2010 Failure

Today, a total bitch challenged me on how I personally help animals.

Now, she doesn't know me. She is an ugly, washed-up, talking-head hag who is protecting her shitty company and their shitty policies. She doesn't know that I helped to start The Pet Project Midwest (sorry for swearing in a post about you, I know you won't like it) and I left to do the magazine, which is 100% adoption focused, and to work on direct care. In monetary terms, I donated a ton of kitty litter and dog food to TPPM, I bought a $400 dog house from Pet Project Midwest as a fundraiser. I also helped to build a wall at Heinz 57's Pit Stop, and am planning to help them build another wall really soon. I went to two Petland protests. I wrote at least 8 letters to elected officials on the Iowa Puppy Mill Bill that passed in March. I wrote and designed and sold ad space for the magazine and I personally recruited at least 15 non-profit rescues to be part of a fundraiser through the magazine. I really hope it comes back strong in 2011. I went to a court hearing of a puppy miller, to support the rescues that took his abused and neglected dogs. I also did some other things that I can't talk about. But if you read this, and you were a part of it-- you'll know.

But she struck a nerve. She hurt my feelings. She pushed me over the edge, because I am sitting here on the last day of 2010 feeling like a FAILURE. Because I had a goal at the beginning of 2010, and I didn't make it. My goal was to directly help 100 dogs in 2010.

Direct Help, to me, includes:

1. Directly transporting in my car.

2. Directly fostering in my home.

3. Finding a foster home for a dog.

4. Cross-posting in a way that leads to an adoption or a foster home

AND MAYBE: 5. Giving money to help an individual dog's situation--health bills come to mind. I did this 6 times, in increments from $5-$20. So, 6 dogs, if we count this.

So, how many others did I help?

5 Bassets over Christmas 2009 had to be re-transported in early 2010

2 mill poodles to Columbus, OH, on my way to BlogPaws 2010

1 Pregnant Pyr

1 Foster, transport, foster home for Stewie Basset was also in-home for a total of three nights

1 Foster--Solomon

1 Foster--Jimmy (adopted by Tim and Vicky)

1 Charlie (originally Bailey) (adopted by Tim and Vicky)

2 Yorkies--found foster home with Kelly and Andy

4 Recruited Molly Nagel to take Scooter, who needed surgery. Scootie was adopted, he was going to be put down because he growled when he played. Molly fostered Bailey and Nina from Joplin, Missouri, and foster-failed Bailey. (YAAY!) Molly began her own efforts, and I believe helped over 50 animals this year?? I also helped her by going to Red-something Iowa to retrieve Dallas, a dog that had gone astray. I'm counting that!

1 Puppy Mill Survivor "Little Red"

1 The Weeg, the Basset the Fernandez family adopted.

19 dogs total

Transports --according to my mileage log for taxes, I helped with a few transports this year.

20 dog transport--helped to load/unload, overnight, walk and tag. Does this count? I think it does, because I spent over 4 hours doing it.

12 dog transport

6 dog transport

5 dog transport

5 dog transport

7 dog transport

4 dog transport

4 dog transport

8 dog transport

2 mill dogs to Williamsburg

4 dogs needed rides to Pella, Iowa

77 dogs transported

( I was asked to do 14 weekend transports, and I did 9 of them, the others were special trips)

SUBTOTAL: 97 dogs. Does money toward vet bills count? Because then it is TOTAL 103 dogs helped.

SO, technically, I barely made my goal of helping 100 dogs. So, looking at my failure, how am I going to change in the New Year? First of all, on January 1, I am transporting. I am taking two dogs between Des Moines and Williamsburg, IA. I am going to keep transporting, as much as I can, every weekend I can. Because I personally could have done more.

Recruiting. I am going to recruit and train fosters and drivers. I think I only recruited about 6 people to help

Posting. I am going to post more on Facebook and Twitter about dogs that need help.

Engaging other communities. Earlier this year, I had a thought about helping get dogs adopted in Northern Minnesota. I think I want to pursue that...

