Tomatoes and blueberries and herbs, oh my!

I met Jill and Adam and the downtown Overland Park Farmer's Market this morning! My parents have been going there for years, and I've joined them several times ... and I love it more and more each time I go!

The fruits and veggies are so beautiful to look at and they are so yummy to taste.

The flowers are gorgeous and you can smell them from several booths away!

You feel like you are helping local farmers and growers, which is always a good feeling!

It gets you out of your house on a Saturday morning, when I would normally be in bed.

I bought some blueberries and asparagus for mom (which she tells me were SUPER expensive) and then helped A & J shop for plants for their new home! My condo was going to be super close to the market, and I was looking forward to walking there with Minners on the weekends. I guess this means that now I'll have to look for another house that's in the neighborhood! Anyone know of a place that's on the market around downtown OP? ? ? ? ?

The reunion!

Molly informed me today that if I'd like to go collect my dog-child and her belongings from Mom and Dad ... I'm welcome to bring her back to their house to stay! This is a HUGE step for Molly.

Molly is a strange one ... we had dogs growing up for pets (Morgan who was the best Wonderdog ever AND Sophie who might have been bi-polor but I loved her anyway) but she really wants nothing to do with pets in her house. I've griped about this several times, and she is sure to remind me that she loves Minnie and likes spending time with her, but doesn't want a dog of her own.

Their lovely house isn't really puppy-proofed. Why would it be? That may seem like a minor deal, but a puppy-proofed house has hidden wires, rooms blocked off, a quiet place for a kennel and a place where I could leave her unattended and not be worried. They do have a great backyard, but I haven't inspected the fence to look for hidden "sneak out" spots, and I know that Minnie will find her way under their deck and she may not come out!

I'm already thinking of how I can block her in the kitchen (it will take two baby gates) and where her food will be (in front of the fire place where there is tile?) and where she'll sleep (I'll have to consolidate suitcases and boxes in my room).

I think Molly was just feeling really bad for me since I have been away from her for over a week ... OR ... she was probably feeling really bad for Mom and Dad who have been in charge of her for over a week! Either way ... I'm very excited! Thanks, Molls!

Your Donations ... Part 2!

You should notice that I'm blogging AGAIN, just about an hour after I last did. I've since been to Target and brought home 16 new dog leashes ... that were just $1 each!!!

So, here's my challenge to you ... I'd like to create my own "Big Give" here via the blog!

I challenge you to help me add to this dog leash donation. You can run out to Target yourself and get just a few leashes (in the dollar section!) and either send them straight to one of the charities listed below, deliver them to one of your local shelters (make sure leashes are something they need), send them to me to add to my stash, or send me some moolah and I will personally go out and buy as many leashes as I can find in town to add to my current donation!

• The Lange Foundation
• Angel's Gate Hospital
• Main Line Animal Rescue
• Wayside Waifs (local shelter in KC)

Please leave a comment to let me know how or if you are willing to help! My summer has officially started, so I'm ready to do my own little part to help these animals! :)

The Lange Foundation - a place for your donations!

I've already written about this, but I felt it deserved another post today. Oprah's show today was a rerun of the "Puppy Mills" show that ran a few months ago. I previously wrote about Angel's Gate Hospital, which is a shelter for dogs that are unadoptable for various reasons or were close to being put down at shelters all over the country!

As I watched the show again today (and cried just as much this time as I did the first time), I paid close attention when they reported on The Lange Foundation! This is another shelter that adopts old, sick, hurt and unwanted animals from shelters ... and it is run completely on donations! If you browse around on the site, you will see that they also accept gifts like towels, toys, beds, leashes and food! After reading that, I'm going to run back out to Target to pick up some of the leashes I saw in the dollar section this week! That will be a simple way for me to do my part!

One of the founders of the MLAR (Main Line Animal Rescue) said that they have adopted several thousand dogs, cats and rabbits from "mills" and about 99% of them are rehabilitated and adopted out to loving families and homes! He said that some of these dogs have never been out of their tiny kennels, have never run outside, or have never stood on solid ground because their cages are made of chicken wire. He mentioned that he knows the dogs are rehabilitated in just about 2 weeks, and you can tell because they start wagging their tails! :)

Go check out these sites and organizations! They all can use your help!

