Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 -- Mattie died 440 weeks ago today. 


Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006. Mattie was four years old and I asked him to pose in front of this lovely red bud tree. They are very popular in our DC area and they are electric in color! This tree was outside of one of Mattie's favorite restaurants. You maybe able to tell given Mattie's expression in this photo, that he really wasn't in the mood for pictures and standing still. In usual fashion, Mattie complied but he gave his "false" smile. That smile always indicated to me how Mattie felt about something.




Quote of the day: Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~ Francesca Reigler

This afternoon I met my friend Tina to celebrate her birthday. I did not know Tina when Mattie was alive. I got to meet her through a mutual friend and she came to our Foundation walk. I always consider Tina my first friend that I made after Mattie died. Now Tina is a major Foundation donor and I appreciate her standing behind our work. 

One of the desserts we had today to celebrate Tina's birthday. They were profiteroles stuffed with ice cream. They were delicious and we had a lovely lunch.... not rushed, with a beautiful window view, and wonderful food. 

Later in the day, I took Sunny out for another walk. It was glorious in DC today, with temperatures in the mid 70's! All of the cherry trees in front of the Kennedy Center are thoroughly confused! 

The colors are breath taking, the whole spectrum of pink!

Not only are they beautiful but the fragrance emanating from them is intoxicating. It is hard to believe that it will rain and be cold later in the week, which will most likely kill these beautiful flowers. 

While I was walking Sunny, I had the opportunity to talk with one of the guard dog handlers in front of the embassy near us. Typically we do not talk to each other because he walks an ominous German Shepherd. But today the handler asked me if I wanted to switch dogs, as he said his dog is a "cupcake." I laughed and said.... "some cupcake!" He proceeded to tell me that I would find walking his dog much easier than walking Sunny. He actually said Sunny is too much dog for him to walk. Fascinating to me! Yes Sunny does have a mind of his own when he walks and if there is a squirrel or rat involved, Sunny has no problem running after it. But if you walk Sunny enough, you know what to look out for and how to react and control him. I guess I did not realize others were observing me and saw the art form that I execute every day!