The tale of two naughty puppies

– and one forgetful owner!

There once were two VERY spoiled fluffy dogs – tho' to be truthful, one was a real bitch.

They had everything dogs could want… long walks in lovely parks, a shabby chic room in which to lounge away the hours as their human was out toiling in the salt mines hospital to make money and a large fenced back yard where they could explore, laze on the deck,

chase squirrels and practice their acrobatic skills in case the circus ever decided that a poodle act needed to stage a comeback.

But these puppies KNEW a larger world existed… they knew because they had been born in a foreign land (Wisconsin) and had traveled to majestic places like Iowaland, the Land of Lincoln and Kansas City – where everything really IS up to date – with sights and smells that were amazing; not to mention two of their favorite people.

Their lady was always coming and going – thanks even more to the shiny new black thing with wheels… she’d even found space to make it its own kennel and she was strict about putting it in there when she was home.

But she didn’t seem to realize that wanderlust was in their blood too.

So one night, the coldest night of the year so far, when the lady was too distracted from her comings and goings, she came into the house through the kennel door – and forgot to close the gate on the driveway!

They were nothing if not resourceful.
They saw the opportunity and they made their escape.

They ran and they ran and they ran some more… into neighborhoods they had never smelled before; past gas stations, train tracks, down creek beds, seeing bright lights – and it was garbage night, so the buffet of left overs was irresistible.

They felt like Charlie Sheen on a binge… intoxicated and so crazy they thought they were WINNING!

But after 7 hours, long after the sun had set and the drizzle, mixed with snow, had started, they realized they didn’t know where they were… and all they wanted was their water bowl, their food and the oriental rugs cushioning their feet.

Street life had lost its appeal.

So they let themselves be caught by a man who had other dogs and didn’t like seeing them hiding under a big rig.
He took them home to be part of his pack.
But they didn’t like it there and they barked and barked and barked - they are very loud whiners – and the man decided they wanted to go home.

So he took them to a 24 hour doctor who found their chips, called their lady and, at 1 AM, she came to rescue them.

She drove them home where they were so tired from running their marathon they could barely get up the stairs.

But once inside, they decided that maybe there really is no place like home – and that, for some, road trips are highly over rated!


They were found 7 miles away ~ I think that’s 49 miles in dog years!

No wonder they didn’t respond as GI Joe, his fiancée and I were driving around the neighborhoods in our town for 4 hours shouting for them!

An endangered species

We are losing truth-tellers – and, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t bode well for our society.

Headlines today told me that Barney Franks has chosen not to run for Congress.

Not that I blame him… none of us should have to stay in a job we don’t want or feel we can’t do effectively; and, in the current political climate of entrenchment, with unwillingness to compromise being held up as the highest moral imperative, there are few jobs that have become more difficult – or more vilified – than those in public service.

Franks has been a favorite of mine ever since a town hall mtg when, during an insane and nonsensical tirade by a consitutent about ‘Obama care’, he queried, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?" He went on to say, "trying to argue with you would be like arguing with the dining room table!"

Another headline proclaimed that shoppers on Black Friday stepped over and ignored a dying man in their all American pursuit of the best waffle maker or flat screen TV or must have fleece pj’s.

The most troubling part of the story?
It simply wasn’t true.
According to his now-widow, then wife, 6 RNs stopped and performed CPR while waiting for EMS to get there.
Why wasn’t the story’s slant “Six people stop their shopping to help man in cardiac arrest?”

Do reporters and news outlets really have to feed the worst aspects of our human condition?
(Says the woman who writes about the bleakest of subjects on a regular basis… irony, I know)

It’s not that I mind a darker tinge to the stories I read… but they have to be true!
And this one wasn’t.

And yet another headline getting more press than the lie it’s about is a KS high student, Emma Sullivan, who, on a Youth in Government visit to the capital, tweeted “Just made mean comments to Governor Brownback and told him he sucked, in person?”

Was the tweet true?
NO.

It was the thumb fart of a bored, self absorbed teenager wishing she had the guts and the talent to actually express her views in a public, if albeit inarticulate, way.

Good grief.
What ever happened to
Maybe government is the mess it is because someone has the time to be worried about every teenager who tweets!

Seems we’re not only losing truth tellers, but common sense as well!
No wonder Barney is leaving!

a preview of Christmas...

Crazy busy, without time to write but wanted to share some pictures of this weekend...

too true!

This Santa seems almost as tired as me!

retro wreath (from my childhood!)

Santa with geese - from my grandmother.

Trees I made using an antique chocolate mold, plaster of Paris and then painted!

All of which works for me!

Hope your weekend was a productive one too!