From "Tulsa" to "Omaha"

We went to trivia tonight ... and had a blast! We had our gift card from our winnings last week, and we also have NO STUDENTS TOMORROW! Since the majority of us are teachers, this is a HUGE deal!

We won, (are you even surprised) and we even got home early. It was a group of eight of us, and even though I definitely didn't pull my weight tonight, I've been appointed my position as the "Gift Certificate Holder", so that assures me a role in the trivia evenings ... as long as we keep winning!

Because we haven't ever done this well, and haven't ever made it this far in the 10-week season ... I'm not really sure what the next step is. We are currently ranked 9th, which isn't that bad.

Anyhoo ... back to my title. When I used to live out south, we all used to joke that I live in Tulsa. I was about 40 blocks south of the rest of my world (work, friends, parents, trivia, shopping, etc). Now I'm about 40 blocks north of that same world! How things have changed! I called Jill on my drive home and she joked that she thought I might be calling to get directions all the way back to my current home! :) The good news about living where I am is that I have semi-close highway access! That makes driving much faster, easier, and much more gas-efficient! I've only been here for 6 days and I'm already getting 20+ more miles to my tank!

Okay ... off to bed. I've got more classroom stuff to pack tomorrow after packing for close to 6 hours today. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get around some wireless internet! Just wait until you see the mess that is my classroom!

Sisters who craft!

Tonight started out as a lazy evening in the Lund house! We all got home from work late-ish and tired. Molly picked up good sammies and then we all nestled in to watch TV. Sadly, there was nothing on and Erik took that opportunity to turn on the NBA games that apparently are on for the next forever nights!

Molly was tired, but knew that she wanted to work on some baby presents for her many friends that are new moms! I hope they aren't reading ... but also know that they have sleepless nights and are up with babies ... maybe they're reading the blog to help them get to sleep! :)

Anyhoo ... Molly didn't really want to get started, but I convinced her that I could help tonight, and the next two nights she is working later and I wouldn't be here to add 2 extra hands. So we started around 9:00 and just finished. It was NOT a quick job!

These are NOT the potato printed onesies and cloth diapers/rags we made tonight (so this isn't a complete spoiler!), but these were some of the first ones she made! Aren't they cute!? Be sure and let me/us know if you're interested! They make a great new baby or baby shower gift!

Sweets for the sweet baby!

Sea critters for your little critter! I especially like the crab for those wonderful days when the baby is crabby! :)

Tell me you're watching!

I just came upstairs from getting caught up on tonight's "Bachelorette" and working on report cards! Now that I don't have internet access on my laptop, I keep forgetting about this silly blog! It's hard to find time to post when I'm sharing a computer and I've got a trillion other things going on.

Anyhoo ... I want to know who is watching "The Bachelorette" with me! I like these so much better than "The Bachelor" and really haven't watched one of those in years! There is actually a guy from KC, MO on this season, so that makes it interesting to watch, too!

What do you all think? Who are your favorites? Who else wants to give Twilley, Jeremy and Sean the boot with me?!?!

I'm rooting for Jason, Ron (KC rules!), Graham and Jesse!

I don't see Peppermint on the list!

I was browsing around on MSN to see what the latest news stories are. I feel out of the loop when I don't have my own TV to scan and see what is going on in the world.

The first article that caught my eye was from Newsweek, "The Most Fattening Ice Cream Flavors"! I was debating whether or not to click ... because those of you that know me, know that I LOVE ice cream! I'll eat just about every flavor, so long as it doesn't taste like coffee at all. I didn't want to find any of my favorites on the list. :(

I got lucky! One of my very favorite flavors is Blue Bell Peppermint, and it's a good thing that it's only out during the holiday season, or I'd be eating it for 3 meals a day, every day!

Anyhoo ... here's the list. Are your favorites on here?