What are you going to do?

Cookies!

Thanks to www.RecipeGirl.com I discovered the wonderful tastiness that is this recipe last night

VANILLA COOKIE DOUGH
½ cup (2 ounces) powdered sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups (6¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Cream the sugar, butter and vanilla. Add flour. Mix and roll til it's dough, then press into forms or cookie pan. Bake on 350

It makes the most lovely short-bready-flaky cookie bordering on biscuit. I highly recommend, and I'll be making these for my neighborhood cookie exchange next week!

The recipe yields about 20 cookies in the shaped cookie pan I was using.

Little Red

Last week, a puppy mill in Eastern Iowa begrudgingly gave up all of their breeding stock, because they lost their USDA license. They were encouraged by the USDA to euthanize the "stock", rather than giving them up to rescues. Luckily, they wanted to give their stock up to other breeders, and somehow A Heinz 57 Rescue got into the loop, and prevented this from happening. See, millers HATE rescue. We give dogs away for free, compared to them (Usually $75-175, depending on vetting compared to $400-1,400 for a purebred puppy) and we drive down the cost and the demand for breeds.

The mill consisted of mostly mutts--"designer" dogs-- malti-poos, yorkie-poos, shih-tsu-poos (shit-poo?) and beautiful, friendly, social Golden Retrievers. It was obvious that the millers were only really interested in Goldens, the other dogs were an afterthought--a way to make fast money.

When the transport arrived, it was late at night, freezing cold, and the Heinz 57 staff weren't even sure what all they HAD in the van, they simply accepted absolutely everyone that the breeder was giving away. No health records, no names, no breeds were explained. They were simply man-handled over to the rescue, who had been called only the day before. They were originally to hand over 20-ish, dogs, they turned over 42. Because of the larger number than originally planned, not all of the dogs had a place to go for the evening...when the staff pulled out a red and white Cocker Spaniel, and lamented that she had no place to go, I knew I couldn't say no.

So, P and I are working to rehabilitate a puppy mill dog. And I am incredibly proud of the progress she's making. In a week's time:

She does not run away from us when we walk around the house. At first, she would run laps, run away from where we were, constantly check the perimeter of the first floor. She was always panting. You would, too, if you were always running. Now, she follows us from room to room, she is curious about what we are doing, and wants to be near us.

Stairs. She can now go up and down, she was terrified of them when she arrived. Most mill dogs don't have a clue how to do stairs, they never have occasion.

Recognizing her name. We named her Prudie, as a joke, because she kept presenting herself to Copper, our dominant male. The name didn't stick, she comes to "Little Red" when called. She will come up and allow you to stroke her head and ears. She will also take food from your hand, as well.

Housetraining. She understands we wish for her to do her business outside. Her lack of training has not been a problem, because we are crate training, we are always supervising her food and water, and we let her and the other dogs out to do their business on a consistent basis.

Walking on a leash. She has been for a few walks, and is beginning to make progress being on a leash. Things we take for granted, scare her. Like mailboxes. And shadows.

I attribute all of this progress to a few factors. First, dogs. We have her in a house with 3 other dogs. She has someone to show her the ropes, to model how to act--to take her to the yard, the food, the water and most importantly, show her how to RELAX.

Second, Noise. There is a LOT of noise and activity at our house. I clean almost every day, we watch tv, the dogs bark, the phone and doorbell ring, we entertain friends. There are a lot of noises and a dog gets used to a home with commotion quickly. We go for car rides, and we meet strangers. This is all part of socializing a dog, and giving them confidence that strangeness will not hurt them.

Third, No expectations. We don't take it personally that she wanted nothing to do with us at first. That she has yet to consistently wag her tail. That she may not be potty trained. That she has to learn things we take for granted in our hounds and Sophie.

