Happy Halloween!

Go HERE for more great animal Halloween pictures.

We had a FANTASTIC time at the Zoo's Ghouls at Grassmere. We trooped for about 3 hours. I didn't really get all that cold, except for my hands. The Zoo had a really nice hospitality room for us to warm up and have some munchies. They had sandwiches, chips, candy, coffe, soda, and hot chocolate! I didn't really make that many more pictures, but here a couple of Casey and a friend that I did get.

Casey and I are going out to eat tonight. We like to do Halloween for the kids, but with three escaping kittens and kids freaking Fergie out, we're just going out. Hope everyone has a very happy and safe Halloween!

Here are some Halloween safety tips from the ASPCA to make Halloween safe for pets:

NO SCAREDY CATS THIS HALLOWEEN: TOP 10 SAFETY TIPS FOR PET PARENTS

Attention, companion animal caretakers! The ASPCA would like to call your attention to these common-sense cautions that’ll help keep your pets safe and stress-free this time of year.

1. No tricks, no treats: That bowlful of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms can be very dangerous for dogs and cats, and tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers can be hazardous if swallowed. If you suspect your pet has ingested a potentially dangerous substance, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

2. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, yet they can produce gastrointestinal upset should pets ingest them. Intestinal blockage could even occur if large pieces are ingested.

3. Keep wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet could experience damage to his mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.

4. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise extreme caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.

5. Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don't put your dog or cat in a costume UNLESS you know he or she loves it (yup, a few pets are real hams!). For pets who prefer their “birthday suits,” however, wearing a costume can cause undue stress.

6. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe or bark. Keep a look out for small, dangling, or easily chewed-off pieces on the costume that your pet could choke on.

7. Take a closer look at your pet’s costume and make sure it does not obstruct her vision in any way. Even the sweetest animals can get snappy when they can't see.

8. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room during peak trick-or-treat visiting hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.

9. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.

10. IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and become lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip increase the chances that he or she will be returned to you.

Boo Pt. 2

DON'T FORGET TO FALL BACK TONIGHT! STANDARD TIME!!

It's the weekend before Halloween. I'm sure this will probably be a pretty wild weekend for some. Casey and I are going back to the Nashville Zoo again tonight. The Southern Outpost is trooping the Ghouls at Grassmere again this weekend and on Halloween night. Even though I went last weekend, I was not feeling well at all, so I didn't don the costume. Casey's armor had a malfunction earlier in the day, so we both ended up as handlers and photographers last week. Hopefully, the armor malfunction has been corrected. We should both be in costume tonight. So if you are out and about in the Nashville area and have little ones, come on out for some fun.

I don't think we have much else planned for the weekend. We may clean out the car tomorrow, since the weather is supposed to be nice. We've trooped two weekends in a row and that trashes the car pretty well. Time for a nice clean out. I'd like to catch up my reading and get the house clean as well. Oh well. Everyone have a nice weekend!

Lessons to Live By

I got the following from my good friend, Kim. I think I need to remember this, when I'm having a bad day. It should be my new mantra.

When you feel there's just too much for you to handle in life. When the 24 hours in the day doesn't seem to be enough - remember the jar of mayonnaise and two cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

Next, the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes!"

The professor then produced two cups of coffees from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things: your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions—things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter: your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else—the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a coffee with a friend."

Hacked Off!!

Last week, close to home, a woman was arrested for running a puppy mill. Humane workers and law enforcement confiscated over 250 dogs and cats from her home. These people absolutely infuriate me. This is exactly why we need to enact laws for all facilities that board or breed dogs to be inspected. We definitely need harsher animal cruelty laws...but I digress. Anyway, this woman pled guilty to four counts of animal cruelty. She has also been restricted from the number of pets that she can have in the future as well. She will spend no time in jail. The good thing is since the court case has been settled, loving families can begin to adopt the animals. Now here is where my blood starts to boil. According to a local news story -- "Part of the money from the adoption fees will go to Muser's daughter to help provide for Muser. She was using the breeding operation as her main source of income." WHAT!!!! EXCUSE ME!!! Part of the adoption fee that loving pet owners would pay to adopt these animals would be given back to the woman!!!!!!! How in the world is that punishing this person? Isn't this punishing the wrong people? If I was one of these adopters, I would just flat out refuse to pay this extra fee. I wouldn't mind it at all, if I knew it was going for the animal care and medicines. This kind of deal just sends the wrong message. This woman should not profit from her cruelty to animals. It just makes my blood boil. I don't know. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood. Maybe it's just the weather today.

The Do At the Zoo

I've been under the weather for the past several days. I'm finally back. Ghouls at Grassmere at the Nashville Zoo was a lot of fun. The group is planning to be there again this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. Here's just a few shots from last Saturday night.