• 1. Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter (360 calories, 24 grams of fat). Look out for nuts and chocolate: the most fattening flavors tend to be loaded with both.
• 2. Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby (330 calories, 20 grams of fat). Vanilla ice cream with fudge and peanut butter swirls, plus fudge covered peanut
• 3. Häagen-Dazs Butter Pecan (310 calories, 23 grams of fat). It's one of the most popular flavors, but the abundance of pecans also makes it one of the fattiest.
• 4. Sheer Bliss Pomegranate with chocolate chips (320 calories, 20 grams fat). Yes, pomegranate juice is good for you. But don't be fooled by the name: cream, milk and sugar are the first three ingredients in this decadent concoction.
• 5. Ben and Jerry's Vermonty Python (300 calories, 19 grams of fat). Coffee ice cream with chocolate cookie crumbs and fudge "cows." Moo.
• 6. Coldstone Cookie Batter (300 calories, 16 grams of fat). The cookie batter mix includes molasses and brown sugar as well as flour, adding calories along with richness. Note that the smallest "Like It" serving size is bigger than a half cup; it has 380 calories and 20 grams of fat. The "Love it" portion is a full cup.

Are we sure it's May?

What is going on with the weather around here? It is May 24th (Happy Birthday, Jilly!) and although it's nice outside today ... there was definitely a breeze last night and it was cool this week.

I drove home yesterday after school and saw kids at the neighborhood pools! I can hardly believe that it's summertime, even though I've been counting down the days for the last few weeks!

What is everyone doing for the big holiday weekend? Any fun plans? I know that Molly and Erik are having the family over for a Memorial Day BBQ on their patio. Erik is pumped to make steak sandwiches and they've been working so hard on their yard and house ... it's nice to be able to show it all off!

Okay ... off to finish unpacking here. It really is never ending. Happy Weekend to Everyone!

Home Sweet .. Oh Wait!

Well ... after 2 days of heavy-duty packing and moving for 3 hours straight tonight ... I'm settled. At least for now.

I'm at Molly & Erik's and even though it's great to be with them, I wish I were at my own place. I've got loads of boxes in Mom & Dad's garage, some stuff at Mitzi's and I don't even remember at this point if Adam & Jill took some of my stuff.

I'll write more later, but after this LONG day at school and even LONGER night moving ... I'm ready to lay my head down and rest!

A huge thanks to my moving crew! I couldn't have done it or stayed sane without you!

$#!+

Blech! It has been a pretty crappy day!

I got some really bad news today, and even though there is some good news that comes out of it ... it's hard for me to be a glass-half-full type of person today!

After fighting with lenders and development owners and mortgage people all week ... I have no condo to move into tomorrow. The closing for my very first home was supposed to be at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, and instead, I'll be a wee bit homeless for the next few weeks. There are too many details to explain about what went wrong, and to be honest, I'm not sure I really understand at this point.

I'm moving, but I'm moving a teeny portion of my belongings into the guest room at Molly & Erik's. They are nice enough to take me in ... but they are family ... did they really have a choice?
Amy told me I could move into the kick ass panda room at the new house she just bought with TJ. Mitzi told me I could move into her kick ass apartment, but I'd have to fight Betty for the couch. Adam & Jill told me I could move into the kick ass spare room/craft store in their apartment ... I think Adam really just wanted to cook for me and Jill wanted a live-in craft partner! :)

Right now I'm pissed ... and I know it will get better, but for now I'm going to bitch and moan my way through it, because that is what makes me feel better for today.

So ... No house warming party for me. No Memorial Day BBQ on my patio. No closet for my clothes to move to. No home to live in. :(

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll figure this out soon. If any of my readers are willing to lend me a few hundred thousand dollars for me to just go out and buy a place this week ... I'd really appreciate it! I'll find an address for you to send the certified check ASAP! Ha!

We're back!

And by "we're" I mean "the regulars plus about 15 extra people"!

Tonight was trivia night. Even though it's the end of the school year and about 1/2 of our regular crew are in the middle of selling and closing and buying houses, we all made an effort to go out for trivia tonight. We were celebrating my birthday (today and yes, I'm 27) and Jilly's birthday (Saturday and I won't reveal her age without her "ok").

We invited friends from school, work, and even my family showed up! We started at 4 tables and ended up at just 2. We also were in the lead the entire night, which is always a good feeling! We went into the final wager round with an even 1000 points, wagered 500 and won in the end, even though we weren't sure of our answer.

Final question: What year did this song hit #1 on the Billboard charts? The song was "Keep on Loving You" by REO Speedwagon. You had to first know what the song was and THEN have a friend with a handy, dandy iPhone to look up the answer on wiki! Thanks, Doug! :)

For those of you that want to guess, I'll put the winning answer in the comments! We ended up winning tonight, which got us back in the running for the bar championships. We are in 9th place, which I would say is pretty impressive for only being there for 3 of the 8 weeks in this "round".

