A sprinkling of spoiled dogs and Walk and Read happiness

I am comfortably settled smack dab in the middle of a nice break from both school and library programming.  I've been taking long walks with Robert and the girls, pounding the tennis backboard, and making things in my office.  Currently, there are so many projects going on in my office, I have to walk through piles of paper to get anywhere.  It's glorious.

I can't stop buying hand soap and Robert can't stop buying...dog beds.  When I work in my office both girls follow me up the stairs and usually wrestle on my exercise floor until they exhaust themselves out (you can see they've pretty much shredded it in places).  When they get tired they have many dog beds to choose from.  Whenever the house is cleaned, I stack up their beds.  Lately, they haven't been letting me unstack them.  So our dogs now require two beds for their ridiculously spoiled bottoms.  

Though there is a break from programming, May is the month for Walk and Read!  If you like reading and walking at the same time and love picture books, this is for you.  We are doing about 10-15 Walk and Reads this year all across Johnson County.  We have two going at any time during May and September and a few here and there in June-August.  They're popular, exciting, and have become a beloved program since we started doing them in 2020.  Prior to 2020 they were a one-time event.  Each year, since 2020, my car switches ownership from dogs to real estate signs.  And sometimes both!  Occasionally the girls will hop in the back seat to help me set up a Walk and Read.  I've been using Carolyne's old car for both dog and sign transport, and it's been a lifesaver.  I'm thankful I can keep my new car pretty and clean for just a while longer.

Walk and Read involves disassembling the signs each week, putting them back together with new stories, and installing the signs at different parks.  Last week the signs came back covered in bird doody, which was hilariously appropriate and gave me the giggles as I scrubbed all the boards down (we reuse stories!).

Tennis is pretty much what I do whenever I have any spare time.  And the dogs always come with me.  So the car is theirs when it's not loaded up with signs.  A coworker of mine showed me a picture of these stairs after she heard I was constantly loading and unloading goldens into my car.  These stairs have been a lifesaver!  They fold up when not in use and aren't too heavy.

During one of our spring hikes this year we stumbled upon one of my favorite flowers, the May Apple.  We saw so many too!  Usually there's just a sprinkling of them and they hardly ever have blooms.  Such a wonderful surprise!