Black & White Sunday # 3

Almost 4 months old... so small. and sweet.

This post is part of a blog hop hosted by some of our favorite bloggers, YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner.com, My Life In Blog Years, and Dachshund Nola.

Fit Dog Friday # 1 - I'll Carry You

When someone hears about our plans to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2014 and then takes a look at Athena, the most common reaction I get is a laugh followed by,

 "You better plan on carrying her."  

Don't get me wrong.  I know I'm going to carry her some. I just don't agree that I will carry her to the extent that other people seem to think I will have to. Athena is constantly amazing me with what she is capable of. Every so often she shows even shows me that I'm capable of things I didn't think that I was.

On Monday we began our hike by going down a steep set of steps.  Athena stood at the top of the steps. She looked back and forth between the steps and then back up to me with this little frown. Athena and I are such a great team because we're very in sync. She didn't even have to give me her "pick me up" whine. I said to her, "It's okay, I can carry you down." I picked her up and headed down to begin our hike.

Later we came to a fork in the path.  To our left was a wide, easy, gradual, very tempting, downhill trail.  To our right was a muddy, trail that seemed to lead straight up with wooden steps carved into the steep hill. I had no idea how far up it went and I knew that it would be tough for both of us.  I didn't even wait for Little Boss to state her opinion by veering off towards the path she preferred.  I'm not sure if she'd even seen it yet.  I just told myself "It's not a mountain" and made the choice to take the climb instead of the literal "easy way out" to our left.  

From here on out anytime someone says that I'll have to carry Athena I will think of that short but challenging climb.  As we ascended, Athena stopped meandering and sniffing and just focused. I love it how Athena gets this single minded focus in moments like this. She is stubborn and determined, confident and calm. The climb wasn't easy for either of us. 

But in that moment, Athena is the one who carried me up that hill.

She carried me.

This is our first post for the FitDog Friday blog hop hosted by SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place! Yea!!





Wordless Wednesday # 1

This Post is part of the Blog Paws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop



  

A Single Step

I really hate winter, especially February. This winter was the worst. It dragged on forever. I'm not exaggerating at all that this was the worst winter of my life. There are a lot of valid reasons why blogging wound up falling off the priority list all together. But spring is here and we are gaining momentum towards all of our goals.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Our ultimate goal is to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2014.  I'm out of shape and Athena is a baby, so we really have a long way to go before we even set foot on the trail.  Not to mention, figuring out the logistics of funding and planning the adventure. I've been getting so overwhelmed with the whole thing so this morning Athena and I hopped in the car, cranked up some music, and drove to Mounds State Park for some hiking.

Athena and I have never taken a road trip together (even a really short one like today) so she was pretty confused at first.  Once we hit the trail though, she was in her element.  I realized right away that Athena needs a lot more experience in the woods before she'll have really good trail manners. She just needs to get used to the sounds of birds calling and creatures rustling through the forest.  

One of the magical things about Mounds State Park are, well, the mounds.  There are 10 earthwork mounds built by the Adena-Hopewell people.  These mounds were used as a place to gather for religious ceremonies and observing the heavens. They were special and sacred places reserved for ceremonies associated with life, death, renewal and connection.  Athena and I stopped at the Great Mound, constructed around 160 BC, to give thanks for the day and the opportunity to take the first steps on our epic journey.

Black & White Sunday # 2

A black and white picture of the prettiest black and white puppy I know. Happy Sunday from Maru.

This post is part of a blog hop hosted by some of our favorite bloggers, YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner.com, My Life In Blog Years, and Dachshund Nola.

Cutest Way To Wake Up

This morning I woke up in the cutest bed ever thanks to Garfield.  I haven't posted about Garfield yet so I guess today is his day.  Have you ever noticed that orange kitties are the sweetest, most loving of all cats?

This sweet boy is Garfield.

Of my three babies, Garfield is the most "normal". In most ways he is a typical cat who does typical cat things.  He just wants to be petted and loved and he loves catnip.  He's not a fan of dogs. Before I got Athena his primary dog interaction was Maru.  They're both about two years old and Maru is still very much a puppy. When Maru comes over Garfield hides.  Hiding is his specialty.  He's very skilled at hiding in plain sight and can sit in the same position without moving a muscle for hours. In fact, when I first got him he hid in the pillows on the couch and I lost him even though a part of his tail was sticking out the whole time.

You know you wanna pet my fat fluffy tummy don't you!

Since he's not a huge fan of dogs he wasn't exactly pleased when baby Athena came into our lives. He quickly realized that even though she's a dog, she's much easier to deal with because he's so much bigger than her and he still has his claws.  He warmed up to her eventually. They play with each other now but they don't wrestle around like Moses and Athena do. She stays out of range of his paws and they chase each other around the house. 

But even though they play, Garfield still rarely sleeps in bed with me anymore since Athena came along. Which brings me to my cute awakening this morning.  I have a studio apartment and my bed is on the floor in the alcove behind the couch. It's actually quite nice. It's like a den for me and my cubs. (I've been calling them my cubs since it was just me and Moses. He wants everyone too know that he's really a Siberian Tiger or a Puma or whatever big cat suits his mood that day.)  Last night when I went to bed Garfield walked along the bed between me and the back of the couch.  I pet him for a few minutes but I really had to go to sleep as it was waaaaay past our bedtime. So I rolled over and went to sleep.  When I woke up in the morning my elbow bumped someone's head.  I'd had that same thing happen the day before so I figured it was Athena's head.  I reached over to pet her and found a much bigger, fluffier head.  Garfield had settled in right next to me and slept all night.  Athena was under the covers, stretched out along my leg and when I stretched my legs out my toes found Moe's soft fur. 

I woke up to all three cubs in bed with me. Moses sleeps near the foot of my bed almost every night.  Athena always sleeps burrowed under the covers, right up against my body every night unless she's up to midnight mischief. The one thing I've missed since I got Athena is snuggles with my little middle child.  Just look at this guy, you know you wanna snuggle him too.

That's right... give me snuggles human!

- Kathy

Black & White Sunday #1

We are joining the Black & White Sunday Blog Hop hosted by some of our favorite bloggers, YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner.com, My Life In Blog Years, and Dachshund Nola. Our first post isn't even a pup.  I woke up this morning to find Moses in Athena's Crate.  He's part Bengal. He does weird things.