Hope everyone is having a great week ... and for those of you that are teachers ... are you as ready for summer as I am?

I had to say goodbye to her tonight

Tonight, Dad came to pick up Minnie. That means today was her last time to live with Peanut and that I'll be pup free for the next 3 or 4 days. It's hard not to have Minnie to cuddle with at night. Peanut and Minnie get into a funk when the other one isn't around.

I know I'll see her this weekend once I get settled ... but it's still strange not having her around. Mom and Dad are so nice to take Minnie for me so I can continue to get packing and organized this week. Thanks!

Here are some pics of Minnie and Peanut!

This one was taken last March, from the first week we moved in at Jenny's. This was the picture we used for their 1st birthday party!

And here they are last week! Sleeping beauty and the handsome prince.

Did you think I was dead?

Well ... I have two feelings about not blogging since last Friday.

1) I feel really bad that I fell through on my resolution. I wasn't near a computer or the internet all weekend and didn't really have a choice, but nonetheless, it felt strange not to be able to share about my day with you all!

2) Hmmmm, this is kind of nice. I didn't have to rush to sit down and post before the end of the day. I know that once I move this weekend, it might take a few days to get my cable and internet set up, so I'll probably miss a few days this week, too!

More recaps of the weekend to come later, but we all had fun! Julie got to celebrate her last few weeks of being a single lady with all her girls (friends and family) and we made lots of memories. We were up until about 4:00am both nights, and for me being such an old lady that likes to fall asleep on the couch on Friday nights, I had a hard time keeping up!

I also felt pretty sick all weekend, which was hard. I think it's a sinus infection, which I've never had, and so I think I need to get some meds if I'd like this pain to go away anytime soon!

Today at school, we got a dreadful e-mail from our principal telling us that we are all out of packing boxes. Since I still have quite a ways to go to be completely packed, this was BAD news! I stayed at school tonight until 6:00pm packing, cleaning (sort of) and making lesson plans. I'm taking a personal day (2nd one in 4 years) to stay home and pack here! Yippee!

Okay, off to get some stuff organized around here. Happy to be back to my blog! :)

My day got away from me!

I just realized as I was getting ready for work this morning, that I didn't sit down to blog last night. Poo!

I got home fairly early after work, but needed some down time to just relax and not think too much. Jenny and I sat down for lasagna dinner and to watch the season finale of The Office. I got a few more boxes packed last night ... the decision has been made that I still have too much crap!

Then, I came upstairs to clean a bit and pack for my BIG weekend! I'm off to Chicago for Julie's bachelorette party! It will be sooo good to see all the girls and just get away to do something fun.

Doubt I'll have time to blog over the weekend. Consider this a failed weekend as far as blogging goes! :(

I hope everyone in KC enjoys the BEAUTIFUL weather that is coming! It should be nice enough to work in your yard, take a bike ride, go to the dog park, shop outdoors, get some sun and just sit and enjoy!

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!

A tiny accomplishment

Too tired to post much of anything, but I thought I'd give a quick update. I didn't get any packing done at school today since today was beyond chaotic! I did get home semi-early, around 5:00 and after having a bit of sit down time with the dogs, I came upstairs to deal with this war zone I call my room!

I got two boxes packed! Woo Hoo! The sad news is that those two boxes packed only part of my photo albums and frames. That is pretty sad. I don't know how I keep accumulating so much crap! I don't even know where to start and what to get rid of. I think this is a problem!

Tomorrow night I'll be packing for my big trip to Chicago this weekend, but hopefully I can get home from school early and continue to do some packing whilst watching fabulous Thursday night TV! If only I were caught up on LOST and Grey's! That darn storm really ruined everything. Who has time to get on the internet to find, download and watch your shows!

Okay ... literally nodding off as I'm typing this. That should tell me just how interesting this post is! :) Off to bed!

Two rooms to pack ...

... very little progress made.

I move out of Jenny's house and into my condo (fingers crossed!) next weekend. I'm going to Chicago this weekend, and so I have very little time to pack my junk up here. I have yet to pack a single thing from my room here. Blech.