Boo To You

It's that time of year folks! It's the haunting season! Yes, Halloween is nearly here. Time for costume parties, hayrides, trick-or-treating, and haunted houses. This year, Casey and I are contributing to the festivities. The 501st Legion, Southern Outpost is participating at Nashville Zoo's Ghouls at Grassmere. We are all going out to entertain the kids with our costumes. The group has done this several times before, and it's a hit with the kids. I'm just hoping that it will be a little bit warmer tonight. Casey's a bit worried about freezing his cod piece off! So if you're close by and need a way to entertain your little Star Wars fan, come on out and say "hey".

Surreal Dreams

Have you ever had one of those dreams, where you just knew that you were going to have a good day? I had one of those last night. I have ALWAYS been a very vivid dreamer. It's rare that I ever have a night that I don't recall having at least one dream. Here's a little information about my dreaming habits:

1. I DO dream in color.

2. Most of my dreams include at least one person, friend, or family member that has passed away.

3. For some reason, this has NEVER upset me in any way.

4. I consider it like a visit with these people.

5. I dream a lot in a skewed perception. By this I mean I may dream that I'm at a school, but it may look very much like a restaurant or something of that nature.

6. I have an old superstition that says if you tell your dream before breakfast, it will come true. If I tell anyone a dream, depending on the outcome of said dream, I choose very consciously whether to tell it before or after breakfast.

7. Casey and I spend a lot of time on the ride to work discussing our previous night's dreams.

8. I VERY rarely have nightmares.

9. I have often tried to prolong a good dream.

10. There are many, many times that in my sleep that I realize I'm dreaming.

With that said, I will tell you about last night's dream. It was a rare case, where the dream played out logically. I dreamed that I had the rare opportunity to meet the main stars of Star Wars (this probably comes from running around in costume with my friends so much). All of them were there, with the exception of Mark Hamill. I got to meet Carrie Fisher (who was extremely nice) and get her autograph. The big thrill was meeting Harrision Ford! You see Harrision Ford has been a long time hero of mine. During my childhood whether he was playing Han Solo or Indiana Jones, it was all the same to me. He was ten feet tall and could conqour the world! So in this dream, I was quite excited. I don't remember all of the exact details, but he was also extrememly nice and spoke with me for quite a while. He also autographed some of my stuff. The only drawback in the dream? I remember thinking, "I'm meeting Harrison Ford, and no one has a camera!!" I had met both of these stars and didn't even think to bring a camera to get pictures!! It was just one of those warm fuzzy dreams. You know the kind where you just wake up happy. Usually when I have this kind of dream, I have a good day. Today has been pretty normal so far. I'm just waiting to see what will happen.

Back To Normal

Life is getting back to normal. I do find myself at times wondering what on earth to do with myself. It seems that I function best, when I'm a busy person. It's very hard for me to just sit and relax. Even with the Pet Day project, I found myself in a reading streak. It really helped to take the edge off at night. My friend Kim, suggested that I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It's Young Adult fiction. Let me tell you, they certainly don't write YA fiction like they used to!! These ain't no Nancy Drew books, if you get my drift.

For months, I let Twilight sit on my desk at work and gather dust. I was too busy reading Star Wars novels, or other stuff. One day, Kim comes in and tells me, "I think I have some new motivation to get you to read that book! The author is coming to Davis-Kidd in Nashville, and I've booked us for the special pre-signing party with the author!" At that specific time, I just happened to be without reading material, so I took it home and gave it a whirl. Let me tell you, once I started, I just couldn't put it down. Here's the plot according to Amazon.

Amazon.com

"Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. 'Be very still,' he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat."

As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.

Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward's sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer's writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell

Needless to say, I'm now a HUGE Stephenie Meyer fan. Lucky for me, as soon as I finished, the sequel came out, New Moon. Every bit, just as good!!

Now, I'm just eagerly waiting for the Davis-Kidd "I Love Edward Cullen" Party and book signing. In case any of you take a chance and read this, there are four books planned in the series, so far. Thanks, Kim. I owe you one!

Recovering

I'm finally getting all caught up on my sleep and other regular things. Celebration Pet Day was this past Saturday. I spent last Thursday through Saturday running around like a mad woman. Our event went off REALLY well. We had a big crowd. All of the people seemed to have a great time. The 501st Legion troop went over really good too! The weather was perfect and cooperated with us. It wasn't too hot or too cool. Check out the links below for some photos taken by friends of mine: The 501st Southern Outpost troop. and cute doggy photos here. I'll be back later with a lot more details.

What Really Matters

I, again, apologize for not hanging around lately. These are the last few days before Celebration Pet Day, and I'm swamped answering e-mails, questions, running errands, and making last minute preperations. I just had to write today and let you all know about something TRULY amazing!!

