Update on Cheryl’s World

This time of year seems to take me by surprise every year. Right now is a busy time at the studio and time just gets away from me. At least I bought a few Christmas gifts already. Usually I don’t do that until December. So that’s why it’s been a bit since I’ve chatted with you.

Louie is now 6 1/2 months old already and has doubled in weight. If you haven’t been in yet to meet him just know that he will be there to greet you at the door and want to give you attention. LOL! This puppy is so spoiled. He’s so use to being attended to by the whole Ridgeway team. So here is what happened two days in a row. He is now bolting out the door. The first time was at our home and he ran straight towards the street. I know not to run after him, but he wanted to play and ran right into the street with an oncoming car. Thank goodness that the driver was going slow, but I flagged him down and made him/her stop. John went around one way and I the other just incase he bolted again. Thank goodness, it had a happy ending.

So Thursday, he decided to try it again, but only now it was at the studio where major traffic runs both ways on Rte. 162. He ran and stopped to look at me, very close to the road. I yelled his name and squatted down as if to play with him. He usually runs towards me to try to ‘attack’ me, but this time he started to go into the street and a Madison County Transit bus was coming. John went out into the road and signaled for him to stop. I screamed because I was just too far away to do anything. The bus driver stopped and honked his horn which, actually, worked and made Louie run back to me. I have to tell you I have never been so scared in my life. When I got back into the studio I just sat in the chair with the little puppy in my arms. Aweful, aweful feeling. I would like to thank that bus driver and a few of our clients, Erik Pfeffer and Melissa and Deserae Miller who stayed there to help us. We are surrounded by wonderful people.

Now for something a little more fun. Amber Boyles-Pellock, who some of you met this summer is not at the studio anymore. Her time with us was planned out from the very beginning so don’t think anything bad. She was helping us out and we were helping her until she got her business up and running. She start a business called the Dog Nanny. I posted about it a little while ago, but I thought you would like to know why she isn’t here anymore. I didn’t really understand the type of service that she did until John and I went to St. Louis and thought we were going to be gone for about 4 hours, however, it turned into more than six hours. We should have called the Dog Nanny. We could of paid her to just come in and let Louie out to go potty, check his water and food and just give him some love. How great is that???? If you go on vacation you can call Amber, the dog nanny, and have her come to your home 3 times a day. That way you don’t have to board your dog and the dog doesn’t have to be freaked out. Check out her website and tell your friends about her. I think her pricing is reasonable and I can personally attest to her committment to animals, particularly dogs. We are close friends and some of us, fondly, call her a dog freak , but in light of what happened in the last few days with our dog, I am now, officially, in the ‘dog freak’ club. Here is her link happydogshavenannys.com Let me know what you think.

This weekend is our annual children’s Christmas special. I love, LOVE our set this year. It looks like a forest of trees without leaves right after a snow storm. It is beautiful. I’ll post some images as soon as I get a few processed. There are still a few openings left. Only two (I think) on Saturday, but Friday afternoon we have a few more openings.

Make a note in your calendar. Thursday, December 10th, we are having our Holiday Open House at the studio. We will have gift card specials, gift card gift baskets, 10% off all jewelry, purses and all boutique items. We will also have smaller frames available for 50% off and drawings for portrait sessions and portraits. But, it’s not all about the sale; it’s about just coming by and saying hi and having a drink and a little snack with us. It’s the season for friendship and we just want to touch base. Stay tuned!! I’ll be posting more information here on the blog before we send it out the general public. You, our Chatter subscribers, get first notice.

Make sure you check out the children’s gallery page and family page. I put new photos up to look at. As always, I would love to hear from you so don’t be shy about sharing your thoughts or you can ask me questions. I don’t care what it is, I’ll respond.

Oh, and our very own Melinda is going on maternity leave on December 4th. Her and her husband, Brian, are having their first child and he is a boy. He’s due December 8th. We are very excited for them and to see the new little Ridgeway baby. Ha! I’m sure Melinda won’t call it a Ridgeway baby, but you know we are all going to spoil him rotten.

Well that’s all for now. If I write anymore you will be reading a novel. LOL!

Talk to you soon!!   Cheryl.