Journey to the Dog

After losing our beautiful, awful, drive you crazy, every bodies favorite husky to cancer, we decided that it was time to look for another dog.

Last week we started the process finding the perfect match. Was it a little soon? Yeah, probably. But we also know that there are a lot of great dogs who need a good home. Something we are more than capable of providing. So the search began for a new addition that was both good with other dogs and children.

With in a couple of days we found what looked like a match. A gorgeous pit bull mix, named Rose. Yes, I know their reputations. No, I haven't lost my mind. What I knew was she was the only calm dog in a kennel full of barking, lunging, lunatics. So we asked to see her. They brought her to a small room with a few chairs and a lot of space. She came to each of us in turn, tail wagging and placed her head in each of our laps. When my daughter got up a moved around the room, Rose followed seeking gentle affection, which of course she received in abundance.

Though I had reservations about her particular breed, I couldn't ignore how sweet natured she was. We made arrangements to have her meet our nine year old Shiba Inu. No, I haven't been drinking while I type this. It's a real breed.

When we returned Rose greeted us with the same gentle affection she had already displayed. Our shiba was not greeted so kindly. Though she never barked, growled, or lunged, Rose did make her displeasure of him known by her stiff body language and utter avoidance of his presence. This was not a good sign. We asked the shelter attendant if we could take them for a walk hoping they would mesh better on more neutral ground. It was rainy out, but the attendant agreed to go with us.

The only thing we accomplished was getting muddy shoes, wet socks, and further signs of aggression. Rose never growled or gave verbal warning, but it her stiff stance and flattened ears told us she was not a fan of our poor little guy. I wasn't going to risk either dogs safety for our own selfish wants. So sadly, we had to leave Rose behind.

And our search for the perfect dog continued.

My husband and I had issues agreeing on which breed to choose. He was set against labs, I decided that I just wasn't comfortable around pitbulls, despite some real sweeties. We spent hours searching online and we only had a few leads. We had already decided that, though we loved our husky, that we wanted to try something different. Our husky was pretty, extremely affectionate, and had a lot of personality, but she was also a lot of work. She was willful and never listened. She constantly stole food. And the fur...oh my God, the fur. Every three months or so it looked like it snowed in our house.

We tried several different local shelters without any success. After a couple of frustrating days, we decided to load up the whole family, dog included, and drive an hour to try some area shelters. Since we were unfamiliar with the city, we ended up lost more often than not. Even the GPS was confused at one point. The annoying electronic voice insisted we were at a rescue, when in reality we were at a park. Luckily the park ranger was able to lead us in the right direction. They really are very helpful. Anyway, we ended up retracing our path many times as we traipsed back and forth across the city, searching for the addresses we had on our lists. We ended up with:

We were told one dog would probably eat ours.
One ran anytime our daughter got near him.
One weighed more than me.
One tried to eat ALL OF US. Seriously, I almost wet my pants.

After a few hours of fruitless searching we had crossed off all of the addresses, save one. We finally reached it...just to discover that they didn't actually have any dogs there. It was just the place that accepted donations. The lady was sympathetic to us and my four year old who was disappointed so she offered to let us see her dog. A gorgeous, black and white, blue eyed husky.

We of course melted. After seeing how affectionate that dog was with our daughter, we left saying how maybe another husky wouldn't be so bad. I told my husband I wouldn't mind a red one. Our last one was silver.

The next day we went to another adoption day. Out front was a beautiful, red and white, blue eyed husky. Not even kidding. It was the first dog we saw. I spoke with the rescue lady who was so protective of this dog you would have thought she gave birth to it. She sent people away with military precision.

"How much experience have you had with huskies? None. Next."
"You have a pitbull at home? Next."
"Oh, you have had a husky. Great. Oh, you left it when you moved? Next."

It was finally our turn.
"You've had a husky?"
"Yes."
"What happened to her?"
"We lost her to cancer."

On, and on it went. Until finally

"You know, I'm not giving her away today. But please call me next week. Please, please call me."

Sometimes fate just works that way.

So tomorrow we call and hope our search is at an end. I'm still glad our end didn't come with that one dog that tried to eat us.

Revenge - Mommy Style.

My daughter is now four. It's no secret that when she was younger, and still taking naps, that she was a complete pain to get to sleep. There were days she would fight nap time for hours, and me, not wanting to give in, kept insisting on it. So we would lock in battle, sometimes I would win and she would sleep. More often she would fuss around her room, doing everything she could to keep herself awake. It always ended up with me so exhausted and frustrated that I just wanted to curl up and eat chocolate.

