Finally back after a couple months off...so much to tell!

Josie and Blues trying to stay still....LOL.

My blue-eyed boy Blues.

My brown-eyed girl Josie, sitting up for a cookie.

Josie looking sweet.

Those blue eyes.....

Blues snuggling with Nigel.

Gertrud and myself after our tubing adventure.

Josie giving Nigel some loving.

As you all know, I took some time off after my patient John had passed away in March and I befriended his wife Gertrud. All this after sleeping on the floor on a doggie bed with Josie for three weeks while John was in Hospice care. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I don't regret a second of it.

I did stop back in on my birthday, May 24th, only to find out that our beloved friend MaxDog had passed on that day. What a sad day that was. I posted my condolences to MaxDog's mom, who has a new beautiful blog called Living Life to the Max, but decided I still needed to take some time off to spend with Gertrud and myself.

I had grown quite close to her and she to me. Something I was not ready for was the sadness that accompanied John's passing in March. It enveloped myself and Gertrud. At first I didn't understand what it was. But it crept up on me until I was fully wrapped in it. I couldn't escape the feelings. I didn't know what to do, so I went to see a Therapist. Funny, the Pet Therapy person seeing a Therapist. But, hey, what I do is all volunteer work. I am not trained. I just give from my heart. And someone had passed away. And there was a great loss, a void. And I also had became very attached to him and his wife. Now what?

And not only was I down or sad from it, now there was his wife, who was dealing with his death, and 54 years of marriage and I wanted to help her. So I did what any friend or family member would do, and I was there for her. I still am. What I learned was that the best thing I could do for her is just "be" there for her. Let her "be" sad, with me being with her. Try not to "cheer" her up. That is my natural persona. Try to make them laugh or smile, but I learned, just to be. And it's an awesome lesson.

We have become very close, Gertrud and I, and I am very blessed to have a good friend like her. We have adventures together. She's experienced some firsts with me. I took her tubing down a river. We ate crabs together. She flipped out of a pool and was okay (that was not planned!). She bought a new car. Yes, a new car. I helped her trade in her two cars, one of which only had 2,300 miles on it, the other 30,000 miles and buy a new car. My cousin works at a local car dealership, so we got her a fantastic deal.

Josie and I have been visiting the hospital on Fridays to visit Pediatrics and we visit a special school for children every other Wednesday on our lunch hour so the kids can read to her. Once in a while we do adults at the hospital, but it's only because I am spending so much time with Gertrud right now. I also went and got Josie's and my certification at another hospital right around the corner from the one hospital we go to so in the Fall we can start going to both hospitals.

Blues has been growing like a weed. Seriously!! I think he has Greyhound or Whippet in him!! When he runs his ears go next to his head the way a Greyhounds do and his legs are sooo long and so is his tail. He just screams Greyhound! So I think he is a Shepherd/Husky/Greyhound mix. But he is so sweet. I really think he is going to make a wonderful Therapy Dog one day. Love those Greys!!

I seriously want to thank all my FB friends (you know who you are) who gave me my boosts each day to keep me going through all of this and all my Blog Friends who checked in with me. God Bless you all. My hubby (love him) got me a Macbook Pro for my birthday so I will be checking all of your blogs.

Thank you for being so supportive and loving. I love you all. xoxo

Much love and Woof!!

MB, Josie and Blues

P.S. A very special THANK YOU to our good friend Nigel for his "nipping at my heels" about getting back to blogging. Thanks Nigel. It's good to be missed. Love you dear friend.

P.S.S. A shout out to Sierra Dog and her folks. I will talk about them in my next blog!! They went and did a very nice thing!

P.S.S.S. I hope you all like my new look. I am working on it as we speak...much love!

Josie's New Visits, Blues' Ears, Birds and Flowers, Oh My!

Hi Everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last post.

Josie and I have been busy keeping company with Gertrud, which we love, and training baby brother Blues, who will be turning 6 months old on June 6th. Gosh how time flies!

Josie and I also signed up to do a children's hospital on Wednesday's during our lunch hour. The kids are special needs kids and they read to her. She had her first visit last week and she did so well! I was so proud of her. The kids all asked questions at the end of the session and then they all come up and wanted to give her treats all at once. I was a bit concerned because they all approached at once, and there were about 15 children, but Josie was fantastic and just smiled and kept still so they could all pet her. I just beamed like a proud mommy could.

We also received our volunteer status at another area hospital that is a 600 bed facility. We really have our work cut out for us. But we do as much as we can. We still go to the oe hospital at least once a week to go to pediatrics, but at this new hospital we are going to concentrate only on adult patients.

Once Blues is a year old I will take him to Therapy classes and then I will have two Therapy dogs (hopefully!!)

So, a little about the pictures. Well, of course you know Josie and I wanted to show all of you out there that Blues' ears were back to matching Josie's!! Isn't he growing into a handsome boy?

The rest are of my flowers, a peony, one of my hand painted birdhouses, which I painted and a clematis, and a red rhododendron.

The last five pictures are of a Robin's nest I found hidden in my coral honeysuckle bush and the babies. I couldn't get too close or I would disturb them. Can you see the parents yelling at me in the last picture???

I do apologize for not keeping up lately. I have been thinking about all of you so much and been feeling so bad because life has been so hectic it's been hard to post. My hubby is getting me a Mac Laptop for my Birthday so I should have no excuses for keeping up with all of your blogs by the beginning of June.

Much Love,
Hugs and Woofs,
Josie and Blues

Wordless Bluesday!

A Delivery From My BFF Remington!!

