Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Penny


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Hey! What about me?

Penny here. Geeze people, here I am having all sorts of adventures and mom and my aunt take off camping for a couple days and get to post about it for years. Ok. For days.

This is my studious look. I think it works.

But my point is, do I get to post? No I do not. I have not been given access. Until now, when mom finally gave into my pressure. I told her I won’t sleep in her stinking tent until she posts about all the fun stuff I’ve already done this month!

We went to Katie’s park for our annual photo shoot.

I know my friends have been wondering what I’ve been up to and let me tell you I’ve been really busy! And most of what I’ve been into isn’t going to get me into trouble either! Win-win!

Mom likes a good head tilt, and I try to oblige.

First off, as most of you know, my sister Angel Katie always had a spring yellow flower photo shoot with mom. Well, she told me all about it and I demanded equal yellow flower opportunity. I’m pretty sure it’s in my contract with my folks. So mom took me over to Katie’s park one day early this month.

Mom says I did really good. I thought it took way too long.

Are we almost done, mom?

Then when my Aunt Beth was here we stopped near some other yellow flowers and mom grabbed a few pictures. By then I was an expert at being a model, so it didn’t take long at all.

I think the sun was in my eyes that day.

My Aunt Beth and mom and I also went on quite a few walks in different parks. We all had the best time with beautiful blue skies and hardly any bugs!

Aren’t I cute?

I got to show Aunt Beth several of my own personal parks and especially how well I can sit for the camera. As long as there were treats available, of course.

I look kind of small, don’t I.

She was very impressed.

And THEN, the most exciting thing! I got to go on a walk with my Aunt Beth and my Mama S and my mom and even my doggy mom Vivian and her roommate Oliva!

Mom asked them to walk up this trail to set us up for a photo.

It was amazing! Three shelties all going for a walk together. I tell you what, we caused lots of heads to turn when we all walked by!

It wasn’t easy to get the three of us lined up.

OK, so sometimes I was a little rambunctious, and Mama S had to tell me to straighten up. After all, I’m still a baby…right? Oh…what….no? Not so much?

Sometimes a girl’s just got to leap for joy.

Well, I guess I’ll start acting more adult tomorrow, but that day I had so much fun! I got to share one of my favorite parks with my three moms and my aunt!

Yep we had a great time walking together.

I’m so grateful that Mama S brought her girls along on this walk! I promised her we’d do it again soon!

That’s my mom, Vivian next to me (I’m in the center) and her bestie Olivia on the right.

And then, still in the month of May, I got to go on a play day with my friend Lance! I can’t even begin to figure out how mom and dad managed to get this much fun stuffed into one month!

My friend Lance on the left, me on the right.

I think I better rest up for June!

Talk later,

Your playful pup, Penny.


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We’re behind!

Hey everybody! It’s me Penny.

Mom says we haven’t had internet for a million years. Ok, maybe it only FELT like a million years, maybe it was just about a week.

Mom told me to sit on this bench. So I did.

Anyway I’ve been to lots and lots of parks lately ’cause mom and dad are getting stuff done on the house and I tend to bark a lot while stuff is being done on the house.

But mom! I’m not sure about sitting next to a BOY!

Plus mom says it’s really nice to have the time to go to parks and work on my behavior issues. Seriously mom? Does it look like I have behavior issues?

Deuce seemed to tolerate my curiosity, but I don’t think he was thrilled to sit next to a GIRL either.

I didn’t think so.

Mom says she has some really nice pictures of me that she will share with you once she gets them edited and stuff. Which could be a million years from now.

Or a about a week.

Pictures in this post were taken by my Aunt Karen, Deuce’s mom.

Hard telling with mom.

Signing off for now, your photography model and exemplary citizen,

Penny.


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Reposting an important discussion about domestic abuse

Nonsmoking Ladybug shared today some scary memories of her own childhood that flashed back into her memory while she watched this powerful dance number which aired on America’s Got Talent.

Take a moment and go over there and watch, though be warned it may be a trigger.

https://nonsmokingladybug.wordpress.com/2024/04/20/something-so-beautiful-and-so-powerful

While I don’t have personal memories like this, I know people, all women, who do. Some are still experiencing these events today.

A dance like this will spark conversations. Hard, outraged, sad conversations. It’s likely any one conversation will cover all these emotions and more.

