Special and Exciting Announcement! Plus My Guest Post on National Dog Week Today!

Posted by Barbara Techel

nwnrdd 404I’m so excited to share this wonderful news today!

As many of you know I created National Walk ‘N Roll Dog Day (NWNRDD) in memory of Frankie and in honor of all dogs in wheelchairs around the world, which I established in August 2012, two months after Frankie passed away.

It’s my hope to continue Frankie’s legacy by bringing positive awareness to dogs in wheelchairs, educating others that dogs in wheelchairs can (and do!) lead quality lives.  NWNRDD began with a website as well as a Facebook page. As of today, we have 1,312 people part of this wonderful, growing community.

While the day was not officially designated, I hoped to have that done soon, so was diligent in sharing the work of NWNRDD as much as I could. I also applied for official designation this past January with Chase’s Calendar of Events.  Chase is the most comprehensive and authoritative reference available on special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries and more.

The exciting news is that my application for NWNRDD has been accepted! This means even more people will have an opportunity to learn about NWNRDD, join our community, and help spread the positive awareness… which I believe, will ultimately save more pets’ lives that become disabled so others have this knowledge of the option of dog wheelchairs and how we can help our pets.

Thank you to everyone who joined NWNRDD community since its inception in August as that certainly helped with my application for the official designation!

To top this off, I had my guest post planned well in advance for today with National Dog Week (NDW) for my Joyful Paws Jaunt Blog Tour. I love the synchronicity of how this all unfolded!  So without further ado, I invite you to check out my blog post on NDW blog today, as well as encourage, and invite you to join NDW Community on Facebook.  Afterall, we dog lovers can never get enough of dogs, right?

Peace and Prayers for Boston – For Everyone

Posted by Barbara Techel

When things are too hard for me to wrap my head around, I turn to mentors I look up to for some sense of understanding. I share this below from Marianne Williamson.  I also took a moment and picked a card from my Grace card deck as I’m feeling so sad about the events from Boston.  I share that grace card below also.  If you are struggling and would like some grace, please leave a comment and I’ll pick a grace card for you and leave it for you as a reply.

I do believe we each have to be the peace for which we want for our world, while at the same time, wish for that peace even more for those we may not understand.

From Marianne Williamson:

Let’s all stop for a moment, close our eyes, and send love and peace to the city of Boston, and to all those affected in any way by the explosions at the Marathon. Simply tune in and send love from your heart to them. We send as well our peace and healing to the person or people who have done this, that they might be awakened to the Light within them and cease all harmful action NOW. Amen.

Dear God,
Please send Your angels to the city of Boston.
Heal all wounds,
Work miracles among the people
and calm their troubled hearts.
Amen

The grace card that I randomly picked is:

IMAGINATION

I felt befuddled at first for drawing this card, wondering why.  But ah, I turned it over and this is what it says:

scan0001**These grace cards are from www.cherylrichardson.com  and can be ordered from Amazon if you’d like a deck for yourself for your daily grace.

Is that You Spring? Come Sit a Spell.

Posted by Barbara Techel

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The door to my writing cottage eagerly awaits spring and summer when it can be open for the delicious smells to waft inside, and the sounds of birds singing as the music for the day.

It has been unusually cold this spring. Plus we’ve had our share of snow covered ground quite a few mornings even though the calendar says it is April. The sun has also been hiding behind clouds that continue to invade our little village. But alas, today the sun peeked out for a good part of the day, though now it is cloudy.

What a spring (pun intended!) that brought to my step! I could hardly wait until noon to take the girls out for a walk. It was windy, but at least the wind was warm, so I didn’t mind. But it was so windy that at times, Joie had to stop and catch her breath rolling so hard against the gusts that threatened to roll her backwards. If sniffing the ground every two inches and marking your territory is a sign of spring, well then, Kylie had that down to a tee.

Oh, the glories of spring that came to my neck of the woods today for a few short hours. There is hope it will come to stay longer, though the rest of the week calls for cooler temps again, plus lots more rain, with the week ending with a chance of snow showers.

But even so, I finally felt like getting my spring wreath up from downstairs and placing it on my writing cottage door.

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I also ordered a spring flag for the front of my house since my other flag had all but faded from so many hours of sun beating down on it.  I can hardly wait for my new flag to arrive.  What do you think?  This just all has to help spring come to Wisconsin, don’t you think?

spring flag

But I say thank you for the taste of spring today. A chance to go for a leisurely stroll with the dogs, who are now curled up and napping the afternoon away. Now don’t be shy spring, and please do come around again soon!

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