Month: October 2014

Flashback to when Penny was just a pup:She was a pumpkin 🙂

 I was asked by a local Veterinary Hospital if I would like to donate my pet sitting services to their silent auction coming up. The event would benefit the Banfield Charitable Trust, so I happily agreed to  contribute to the cause.

The Banfield Charitable Trust works to keep pets and their people together in a variety of ways:

-Emergency and Preventative Veterinary Care Programs
-Pet Peace of Mind-allowing hospice patients to keep their pets at home
-Pet Food Program-working with Meals on Wheels to ensure pets have adequate nutrition
-Pet Advocacy Grants-helping to fund local community pet projects

This is what my station looked like, with my fliers all set up. I can’t wait to find out who won my prizes! 🙂

I had just finished deep cleaning our microwave, steam cleaning it with lemon water and wiping it all out. Then Casey decides it is time for lunch and needs to reheat his bbq ribs. He had the most guilty look on his face when this happened:

This weekend was Casey’s White Coat Ceremony, where he and his classmates were presented with their first white coats. This marks the transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. A moment he has worked very hard to be able to achieve.There were many laughs from all, and a wonderful speech given. The students had to read a Hippocratic Oath before they received their coats.They then signed the oath book and were given their coats by the Dean.All smiles, he looks very official now!What a STUD.Ang and Steven came to support Casey and share in the celebration.We are so proud of you Casey! M.D. here he comes!

We attended Roanoke’s Go Outside Festival which was a lot of fun. It is an annual event that encourages healthy, active, outdoor living. It had a bit of camping, vendors, gear, music, races, dogs, and demos-a celebration of everything outdoors. A definite event to go to if you are Casey and Sharell 🙂

So we have a mystery on our hands and we thought you guys could help us solve it!

See this tree? It grows across the street and one house down from our place. You are probably asking yourself ‘what the heck is so special about this tree?!’ Well, in the last 6-ish weeks, we have found 5 dead animals at the base of this tree.

Here are the facts:

The animals are in the same spot under the tree every time; the side away from the road, near the sidewalk. Four squirrels and one rabbit. No other dead animals have ever been seen anywhere else in the neighborhood by us. Sometimes, the dead animal will not be there when we take Penny for a walk at dinner time, but before bed when we take her out, BAM there they are! So some die when it is dark.

The house this tree is directly in front of sits on a hill, so it is quite a rise to their front door; they do not have a good, direct line of sight to the base of this tree. The other surrounding houses’ view of this tree are either blocked by other trees or they are across the street and down the hill.

We have never heard any kind of gun shots in the neighborhood. Not many people are out and about too much and kids don’t play outside there. There is a power line running above the tree. No odd mushrooms or other plants grow under the tree that we can see.

There is never any blood. The animals are never damaged, never look injured, and are never squished. They all looked healthy and robust.

Hypotheses:

We thought maybe they were poisoned, but that would have to be some fast acting poison to have them all keel over in the same spot.

Or maybe they were electrocuted and all just happened to fall and land in the same spot? But rabbits don’t climb trees/power lines.

Maybe someone is shooting them? No gun shots heard, no blood.

What are the chances that young, perfectly healthy appearing animals all die in the SAME spot over the last month and a half?! Please leave your thoughts in the comments, we are baffled!

 

We explored downtown Roanoke a bit and found these huge murals.It is very cute downtown!
This is in the lobby of a ticket office.Frolf and quiche was a must.We even went to a new frolf course-we were the only ones there!Penny had a blast 🙂Yummy food!Shipping out a custom Etsy order to Oklahoma!My most recent pet sitting buddies!And we even did some mountain biking! It was a very fun week off 🙂

Casey finished his 3 days of testing-and passed all of his exams! That means he gets a week off and we get to have some fun! We celebrated with a trip to 5 Guys Burgers and Fries 🙂

We went to a BBQ party later and continued celebrating with about 35 of Casey’s classmates. Casey’s bacon-wrapped hotdogs were a hit 🙂

Happy Birthday to the best brother EVER! You are so special to me and I am so proud of you. Thank you for being so thoughtful, fun, caring, and adventurous. I admire your willingness to take new risks and step outside boxes. You are the BEST! Have a great day! <3