, sometimes to the movies, or see whatever else we can find to do.

I've spent the last few days saying goodbye to the house and welcoming the new family. I now refer to this as "that house" and "their future home" instead of my house. I'm ready, Universe! Let's go get a Florida house!

I used to foster dogs but since the house is selling, I'm not taking one right now.  Selling a home with dog hair on the furniture and that sometimes sweet smell of wet dog, isn't always that easy. Selling without animals, they say, is easier.

I just miss having a dog in the house soooo  much!

Today I watched a couple of Doxies for a friend and I had the best time playing and loving these two beauties. They were extremely sweet and gentle and loving. They are my friends foster pups and they are such good dogs I know they will get adopted fast. Hopefully together. 

It was just really nice to have dogs in the house, even if just for a little while.
Plan for future?
Sell house
Move to Florida
Buy house

Rescue a dog (or maybe two!)

Suddenly Sixty

Funny, I don't feel sixty.
Except at work where I'm surrounded by coworkers the same ages as my kids. Yeeek!  The weird thing is, sometimes they talk to me as a coworker, sometimes as a mom. Yes, they want their cuts looked at and advice for how to handle that snarky so called friend, then they talk business with me. It's a very strange land I live in now.
Suddenly Sixty.

My kids moved 900 miles away and it broke my heart. I'm happy that they moved to a less expensive state and are doing great in their jobs, but they're 900 miles away. :(
Last week my dog went to Heaven. Another heartbreak. I cry every day now. I look to her spot on the couch and where she naps under the table as if I expect to see her. It was sudden. Wednesday fine, Thursday sick and rushed to the dog hospital, Friday gone. I can't stop crying.
I washed her beds and blankets intending to donate them to a rescue. They're still in my car. I can't let them go yet.


On top of all this, work sucks. Changes are being made and it's not what I signed up for. I told them I didn't want to travel. I never had a job where I had to travel and I don't like driving. Done.

List the house, move to Florida. Wish me luck.
Listing a house is like an opening night 24/7. Always be ready for the house to be "on" and ready to show. Its exhausting. Couple that with the fact we had to de-personalize the house, it doesn't even feel like our home anymore. None of my art is around the house, I don't have a workshop anymore (now it's a bedroom.) Boring beige bland house.

And I'm itching to paint something. Anything. Before I used to paint all the time. Now all my stuff is put away. Hidden in a box in storage. Blah.

I can't wait to move! Get me into my own home again with an art studio and family photos on the wall.


Sell this house and bring me to my new home in Florida! I will it to happen soon!  Please send positive vibes this way! Sell the house! Sell the house! Sell the house!

Crazy Dog Week!

RESCUE DAY! 

Lexie arrived! Due to unexpected traffic delays, I got her home 20 minutes before my daughter arrived from Florida with her 3 month old dog, Gwen. Let the chaos begin! Two crazy puppies who had been locked up in crates for hours, finally hit the house and the yard at 90 miles per hour. These two pups ran circles around the house and yard for an hour as they used up all that pent up energy!

I looked at Lexie's paperwork and although she was listed as an 8 month old Feist from the shelter, the paperwork from the vet said 2 or 3 months old.  And to me she looks more like a Chihuahua- Dachshund mix. She's got that apple head and a long-ish body. She's loving and sweet and, although she needs to work on her housebreaking skills,  she listens when you tell her no.

My daughter fell in love with her and really wanted to adopt her. However, her dog looks like it's going to be 50 or 60 lbs and I hesitate to adopt a very small dog to a home with a dog that will be that big. Although, Lexie was quite bossy with Gwen, and proved to be the alpha dog in this relationship, she was maybe 8 lbs compared to Gwen's 22 lbs. Probably not a good idea for Lexie's safety. They played like crazy running, tug-of-war, wrestling, fetching toys, but sometimes the bigger dog didn't know her own strength. We had to watch them carefully and slow them down at times just to be sure Lexie stayed safe. Lexie is fearless.

All tuckered out, Lexie and her new best friend nap

Today Gwen headed back to Florida and Lexie will have to entertain herself. My dog, Gracie is older and really not into running around like a crazy puppy. We'll see how it goes. I'm working on photos for the rescue website so we can find Lexie a good furever home. She's a great dog and deserves a great home.