Eventually, we will be looking for the right home for Little Red. We love her, but we are well-equipped to help other dogs, and we want to have room in our home for more dogs to be helped. Little Red will need a home with other dogs to show her the ropes. She will need a fenced backyard, and an owner who will recognize that she can easily revert to mill ways--being frightened, being skittish, trying to bolt when she sees a chance to escape. With the progress she is making right now, she might be ready to go to a new home as soon as January!

Great Iowa Pet Expo -- Volunteers Needed!

Seems like I never use this blog anymore, but there's a really good reason, and I need more than 140 characters to get the instructions across!

The Great Iowa Pet Expo will be held this coming Saturday and Sunday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. I need a few volunteers to help introduce some dogs to potential adopters. We have a few coming to Des Moines ESPECIALLY to be shown off at the Expo, and what they need most is a friendly, understanding, leash-holding marketer!

The volunteers will get to enjoy the show for a few hours, take in the sights, listen to the speakers and will walk one of three adoptable dogs around, to meet and greet potential adopters or fosters. The dogs will wear "Adopt Me" bandannas and you will have fliers or business cards to give to genuinely interested parties. You'll tell people the dog's story, make sure they have water and bathroom breaks and generally care for them for a few hours. The dogs are a male baby Beagle, a young female Beagle and a young female terrier mix, no one is over 30 lbs and they are all dog and children-friendly, as well as up-to-date on shots.

We'll collect interested names and phone numbers, too, and follow up with a formal application to adopt/foster and a home visit!

In exchange, you will get free admission to the Expo and I will buy you lunch or a snack for your time. You can also feel good that you helped out a homeless dog! Please contact me ASAP!

Garage Sale!

I haven't posted for a looong time since getting the new job, but here's a list and some photos of what I'm selling at Mah Garage Sale! @ me on Twitter if you need my address, and what you want, so I can set it aside for you!

LADIES CLOTHES

Ladies Shoes

Purses -- MAAAANY purses!

WEDDING items--BOOKScandles, faux flowers, leftover material, table cloths CUPCAKE STAND

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS--lots of books! Every topic from self improvement to travel to history
Cords, cables, etc.
Picture frames and decorative art
CRAFT SUPPLIES GALORE--scrap booking stuff, tools, pens, markers, etc
Teenage girl stuff
Comic Books
DVDs of popular movie titles

The Godfather BluRay Coppola edition

The Matrix DVDs

Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 Combined Special Edition

6 Feet Under seasons
Small, painted furniture

Desk

Small book shelves (2 shelves each) good as nightstands!

Large, wooden decorative apple. Perfect for a teacher!

SMALL kitchen APPLIANCES

A Hotdish Hot-dish!

Electric Griddle

Old Fashioned Stove-top popcorn popper

Kitchen items --gadgets, potholders, glasses, bowls, utensils, pots and pans
Antiques and collectors items--manily home decor --PINK WWII AIRPLANES
PAINT--some great colors leftover from buying too much

Peacock placecard holders

Vases--clear

Drinking Game "19th Hole"

Bathroom stuff--towel bar, soapdish, bathmats, shower curtains

Small plastic fishtank--Perfect for kids or clutzes!

Bagel Slicer--NEVER USED

Closet Makeover!

Our house has a crazy little bedroom, that belonged to the previous owner's two littlest girls. It is now my office, and its color scheme equally inspires and enrages me.

It could best be described as "Preppy goes to the Circus--pink and green stripes vertical stripes on top, mint green and blue stripe at the bottom half.

The room is totally full and disorganized, despite plenty of small organization I watch the television show Hoarders on A & E and have noticed that many of them have the same problems: lack of lighting, lack of proper furniture (or access to it) and mainly: lack of vertical storage.

This was my problem in my office. No place to store and show off all of the fun items I have collected over the years that were supposed to organize my markers, my hobby supplies, my papers. I started looking around at the "pretty organization" submissions on Flickr and decided I could do as well.

My lovely husband P removed the existing "closet" accoutrement and patch the walls. I didn't even take a "before" picture, because there's nothing to show--it was white walls with two white powder-coated racks. We measured the empty space and I went to Home Depot* to get shelving, brackets and drywall screws and most importantly, PAINT!

