Clearly I didn’t damage my relationship with Rhoen too much despite the fact she was rearing up last time we rode, since she was eager to greet me this morning. I am grateful for that! And for BeauJo's Pizza for the fundraiser yesterday. But the very best part of my day was bringing home my two koi fish.

For those of you who have been to the hospital, you might know the showpiece fish tank we have in our lobby is a 120 gallon freshwater with two smaller koi in it. Those two fish are so deeply loved. I first met them back in 2012. They were purchased, along with several other koi and goldfish, from a local Denver Petsmart, and then brought to the Convention Center for the annual American Veterinary Medical Association Conference. I was helping to teach the course, which was a lab to help teach veterinarians how to collect samples and draw blood on fish patients. It was all fun and exciting, until it was over, and the plan for the fish was to euthanize them all since everyone else was flying home. I was the only local veterinarian, and that decision did not sit well with me. So I somehow managed to emergency quick locate a fish tank, set it up, and take them with me. Fun fact, I was homeless at the time with two little kids, so this was no easy feat.

Over the years, most of those fish have died, except for these two koi which survived being experimented upon, and being dragged around in weird living situations, until finding their way to that beautiful tank in the lobby where they have now lived since 2018. Last week we noticed one of them is getting thin, and the coloration on the other one’s head was looking less vibrant. So we decided it was time to finally take them home, to live in the 400 gallon tank in our living room, along with Keiko the koi who we showed the year before, and her counterpart Kitty, a gorgeous silver butterfly koi who my kids strong armed fellow fish vet Dr. Nick St-Erne to get them at the koi show when I said ‘no more fish”. I am grateful for his friendship and support over the years. And I am grateful as I tell this story, I am not homeless anymore. And I am grateful to finally have Candy Corn and Sanke the resilient koi fish, home.

So this morning the 4 of them are swimming around, happy, eating, and it warms my heart. Another really fun part of the day was stopping at a little local roadside micro-bakery to get a loaf of fresh sourdough bread, and on the honor system no less. It is an adorable stand, complete with complimentary hot cocoa, to-go cups and lids, a variety of well labeled cookies, fresh bread beautifully packaged, and a Venmo QR code and a little cash box. It’s called Kneadmorethyme and it was so fun.. If you ever see one of these pop up in your neighborhood, I highly suggest taking the time to turn around, stop and check it out. I am grateful to live in a place where something like this can come to life!

​It’s Sunday, what are you grateful for today? Oh, and I did manage to give myself a pep talk in the mirror yesterday too. Do you need to do the same? I think it worked because I slept so good last night, or maybe it’s just because I went to sleep knowing I didn’t have to get up early today, ha! I hope you will be kind to yourself today in some way. Whether it’s giving yourself that pep talk in the mirror, or simply choosing YOU today over everyone and everything else. Know that it’s ok to do that sometimes, because you are worth it, you Animal Loving Angel. Have a wonderful day!

​​​​Check out my YouTube channel for a daily "Good Morning!" from the rescues and lots of free tips and training resources. https://www.youtube.com/@the1drq​
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