It's been a very long time since my last blog entry.  Major changes have taken place in my life.  Cedar Rapids, IA experienced the flood of a century and in my case 5 centuries.  My home was one block inside the 500 year flood plain and I had nearly 6 feet of water inside my house when the river crested.  Thankfully, the city was on top of things and I got the evacuation order before the river actually reached the house.  I packed my dogs and a boarding dog, the vast majority of my dog stuff, the computer tower and my summer clothes into the van in 2 hours and spent another 2 hours trying to get out of Cedar Rapids.  To make a long story short, I lost everything I left behind with the exception of a few metal dog crates and eight rubbermaid totes of things that were salvagable. 

During times of catastrophe you can sure locate your true friends pretty fast.  Jean and Don took me and all the dogs with open arms.  I'll never be able to express fully how much their friendship has meant both before and after this terrible time.  After a couple of weeks I relocated Jam and Spice to Brian's, Dora to Dave and Dawn's and left Riley, Maddy and Trace with Jean.  Clara was there to help clean out the house and clean up what we could save.  And my co-workers showed up in droves to help with the heavy stuff and clean up efforts. 

After 8 weeks without the dogs bunking at my aunt's retirement complex I was finally able to locate a new home for all of us.  This was great news especially since I was able thru the help of yet another co-worker to find an acreage to rent.  My boss from my second job and her hubby, along with my sister and her hubby and friends of theirs all came out and put up fence for the dogs.  They have a huge yard to run in that's all fenced in and another area across the driveway that they can run in while I'm around to watch them.  The bad news is that I'm now about an hour from Cedar Rapids and work.  

So my sister, who never fails to make me feel better, brings up the fact that I've always wanted to live in the country, always wanted to have a lot of room for the dogs to run and to put up indoor/outdoor runs and that I needed a new refrigerator and washer/dryer anyway, so how was the flood so bad for me?  A glass half full kind of gal--and I'm trying hard to keep that attitude.

Sadly, Riley didn't get to move to the new house in the country.  He went to the Rainbow Bridge two weeks before I could move in.  He had been steadily declining but took a rapid down hill slide and I couldn't let him suffer.  True to his Collie nature and dedication he was in a pretty good state of mind that last day and actually did recognize me.  I'll always treasure those last hours.  Jam is doing a remarkable job working into his place and has taken over Riley's place on the bed. 

This is a picture of most of the new house, with the garage that will soon be kennels off to the right and the barn in the background.  I don't have use of the barn, the owners keep cattle there.  I'll share my stories about #35 in the future. 

Until later...

Judy