Our pack has increased by one!

Late last year I wrote about the loss of our dog, Buddy.  He had a long life and enjoyed every minute of it.  When it was time to say goodbye we were devastated but knew that it was time for Buddy to move on from this existence.  After a while we decided we wanted to start looking for a new pet.  It had to be a very special dog because our remaining dog, Allie, is very special.  We needed a dog that would let Allie continue to be the diva she is while still providing companionship for her, especially when we are not home.

We worked with the Humane Society of Hamilton County (HSHC) to find that right new addition to our pack.  We were committed to adopting a shelter dog.  The staff at HSHC were wonderful.  They encouraged us to attend events and also were very patient as we went through the process.  The first visit to the shelter was very emotional for my husband, Bob.  He had to leave because seeing all the dogs there who were eager for loving homes was just too much for him emotionally. 

As time went on and we were still looking for that right match we visited one more time with Allie.  The dog we were looking at was not working out with Allie.  She was very stressed and the male dog kept trying to mount her.  As a last resort the executive director brought out a dog that had just been surrendered.  She is a full blooded beagle and her name is Sage.  She interacted well with Allie and the executive director suggested that we foster Sage for a while.  We were told that she was surrendered because her owner was ill and could not care for her any longer.

As we were driving away I told Bob that we should take them up on the foster placement.  So the next day I returned to HSHC and signed a foster agreement for Sage.  We took her home and were eager to see how she joined our pack.

Sage and Allie had a few little disagreements but overall they did so well together.  Allie was fine with the new dog and seemed to enjoy having another dog there.  Sage is what we needed as a family.  She is loving and a snuggler.  She loves to have her ears scratched and enjoys just sitting on the couch with us.  It was such a great transition that we finalized the adoption last week.  Sage is now a member of our family and part of our pack.

Here are Sage and Allie together on the couch.  They enjoy being close and both of them are a major part of our lives.

So our search has ended.  Sage is part of our pack and will be with us the rest of her life.  I cannot thank the people at HCHS (www.hamiltonhumane.com) for their help, guidance, patience and expertise in matching us with Sage.  When I envisioned our next dog it was not an eight-year-old,  slightly overweight beagle with a huge bark.  Yet she fits perfectly.

If you are looking for a pet "Adopt a Shelter Pet!" 

"If you remember this you can sit with me"

Yesterday I was sitting in church with my husband.  Because it was Easter and the church was doing baptisms several of our friends had to move to different seats.  So it ended up that a group of us "baby boomer" sat together during the service.  We started talking before church and I told the following story:

As a college professor I sometimes talk with my students about "back in the day."  I was telling them about when I was in college in the early 70's we did not have online registration for classes.  In fact there was no "online" anything.  If we wanted to sign up for classes we had to go to this large room where the departmental secretaries were set up at tables.  You lined up in front of the class/department you wanted to take.  Once you got to the head of the line you would ask about the class you wanted, such as Psychology 101 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 2:00.  The secretary would look through her stack of cards and if there was a card remaining for that class you were given the card.  Then you would go to the "computer station" and the card, which was key punched, would be run through the computer key punch reader and you would be included in the class.  If there were no cards left for the class you wanted you would know it was full and you had to pick another class. 

My students thought that sounded so archaic (as in "OMG, you are such a dinosaur!").  As I was telling my friends they all were nodding their heads and saying they had been through similar experiences when they attended college also. 

So we decided that if you could remember before the internet was available and "online" was a reality you could sit with our group.  Although I love my technology (I'm now even on Twitter and don't go anywhere without my Kindle Fire) there is something comforting to be able to talk about an experience with someone near your age and not be looked at like you are talking Klingon. 

As with the generations ahead of us someday all those memories of taking cards to sign up for college classes will be gone with us.  It's a little daunting to think that I hold the memories for something as mundane as how you signed up for college classes before there was on "online." 

For my husband and me, that is how me met.  We were both standing in line to sign up for classes and chatting in line led to having a drink at the Rez (Miami University) and eventual dating, engagement and marriage. 

Recipes, recipes everywhere

Along with my other fetishes (pens, tote bags, books and purses) I am a collector of recipes.  I cut them out of the newspaper and magazines.  I find them on the internet (Food Network and All Recipes are my favorites).  I also follow several blogs where the authors post recipes, how-to's and photos.  So in my quest for the best chicken or pasta recipe I end up printing out piles of recipes. 

