Paying It Forward and Painting It Red

About two years ago, Megan's dog Sophie freaked out during a thunderstorm and went missing while we were out for dinner. We spent many hours upset and searching our neighborhood for our sweet pet. The happy ending was that someone found her that evening, and used her tags to get her to our vet and eventually returned to us. We don't know who to thank for caring enough to take that time, but we are still grateful. At the time, I told myself that I would do the same for someone else if the situation presented itself.

Well, it did.

Last week, I was taking Megan to ballet - in a downpour - and we saw a soaked and stressed out dog darting in and out of the street. Weather and traffic conditions did not make it safe for me to stop, but also made it especially dangerous for the dog. I dropped off Megan and promised her I would look for the dog on my way home. No dog to be seen my first pass back down the street. So I circled the block, and this time I caught a glimpse of the dog running frantically. I pulled into the closest driveway, and coaxed the dog to come to me. I'd like to note it is still raining buckets, and now I'm in it. I'm petting a soaked and dirty mess of a dog with no tags or collar. Does she live at this house? No way to lead her, so I scoop her up under my arm and head to the front door. I'd also like to note I'm wearing a white sundress that is now totally wet and dirty like the dog. No answer when I ring the bell. OK - taking the dog home to figure out next steps.

We take a picture and post a found dog on Craig's List. I submit a found dog ad to our local paper (but it wouldn't print for 2 more days? Free but not timely.) No response, so we have a sleepover with the dog and call a well known vet in the area to see if the dog is chipped the next day. As John describes that we have found a Wheaten Terrier and where, the gal already knows who we are taking care of and links us up with the dog's owner who is grateful for their reunion.

Side story that Megan loves - once dry and clean, we realized the dog we found was a purebred Wheaten Terrier. She was well groomed so she obviously had a family. Our former neighbor also had a Wheaten Terrier named Bella that we would look after when she was gone. Since they looked so similar, we called our found dog Bella too. Megan was thrilled and amazed to learn that our found dog was really named Bella as well.

Finally, I found cool chair at the thrift store recently. I loved the style and lines, and painted it red so that it was special and found I loved it even more... What do you think? Do you have any transformations you would like to share?

I have some lovely flower photos to post, but this one is long enough...

Loving Market Baskets and Candy

For the past year, I've been really good about bringing my own bags when I grocery shop. I might bring a couple of those polypropelene bags you can buy from the store, but my bag of choice is my nylon market basket. It holds a ton and is way more convenient than paper or plastic. It's funny - the people at the store either really love it and want one, or they are utterly confused when they see it coming down the conveyor belt and are useless when it comes to packing it. Oh, and I just found one online that is black with white polka dots and it's calling my name.

So, what did I make today? A freezer paper stencil t-shirt. I'm adding it to my etsy store, but I'd like to get a picture of a cutie wearing it. I love how easy this was to make, so I can see turning out more fun designs. In fact, my twelve year old's already got a request in the queue for a Peace, Love, rawRR shirt with some cute little graphics.

Last, a little more spring from the Most Beautiful Little City in Kansas...

Till next time -

Spring and Pretzels

Snow boots or flip flops? That's a pretty likely question around here this time of year, but I think it may be safe to move my boots to the back of the closet until next fall. And for my friends who I can count on to call me sometime in September to check my turtleneck status - they are put away as well ; )

What did I make today....? A Superpretzel. Have you ever had one? If not, I highly recommend them. Find them in the frozen foods section at the store. Every bit as good as the ones you buy at the mall. Rub a little water over the top, sprinkle with salt, microwave for 30 seconds and enjoy!

This one was a funny shape.

Till next time!

I heart the library

Recently, my sister and I were reminiscing about the library where, as children, we were regular users. Current and former Kansas City area locals will likely share many similar and fond memories of the children's room at the Plaza Library. For my sister and me, those memories included choosing the books we would check out for the week (often our same favorites over and over again), seeing if the display in the glass counter on the way downstairs had changed since our last visit, filling our summer reading club card with stamps, and yes - feeling a little grown up when we ventured upstairs and started exploring the books on the main floor of the library.

My kids now enjoy my same Plaza Library. Well, not exactly the same. It was renovated a couple of years ago. I miss the things I enjoyed that they will not experience, but I'm sure their time there will hold memories just as special. I hope one day when they are grown they will also call each other and remember how fun it was snuggling in the globe chair with a good book, exploring the surrounding landscape through the telescopes at the windows, and creating masterpieces in the activity room.

And while I do make the effort to share the Plaza Library with my kids, we take advantage of our county library more often. I, in particular, am a power user of my county library system. I reserve a wide variety of books, dvds, cds, and now - Wii games!!! - using my online account. When I have time, I just walk through the stacks and collect a pile of whatever catches my attention.When I don't have time, I pick up my reserved items, use the self-serve check out and can be out of there in minutes. My library system's website also offers Mango foreign language learning services - for free. If I continue making my way through the online tutorials, my conversational Spanish might grow beyond "donde esta el bano?" thanks to this freebie. And, I can request books that are not part of their collection. So far, they have purchased every book I've submitted, and I'm first in line to check them out.

Do you have any library memories or experiences you'd like to share? Please do! I'd love to hear from you!