For the inside of the closet, I wanted something darker, something bold, something with fast, thick, luxurious coverage. The only way to go is Behr* paint with primer already added. It's like smearing real butter on fresh bread--goes on smooth and thick with minimal effort. It dries quickly and I haven't been able to detect any vicious VOCs--and I'm fairly sensitive to them! I picked up two quarts of a peacock blue color that we used in our wedding.

*Note: Home Depot and Behr haven't paid me for blogging about their products. If they want to send me money for the good publicity, I'd love to be reimbursed!

Click to Help Scooter!

UnFollow

Edited, to be "nicer" and less crazy-inducing.

Most of the people I removed (today) were for their abuse of Foursquare, a game of sorts, that when un-customized sends a boring message whenever the enrolled phone encounters the GPS of a site that is listed. I think it's stupid and it's dangerous to tell strangers you are away from home or exactly where you are…and it’s stupid for businesses to put much time or energy into it. It’s kinda like 2 years ago, when everyone was pushing for people to follow their RSS feed—it’s a TOOL, a marketing component, not a business plan. And you wouldn’t use a hammer when you need a screw-driver.

Unfollowing or de-friending is tricky. It is what our friend Cory calls "the new cruelty" because people get offended by your unfollowing or de-friending. I feel it's uncharted territory, all of a sudden we’re inviting all sorts of strangers into our stream of consciousness. Is this a good idea? We don't know them, and yet, we're allowing them to influence us with their moods, their habits, their likes and dislikes. What if they don't have our best interests in mind? What if their addictions or their depression is contagious? Sure, they have potential to be good influences, too, but that's not what this particular blog post is about.

Sometimes the un-follow is for THEIR sake, you know you aren't good for them to be following--like, you cause them to be argumentative, or you just don't see eye to eye, but they won't unfollow you first...it's merciful to let people be free of you, I think. Also, I won’t let certain people follow me in the first place. If you don’t need to know, you don’t need to follow. As the week goes on, I am planning to do more removal of people. If I haven’t met you, you don’t live in-state, and you really actually like following me, please re-follow, and connect. I’m not really interested in having fans, so much as having friends.

Concluding thought, also courtesy of Cory: at the end of the day, you’re just 60x60 pixels to me.

Birthday Party

So, I'm 30, and in honor of this, I'm making a party for my friends, and having them bring donations for The Pet Project Midwest's Pet Pantry. I think about 30 friends are coming, I'm looking forward to introducing my old friends to some newer ones.

Of course the bar in the man cave is stocked and the house is clean....what on earth am I making for food!? This has been plaguing me all week. I want to use ingredients I already own, as our pantry is in a crazy state of over-stock...

1. Cream cheese stuffed mushrooms (hot)

2. Bacon-wrapped pineapple chunks (hot)

3. Spinach-artichoke dip (hot)

4. Crudite and dill dip (cold)

5. Cheezeburger dip (hot)

6. Cheese and 6 kinds of crackers (cold)

7. Chocolate dipped pretzel sticks and marshmallows

8. Cake. Obviously.

What else? Am I missing anything else? Is what I'm making too pedestrian? Do I need something with fruit? Let me know!

30

Thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes. I love you!

Clarke County Animal Shelter

Let's HELP Clarke County Animal Shelter. I read the KCCI news story like all of you, and was heartbroken, I immediately called and made an appointment to go to Clarke County to help them with what I can do--which was take pics and videos of all of the remaining animals and post them on a new Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clarke-County-Animal-Shelter-Clarke-County-Iowa/259296843611 also started a Twitter account for them, it is @ClarkeAnimals, and I invite you to follow that feed and tell others about it.

Clarke is a relatively nice shelter, compared to many I've been in, we're starting from a very promising jumping-off point. The shelter director, Sarah is a very nice person. She is young, and she's been shouldering all of this stress with extreme grace. Most importantly: I found her to be completely open to new ideas, new projects, new ways of thinking that SAVE LIVES.

