It started at 2:30 with Oregon singing the song of an upset stomach. Not exactly what I would choose for my morning alarm but it is very effective for getting one out of bed. Not sure if it was a result of the new food he is transitioning to, or the early morning hungries and he needs more dinner or a later dinner. More trial and error in the future.
4:30 am: Oregon had another visit from Uppy Chucky.
5:30 am: time to get moving. I have to get the animals fed and watered and the car loaded before 6:40 departure. I have to load up with alot of fruit and vegis to avoid the fast food trap. I gave up 'white' food for lent (sugar, white flour, white potatoes rice) so no fries or burger buns on this trip.
6:40 am: It is time for the dreaded loading dogs in car. Arri wants to go. I had a brilliant idea last night - Once I got the 3 musketeers in the garage, I would lure Arri away from the door with a peanut butter stuffed bone. Allowing me to grab coat, purse, etc and get out the door with out him giving me the abandonment look. It worked!!!! It was still hard to leave but it went much easier than I feared. Grandma and Grandpa will be over in the middle of the day to hang out for a few hours.
There is an inch of fresh snow on the ground, it is snowing very hard and the roads are a mess. I know it is only lake effect snow but lake effect can extend 60 miles and actually be worse farther from the lake. They are predicting 8 inches today. I will not worry that grandma and grandpa can make the drive over. The roads will be fine in a few hours.
I drop Glamis and Summer at day care. Glamis is thrilled and gallops around the room. Summer shoves her face through the fence and gives me the abandoned look. I am just so cruel. She will be fine once I leave.
6:55 am: Oregon and I are officially on the way to the CCI graduation in Columbus, OH. Woo Hoo!!! The roads are miserable. White out conditions and unable to see any paint marks on the road. I only drive off the edge of the road once, spending a minute fairly out of control before recovering. Ok, I will slow down a bit more. God, Please don't let this weather continue for very long.
As I approach the ramp to I-80, the roads are not great, better, but not great. It is still snowing. Knowing I-80 has a reputation for horrible, multi-car pile ups, I continue south, to US-30, hoping the roads get better. They do. It is still snowing but not accumulating and the roads are pretty dry. After that, the drive was fine - right up until.....
the human road block. I was within 40 minutes of my destination and suddenly, I could not go straight. some people in florescent vests were directing traffic off the main road. Great. I am in the middle of farm country with no idea of where to go once I am off my main route. Thankfully, I am a sucker for buying items that come with free stuff. When I bought my smart phone, I was debating between two models. One came with free stuff, the other didn't. Guess which one I bought? Yep - this one came with a hands free car adapter. I plugged the phone in and brought up the navigation program. woo hoo!!!!! back on track
I arrive with 5 minutes to spare.
12:30: Teva and Oregon are sequestered while I go meet Jena and her family. Jena is a beautiful, young, college age woman. I just loved her from the start. Her mom and brother were there and they are so nice. I think I will keep them. CCI has done it again. They made a great match and I am thrilled with the family Teva has gone to.
2:00: Graduation ceremony...As I entered the room to find a seat, Jena's mom caught my attention. She had saved a seat for me. Up until then, I really had not gotten emotional. That choked me up a bit. Teva is actually Jena's Successor Service Dog. Her first dog passed away last year. I could see the emotion for her and her family as past and present met during the ceremony. Teva brings with him the medicine to mend a broken heart. In time, the past will be remembered with joy and not tears. Teva's fur will gladly absorb the tears until that time comes. I was so proud to be able to hand over the leash. Teva is a great dog and he went to a wonderful young lady. Wishing them many, many happy years together.
Post graduation was a whirl. So many people I saw from afar but didn't get to say hello to. Congratulations to the other graduates and hugs to those who turned in their pups. Every tear shed is worth it.
Meanwhile - back in Michigan - Arri's sitters arrived. He went out, came in, went out. Barked at every car that went by. He got a bit too excited when the UPS man came by and needed to be calmed. LOVED his lunch of Eukenuba and boiled potato. I am sure he would have preferred Grandma's gyro but he ate what was offered to him. He enjoyed the company and Grandma and Grandpa had a nice afternoon with them. Even Freckles the cat joined in the fun by settling on Grandma's chest while she tried to nap and then moving over to Grandpa while he tried to read. She has now claimed them as hers.
The report from day care was that Summer was fine until other parents started to pick up their kids. At that point she planted herself and stared at the door waiting for her daddy to pick her up. She is such a princess. Having recently learned that my own mom quit work when I started going to day care because I cried so much, I guess Summer takes after her mother.
The drive home was uneventful, if you consider missing my turn and having the phone direct me on every back road in Ohio prior to getting me back on the road I needed, uneventful. Once back on the right road, I knew the way home without assistance. That was a really good thing because the navigation system drained my phone battery dry.
I fully expected to hit a wall of snow when I reached South Bend but the roads were dry. And they stayed that way. All the snow happened as I was leaving that morning and melted away by evening. I was home by 9:00 pm. What and exhausting but great day!
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