I move out of my classroom on May 29th and due to the construction, we have to have everything in boxes and ready to be moved 3 or 4 times throughout the summer, or moved to your own home. At least I've made a little bit of progress there.

I've got 15 boxes packed. Sounds great, right? Not so great ... take a look at the rest of my room. You can't even tell that I've made a dent or actually done any packing!

That white bookshelf is full of books that will need to be packed. That won't be fun. The bookshelf itself isn't the nicest and sturdiest, so I'm wondering how it'll do in the move.

My messy corner. My desk actually looks sort of neat and organized from this angle. You would find something totally different if you peeked around to see the corner that is a workers comp accident waiting to happen! Amy keeps telling me that she's going to run into a desk drawer or trip over one of my bags or slip on some loose papers one of these days. Maybe she should stay late after school some day to help me get organized! :) I pay for cleaning services in yummy treats!

The back wall. I can't take down my bulletin boards just yet. Once you do that, the room looks completely dead and bare. The longer I keep them up, the longer it seems like school is still going on.


The area that used to be used for reading groups. My table has been turned the wrong way since we started our state assessments a month or so ago. Now it just seems to be a dumping ground for all random things and stacks of papers in my room!

Okay ... now here's the big question: Who wants to help me pack either one of my "homes". I would love some company, too, if you aren't the packing type. People to talk to always seems to make the time go by faster! :)

Does this look like a puppy you know?

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It's amazing what you find when you search "schnoodle" on YouTube! This little Zoey looks just like how Minners did when I first got her. Believe it or not, Minnie was all black and about 3 pounds when I got her. She had tiny white spots on her paws and on her neck.

These pups could be twins!

Happy Mother's Day!

If only today weren't so chilly and windy ... it would have been a pretty perfect day!

For Mother's Day, we met at Mom & Dad's house. Then the girls went to Suburban Lawn & Garden to pick out some herbs for Mom. Then we ran by Dean & Deluca for some sides for our dinner.

We got back to the house, planted Mom's herbs ... and then just hung out for a while. Mom read outside in the sun; Erik read the paper; I played with Minnie and read magazines; Molly worked in the kitchen and read; Dad worked on the computer.

We had a great dinner that ended with s'mores made on the grill! Then we ended the evening by playing some Mexican Train Dominoes! If you haven't played before ... you need to! It's lots of fun, and you can catch on quickly. The game also can change completely just with one round of the game. I was losing horribly, and then I won the last round, and ended up having the best score at the end.

This picture isn't from our game tonight ... but this was one of my best wins a few years ago! I laid all my dominoes down on my first turn and caught everyone off guard with all those points in their hands!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there! Thanks for all you do for your children!

Thanks, Mom! I love you!!

Grab your blankets and slippers!

It has been cloudy and rainy and windy here all day. It is definitely NOT typical weather for May 10th.

I did sleep in a bit this morning ... for as long as Minnie would let me ... 9:30ish. Then I went up to work and got about three hours of packing and cleaning done in my classroom.

After that I went to Amy's to help her get wedding invites done and then eat WAY TOO MUCH food that her Mom made! Thanks, Rita!

Now I'm home ... and I had big plans to pack and clean around here, but instead I've been bundled up on the couch in my sweats and with blankets watching TV. It does feel nice to be this relaxed and comfy! I highly recommend it! :)

She's got what doctors (vets) call a little bit of a weight problem!

Last weekend, Miss Minners, and I went over to see Ashley and Drew's new home ... and the dogs. Yes, I said dogS!

When I went to visit Ash and Drew last summer in Sacramento, Doc was the only furry child in the family.

Things have changed ... there's a new pup in town! Brooks Chalmers Berst!

Welcome to the family! Brooks is a little yellow lab and she is cute as can be! I think she looks a lot like Gunner, Brenda's yellow lab!

She's soooooooooooo tired! Being a cuddle-bug is hard work!

Check out these paws! I think she's part polar bear. She's going to be giant! I even picked up both Brooks and Minnie to compare weight. Brooks is just 8 weeks old and I estimated her to be a few pounds lighter than Minnie. Minnie weighs about 13 pounds and she's 2 years old. Ash called me two days later from the vet to say that Miss Brooks is 17 pounds! Ash said that the vet tried to say in the nicest way possible that she is a little overweight!

