Yesterday, I was working on a homework assignment for a course I am taking on pet loss and bereavement. I was reading about the guilt so much of us feel after losing a pet, and one of the exercises they recommend we do is imagine a conversation with our pet. I decided I would try this with Kekoa, as I struggled- like so many people do- with knowing if it was the right time to say goodbye to her last year as she dealt with bone cancer. Me: Kekoa, I'm sorry. Kekoa: I love you. Me: I feel ... Read more »
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Super Bowl Ads Scorecard
Let's face it, the game on Sunday ceased to be interesting about 15 minutes in so there was more interest than there normally is in the advertisements. There were some hideous ones. There were some OK ones. There were some great ones. Here, in no particular order, are some of the animal ads that graced the screen during our annual American paean to commercialism. Chevy Romance I was very concerned this ad was going to end up in some sort of abbatoir, or a rodeo, or any number of things ... Read more »
We Will Remember You: A Pet Loss Memorial Candle Ceremony
There is something vastly powerful about going through grief with friends. It validates, it resonates, it comforts. When it comes to losing a pet, too many of us are forced to endure the pain without that camaraderie of a circle of friends. To that end, and because I know so many people continue to hurt and feel alone in their grief over the loss of a beloved pet, The Tiniest Tiger and I are hosting a Pet Loss Candle Ceremony next Wednesday, February 5th, at 6 pm PST. What Will ... Read more »
What to Say to Someone in Mourning
This morning, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Joanne McGonagle over at The Tiniest Tiger for a Google Hangout on the topic of pet loss. I had this whole long post about how easy it is to get wrong and how hard it is to get right, but rather than go through the long sordid tales of all the times I've said the exact wrong thing I thought I would instead sum up what we, along with all the wonderful participants, concluded during the course of the talk. Some of the statements are specific ... Read more »
Awesome App Alert: Pet First Aid
You're on a walk with your dog. He looks tired. You don't know if he's just tired from the walk or if he's showing early signs of hyperthermia. What do you look for? Unless you have a lot of experience with dogs or happen to have an emergency medicine textbook on you, you might not know. But thanks to increasingly cooler and better apps, you can get some immediate reassurance from your smartphone. The latest must-have app for dog and cat owners just came out, and at $0.99 there's no reason ... Read more »
My husband and Her: A neato love story
I have no one to blame but myself, of course, for the events that have transpired since Christmas. I was the one who brought her in, invited her to come into our home and get to know the place. My husband said it was the only thing he wanted this year, so I went with it, albeit with some trepidation. You should have seen his face when he realized what I had done. "Wow!" he said. "Finally!" The children looked on in confusion. Brody ran away. Only Penelope, the newest addition to the fold, ... Read more »
The Cat Needs a Lozenge
It started innocently enough, my son asking Penelope a question about her feet: "Penelope, how many fingers do you have?" And without much thought, I answered for her, in a high pitched Muppet voice: "None, I have 20 toes." And thus began one of the kids' greatest sources of entertainment for the past two weeks. He argued with her for a while, about why cats have four legs instead of two arms and two legs. In this case, Penelope was right. But sometimes she's not, like when she insisted ... Read more »
Professional Loser
I hope everyone had a safe and happy transition into 2014. 2014! How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on the edge of Lake Union at the turn of the millennium, looking out over the Space Needle and wondering whether it was going to go dark and topple into the water (it didn't.) The thought of 2014 seemed very far away at the time. Old and Boring I would have thought 14 years would bring a vast amount of wisdom and insight into my world, that I would be ... Read more »
On the twelfth day of Christmas AND another giveaway!
My doggie gave to me: 12 Yummers Yumming! Eleven Crunchy Carrots Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you to Annette at Biscuits By Lambchop for bringing up the end of this crazy train :) Treats for all tonight! Speaking of that, for those of you who are still around, I do have another giveaway ... Read more »
On the eleventh day of Petmas
My horsie gave to me: Eleven Crunchy Carrots! Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Kari, that is pretty much the coolest garland ever. I sense a strong food theme to this year's 12 Days. :) I have another giveaway coming up this afternoon! Don't forget to enter the Motorola camera giveaway if you ... Read more »
