Eldon GEB | A Dog Named Christmas

Eldon GEB | A Dog Named Christmas

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Finky Inky Got the Job

Rockland County Police Department has hired Miss Finky Inky.

She'll be a star at her new job; I'm still digesting it.

Sigh.

Aunt Eleanor's 70th Birthday Party

This weekend Richard and I, Richard's dad Ronnie and Diane all piled into the car, and made the trip to Patterson, NY to Anthony and Kelly's home for a surprise birthday party for Ronnie's sister, Eleanor.

What a wonderful party! So good to see family, to hear stories, to laugh, enjoy good food and good wine.

The best gift? What it was all about? Eleanor's reaction to her brother coming all that way for her birthday. It was priceless. We all cried.

November 20, 2009

I walked a mile with Pleasure.
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me.
-Robert Browning Hamilton, "Along the Road"

Today we went to Bethany Beach, DE, to St. Ann's Church, to attend the memorial service of Lisa Cavalluzzo. Lisa was 45 years old, and she lived in Delray Beach, Florida.

I pray she finds now what she had been searching for all her life; I pray her parents, her brother and sister, her family, will be comforted. I pray that we learn from our sorrow.

There was a time in my life that I walked the same roads that Lisa did; I found my way back. I wish that she could have done the same. There but for the grace of God go I. When I found out the terrible news, I called my Mom. I wanted to talk to her, to tell her I was so sorry for the awful decisions I had made in my life at one time. I was sorry for putting them through so much pain and anguish. I was sorry for choosing the easy road, the road that didn't involve personal responsibility. I read the mass card that was given out; on the back was the Serenity Prayer. How many times had I read that? I thought of Lisa, and wished that she could have lived it.

How do you find the right words to say...they don't come. I saw my family, my parents there in Lisa's family today. I saw the sadness enveloping the family. There but for the grace of God go I.

Sometimes we're so busy living day to day that we forget what is important in this short life that we have. Tomorrow is never promised. Live today as if it is indeed your last one. Don't hold grudges. Tell your parents you love them. Tell your children you love them. Kiss your dog on the lips (ok, I know I'm pushing it here).

Lisa, I hope that you rest in peace; Mr. & Mrs. Cavalluzzo, Joe and Regina, my prayers are with you always. I hope that you can all find comfort in the love from your family and friends.

Ink Update

Today should be Ink's last "interview" with the police department that is interested in her. She might be released as early as today. (Can you tell that I'm gunning for her to fail this police test?)

How convenient that we'll be up in Paterson NY tomorrow....a mere 30 minutes away from the kennels.

Hmmmmm.

(Psst. Inky. Today's the day where you want to be a crazy, running around, not listening, stupid, jackass dog. Don't listen to anything anybody tells you. When they tell you to heel, you need to jump on people. Use your nails. When they tell you to down, run away as fast as you can. Bark loudly at people. Scoot your butt along the floor -- that's a good one. )

New Bumper Sticker

Saw a bumper sticker on a car in front of me the other day. It read:
"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

When I got home, I looked it up (thank goodness for Google). Seems this saying has become popular according to Google stats!

Psalm 109:8
"Let his days be few; and let another take office."

I'd like one of those stickers!

Little Maggie...Not So Little Anymore

I wanted to share my newest pictures of little Magnolia Leigh. Poor child. How awful of me to make her put on wigs and then take pictures. She's going to hate me when she brings a boyfriend home, and her Mom and Dad take out these pictures.

For the record, I had the complete cooperation of her mother.

Time Marching on at an alarming rate....

So much has happened since I've been regularly posting; life moves on while we're busy making other plans.

As of right now...Richard and I had a nice three-day weekend in Florida. Flew into south Florida, where Richard had a small job, and then drove up about three hours to Mount Dora. We got off the plane in Ft. Lauderdale, and walked over to Hertz; they have the car sitting there with the trunk open. I had asked what kind of car we were getting, and was expecting a mid-sized something. We put the bags in the trunk and closed it, and then I saw the Mercedes symbol. I said "holy crap Richard, it's a mercedes!" We were tickled. Very nice car; drove nicely, cool stuff inside. My dad was appropriately impressed; Richard told him that we knew we'd be driving them to dinner that night, and couldn't show up in just any car. :)

We of course, had to take some pictures with it before we took it back.









We got to see Augie, and I was very sad when we left, and shed some tears; it's probably the last time I'll get to see him.

He's old, and he's struggling a bit. That's going to be a terrible day in my parents house. They love that boy so very much. I just hope they both have the strength to do the right thing for Augie when the time comes. This poor sweet boy.






Mr. Anthony comes home tomorrow from Debbie and Christian's house; Debbie told me she's in love, but she's tired! Anthony viewed little Maggie as "his size", so she was fair game; he wanted to play with her like he plays with his brother, and those little puppy teeth are like pins. So restrictions had to be imposed upon the visiting little black puppy...but all in all, Debbie was thrilled with him, and I got lots of positive feedback from her. She's coming to Salisbury tomorrow to drop him off, and I cannot wait to see him.

Spent today looking for the "perfect" gift for Aunt Eleanor's 70th birthday. Finally found a nice frame after about six hours of shopping. Saw Santa in the mall, and asked him why he was there so early. He didn't have a good excuse, just like the stores not having a good excuse as to why the Christmas decorations are put out in the stores before halloween is over!

Participated in a Guiding Eyes conference call this evening from 7:30 until 8:30 pm; looking for new ways to recruit raisers. I think that the economy has hurt GEB (as well as every other charitable organization, probably). Our region is the only one that consistently has new raisers...whatever we're doing, we're doing right.