“When you meet someone,” he says, "you never know if you will see that person again. So I try my best to make an effect on that person. I try my best to make an effect for the Kingdom."

His accent made these words music and I know when he says them, he is in earnest. His dark skin glows and I realize this is the contagious joy that he carries with him: this moment may be the only chance.

Those of us who work in an ER are acutely aware of this reality.

We have such a small window of opportunity in which to figure out what's truly going on... this may be the time a child is ready to disclose abuse; the time a tired-on-the-edge single mom will reach out for help before abusing her baby; the time and place a homeless teenager can say he's afraid he's going to kill himself... and we take that responsibility seriously.

I can't help but wonder how many of us carry that sense of urgency home with us.

Do we also realize when we hug a friend or family member goodbye after a visit that we may never see them again?

That our angry words may be the last things a teenager hears as they drive away - and into an accident?

That our expressed frustration, impatience and resentment at the elderly going SOO slowly in the grocery store may be the only human interaction they've had in days?

I wonder how the world would be different if we all truly carried the knowledge with us that NOW is the only time we have.

It's done...

The house is decorated for Christmas...

I'm exhausted.

Some days I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Some days, I end up doing both.

I was interviewing a 4 yr old child covered with bruises and loop marks from head to toe.

His lab work indicated he had sustained blunt abdominal trauma so I wasn't surprised when he told me his mom "stomped on him 4 times".

Then he said, "I was saying 'Police, police, police, but they didn't come".

I reassured him that the police were here now and we were all going to make sure he was safe.

When I shared his comments with the Police and the State SW, the investigative worker burst into tears. Seems she had responded to a call about another incident of abuse less than a month ago.

Since the mom didn't have a history with the State, the Judge made them leave the kids in the home and start Intensive In Home services.

The state worker told this child, at that time, if his mom ever hurt him again, he was to tell an adult or call the police.

Guess she should have realized how literal kids that age are, been more specific and told him to use a phone!

When is this country, and the judiciary, gonna finally wake up and realize that some women simply shouldn't have kids?

Oh.... her excuse for beating this kid?

She looked at him and he reminded her of his father - the father who was arrested last month for murdering a woman while she was lying next to her toddler.

Her crime? She 'allowed' herself to get pregnant by him again. (Which of course put a crimp in his relationship with our patients mother)

When are we gonna get that some men shouldn't be reproducing either?

Go big or go home?

Commercials and the pressure for 'Black Friday' make me cringe.

I mean, we get it - big box stores and their large corporate mega-mogul owners are looking for us to spend our way out of the recession.

I find it incredible they haven't figured out that overspending and digging ourselves into deep financial holes for the sake of material goods we don't honestly need is part of what got us into this mess in the first place.

I'm sorry to say that if the money men, bean counters and politicians are counting on me, they've really got problems!

While a few of the younger members of our family will, no doubt, be hitting the stores early - as much to be part of 'the scene' as to get holiday gifts while the selection is good - many of us older folks will be sitting this day out.

I'm working this year on Friday but even if I wasn't, it's totally not my idea of a good time.

I AM looking forward however to Small Saturday - a day devoted to shopping at small independent local stores... an antique mall is about as big as I'm getting!

For those of us who have been participating in 3/50 all year (going to 3 local stores and spending $50.00 a month in each one), it's not a stretch.

This is the 2nd annual Small Business Saturday and it may just be the most important shopping day of the year.

Why?

Because it matters to our economy and to our communities.
Small Business Saturday is about Main Street, not Wall Street.

It's about entrepreneurs and families selling things that the chains and e-commerce companies aren't.

I hope some of you will 'go small' too!

I promise there will be pictures of the stores I choose!

Treasures

I realized - as I was lugging 'Christmas' up out of the basement - that I hadn't shared pictures of some of the treasures I got last weekend up in MI.

Mea Culpa...let me rectify that now.

Hidden at the bottom of a basket - yes, I'm one of those people who look everywhere - was a baggie of paper dominos with gorgeous lithograph images of Alice in Wonderland.

Some kind of fabulousness...

The cost of the bag?

50 cents.

Yes, please...

even if I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet!

There was also a tiny glitter nest...

another baggie - of angels this time, some musical, some holding symbols of the season - also a score @ $2.00!

Glitter trees and a faux snow baby, perfect for the office on the computer deck to add some holiday cheer.

And, since I'm not just tied into one 'style' of celebrating, a charming trio of felt trees made their way home with me as well.

Perfect for a small side table on top of an old felt 'penny' runner.

Completely impervious to being knocked over by the dogs - and you know it will happen!

Last, but not least, some wooden objects just waiting to be transformed into presents...

what, you don't see it?

Just wait, you will!

Hope you're having as much fun today as I am!