It's an honor to be nominated!

Kona and I have been nominated for an award! How cool is that? We were nominated for the 2011 Planetree Therapy Animal of the Year award at the VA. There was an essay written about us and everything! Check this out-(I've removed some of the names for privacy reasons.)

When you see him, he greets you with a smile and is always happy to see you. No matter how bad you feel or if it's your best or your worst day. Good looking with his cream - colored complexion and gentle mannerisms, he is there to comfort you. Sound like the perfect man? How about the perfect "man's best friend".

Kona is my nomination for the Therapy Animal Award. Kona provides canine care to many of our hospital wards, including Spinal Cord Injury Service (SCI), 4th Floor Hospice, Alcohol Drug Treatment Program (ADTP) and Psychiatry, to name a few.

Kona's handler, Sue S., a Navy and retired Air Force veteran's daughter, came to our facility 2 ½ years ago with Kona to join our Love on a Leash (LOL) Pet Therapy group as a trainee. Since that time she has taken over the VA San Diego program as the lead Pet Therapy handler, coordinating the LOL team on Mondays and Fridays. LOL provides Pet Therapy to SCI, Rehab Medicine Recreation Therapy Craft Clinic, and the hospital clinical waiting rooms on the first floor.

Sue was later approached by William M. to trial visiting Hospice patients on the 4th floor. She quickly agreed, although she was not sure how Kona would respond to this population. During the first visit Kona shined - providing canine warmth and caring that no human could offer. Kona and Sue now have added both ADTP and Psychiatry to their visits and the response has been just as positive.

Sue and Kona's dedication is now recognized through LOL as Sue was selected for the position of President for the LOL San Diego Central Chapter. Her duties as President are to coordinate city-wide visits to facilities in need of canine healing. I believe Kona and Sue best represent the Planetree commitment to offer Patient Centered Care to our ill, injured and wounded soldiers.

Thank you Kelli, for your glowing essay about us both. Our paws and fingers are crossed- and whether we win or not, it is truly an honor to be nominated!

Matt and Nat

Today we had the pleasure of spending some time with my friend Christine and her children Matthew and Natalie. Matthew is one of my favorite little boys in the world. I feel a special bond to him. When he was tiny, I had the pleasure of taking care of him from when he was about 2 months old until his first birthday. He is the only child, besides my own, that I have ever spent that much time with. He was an absolutely beautiful baby, and has grown into a wonderful, smart, funny, respectful, and kind, beautiful young man of 11. Natalie is a doll...a precious little doll. I didn't get to spend nearly the time with her when she was smaller that I did with Matthew, but I know she is a sweet, loving, beautiful little girl, with a million dollar smile.

They both LOVE dogs. They have a little cockapoo of their own named Cody, and they love coming over here to our Golden Circus! Everyone got a little TLC today!! It was so sweet! Our pups aren't really around little children very often, and it was fun to see them all interact.

Pretty Cool

Kona and his buddies were on the job again Monday and enjoyed an extra special visit with a Veteran. This particular gentleman was so excited to spend some time with the dogs that he got himself out of his wheelchair, and laid down on the ground with the pups.

I'm not quite sure who enjoyed it more - him or the pups! At one point one of the security guards came over to see if the gentleman was ok, being that he was laying on the ground, out of the wheelchair and all. He was giggling and getting such a kick out of the dogs, even the (very) stern security guard got a huge smile on his face.

It was pretty awesome, and that's what it's all about.

Legoland

It's been a long time since we visited Legoland, and the kids decided it was time, so...off we went! If you've never had the chance to visit, I highly recommend it. It has a little something for everyone. My favorite part of the park is "mini-land" where there are mini replicas of national monuments and landmarks, cities, etc. The detail is incredible, and I love that the architects have a great sense of humor. Here and there you will spot little pieces "adult" humor - for example....in the scene of downtown New York's Time Square, you see police officers speaking to a "woman of the evening..." It's a crack up to look for the little things like that, things the kids would never notice but the parents see and laugh about. It's tough to see here, but there is a large Q-tip sticking out of Washington's ear in this picture. The entire Las Vegas mini-land is new since we were here last. I was tickled to see the Venetian here-it's the hotel we'll be staying in at the end of the month. I sent this picture to my boss! The fountains work, and they even have live, mini palm trees. The attention to detail is simply spectacular!

The New York skyline was impressive.

Hollywood/Legoland style.

The streets of San Francisco.

Pickle found a new boyfriend....

...or two.

The Washington DC display was fantastic!

Ah, the Padre's Friar! Let's go Padres, let's go!

They have a new Egyptian area too. I wanted to bring some of this stuff home for my Halloween party!

We brought our dear friend Suzie along with us. Suzie was Pickle's first grade teacher and we have kept in touch ever since!

Arh, a pirate's feast!

A full sized Lego Volvo.

Hamming it up!

AJ being goofy.

One of these boys is not like the others.

Apparently Elvis is still around.

These two were lounging around one of the Las Vegas pools. Notice the hand placement. Nice.

Have you noticed...?

I've added a couple of little countdown tickers to my side bar. We're going on two vacations soon...one little warm up get-away, and one biggie family vacation. Current countdown are: Trip 1: 25 days till Hubby and I hit Vegas for a 4 day trip I won through my job - all expenses paid-including a LOT of spending money, a suite at the Venitian, and a show-thank you very much!

Trip 2: 87 days until our familia heads east to Charleston, South Carolina to catch a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. We'll be celebrating AJ's graduation, and visiting Grand Turks, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, Bahamas. Yes, I know, it's rough, but someone has to do it. I volunteered, cause, you know me, I like to volunteer for stuff! Needless to say I am excited for both...and ready...very ready for a little break.

Good Morning Monday...

Where did my friends Saturday and Sunday go? It seems that I blinked, and they were gone, again. It must be that I'm getting old, but what's new...

Hubby was traveling most of last week, and made it home Friday afternoon. I picked him up at the airport, brought him home, we had a short while to chat, and then I was off to a job. Saturday was chuck full of work for me. I had three separate engagements (I do home party gigs, remember) and I had 3 parties in two completely separate ends of San Diego county. It was lots of driving, but also lots of money, so no complaints. Momma likes the cash!

I had full intentions of coming home after the last party on Saturday and writing a bit, but I was out of steam. Empty of energy...completely kaput.

Yesterday was pretty much the same. I had a party scheduled from 12:30 to 4pm. I was expecting to see quite a few people, and I was not disappointed! I wound up seeing more than expected, and actually stayed until 6pm. I was training a new employee which took a little extra time as well, and when all was said and done, my day wasn't really done until about 10:30pm. Again, no complaints though, I made more in a weekend than I used to make working a week fulltime!

Today I'll play catch up. Catching up on email, and writing out bills (money in one hand, out the other!) playing with the pups, visiting with the Vets at the VA for our regular Monday therapy visit, etc. Tomorrow is another fun day with the kids. We'll be hitting Legoland. We haven't been there in years.

Enjoying Break

This week AJ and Pickle have been enjoying Spring Break. Yesterday we did something we hadn't done together in a long time...we went mini golfing. It was a lot of fun....expensive, but a lot of fun.

Next week we are going to pretend we are all little kids again and go to Legoland. We haven't been there in years!