Beaches, Beads, and Baby Blue Eyes

 

As I said last week, I am closing my jewelry business down. The business is known as Copper Boom Paparazzi Jewelry. I was the owner/operator. Getting rid of all the jewelry I have collected over the years has been a task, to say the least! With no idea I possessed this many items, the week has been crazy, but jewelry sets are flying out the door! That's always nice but I have run into the issue of it being so time consuming. Photographing each piece or set and listing it on my group page (Bargain Bliss) has taken hours out of my life. Those hours have flowed into days actually. 

Friday, in between working on jewelry, I have been working on files through my place of employment. Very busy week. Terry worked half a day on Thursday, which made our day relaxing after he returned home. Friday was a different story. Our lives changed within a matter of an hour. I worked on my personal jewelry as well as pulling orders for other people. I finally got my jewelry set up so I could find the items I wanted to wear!

I used the boards that are for my live jewelry shows and storing the jewelry I have in stock. Placing them in the corner of our bedroom, it at least gives me ample viewing options instead of digging through a bag or drawer to find what I want to wear. 

Not realizing I had this much, I ran out of space! I didn't want to bring in a third board too, so I loaded the pegs up! Each peg has about four or five jewelry sets hanging from it. At least I can see them now, like I mentioned earlier. Maybe I misjudged how much jewelry I really need in this lifetime. I also have jewelry in drawers (mostly earrings), and I do have a glass necklace holder on my dresser, plus a soft jewelry box to hold rings or earrings. My mother bought me a jewelry box many years ago and that too is filled with jewelry. 

Finishing this task made me feel accomplished! It is a task that has been bugging me for a few months now and it is finally complete! I felt like celebrating! Terry mentioned he wanted to go snag some frozen yogurt at Level Up. Always a nice choice. I had a little pistachio. Terry had his usual salted caramel with chocolate on top. Yum, with a capital "ME!" So good!

While finishing our yogurt, my new husband sprang some news on me. He had found a husky through Saving Grace, our local adoption center. While this is typically such a cool thing for me and I would usually show excitement, I was worried. A husky? 

Those back talking, excited, crazy wild dogs? He wanted one of those. OMG, in this household of three pets? I had a chihuahua, meaning a super grumpy old man of a dog. He hates other male dogs and barely tolerates himself. But Terry asked if I wanted to go look anyway, so off to Saving Grace we went. 

We were led out to a large, fenced pen. Sitting on the bench, we waited to see what they were going to bring us. After a few moments of anxiety and me telling Terry I think we're crazy and how it was such a bad idea, we heard the gate open. The goofiest, yet most beautiful animal trotted through the gate. It was as though we were watching a show horse, parading around an arena. If the dog could brag, he would have. The sleek black and white coat and long legs and that curled tail that he held so proudly made this such an amazing animal. But those eyes. He locked eyes with us. I stopped talking and became a mouth breather. Those eyes. Those beautiful icy blue eyes! 

We were introduced to Thor, a gorgeous specimen of a husky. He immediately leaned up against us, one at a time, resting his head on our laps. Reaching out to him, there was an immediate connection. I could not say "no." I looked at my husband, smiled, and gave him a reply of "yes." The dog was a sweetheart. Showing immediate signs of wanting to cuddle and hug, I could not turn it down. His beauty was astounding and was exploding outwardly. All the way around it seemed to be a good choice. But the gut was still telling me I was absolutely insane. 

Waiting for what seemed like hours, our new family member was handed to us. He jumped into the car like it had been usual for all of us. Thor laid down in the backseat and was on his way to his forever home. The people who had him before was a family, with other pets, cats included. All of that was great since we had cats too. Children were in the household as well. He had been socialized with everything I would want to introduce him to. His previous family needed to give him to a shelter because they were moving. I have my own thoughts and opinions about that, but whatever. Our gain. Their loss. 

Thor did well on the drive home. Once home, he enjoyed going out with "daddy" while Terry was smoking his cigars.  

He is such a good boy! Rode home in the car like a boss!

Before I go further, I know I use the name, "Thor" for the dog. That was his given name by the family who owned him first. Now that he is in our household (mostly my husband's dog), Terry changed his name to "Togo." Now, why Togo you might ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, this is the short version of the story:

Togo (1913 – December 5, 1929) was the lead sled dog of musher Leonhard Seppala and his dog sled team in the 1925 serum run to Nome across central and northern Alaska. Despite covering a far greater distance than any other lead dogs on the run, over some of the most dangerous parts of the trail, his role was left out of contemporary news of the event at the time, in favor of the lead dog for the last leg of the relay, Balto, whom Seppala also owned and had bred.

