Spay and Neuter---PLEASE

I am a dog person and in my adult life I have had a total of 8 dogs in about 35 years. I am proud to say that I never actively sought a dog, but somehow all of them have found their way into our house and heart. Right now, our 2 adoptees include a rescued Weimaraner and an adopted puppy mill mother Rottweiler. We have had a couple of stray mutts, a Great Dane, a Lab, a Brittany Spaniel, and even a clone of the most famous mutt, Benji, the list reads like a Who's Who of dogdom. If you asked me which was my favorite, I would be hard pressed to make a choice, because just like children, each had its own unique set of good traits and with the good, comes those more challenging traits.

Today, while we were out and about, we stopped at the neighborhood pet supply store to pick up a bag of dog food. As bad fortune would have it, there was a pet adoption day going on. Before I could get into the store I had to stop and pet each of the dogs in their little crates. All of them were so wanting for affection and attention that it saddened me that some would also be going home that night to foster homes and shelters. It also saddens me that most of these animals are there as the result of irresponsible pet owners and breeders. While all of these dogs and cats will be spayed or neutered prior to being adopted, we would not have so many unwanted animals if spay and neuter was a universal practice. Most people do not go into the business of getting a pet for the purpose of breeding it, so why not be SURE that you don't end up in the puppy mill business by getting your new puppy or kitty spayed or neutered as a first order of business as a new pet owner.

Responsible pet ownership involves making sure that your pet is not contributing to the unwanted pet population, but it also involves taking the time and effort to keep your pet safe, contained and healthy. Pet ownership is a win-win situation regardless of what animal you keep as a pet. Pet ownership provides families with an opportunity to teach children lessons in responsibility that they will take with them into adulthood. Provide an unwanted pet with a safe home and food and you will be rewarded with unconditional love and undying companionship. That's a better deal than you will get with most people.

If you are looking for a real friend who only wants to please you, by all means visit your local animal shelter or pet adoption day. You will be hard pressed to leave empty handed and like Lay's potato chips, you might not be able to stop with just one!

As I am writing this, our female Rottweiler is fast asleep in a sunbeam snoring contentedly (and loudly) and her best friend, our male Weimaraner, is curled up in a ball on his own place on the couch dreaming of some critter in a hole in our backyard!

The Geriatric New Year's Eve Party

Tonight there will be 20 people at our house for New Year's Eve and this will continue a tradition that we have carried on for the past 12 years. We will be entertaining friends who would otherwise not go out for New Year's. We called it the Geriatric New Year's Eve Party in the past when the youngest person there was 55 and the ages went up to 90!

12 years ago we started out by asking one couple to come and spend a quiet New Years Eve with us in our new home. We then realized that their mother and father would be home that night and we asked them to join us. Then we heard of an elderly couple who had some health problems and knowing that they would also be home alone on New Year's Eve, we asked them to come to spend the evening with us. The idea spread and in our first celebration we had 12 guests who would have spent New Year's Eve at home by themselves. There was good food, good conversation, a nice generational interchange, a toast at midnight and then, pretty quickly, the party broke up and everyone headed for home.

But the following year when we were asked by a couple who had been at the first soiree what we were going to do for New Year's Eve, it became clear to us that this was really a much more important event than we had ever imagined. Our little "party" gave people who spend a great deal of time at home, a chance to get dressed up and get out. And, thus the annual New Year's Eve Party was born. Over the years, some members of the original gathering have passed on, but the widows and widowers who are left remain an important part of our guest list and they relish a chance to do something social again.

This year the age range will spread from 6 months to 87 years. We have a new widower among the guests. We have a young couple with a little baby who now have a different perspective on "partying". The guest list varies from year to year, but the constant thread that runs through the evening is the desire to bring people, who would otherwise have just another lonely night, together for fun and friendship.

So I am busily preparing food for our buffet table, but I wanted to take the time to wish all of you a Happy New Year!!

We All Need a Silent Night

With only a few days left until Christmas, I am sure that more than a few of you are frazzled, flustered and jacked up on too little sleep and too much sugar and caffeine. The cold and snow may have made you stay inside when you REALLY had things to do and get done and the time is running out and I AM NOT READY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! Whoa, there, pull back and take a look around you. It is cold and crisp outside and the snow is beautiful.

Perhaps what we should do is use the cold and snow as an excuse for taking back the real meaning of Christmas with some family time (yes, your family can actually spend time together and probably won't kill each other). Radio stations, satellite TV and cable TV stations have 24 hour Christmas music, Hallmark and ABC Family channels have lots of fun Christmas movies that the whole family can watch together (so what if the plots are all remarkably similar and the endings are all the same, if you never saw the movie you will never know how it ends!!)..some are even poignant and require some personal introspection. If you don't know where to find some quality Christmas music, stream it online here or here or even here. Find a family project that everyone can participate in--working a jigsaw puzzle together, playing a board game, baking and decorating cookies, making something handmade to give as a gift in the event that you never get back out of your house to finish your shopping.