Finally, I admitted defeat. Days with afternoon naps were a thing of the past. It simply wasn't worth the two and three hours of battle for just an hour or so of noon time peace. The bonus was we no longer had the same fight for bed time. When eight o'clock rolled around she was more than ready for bed. It's been a few months since her last afternoon nap and we all have adjusted well.

But today, oh today, I got a little piece of revenge. My daughter decided that she was going to be the mommy and me the baby. I nearly squealed with delight when she decided I needed a nap. As she tucked me in I thought of all the times I had done the same thing and how many ways she used to fight that nap. I decided that I was going to try them all. So I...

1. Pretended cried for no reason so she had to come back and check on me
2. Kept getting out of bed so she had to keep putting me back
3. Got out bed and hid, so she flipped when she couldn't find me.
4. Played with the toys in her room, only to rush back into bed when I heard her coming.
5. Ask for a glass of water
6. Tossed and turned incessantly

and her absolute favorite thing to do when she was small

7. Cry and say, I want my mommy with me!

I have to admit, she stuck with the first few items really well. Patiently tucking me back in, or leading me back to the room. I was impressed. She was pretty good at this. Until we got to number 7. Yeah, 7 is when she broke. She marched over, grabbed her Belle doll and handed it to me.

"Here," she huffed. "Here is your new mommy!" Then she stormed out of the room. It left me in a fit of giggles. But it also made me wonder...why the hell didn't I think of that!

World Word Observations

If you have a young child you probably know what I am talking about.

Duck - He seems to be the product of a poor upbringing. He lives in a nest not a house (or anything really similar to a house) like the rest of them do. He also seems to be the most uneducated one.

Frog- He's a slum lord. He lives in a nice uptown log while he makes the bugs live in the mailbox. 

Sheep - She's the token crazy person. She spends most of her time pretending to be something else. 

Bear - She's the survivalist. You don't see her often and she lives in a cave. I think that if there really was a zombie uprising she would be the one to survive.

Pig - He's the middle class average guy, however I think he might be a closet bulimic. I mean he eats all the time, and all this junk food and never gains any weight.

Dog - He's God in Word World. Think about it....he is the one that creates the others in the beginning of the show. He lives in the biggest house. He doesn't actually talk so he sometimes is misunderstood...and what do you get when you spell dog backwards?  Case closed

Harry, Katniss, and Edward

Some one asked, just in general, who would win in a face off between these three characters. Here is what I said.

As in the literal since for the literary sense? Literary it goes; Harry, Katniss, then Edward.

As for literal since here is how it would go down. At least in my head, and it all takes place in the arena of The Hunger Games.

The meadow is clear, bright and silent. The slight rustling of trees indicates that while all is quiet, the meadow is not devoid of life. A shadow appears between the tree trunks. Edward steps into the opening following the scent of human blood. Katniss, who has been patiently waiting in the branches above, pulls the string tight on her bow, takes a steadying breath, and releases the arrow.

Edward, however, has heard her thoughts and has turned to avoid being pierced. Running with super human speed, he reaches her tree before she can do much more than blink. As he scrambles up the tree after her, she quickly lines up her second shot. Being an experienced hunter she knows that he is moving too quickly to be hit by aiming directly at him. Anticipating where he will go, instead of where he is, she fires her second shot.

Edward is caught off guard, as he it too busy worrying about what Bella and Jacob are doing at this very moment, and he takes the arrow to the arm. A roar of rage escapes him, as he pulls the arrow out. Katniss now realizes that she is in trouble. Her arrows will not be effective. Terror fills her heart as she scurries up the tree further to get out of his reach, she calls for help. 

Edward has just grasped Katniss's ankle when the tree branches begin to snap beneath them. Katniss gasps and clings to the branch above her, but it's too late. The branch holding Edward gives way. His grip on her ankle tightens painfully. She cries out as her hands begin to slip, the bark biting into her skin. The combined weight is too much and they both plummet to the ground.

Harry, who has been practicing Quiditch nearby, has heard Katniss's cry for help. He sees the two fall and knows he can not reach them in time. He pulls out his wand and slows them before they can crash to the ground. Edward instantly recovers, yet is trying to calculate his next move. Katniss takes longer, but instantly distrusts the boy on the broom. She loads her next arrow, but hesitates trying to figure out who is the biggest threat.