Deemed at first a mere troublemaker, before being identified as a natural leader and puppy prodigy by Seppala, Togo had already shown extreme feats of dedication and endurance as a puppy, and as an adult continued to show unusual feats of intelligence, saving the lives of his team and musher on more than one occasion. Sled dogs bred from his line have contributed to the 'Seppala Siberian' sled dog line, as well as the mainstream Siberian Husky gene pool.^[1]

Togo was a great dog and one that Terry thought this beautiful boy should be named after. And so, it is. I can't ever remember the name, but I am getting a bit better at it. He just seems like a "Thor." I do appreciate the story of the dog named Togo from 1925 though. I will remember it one day, of that I'm certain. Just a matter of getting the old brain to wrap around it. 

Once we did arrive home, we opened the door to our new car. It's only about four months old, but wow! Bunches of hair lay in every single crevice of the vehicle. So much for the new car smell.  Now it's dog butt and hair. I was pulling hair out of the speaker cover on the door. But that's the way it goes when you own pets.  Dropping their magical fibers of love all over your stuff is what they do so nicely. That's one of the things I miss the most when it's time to say goodbye. Their lives aren't long enough to sweat the small stuff. 

Saturday was a planned trip to the coast with Terry, me, and Mallory. I told my husband there was no way on earth we would leave Togo at home with the other animals and a home he could chew up. Terry seemed more than happy to hear me say that. He agreed and off we went to pick up Mallory. 

Mallory had come over Friday evening to say "hi" to the new pup. She fell in love with him immediately. My daughters laughed and thought I was nuts because it was a husky. I laughed with them and agreed with the insanity. But here we are. 

I have to admit, I was so shocked to see how well our new family member dealt with the public in Old Town Florence. He didn't flinch once as people and dogs walked along with us. The dogs would sniff, including Togo, and that was that. Onward he went. 

The compliments over the dog were constant. Everyone we passed was either smiling or saying how beautiful our dog was. I was surprised in terms of all of the compliments he received. He is beautiful, but I figured he didn't stand out that much. I was wrong, I guess. 

Outside of the compliments, he lay at our feet when we stopped to take a break or eat. We ate at Firehouse Grill on our honeymoon in June, so we chose to eat there again. Most places along the walkway in Old Town are dog friendly. Outside tables welcomed customers and gave them a place to eat while they kept their beloved pet close. Bowls of water were set out to ensure all the fur babies had plenty of water to stay cooler. 

After a couple of hours at the shops and booths along Bay Street in Old Town, we wanted to visit the beach. Off we went to Driftwood Shores resort area. This beach is nice and flat, giving people and dogs a great beach to romp around. There were those who were flying kites on such a sunny day. Others were walking the beach. A few brought their fur babies to enjoy the ocean water. 

Terry held on to the leash but allowed Togo a little bit of romping on the sandy land. He seemed to enjoy the outing. 

The waves were calm, the weather was warm, and the wind was under control. Great day at the coast!

I love to walk along the beach. Often, I will sit in the water, letting the waves wash over me. The day wasn't quite warm enough to have that happen today. Walking into the waves however, that's a different story. 

I had worn flip flops for just this occasion. The sea water was so cold. It felt nice on my feet and legs. 

I couldn't resist. Mallory and Terry thought I was crazy, as Mallory stood on the shore with a coat on. Terry wore shorts but was not loving the idea of going into that water.  

Togo wasn't even pulling on the leash to get into the water. 

We played around on the beach for a while, then ventured off to Old Town again. Our plan was to stuff ourselves at the Firehouse, where tables were placed outside, and it was all dog friendly. I had what I had on the honeymoon. A plate of awesome macaroni and cheese, topped with amazing pulled pork. A piece of garlic bread was included. I also ordered a side salad. Terry ordered his familiar dish of meatballs, marinara, and penne pasta. Garlic bread included. So good! 

For anyone who follows the blog, we also went to BJ's Ice Cream shop on our honeymoon too. We could not avoid it. It was a must. I had a chocolate shake (sugar free). Mallory had an ice cream cone, and Terry had a waffle cone filled with his favorite ice cream, rocky road. Togo had an eye on all of it. Great way to top off the meal. Now we were so stuffed we could barely walk, but the perfect way to end the day. 

There were some booths filled with jewelry, arts and crafts, and interesting items along the boardwalk. One more trip through those and off we went to the car. The day was complete. It was a good day, spent with my sweet man and Mallory. Perfect day, perfect trip. 

Here's hoping your weekend was filled with laughs, love, and living!