The group of children that we take care of are on the younger side, so it was and still is a little bit of a challenge trying to come up with a service project that is age appropriate, but we found an opportunity that fit perfectly, and that was to have the children color birthday cards for foster children. We were so happy to see a good showing for this activity! With it being summer and everyone going on and off of vacation, we really didn't know what to expect in numbers. Most of the kids (and several adults) colored a card or two and then went outside for some cold treats. It's already been ridiculously hot for this time of year (upper 90s and even up to 100 a few times). I'm not looking forward to the hottest time of the year, which is mid-July to mid-August, that is unless monsoon season kicks in and makes its way up here. Those usually cool things down.
While we were at the activity, I talked with my neighbor about her dogs. Her husband wanted to take a few days and go up to Yellowstone to join his family, so he asked me to take care of the dogs while he was away. That really kind of freaked me out, because you know that I struggle with dogs a little. There were three of them overall. One little dog wasn't theirs, but the other neighbor's (they were part of the same family and were up in Yellowstone too). I was a little bit nervous about it, but I had another family member with me who helped. The little dog was pretty easy to take care of, once she realized we were there to feed her and take her outside for a few minutes.
Those other two dogs...whew! One was fairly good at following orders, but the other one...well, that dog was a bundle of energy! There was one morning when we opened the door, and she bolted out of there like her life depended on it! She was out of sight before we could even get our wits about us. I took care of the other dog while that one was searched for, and we looked all over. I was getting freaked out, worried that something would go terribly wrong, but I took a deep breath, sat down, and thought over what to do. I said a little prayer to find her. After a few more breaths, I stood up and walked to the front yard of the house, and about 30 seconds later, she came trotting on the sidewalk coming back from our house. I called to her nicely, and she came directly to me (my neighbor seemed to be impressed by this, because she says the dog never responds to her). I took her back to where she was supposed to go and took care of what she needed before going back. That dog was indeed a challenge, but I checked on her along with the little dog during the day to make sure she was getting some interaction and talked with her while the other dog was being taken care of in the evening.
Both families were glad for the help, and I was just glad I didn't kill them off!
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| The card I colored (it hadn't been folded yet). |
