Why I believe that everyone should own a dog at some point in life.

So first off this blog isn't going to shock anyone. I'm an animal lover I will always be an animal lover and my all time dream come true would be running an animal rescue. However, there are truly so many things that you learn from owning a dog. I think the first thing they teach you when you're a kid is responsibility, You have to feed and walk the dog and clean up their messes. Also when they are still puppies you have to keep a constant eye on them so they don't do something very bad like chew electrical cords. Or in the case of my dog Sasha when she was a pup chew daddies only pair of glasses which were very expensive. But there are so many more things a dog can teach you.

I have had a Lab or Lab mix my whole life. I truly feel like anyone can love a Lab but it's also okay to find a dog more suited to your needs and care abilities. Like if your house is full of breakable things that you keep kind of low down, then don't get a lab. Trust me Lab's tails are destructive. So with that in mind one of the main things owning Labs or puppies has taught me is, patience. I have to clean  up whatever they break and still love them. Which to be fair they love us even if we broke something of theirs.

Dogs are great because they make you laugh so much. My dog, Ranger, would do the silliest things and he pretty much always had a dur dur dur look on his face. But when he would stare at a bug on the road on our walks and then have to sneeze and smack his nose on the road. He made me laugh or he would steal paper towel rolls from the trash and want to play what we called "Bonka" which was basically sword fighting with paper towel rolls. He always brightened my day.

My Pug, Fubu used to wait until you left the room and go slap the T.V. until he got it to a channel that played music. Sasha who is part lab and part Elkhound, She is two breeds of hunting dogs. Yet she swims with our pet Ducks and Elk terrify her. She even accidentally killed a roof rat once and mourned that thing for at least 2 weeks. She knows that she doesn't have to be a hunting dog and she loves it. Dogs will teach you so much and bring such joy to your life. I can't imagine how much less joy I would have had if I couldn't have been a dog owner. I will always own and love dogs! The best thing you get from them is true unconditional love and who wouldn't want that?

The real reason I want to have money.

There are so many people out there who want to win the lottery so that they could never work again and travel and all of that. As wonderful as that all would be I think the main things I wish I had money for are to help people. I would love to be able to pay of my mom and my mother-in-law's mortgages. I would love to take them on a trip and to spa's because they both do so much for me and my husband. I would buy my brothers all houses and make sure they had reliable vehicles. I would start a college fund for my baby niece. I would do so much good with more money.

That being said I will most likely never win the lottery. I probably won't become wealthy ever and that's okay. But that doesn't change my attitude. I still want to do everything I can everyday to take away stress from my family. I would love to travel but I always think of all the people who's lives could be made better with the money I would use on a vacation. I want to be able to not spoil but just provide for all my family, and friends. I wish that more people would do good with the money they do have.

So if you are a friend or family member of mine. Just know that I may have no way to financially help you right now. I may never have that. But I'm always here to help trouble shoot. Or even just to listen to what's going on with you. I will live my life giving what I can. Even if all I can give is a smile and some encouraging words!! God Bless you all!

Many different ways to tell if you're a crazy cat person.

It's no secret I love my cats. People always tell me I baby them too much, but really until I have an actual baby what harm is it doing. True my cat Oliver pretty much has a God complex because I always tell him he's a king. But he is the king of the kitties. Bagheera may think he owns our farm but so what? He keeps the rodent and bird population under control. Little miss Rochette pretty much thinks the world revolves around her and I but I'm alright with that. I have begun to notice some things that make me believe that I may take it too far. Here's a few examples of things I have noticed and you might want to watch out for so you don't become as crazy as I am.