I think for once in my life I'm really speechless. Or is that Woofless. My mom and I came home Friday from our Pediatrics visit (which went very well BTW), and we run into the kitchen and there's this nice sized package from Remington.

Now, I know Remington is all head over tails over his new girlfriend Star, who is the cutest little thing, so I am so delighted that he had taken the time to send me and my new little brother Blues some new "Happy Spring Toys!". What a true friend you are Remington! Paws up to you! Woof! Imagine our delight after a very long week.

We love you so much Remington. We can't wait to put together a Summer package for you!!!

Now my mom went nuts taking pictures, then she had to decide which ones to post. I think we narrowed it down to about 23. Sorry it took so long to post, but just enjoy them. They are priceless and just tell the whole story of the night. From package to bedtime.

As you can see, Blues was the first to get the toys out of the bag, then wanted to eat the tags. (Figures!!! BOL). Josie was a lady and waited patiently and posed for the camera. Then playtime and tug-of-war. Then sleepy time (zzzzzzzz).

Remington, I am very lucky to call you a BFF (Blog Friend Forever!)!!! And Star is one lucky lady to have you as a girlfriend.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
Here's to a good upcoming week to all of you!

Much Love,

Woofs!

Josie and Mr. Blues, Jr.

You Talking To Me???

Well, I know it's supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but since I haven't posted in a few days, I have to write a few thoughts down. Mr. Blues, Jr. is growing in leaps and bounds. He won't leave his big sister's side. He follows her EVERYWHERE. Which is really cute. Josie is being really patient with him, to a point. When I know she's had enough, she gives me this look and I know it's crate time for Blues. I've actually been taking Blues to work with me. I have a portable "tent" crate I use there with him. His training his coming along just fine. He's a normal puppy. But he sits on command and he stays when I open the car door to get him out. Which is really good.

My visit with Josie to Pediatrics last Friday (4/16) went so well!! We have another visit this Saturday. She just loves visiting the children. Their faces are worth every minute of being there. There was one little boy who we visited who had his little brother in the bed with him, so it was Josie and two little boys all at the same time. I wish I could have taken a picture to show all of you. Priceless!

It was also the one month anniversary of John's passing yesterday (4/20). I wanted to visit Gertrud, but when I called her, she didn't pick up the phone. I was in her area, but I didn't want to just stop by. I always call first. I give her space, but am always checking on her. Turns out she was just outside watering plants. But I did get to talk to her on the phone. I will visit her tonight. She's coming along, but it's very hard. She misses John so much. I can tell her life is so empty right now. I am trying my best to help her along. I tell her that John would want her to be happy, but she needs to process the loss in her own time. I do know that. I am there for her and so is Josie and Little B.

I also know that today is the day that the show "Through a Dog's Eyes" shows on PBS. (click on link to check it out). I know lots of our blog friends have been talking about it.

I also wanted to tell you about this wonderful woman Lisa and Sister Mary Beth who is running through all 50 states to raise money for all good causes. She started 2 days ago. It's called "Running Hope through America" (click on link to check it out). Since we are all over the place in the USA and beyond, she might be running near you, so it might be fun to read out it. Pretty amazing stuff!

Right now, I am at work, they have laid off everyone but me and my boss. Josie is laying at my feet. Ahhhh, I have my Pandora music playing and am about to dive into a newsletter that I have to do. Hey, it's all in how you look at it. It's a beautiful day. No worries.

Thanks for all your love and support,
I love all of you so much,
Woof!
Much Love,
Josie and Mr. Blues, Jr.

Josie Makes Wolf Face!!!

So this is what happens to a Therapy Dog when you get them a little brother and their big sister genes kick in. WOW! We call it "Wolf Face!" It's just way too funny to watch. I am going to try to get more pictures and post more. But this shot just captured the moment perfectly. Just look at it!! It's just too funny to imagine that she is the most docile creature in the world and does Pet Therapy when I see this picture. But what she is doing is disciplining Blues because he is just pushing her to the edge with his constant attention, so her doggie instincts kick in and she goes to town. She never hurts him, but they play and it's amazing to watch. Like my own little National Geographic Channel in my own house. I guess I should video it sometime. Get out the popcorn and wine and I have my own entertainment. LOL.

On another note, Josie and I visited the hospital last night (4/15/10) and went to the Diabetic/Metabolic Floor to visit the patients. We hadn't been there since John's passing. It felt good to be back. Well, it was a beautiful visit. The patients really appreciated our being there. Even to the point that one patient emailed us and this morning this is what I received:

Dear Marybeth and Josie (or Josie and Marybeth, don't know who gets top billing),

Just wanted to say thanks again for stopping by to visit my Helen yesterday. That was the most at ease she had been all day, and it was because of you guys. Your Josie is someone special! Bless you both.

Unbelievable....it just feels so good to cheer people up. I'm so glad the visit went well, and Josie was such a pro. Feels so good to be back up on that horse.

The hospital video which we were in (in December), was finally finished and debuted yesterday too. We didn't get to see it, but everyone who worked in the hospital did, so as we walked through the hospital, everyone who saw us said, "Oh my, your both famous! So cute in the video!"

And also, Josie and I were on the front page of the local Newspaper while we were in Hospice Care with John and Gert. I forgot to mention that. A huge photo on the Front Page!!!! How embarrassing!!

And they also took our picture yesterday to put in a hospital brochure. So yes, Josie is getting famous. Remember, it's all about the dog!!! Not, me.

Today we go visit the kids in Pediatrics!!!

A special thank you to Cloud and Khyra for cheering me on when I need it the most.
And my little Eva. ;-)

Much Love to you all!!
Have a great weekend!
Woof!!!
Josie and Mr. Blues, Jr.