Here is a nice simple Cappucino drink mix that can be made and given with a mug and some marshmallows (or just by itself) as a gift made with love. Perfect for a teacher, pastor, neighbor gift...(P.S. You can also drink this as a family when you are watching your movies or playing games.).

CAPPUCINO MIX

1 cup instant coffee creamer
1 cup hot cocoa mix (any flavor you would like)
2/3 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container.
To serve: Mix 3 Tablespoons to 6 oz hot water or 4 Tablespoons to 8 oz of hot water.

Now that you have a better perspective, enjoy this lovely song by Amy Grant nicely choreographed by cmtrump.




PEACE AND JOY AT CHRISTMAS!

Thanksgiving

With all of the bad news swirling around regarding the economy and international affairs, Americans sat down today around tables all over the country and gave thanks. Most of those tables were laden with more food than one could consume and many of the recipients of these meals had so much to eat that a nap was needed after pushing away from the table! We still live in a land of plenty and we have so much for which to give thanks.

I would personally like to thank all of the men and women in the armed forces who are away from their families today because they have VOLUNTARILY committed time out of their lives to protect the freedoms that we at home take for granted and all too often squander.

I would personally like to thank all of the families who are having a Thanksgiving meal without the presence of someone who is in the military and let you know that we are grateful for your sacrifice and for theirs.

I am thankful that I live in a country where we can vigorously disagree and yet there is no consequence (at least not yet) for dissent.

I am thankful for family and friends. In spite of all of the press about "enduring Thanksgiving with the dysfunctional family", when you need them, blood is still thicker than water!

I am thankful that I have a job and what's more, I like what I do.

I am thankful that I will have enough to be able to share what I have with others during the upcoming Christmas season.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Young At Heart

Today my husband and I were guests at a surprise 80th birthday party for the mother of one of our closest friends. My friend and his wife had the family, of course, but they also invited several of Betty's (not her real name) childhood friends who still live in this area and have remained close over the years.

After Betty got over the fact that the party was for her and not for her granddaughter (as she was led to believe), she saw all of her childhood friends and the reunion was underway. You know how when families get together there is often a "kids table" when it comes right down to eating??? Well, in this case there was an "Octagenarians table" and then there was everyone else.

It was delightful to sit back and watch the people at that table as they laughed and joked and giggled over the meal and then the opening of the gifts and finally the birthday cake. To hear them talk so lightheartedly would belie their years and infirmities. There were canes hung over the chair backs and several of the ladies never left their seats, allowing the younger members of the family to take "orders" and serve up the cake and ice cream, but the spirited banter from that table was ageless. Jokes were followed by loud gales of laughter and wisps of conversation floated across the room. Were it not for the white heads all around the table, you would have sworn that the gaiety was from a table of much younger men and women.

We all need to witness something like this from time to time to force us to see the life and vitality in our older population. Too often I am afraid that we push the aging off to the side. We forget that just because their bodies are frail, their minds and spirits remain nimble and eager for the same fun and enjoyment of life that we all crave.

My husband and I have a New Year's eve party every year and the guest list includes my 87 year old mother, my good friends who gave the party today, Betty and her 81 year old husband, a neighbor who is a widow, another 70 year old neighbor and his wife, a 90 year old widower who lives down the road and an 86 year old couple who are Betty's brother and sister-in-law. No one lives more than 2 miles from our house and at about 12:20 AM everyone leaves in a group, but throughout the evening the conversation is spirited and sprightly, the young and the old share stories, opinions and LOTS of food. Everyone comes dressed up and brings something to share on the buffet table. We know that if it was not for our party all of these people would spend New Year's Eve at home the same way that they spend most other days.

The elderly often become depressed and bitter because they see that they are no longer included in the vital activities of society. Their agile minds are trapped in fragile bodies that require some degree of dependence on other people and they feel that they are a burden. They have so many stories to tell and experiences to share that are lost because we don't include them in our circle of friends. It isn't January 1, but this could be just the right time to re-prioritize life to include the company of the elderly. If you no longer have your own grandparents or aging relatives, you might consider adopting someone in a senior living center or nursing home and inviting them to be a part of your life. There are many elderly who live in these facilities, not because they must, but because they have no one else to turn to that would allow them to continue to live a more independent lifestyle.

What a wonderful thing you would be doing for yourself and your family to reach out and bring new life to someone who may have been thrown away by others as having become worn out and useless.