Here she is cuddling with her Momma!

Yes ... we have to be sure to give Doc just as much attention! We don't want him to be jealous. Here he is with his binky Kong ... one of the best dog toys ever made.

Brooks wanted a piggy back ride ... Doc didn't think it was as funny as the humans did! I think as soon as Brooks can learn to run around and chase Doc in the backyard, she'll be sure to lose some of that extra weight.

This is Minnie in her puppy coma. We walked in the door and immediately crashed! I had to carry her upstairs because she was so pooped! We'll have to make sure we make a trip back over to play ... because any day now, I'm sure that Brooks will pass Minnie in size!

Thanks friends (humans and dogs) ... we had TONS of fun!

Finally finished!

Today, we completed the last of the assessments our kids had to do in fourth grade.

This is the final total of all the test we had to take. When I say "we", I actually mean my 22 nervous, "done" with testing 9- and 10-year olds!

• 3 days of Kansas Reading Assessments (each section took about 1 hour).
• 3 days of Kansas Math Assessments (each section took more than 1 hour).
• 1 day of Kansas Science Assessment (I am forgetting now, but I think we took 2 sessions for this test).
• 1 week of completing a Writing Assessment (start to finish: brainstorming to typed final copy).
  
• 2 days of the MAP Assessments (kids testing in both Reading and Math ... this test is for the district and parents).

We cheered when the last test was completed and the last laptop was put away! If only we had a great way to celebrate being done with all assessments ... oh wait ... we did! We let the kids enjoy an extra long recess today, thanks to the GREAT weather today!

So beautiful!

I saw this sunset last night when I was sitting on the couch grading papers. Can you believe how beautiful this is!?!?

Tonight there was no real sunset because it was cloudy, rainy, windy and dark out. :(

I love having open skies out here, because you can really enjoy not only the sunrises and sunsets, but the stars are amazing! I'm really going to miss that once I'm back in the "city"!

They were REALLY hungry!

How's this for hungry pups?

Jenny came home the other night from visiting their family friends, the Larsons. Every time Jenny sees them, she comes home with some sort of a yummy puppy treat for Peanut ... and therefore Minnie gets a yummy puppy treat, too!

This time it was a cake doggy cookie that was covered in that yogurt icing and sprinkles! The dogs could NOT get their mouths on it fast enough! I thought there was going to be a fight if we didn't stop taking pictures and just give the cookies to the dogs.

Here they are!

Waiting patiently. It smells good, though.

Minnie isn't so patient anymore. She's showing off by begging and dancing!

Aaaaaannnnnnnnnnddddddddd .... GO! They act like they've never been fed! :)

Slow Motion Teacher Fall

Sounds like a great name for a hilarious YouTube video OR a winning video on America's Funniest Videos, right?

Yes, it should be.

Today, whilst teaching fractions in Math, I felt myself falling over in slow motion. I literally was standing one minute and in the next second, I heard myself screaming and saying, "I'm falling" and then it was, "I fell"!

Luckily, my kids were fast at work folding tiny strips of paper into fifths and tenths, but they all were sure to look up and laugh at me. Amy came running up to me to see if I was okay and I couldn't really tell her what had happened!

Every time I turned to the chalkboard to write something, I would crack up just thinking about what had happened. At one point, I looked over at Amy and she was crouched down on the floor, crying because she was laughing so hard. :) If only Brenny, Adam and Mitz had been in the room, then I'm sure it would have been 10 times funnier! I think I'll end up with a bruise on my leg where I fell, but at least I came away without a sprained ankle!

Way to speak up!

I guess the other ladies of Sex and the City decided to speak up about the previous movie posters featuring only Sarah Jessica Parker.

This is the latest poster!

Could this be me?

This is one of this week's secrets on Post Secret. I hope this won't be me in the future!

My new favorite charity: Angel's Gate Animal Hospital

A few weeks ago on her show, Oprah had Lisa Ling do an investigative report on puppy mills. I cried through the whole show wondering if past dogs we've bought from pet stores came from puppy mills. One of my very favorite pet stores has many of the designer, mixed-breed dogs and many of those are bred at puppy mills. As a potential pet buyer, you are allowed to ask questions from the pet stores: Where do your dogs come from? What sort of life did they have? Did you visit the breeder where they came from? That is your job before you actually buy the dog.