Edward now recognizes Harry from his days at Hogwarts where he was pretending to be Cedric Diggory. The recognition is mutual, yet Harry knows that Cedric should be dead. Perhaps this is how he became a Vampire? If that is the case Cedric can no longer be trusted.

Katniss takes advantage of the distraction that is happening between the boys, and starts to ease away. This catches Edwards attention, and he turns to her, Harry locks Edward in a body binder spell. Katniss realizes that Harry is helping her, but still can not bring herself to trust him.

She shifts her aim from Edward to Harry, not wanting to shoot, but also not ready to drop her weapon. Harry disarms her with an Expelliarmous charm and calls for a truce.

Katniss heeds his words and drops her guard. Harry swoops down, and releases Edward from his spell, so they can all speak to each other civilly. They clear up their differences and leave as friends.

Harry, of course, could have killed them both instantly with an Avada Kedvra curse, but he is much too noble for that sort of thing. So...Harry wins.

Apple Butter Cupcakes.

• 1-3/4  cups

  all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2  teaspoons

  baking powder
• 1  teaspoon

  baking soda
• • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

  1/4  teaspoon

  salt
• 1/2  cup

  margarine or butter
• 1  cup

  sugar
• 1 

  egg
• 1  cup

  apple butter
• 1  teaspoon

  vanilla
• 2  tablespoons

  lemon juice
• 1  5-ounce

  can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk

  
  

  
  

  1.

  In a small mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, soda, and spices set aside. In a medium mixing bowl beat margarine or butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Beat in apple butter and vanilla. Stir lemon juice into milk (mixture willcurdle). Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternately to apple butter mixture, beating on low to medium speed after each addition just until combined. 

  2.

  Grease muffin cups or line with paper bake cups; fill two-thirds full. Bake in a 350 degrees F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. 

  
  

  
  

  Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting 

  Ingredients:
  8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
  1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  2-3 cups powdered sugar

  Directions:
  1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and uniform.
  2. Add cinnamon and vanilla.
  3. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Pitchwars - How I got my story.

About a year and a half ago I woke up from a terrible dream. I was in a forest with little light but a lot of sound. I felt the brush of wings on my face, stumbled backwards and collided with a tree. Before I could even take another breath, the ground beneath my feet began to move. I slid behind the tree and watched as a mound of earth grew bigger and bigger, until a pair of hands burst through. 

Out of the ground came a girl with long dark hair, violet eyes, and a lot of power. She stood up, brushed the dirt off her face and looked at me. Her eyes radiated fury, her hands shook with rage, and when her gaze fell on me, I knew that I was in deep trouble. 

Of course then I woke up. I was completely covered in sweat and shaking all over. The image of that girl stuck with me though. I began to wonder a few things. One, what the hell was wrong with me that I had a dream like that? It took me an hour to get back to sleep afterwords. Two, how did she get there?

Since she was a figment of my imagination, I knew that the only way I would ever know the answer to the second question, would be if I wrote her story myself. I named her Evie and gave her life.

Now I know how she came to be buried in that lonely forest. 

I'm not sure I'll ever know what's wrong with me that I have dreams like that. 

Why do I write?

I think a lot of writers will get asked this questions at least one time in their career. One of the most popular answers is, "Well I had a story to tell." This is essentially true. Every writer has a story to tell. Whether it be fictional, factual, historical, auto-biographical, (that's a word right?) or any of the other numerous "als" out there, every word written in essence tells a story.

To me writing is so much more than a story. Words can move like nothing else can. They bring on tears, happy and sad, make you laugh when nothing else can, move people to action, bring them to their knees. Words can be uplifting, heart wrenching, exciting, captivating. Words can build nations or destroy them. They can make you love, they can make you hate, change minds and win hearts. Whether spoken in a shout or barely in a whisper, words effect us all.

Books are simply a natural extension of words. They bring alive new worlds, world you wish desperately were real. Make heroes and villains that never existed, attach you to people that were never here. Make you see through someone else's eyes, feel through someones else's heart (ok I may have stolen that from a Disney movie, but it's true nonetheless). 

This is why I write. I want to create characters that people will always remember. I want my readers to root desperately for the victory of my hero, vehemently wish for the defeat of my villain. I want people to laugh out loud, feel their guts clench in suspense. I want them to cry on cue, and leap up with joy. To create a story that will resonate with people. 

For me that is what it is all about, that is why I write.