To get organized I will start a folder and once the recipes are printed I carefully place them in the labeled folder (Recipes).  Then when I am looking for something ("Now where is that great recipe I saw for crock pot pork sliders?") I will flip through almost everything looking for the one I am seeking. 

I find that those recipes I use more often float to the top of my neat stacks in folders, like the slow cooker chicken teriyaki and the chicken fried rice that I make about every other week.  While other recipes I have not tried tend to settle to the bottom of the stacks.  Every once in a while I will go through everything and find a hidden gem ("Wow, I forgot about the Lemon Pasta with Chicken and Asparagus recipe I printed out!  Have to try that one soon.")  But for the most part those recipes I cut out/printed and don't use get to languish at the bottom of the pile and never get prepared. 

I know you are saying, "Hey Carolyn, there are better ways to organize your recipes!"  I'm sure there are better ways but for me, right now, I will print them out and file them away. 

A few years ago my one sister and I decided to make a family cookbook.  We gathered recipes from everyone and using online cookbook publishing software did put together a great cookbook with family photos and written notes about when recipes were used.  It was a huge success.  Maybe that needs an update.  I could put some of my favorites in there! 

Also, I could just go through these piles of recipes and get rid of the ones I know I won't use.  Hmm.  That is a thought.  Then I would have room for more as I continue the search for the perfect chicken recipe. 

March, What a Month!

I had an eventful March, 2014.  It came in with snow and storms (remember as a kid we talked about March coming in like a lion).  During the month I worked through issues with the Institutional Review Board at Ball State University to begin my dissertation research.  (Thanks IRB for the final approval!).  I spent time gathering data for my research and have the final work in early April.  So if all goes well I will be done and graduating with my Ed.D in July this year. 

Also, during March I was on my way to an early morning meeting for a board on which I volunteer and sitting in traffic at a red light when, BOOM! some idiot who was not paying attention ran into the car behind me and caused a four car pile up.   It's interesting that when he got out the the car he said, "I don't know what happened, I looked up and everyone was stopped."  Yep you moron, we were all stopped at the red light that obviously you did not see!  Maybe if you concentrate on driving and not on whatever you were doing (probably texting) then this type of thing could be avoided.  Because of his inattention three cars were totaled, including mine. 

The crazy thing is that I was not supposed to be at that intersection at that time except I was on my way to that breakfast meeting for a volunteer board position.  I have been struggling with anger ever since that morning. 

I know I am grateful that I was not hurt worse than I was.  My car will be paid off and a replacement is available.  I am thankful the car the guy was driving had insurance even though he did not.  I keep thinking of the phone call that driver made to the owner of the car.  "Hey, I have some bad news.  I totaled your car and two others.  Sorry, man!" 

So life moves on and April is upon us.  Hopefully it will be a better month and we can look forward to the end of this long, difficult winter.  My friends and I have made a pact.  No matter how hot it gets this summer no one is going to complain about the weather! 

Why don't cable and cell phone providers value their current customers?

It's that time of the year for me.  Both my cable and cell phone agreements are ready to expire.  Right now I am with Xfinity for cable and internet and AT&T for my cell phone.  Originally with both providers I got a great "introductory" rate for service.  Since I have had both for a few years the costs have been creeping up annually.  Even though I call before my agreement is done and negotiate the best deal I can get it is still not as good as the "introductory" rates. 

Why is that?  I'm sure it has to do with how they measure their success to stock holders (New Customers).  I don't understand why they don't value me as an existing customer as much as a new customer.  I pay my bill on time, I like their service and recommend it to my friends.  I really don't want to change. 

Yet I am getting lots of mail from U-verse(AT&T) and DirectTV to switch right now with great offers.  I just don't get it why Xfinity does not want to match these offers to keep me as a customer.  I have a friend who will take her Xfinity equipment in and cancel her service at the end of an agreement.  Then she will call a few days later and sign up for service again with Xfinity.  BAM! New Customer.  She gets the introductory rate again! 

I don't blame her for doing that because she is trying to keep costs down for her technology.  Yet why should any customer have to go through that to get a better price for internet, cable or cell phone services?

Right now I'm not sure what I will do. I hate change.  Yet I would really like to keep my costs for cable, internet and cell phones reasonable.  So I will try negotiating for something better than what I have now.  If that does not work then I will call one of the other companies which are bombarding me with mail and email about the great deals they have. 