Trying to get the other raisers to get their pups out and volunteer for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign. Be a good way to get the organization noticed, and very good practice for the pups.

I'm typing this with one eye closed, so I'm ready for bed. Tired tired tired. That damned air they pump into the malls. It'll get you every time.

Just fed Ink the last dinner I'm going to feed her. That made me incredibly sad.
Gonna miss her.

But, on the other hand, I can't wait to see what she's going to do for someone else. That's above all, above all.

Friday, September 11, 2009

It's as good a day as any to start writing again. It's gotten to the point where it's like with a friend you haven't been in touch with for awhile, and the longer it goes on, the harder it is to pick up that phone, because you feel baaaddddd, but not bad enough to suck it up and just make the call. Today's a good day to suck it up and start writing again. Much much much has happened over the summer, our lives have gone in different ways. But, for the moment, things are calm and steady, which is a welcome relief.

It's been a very gray, very dreary, rainy day. Perfect weather for this day. Every year, it seems to ebb; the coverage, the documentaries, the ceremonies for 9/11. But I seek them out; about a week before, I start to look at the History Channel, the ID channel, National Geographic channel. I start to watch, and watch everything I can that is related to the attacks. This year I even ordered a documentary from Amazon that's only been broadcast once (in my defense, it's an awesome film, and I've wanted Richard to see it for years). It's not come in the mail yet, but I know I'll sit down and watch it as soon as it gets here.

I don't know why I keep watching these things; maybe I'm just still trying to understand why it happened.

Did you know that you can see pictures of the jumpers after they landed? They are on the internet. Why? What's the purpose of having these pictures available to anybody? To strengthen American resolve? Not likely. It's more like a sick voyeurism that fuels our society. I imagine that you can pretty much find a picture of just about anything on the internet. I've certainly found some unusual ones, but I tend to focus on the funny, not the gruesome.

What led me to look for pictures of the jumpers was that I've been thinking about them for the past few days. I was thinking about how horrific it must have been in those buildings to have come to that decision. Was it that, or was it the last bit of control they had over their own lives? If you look at the pictures, some of them look like they are flailing wildly as they fell, yet some look posed and peaceful. I think about their families. Did they recognize them? Could they tell? Would it be better to have that memory, then to have nothing at all, the way it it was for most of the victims' families.

Thousands and thousands of images from that day; they never cease to move me incredibly. I wish more people looked at them. It is frightening how quickly complacent we've all become.

For me, this will always be a day of memory, and of sadness for all of the victims and the people who lost them.

GEB Puppies on the Today Show

One of the boys featured in the video is Ink's daddy, Alex.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Five Greatest Sentences That Are Incredibly Relevant Now

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy
out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another
person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to
anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because
the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets
the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get
what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any
nation.

5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Adrian Rogers, 1931*

SWAT Team to Escort Jackson Body

SWAT Team to Escort Jackson Body

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WHY????

Is someone going to kill him again?

What a Week it's Been for this united states...

In the category of 'celebretard worship', they're dropping like flies. First, it was Ed McMahon, which made me a bit sad, as he and Johnny Carson and he entertained me as a child (when I snuck staying up and watching The Tonight Show on the black and white tv); but he was old, and it was his time to die. He had a long, and mostly good, life.

Then Friday came, and the news that Farrah Fawcett had died. Another death expected, as she had had such a long battle with cancer. It bothered me that she never married Ryan O'Neill in the end; they just ran out of time. And it bothered me that her son was in jail when she died. Ah, what we do to our parents. Ah, what we do to our children.

Friday afternoon came the passing of Michael Jackson, which shocked (and didn't shock) me. To look at him, he look like a time bomb just waiting to go off. Many many accolades, all news stories revolving around him. King of Pop, child-molester, wacko-jacko. He was an incredibly talented individual who was a prime example of what environment can do to a child. His father took his childhood in all ways and shapes, Michael Jackson was determined to be a child when he was older. Was he a pedophile? I don't know. Where there people around him only to use him? Definitely. It is a tragedy that someone that is so brilliant and talented and wealthy would have such an unfulfillable life. It's just sad.

I thought the cycle of three was done.

Then this afternoon, Billy Mays is dead. Holy crap. This starts the count again. Now I'm waiting for two more to go.

I would have thought for sure that Billy Mays would have had something that came from as seen on tv to keep him alive.

Sad. Our pop icons are dying.

Direct from Salisbury, MD via The Colbert Report

Salisbury on the map once again. This is a very very funny video, taken at Mitchells Marshall Arts, regarding a pretty neat program for senior citizens called "cane fu". The Colbert Report, of course, makes it really funny with random statements from the students of cane fu, and compares the "cane fu army" to a sleeper cell.

Good to see something other than the canonization of Michael Jackson.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Enemy Within - Cane Fu
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Mark Sanford

The Pelosi SmartCar

Ok, it's a bit over the top, but funny/true/funny/true.

Whatever she's saying, she surely believes in it....

Cop Tasers 72 Year Old Woman

Sounds horrible, right? The video is edited to elicit sympathy for the kindly old great grandmother. I'm going to try and find the uncut version...it comes across quite differently. This shows the power of the media...a story can go one way, or completely another way, depending on the editor.



I hope that when I'm 72, I've lived enough life to know when to shut up and do what the officer tells me to do, and when he says "I'll tase you" I won't respond "Go ahead, I dare you".

Just proves that age does not always bring wisdom. :)

Life lessons...

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."