Let's get together, let's create some GREAT new programs and committees to fulfill them: Spay/Neuter, Transport, Fostering and Rescue release/transfer, Adoption Events, Food Bank, Trap-Neuter-Return...I am sure you can think of more! When do you all want to get together, would evening or a weekend day work better to meet up and create these committees? Does anyone have access to a large space where 282+ people can meet? Let's talk!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clarke-County-Animal-Shelter-Clarke-County-Iowa/259296843611?ref=mf

http://twitter.com/ClarkeAnimals

Hoar Frost

The frost this morning was amazing to examine up-close.

According to the internet:

Hoar frost forms when water vapor condenses and immediately freezes on the surface of an object that has been chilled below 32°F. If the object's surface temperature is above 32°F, the vapor will condense as dew.

Dirt Lust

Today I went to Home Depot for some CHEAP TUBS. $3.60-ish for peacock blue, chartreuse or brown. I went for a combo of mostly blue, with some green. I thought that stacked on the white melamine shelves in our garage, it would look neat to have the occasional green box in a wall of bright blue. I want the garage to look more uniform, and cheerier, I think this will do the trick!

While I was perusing the plastic, I noted $1.00 plants on the indoor plant clearance table. I felt like having a plant fix--I

have missed the smell of potting soil and dying plant matter and leaves...and I just happened to have two Cocker Spaniel-shaped planters that need small plants!

Question for you all about knick-knacks...what do you do with your tiny treasures? I have a ton of these tiny porcelain figurines, and two ugly brown thimble boxes to house them. I think I'll paint the boxes white this next summer, and put them on display somewhere. Until then, do these go into storage? It's tough getting rid of inherited knick-knacks, but I was there when all of these were purchased...clockwise from the top, the Iowa bird is from the 1983 Rose Bowl, the whale and the dolphin were gifts my Grandma picked up in Hawaii, the raccoon and the skunk are both from run-ins my Grandparents had with wildlife...my Grandma got 3 skunk figurines as gifts from the time that she and her dog startled one in the woods! I still remember the smell of skunk, the phone call when she asked my Mom to get her more cans of tomato juice, the sight of a LOT of tomato juice in a kiddie pool for bathing the dog, and the feeling of sun-warmed, dry grass under my feet, walking over to their house across the street from my childhood home. I can remember all of these things, but I really remember these things when I handle the figurines. One generation away, I feel like I really still have a connection to these items, but what about my kids? There's basically no way I can share these memories with them. Do I try? Or do I not worry about that? Thoughts?

Wedding Photos--How many is too many?

How many wedding pictures is too many to use in home decor?

I framed this grouping of 5X7 items last night, I feel like this finished product displays some of the most expensive parts of our wedding and reception--the photographer, the dress, the announcements, the invitations--and allows me to get rid of other memento clutter.

But, back to my question--I have a photo collage from our wedding in the family room, a formal picture in the dining room, this in the kitchen, a two-some in the stairwell and Patrick has 3 pictures in his office, one in the man cave and one in his man-cave bathroom. That may be a lot, but we do have a lot of blank wall space! I suppose that once we have a child, pictures of that child will grace the walls. In home-staging, the experts like Sabrina Soto say that personal pictures are a no-no, but our house isn't for sale, so I suppose we display to our heart's content.

Fighting left-over clutter from the wedding is something that everyone needs to do, but the wedding process is so long and your brain is trained to keep and retain anything information that might ward off or help mitigate bad luck on the wedding day. I have left wedding mode and have moved on to other things, so I'm ready to get rid of the stuff I don't need anymore. First, I have these books for sale:

The Knot Book of Wedding Lists by Carly Roney

Wedding Readings by Eleanor Munro

Wedding Blessings by June Cotner

The Knot Guide to wedding vows and traditions by Carly Roney

The Conscious Bride by Nissenen

Wedding Speeches and Toasts by Darren Noel

Here Comes the Bride by Jaclyn Geller

Entryway Decor

So, what do you think?