Maybe someone needs to start a cable, internet and phone provider that rewards its current customers, who pay their bills on time, with great rates.  What a concept! 

What's the Big Deal?

In the last few weeks in addition to the Olympics the sports new coverage has focused on the announcement by Michael Sam that he is gay.  After the NFL draft in May he will be the first openly gay player in the NFL.  This weekend the NFL combine was in Indianapolis and Michael Sam was the darling of the press.  In one of his interviews he said “I just wish you guys would just see me as Michael Sam the football player instead of Michael Sam the gay football player,”

Being a woman who has never played professional sports I keep thinking "what is the big deal?"   What business is his sexual orientation to anyone?  I would rather see a gay man in a loving relationship play football than a man who ran a dog fighting operation who later went to prison and then went back to playing football.  There is something just wrong about someone who electrocuted non-performing dogs as part of his "business".  The NFL has welcomed abusers of animals and women yet is all in an uproar about a gay man playing on a team?  

So one night at dinner I asked the two hockey players who live with us what they thought about playing with an openly gay teammate. They are players for the USHL and are considered to be part of teams on which some of the elite American hockey players play.  One was fine with it.  He said he really wanted to play with someone who was a good player and helped the team succeed and sexual orientation did not matter.  The other player was totally appalled about the idea of playing on a team with, and being in the locker room with, an openly gay teammate.  He could not give me a reason, it just made him feel creepy.

I asked either of the boys if they had heard of the You Can Play Project (www.youcanplayproject.org) and neither had.  I was a little surprised yet they are teenagers and not that aware of anything outside their sphere of reference (hockey, workouts, food and girls).

Their response did give me a chance to reflect about frame of reference.  I, as a middle aged women, can't see what the big deal is about the sexual orientation of someone playing professional sports.  They, as someone who may face this question directly, found it more of an issue.  Yet both said that the real goal is a winning team.  

As one coach said in an interview, football is an outcomes based business.  If someone can help a team win then almost everything else is secondary. 

 

A Lucky Penny or a Miracle?

Last week my husband purchased a used truck for our son in Nashville TN.  They are starting a business there and needed a truck to haul audio equipment.  The truck was here in Indiana, Franklin to be exact.  So once it was purchased my son made arrangements for a friend to bring him to Indiana from Tennessee to drive the truck back.  His friend picked him up on Saturday morning and he arrived here late Saturday afternoon to pick up the truck.  We met him on the south side of town and drove to the location of the truck, which was parked on the lot of an auto repair business. 

The truck started right up but since it had been sitting in a grassy area for two months it would not move.  My son let the truck warm up but still it would not move.  Between the deep snow and the ice the wheels were mired down and he could not get the truck moved onto the pavement.  Time was passing, it was dark and we were getting frustrated.  My husband called two tow truck operators to move the truck off the grass but neither would come and help. 

I suggested to my son that we go home and he try again the next day, when it was daylight.  He could not do that since he was scheduled to work at two major events in Nashville the next day.  Since it was getting late and we had not had dinner my husband and I decided to drive down the McDonalds and get something to eat.  When we were sitting at the table he looked down and saw a penny on the floor, face up.  Now my husband always picks up face-up pennies believing they are lucky.  At the same time the penny reminded me that we needed a miracle to get out of this situation.  So I said a quick prayer asking God for a miracle that would solve our problem. 

As we were driving back to the lot where the truck was parked the snow was starting to fall.  When we approached the lot we saw that a tow truck was there dropping off a car.  My husband walked over the the driver and asked if he would pull the truck off the grass/snow/ice into the lot so we could get it going.  He checked with his dispatcher and said he would do it.  It was a AAA tow truck so my husband gave him our card and number so he could turn it in for reimbursement. 

He pulled the truck out of the ice, it took maybe 5 minutes total.  It was not much to him but to us he was an angel in a red tow truck who turned our night from a disaster to a victory! 

Was it the lucky penny?  Was it a miracle from God?  In thinking about this after all was done and we all got to our respective homes I am convinced that God sent us a miracle that night on a snowy lot.  Maybe lucky things, such as the penny, help us to remember that with God miracles can happen when all seems to be lost and our lives seem darkest. 

So I am grateful that God answers prayer and sends us those answers in the most unlikely ways.  For us it was the angel in the red tow truck on a Saturday night.  For others it may be an answer to prayer in other unlikely ways. 

How have you experienced miracles in your life?