But beyond discussing, what can we do?

I don’t have any experience in what to do. But I’ve been reading Kim Sisto Robinsin at My Inner Chick on Facebook for years. Kim’s brother-in-law murdered her sister Kay after years of abuse as Kay was attempting to leave him.

Now it’s Kim’s mission to spread the word that help is available.

I know, from reading, that it’s not as simple as just leaving. You need a plan and a support system. And it’s very scary. But the first step might just be talking to someone.

Here is one place to start: National Hotline for Domestic Abuse: 1 800 799 7233

Now, go watch that dance again and try not to cry. I had my support dog, Penny, with me. She pushed her nose right under my arm and pressed her body next to my hip as I sniffled.

May you all have a Penny in your life. And may you all be safe in your worlds tonight.


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Sunshiny Day!

Hey Peeps! It’s me, Penny!

Come ON! We’re going for a walk in the woods!

Yesterday the sun came out and it was so pretty that I bugged and bugged my mom to take me somewhere fun.

I would just like to point out how beautiful my fur is.

So she did! We went over to a park in Rose Township. Usually we don’t see anyone over there, but since the day was so beautiful we saw quite a few people walking in the woods.

Really mom? You want me to SIT??!

That’s OK, Mom just asked me to sit and watch her while other people and their dogs went by, so I did. Apparently mom and I are very slow walkers.

This is a very scary horse dung bucket. I barked at it a lot.

We went up and down some hills in the woods and I wasn’t scared at all about being under the trees! I guess that’s because it wasn’t windy and nothing weird was blowing around. You know, like leaves and stuff.

Hey Mom! I jumped over the rock, you got that on film, right?

Then we walked beside a couple of pretty ponds. Mom was using a compass on her phone to check out where Southeast is in relation to the bridges we were standing on.

Sure is pretty around here!

Apparently the Milky Way core is visible again and at this time of the year, the SE is where to find it.

Whatever, mom.

On the way back to the car she let me pick which trail to follow. She was sorta glad I picked the shorter one, especially after a fat tire bike went by and I got the zoomies.

This is me being crazy. Mom was not amused.

Mom says zoomies in the woods are not as fun as zoomies in the living room.

I beg to differ.

OK, I’ll be serious if I have to be. For a moment anyway.

Signing off for now,

your zoomie pal, Unstoppable Pretty Penny.


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Mom has been sick.

Penny here.

Just stopping in to tell you that mom has been sick. She got that covid thing and she’s been mostly in bed for a week.

I felt like Rin-Tin-Tin on these rocks at a rest stop!

Being the loyal canine I am I’ve mostly been in bed all week too.

At least she didn’t ask me to actually slide down this thing!

Even when mom had a fever and kept pushing me away cause she said I was too hot I pressed up against her cause I know what she really needed in order to feel better is more of me.

Mom says she has a picture of Katie in this same field.

Cause she couldn’t be out and about we haven’t had any adventures lately, but the pictures here are from my last set of adventures.

Mom said the light was really good here. I guess so. I only care about the treats.

Mom says we’ll get back on the road again in a few days. She says she’s mostly still tired.

Come on mom, stop messing with the camera!

Me? I not tired at all! I’m ready to go as soon as mom says the word.

What’s that over there, mom?

Until then, I remain mom’s heating pad. Whether she wants one or not.

I’m your heating pad and comforter, right mom?

Signing off now,

your warm and fuzzy girl Penny.

Don’t like those big birds, mom!


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It’s just one adventure after another around here.

Hey it’s Penny! 

Mom told me you were all waiting for me to tell you about my day(s) of adventure. I thought I had delegated that to her, but you know how hard it is to get good help these days. 

You have to cross the railroad track to get to my park!

So I guess I best get to the telling. 

Mom? Are you going to take pictures of me all day?

Mom and Dad are having some work done in the food room. Given that’s my favorite room in the whole house I tend to keep a very close watch on things going on in there. 

Mom says I get under everybody’s feet and somebody’s going to get hurt.

It was a windy morning! That made me kind of nervous.

Plus did I mention I bark very loudly and for a long time if anyone uses a power tool in my vicinity? Uh huh. So Mom decided she and I needed to go on an adventure all day, or until the nice men with the power tools vacated my property.

Mom said in addition to the wind, the light was really beautiful. Huh. I thought it was ME that was beautiful.

