Not too bad for a couple of rodents, eh? Of course, all the dogs enjoyed the meal as well. You might say that I spent this Thanksgiving a little differently than most. Specifically, I spent it free of other humans. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and friends. This year though, I wanted to really stop and reflect on the many things that I am thankful for that I all too often take for granted. My animal companions. My dogs and rats put up with much from me. My long hours at work, tolerating a variety of different dogs that come through the house and of course, me:-) Today I thoroughly enjoyed really just spending time observing the little things that happen every day that I usually don't have time to notice. Such as how I love to watch my rats when they are eating. They really are masters at what they do. Chewing things into perfect little bits then going for more. At almost 2 years old, these boys are really quite spry for their age. Their brother passed on nearly a month ago. He was not so lucky to be blessed with their overall good health. Then there are my dogs. It was cold and rather breezy today. Just looking out the window at my Lexy, I noticed just how long her hair has gotten and how gorgeous she is when it blows in the wind. She really is a beautiful dog. She fell asleep on one of the dog beds earlier today. She rarely does that. She looks like a pup when she sleeps. then there is Squirt. Once an extremely frightened, yet aloof pooch, she has grown into a gentle, trusting soul. I always say that it was her eyes that made me bring her home. She still has those eyes. I swear sometimes I can hear what she's saying when she sits and stares at me. She'll take her paw, put it on my arm and just look at me. Another work of art that nature sent to me.
Cody, on the other hand, is nowhere near as dignified as my older girls. He is a rambunctious little critter that refuses to allow me NOT to notice him.
When Chester was here (sure do miss that old fart) the dogs couldn't have their stuffed toys out. My girls have never been chewers, but Chester, God love him, could shred a toy into a fine haze across the floor (as all good labs do:-) in about 5 minutes. Well, this week I pulled out the toys again and Cody thought he had died and gone to doggy heaven!!! There is one squeaky toy that we used to play with every day when he first came to me several years ago. It was our routine. Every day I would come home from work, and the first five minutes where devoted to throwing this dirty, chewed up little stuffed toy with a rope on it. He would get soooo excited and keep coming back for more. Then he was happy to settle down and drive me crazy with the dang squeaker in the thing! Now he's got it back and loves playing fetch with it again. He was okay with the heavy rubber things that Chester couldn't chew up, but they just weren't the squeaky toy:-)
Looking at the fosters I have here, I just keep wondering how they ended up in the situations they were in. All the dogs in my house, including my own, were at some point either neglected or dumped--and for stupid reasons too. I just don't get it. Jester spent the day between sleeping and coming over to me for some snuggles. I rarely get the time to just be still for any length of time and enjoyed seeing him seek out the attention. He's not a licky dog, but at one point he even very carefully licked my foot. I had to laugh because I thought it was another of the dogs, but there was Jester looking very serious about what he was doing, lol. Mishka is such a beauty. She has those burgundy brown eyes like my Lexy and stunning little eyelashes. If you even get your face close to her, she will give you big kisses on your cheek. When she's happy, which is pretty much all of the time, she wags her tail. She's got this curly tail that hangs over her back and it just bounces back and forth and is just adorable! And of course, there's Mo. This boy is sooo starved for attention, that sometimes I feel badly that he's stuck in a house with so many other animals. He gets along with everyone (and plays hard with my Cody). But if he has a choice, he will literally sit next to me with his head on my lap and let me pet him as long as I want. He is not a crazy, licky dog either he's just very still and almost serene. We think this guy must have been in a home at one time, because he really does have great house manners, but his long stint on the chain very nearly broke him, I think. You can see it in his eyes when you take the time to look. He's just so happy to be free and have someone to love him and pay attention to him. He doesn't have a lot of confidence yet, but he's working on it.
All in all, I feel like this has been an amazing Thanksgiving. For once, I just refused to worry about what has to be done tomorrow. I didn't stress about not getting the house cleaned up. I didn't feel guilty about leaving the dogs at home, staring at me as I walked out the door. And I didn't feel guilty that I chose to spend this Thanksgiving alone. Because really, I wasn't alone. I was in very interesting company. I just might do this again next year:-) I hope you were as lucky as me to count the blessings you have right in front of you.
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