• Having pictures of your pets in your phone is fine. Having more pictures then you have of family may be taking it a bit too far. 
• Snuggling your cat is great but if you have ever stayed still when you have important things to do (like work or pee) just so that you don't wake the cat, It's becoming an issue. 
• If you make your significant other move over in bed to make room for your cat because she prefers to sleep in between you two , under the covers, like a human. Is probably taking more of a relationship risk then you want to take. 
• If you judge whether or not you like someone by how your cat feels about them it's taking it a bit far. Mainly because my cats hate most people who aren't Me, Hubby, my Mom, or my Brothers. If I cut down my social circle that much it's going to be harmful to my sanity. 
• If you hold your cats like a baby even when they weigh about twice the size of an average baby. It's pushing it a tad. Plus really not good on your arms and shoulders especially if you have a torn rotator cuff. (That one may just be me)
• If you rock your cats to sleep when you get home from work because you know that they missed you and had a big day. (never mind that you are exhausted and have better things to do)
• It's true that some cats meow in different ways for different things they want. My cats can all say the only 4 words a cat really needs to say, Mom, Dad, Out, and NOW. But responding to them as if they are a teen-aged human is not really normal. Nor is dropping everything to feed them because they are sitting by there food bowl (which is not empty but apparently not full enough for them.) yelling NOW.
• Playing games with your cat that are really more for five year old humans. I may or may not play both hide and seek and the floor is lava with my cat Rochette. 
• If you baby-talk to your cat more then you do actual babies. You probably need to tone it down a bit. 
• If you are badly allergic to cats and yet own three of them and do all of the above things and let them lay on your head until you can barely breathe. Maybe take a look at what you're doing to yourself. 

I adore my cats and will most likely continue to baby them. They and my other fur babies bring me happiness the least I can do is try to return the favor. So, the next time someone calls me a crazy cat person my response will probably be, "Yes, but I'm a happy crazy cat person!"  

Loosing the Legend.

This may sound lame or weird to some people, but I'm having a very hard time with the death of Robin Williams. Not just because of the manner in which he died. (I have lost a brother and a dear friend both to suicide) But also because I think ahead to when I have children and they won't know and love him like I did. They will never get the joy of waiting to see anything new from him because it's always random and hilarious. I know that is normally thoughts you have when you lose a grandparent not a celebrity. He was a huge part of my childhood. Coming from an abusive home as a child there was always two people my mom could put on the T.V. to make me laugh and calm down. Even if some of the jokes were over my head. Those two people were John Ritter and Robin Williams.

I think that so many of us just assumed that he would be around for years to come because someone who brings that much laughter and joy to the world surely should stay in the world for a while. Maybe God just missed him and knew that he needed the Lord's comfort. Or maybe God wanted a laugh. No matter what happened I think that to judge in anyway how he died is horrible. Judge not lest ye be judged. We don't know what went on behind the smiles and laughter. And we shouldn't get too. As much as he was ours he was also not ours. He was an amazing man and I can't imagine what his family is going through. On top of dealing with the horribleness of loosing their family member. They are also dealing with all the extra emotions that come with suicide. The public needs to let them be alone and mourn. We have his movies which we can watch over and over and grieve in our own way but I think some of the horrible comments made about him are absolutely intolerable.

I am in this funk that I can't get out of. Part of that is that when anyone even mentions the word suicide I go back to when I lost the people I did. It is a horrible thing to go through and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Also he died on the 18th anniversary of me loosing my grandmother. So I was already pretty vulnerable. I can't help but dwell on the fact that somewhere out there is a full grown adult who wasn't even born yet when we lost her. I am trying to get out of this hole of sadness and I will I'm Tuff after all. But it's hard. I just keep thinking I'm loosing all the things that made me feel safe and grounded as a child in a bad situation.

What are my favorite things about Robin Williams? Well most of them are things he did out of the spotlight that we later found out about. but I love that he could make any movie both hilarious and have a message. I think from Aladdin, to Hook, to The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, to What dreams May Come, and Good Will Hunting, no matter what the movie was no matter if it was silly or serious, He always made you smile, laugh, and think. Thank You Mr. Robin Williams for blessing my childhood and my life. You taught me lessons I will carry to the end. Rest well! See you on the other side!