We went out early in the morning and our first stop was MY park! Did mom tell you I have a park named after me?

What is it with mom and wanting me to sit on stuff?

Well, it’s not official or anything. Not yet anyway. I know Katie has a park, and I’m really happy that now I do too! It’s a new part of a big park, and you have to walk over a railroad track to get to it. 

Mom doesn’t like crossing railroad tracks.

That creeps mom out, but I told her not to fixate on it and just keep moving. Geeze. Sometimes mom is a wimp.

There’s a pretty little kettle lake back here.

It was windy the morning we were there, and cold, but I was having a great time exploring until mom tried to walk with me into the woods. I’ve told her and told her I don’t really like being in the woods. And that day there were leaves blowing all around and trees creaking and stuff.

Did I hear something back there?

Well mom finally got the idea that I wasn’t happy there and we went back out to an open part. I liked that much better. But the wind was getting worse and it was cold and mom said we needed to move on. 

We spent some time in the car warming up and then mom took me over to 7 Lakes State Park. It’s about 15 minutes from our house and a park mom has never explored before. 

Mom found lots of interesting stuff to photograph at this park!

A sign there said it was called 7 Lakes because a developer dammed up a river and it flooded 7 small lakes into two bigger lakes. Then the developer decided not to build on the property and sold it to the state for a park.

This is a real pretty state park!

It’s real pretty. There’s lots to explore there, but this time we just walked out on the earthen dam. Mom took lots of pictures that weren’t me. 

There was a little island out there with some geese swimming in the open water.

Then on the way off the dam mom asked me to stand on some big rock. I thought it was more fun to stand with just my front feet on the rock. Mom thought I was pretty cute that way too. 

There are trails and lots of things to explore at this park. We’ll be back for sure!

Like this, mom?

Then, since the tool guys were still in my food room, mom took me to a third park, about 30 minutes away. It’s near a library where she used to work. We’ve been there once before. 

I’m not sure about this bridge mom, there’s water under it!

Somehow this park always gives mom uneasy feelings. She doesn’t know why. She says she never sees any other people there, but the day we were there we met a nice young couple out walking. It was getting late so we only did one small loop. I was getting tired of posing, but I stood on the bridge for her, and then on a log. But I wasn’t happy about it. 

I don’t really want to sit here, can we go find some food instead?

I was so happy when dad texted mom that the tool guys were gone and we could go home. I’ve never been to three parks in one day before! It was fun but it was exhausting!

Last picture of me today, mom! Promise?

During the day we drove around a lot too, and mom figured out I’m a pretty good rider on long drives. She says she is glad about that because someday we’ll go on a big adventure together! 

Bigger than three parks in one day mom? Wow! I can’t even imagine that! 

Mom even managed to find a barn on our adventure!

Oh – it turns out the tool guys weren’t done with the project so mom and I had to leave home again on another day this week. I’ll have to wait to tell you about that day, cause I’m still pretty exhausted and need a nap.

I bet you’re exhausted just reading about our adventure day!

It’s a pretty cool barn, I can understand why she stopped.

 

Stay tuned,

Your Adventure-girl, Unstoppable Penny!


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Penny knows

It was sunny and cool on Wednesday, the perfect day for a sheltie-girl. Penny and I were walking through the back yard, she focused on her beloved birds flitting among the feeders near the house, me remembering, as I often do when I’m in the back yard, Katie’s last moments there. 

I remembered walking with Katie into the house when the vet arrived. I never thought, in the moment, that she and I would never walk into the house together again. I remember walking with her, the vet and my husband, through the backyard to a pretty place under the birch trees, the sky blue like it was yesterday. I never thought, in the moment, that she wouldn’t be there to enjoy her yard ever again.

But now, often when I’m out there, I think about those moments and the bigger picture and I miss her so much.

You OK, mom?

Meanwhile Penny was laying at my feet, intently watching the feeders, when she heard me sniffling and looked over her shoulder at me, concern in her eyes. Then she popped up and put her front feet on my hips, head tilted inquisitively. I reached down and lifted her into my arms for a hug.

My sensitive girl knew. 

Then I put her back down and we both ran joyfully back to the house, her attacking my ankles, me laughing. And somewhere over the rainbow bridge Katie smiled.

I’m sure of it.

Painting done by Bree Hayhoe.