When I went to buy a dog, I had seen schnoodles at pet stores and loved them. I did my research on what kind of dogs they were and found local breeders so that I didn't need to buy from a pet store. I ended up finding Minnie at a great breeder in Warrensburg (Sleepy Hollow Kennels), and the owner was fabulous! She was more than helpful and you can tell that she really loves each and every litter of dogs that are born. Each litter gets to take turns sleeping in the house and they are raised as pets before they are sold to new owners.

So ... back to my story. This Monday on Oprah she had updates of past guests. One of the great parts was when several different pet shelters sent in videos telling how the day after her puppy mill show ran, they had record days for adopting the most pets they ever had! What a great feeling knowing that her one show helped to save the lives of many animals that needed homes.

Then, Jill Rappaport came on to do a report about one of her favorite shelters. She said that she doesn't have children and her pets (horses and dogs) are her children. She shared a story about Angel's Gate Hospice. Angel's Gate is a facility that takes in and cares for animals that they rescued from being put down at other shelters. They are animals that have severe disabilities and needs. They are animals that have abnormalities and defects from living in puppy mills. They are animals that no one wants. They are animals that are abused and neglected and abandoned. They are animals that need a nice place to live the rest of their lives.

The owner and founder, Susan Marino, quit her job to run this facility. She cares for each animal to the best of her abilities with a great team. It is an exhausting job because some of these animals need daily medical care and have needs like rehabilitation (because they were paralyzed) or "wheelchairs" because they have malformed feet and legs from being in a puppy mill. They basically adopt animals and try to let them live the rest of their lives in an open space where they can run around (even if it is on 2 legs or with the help of wheels) and play and be loved for the rest of their lives.

Please go watch the video of the clinic on Oprah's site. Susan works for no salary Angel's Gate is run completely by donations. Obviously they have some very severe needs when it comes to medical care for these animals and every dollar counts! They have a "No Adoptions" policy as Susan and everyone else at Angel's Gate has promised to adopt these animals for life ... they encourage everyone else to find the perfect pet to adopt at other shelters in their area!

Who wants to bet that one of the teams will have a laptop?

Tonight we're off to Trivia at a different location since we missed it this week, it's too cold for First Fridays, and we are all semi-broke. It will be the regular crew (Adam & his 3 wives), but we're trying to convince some other friends to join us, too! We can always use extra heads for useless trivia knowledge. :)

Last time we played at this bar, the team that won actually brought in their laptop. I'm sure I could help get a win for my team with my awesome Googling skills, too! How lame.

I'll be sure and let you all know if we walk away with the $100 cash prize for the winners. I don't know if the update will be tonight, however, since this Trivia starts much later than our usual night and I don't think it finishes until closing time.

Wish us luck ... we desperately need the prize money so we can afford to go to regular Trivia this week!

Stupid Tornado Warning

Since Jenny and I just spent the last 30 minutes in the basement with the dogs, and the weather "Gods" were on TV for about an hour ... all the shows that were set to record for the last hour are lost. Poo!

Feel Great Story of the Week!

Being home sick today has allowed me to watch some daytime TV, that I don't normally get to watch. One of those shows was Ellen. Today she had a guest who was a 70-year-old first grade student. Alferd wanted to come to school to learn how to write and read ... two things he had never learned to do! Alferd Williams was born in the 1930's and never went to school because he started working in the fields at a young age. He happens to live in St. Joseph, Missouri!

Here is a clip from the news telling all about him!
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Alferd and his teacher, Miss Hamilton came on the show to tell their story. At the end of their segment, Ellen gave gifts to show how proud she was of both Alferd and Miss Hamilton. Ellen gave Miss Hamilton 26 wireless HP laptops for her classroom. Then she presented a check for $10,000 to Alferd to show him how proud she was of him! He was so excited, he could hardly contain himself. Miss Hamilton started crying because she said that he owns a tiny piece of land, but now he had some money that could help him to get a house for his land. Ellen mentioned that she would have viewers help by donating money. The story was so touching, that I'm sure he'll have enough money for a house in no time!

It's never too late to start learning something new!