One of my dearest childhood friends, woke up one morning at four years of age completely deaf. The specialists never did figure out an exact explanation as to why this occurred. Eventually, she recovered about 20% hearing in one ear. Last summer, she discovered that what little hearing she had left was degrading and would eventually be completely gone. She did A LOT of research, consulted a surgeon, and was deemed a candidate for cochlear implant surgery. She and the surgeon decided to do the implant surgery on the ear that had no hearing at all. After months and months of paperwork, testing, insurance wrangling, and prepartion, she underwent surgery on September 11th. After nearly one month of healing, she went to have her implant activated yesterday. All of us, friends and family alike, were holding our breath waiting for the results. I am SO VERY HAPPY to report, that she is hearing!!! She said that she feels it mostly, like sonic booms. Apparently, that's a very good sign. When she went to take a nap yesterday, she moved some hangers that fell against some lightbulbs and heard a "tink"!! She also said that she can hear her fingers tapping on the keyboard and the sound of her voice!! Now, she really has to work at retraining her brain to recognize different sounds. I cannot tell you all how VERY HAPPY I am for her!!!!!!!! I love this girl beyond belief, and I wanted so very badly for this surgery to be as successful as she did. When I read her recount of yesterday's events, I think I nearly gave Casey a heart attack! I ran around the house screaming and jumping up and down like a mad woman. Then, the tears just started and haven't stopped since. I can barely tell anyone else for looking like a blubbering idiot! I did manage to get myself together and call to leave her a message by phone (she still hasn't regained the ability to hear a telephone conversation yet), after completely forgetting her number, only to call her Dad and speak with him first (what a fruitloop I am).

I am still truly amazed at modern medicine! It's at times like these, that I am brought to a screeching halt to realize what a lucky person I am and how much that God has blessed me. Through his works, all things are possible. It's just up to us to keep the faith. I'm just so very greatful that things are progressing so well for her. I can't wait to see what the next few days and months bring her.

Relax....

Casey and I were on the go yesterday, as soon as we got off from work. A million things to do to get ready for Celebration Pet Day. It's the one week countdown. I do feel more comfortable this year, than I did this time last year. We managed to get new flyers out to 16 out of 33 businesses. We're going to finish up the list tonight. We started distributing flyers WAY early, but people keep taking them for information. There are some places that we've replinshed four or five times!! I'm just going to take that as a good sign.

. I know that I've said before that I "live, breath, eat, and sleep" this event until the day after it's over. This year, the nightmares have at least started at a later date. I've had two really bad ones over this event so far. The first was that it stormed all day for the event. I'm not talking about little storms either. I'm talking tornadic activity. It was a disaster. Last night's was about our Star Wars Meet and Greet. I had all the guys from the 501st Legion, Southern Outpost there and ready for the event. The time came and went and only five or so kids came. It was such a disappointment. I hope that these are just manifestations of my stressed out brain, and not a sign that I'm clairvoyant or anything. Our event is going to be SO good this year. We've got lots of vendors and other animals rescues coming, our Star Wars Meet and Greet, our pet show, agility, animal info programs, and some mighty good food (all homecooked by my very own sweetie, Casey). I just hope that folks in town will come out and give it a chance.

Shelter Dogs

October is "Adopt A Shelter Dog Month". National, regional, and local humane/shelter groups are giving every dog his day in the month of October. If you're searching for the perfect canine companion, please consider adopting a shelter dog. Shelters have all kinds of dogs from pure bred to mutts to senior dogs. You're best friend is waiting for you there!! Visit the ASPCA's Adopt a Shelter Dog page today!! They have all kinds of neat stuff for dog lovers. They have t-shirts, dog care tip sheets, training sheets, contests, books, and more!!

Down In the Hips

Sorry that I was away for a few days. It was completely unplanned. Bear has been having some hip problems on and off during the last part of the summer. He would have his good days and bad days. The vet, Casey, and I suspected arthritis and the vet told us to just watch him for a bit. So, we made plans to get him on some good glucosamine tablets. Anyway last Wednesday morning, he was really bad. He wouldn't hardly get up at all and when he did, he wouldn't put weight on his back right leg at all. Casey and I decided it was time for another vet visit. We loaded him up and away we went to the vet's. They did x-rays, while Casey and I killed time. That was a terribly agonizing hour for me. He had lost about half a pound, and that REALLY worried me. He's only 5, so arthritis is a little unusual at his age. We got back to the office and got the diagnosis. VERY bad osteoarthritis in both of his back hips, with the right being worse. The vet didn't feel that he was at the point of total hip replacement yet, so we went home with a couple of prescriptions. The vet prescribed Previcox (a pain and anti-imflamatory med) for his "bad" days only. He also prescribed the same medication that my friend, Pennie, had recommended a couple months back, Cosequin DS. I'm happy to report that Bear is feeling MUCH better. He's down playing and back to being his "crazy schipperke" self. I know that a lot of this is due to the Previcox, and he may change next week after his dosage drops off. I do have faith that the Cosequin DS will really kick in after a few weeks. I've really heard good stuff about that medication. Everyone keep your fingers crossed.