Plethora of Everything

As a practitioner of positivity I did not want to hear it...     All the negative responses upon mentioning our plans to foster a child.  And, don't get me wrong, I only mentioned it to close friends, a few family members and women I perceived would be supportive of our plan.     But even those few people, my mother, grandmother, women with advanced degrees that work or worked in social work, my childcare provider... were not encouraging with the idea to foster a child.  I was surprised and saddened by this and resolved to buckle down that much more on the idea to foster a child.      "All the negative stigma that goes along with fostering only proves to me we're that much more needed you know?" I said to my husband one evening.      He agreed. Both of us were a little nervous but on board to foster a child.      Our 4-year-old son, Sam, loved the idea of having a 'foster brother' to play w...

The greatest benefits to fostering for Kentucky Mutts Fosters are: 1.) You don't need to find a home for your foster pet.  When I started fostering back in 2006 (for a municipal shelter), I had to find homes for my foster dogs. There wasn't another option available to them!   This was and still is extremely rewarding  but , as a busy mom that works, fostering for Ky. Mutts is great in that... I don't have the task or responsibility of finding a loving home for these fosters.  Some great Ky. Mutts transport activity! 2.)  You know where your foster dog is going when he or she leaves your care.   You will know to which rescue, in which city and state, your dog is going.  Ky. Mutts works in partnership with a larger transport rescue group, Mobile Mutts.  These 2 rescues 'pull' dogs from high kill shelters in southern states, and rescue dogs from compromising situations.  From there the dogs are placed in foster care ...

    I've been an independent, professional dog walker for nearly 5 years now.      So, in this post, as I offer you suggestions, I'm speaking from experience. -Let's go ahead and make that our first topic! That's me, walking 2 dog customers and 2 pet dogs     1.) Experience will set you apart from the competition in this field. But how do you get experience if you're just starting out?  -Easy. -Volunteer at a local animal shelter as a dog handler/walker/socialization coach.  Volunteering is a great way to get experience with all different sizes, types and personalities of dogs... and it's highly rewarding. With even an hour or two weekly, for several weeks , you'll get the ball rolling. This also looks great on your resume. -Have business cards handy whenever you volunteer; you just might pick up your first customer as you  volunteer!      You could also offer to do dog walking at a reduced rate for your friend...

When I came across an article on the "reducetarian movement," I chuckled ( another movement?!)... and felt invigorated.     From ages 17-25 I was a vegetarian. But one night at a cookout after having a few beers those grilled chicken legs looked and smelled really good. I had endured months of being surrounded by meat-eaters with my then-husband, Jose. In my inebriated state I caved; I ate chicken legs and loved them.     Since then I've been eating meat... conscientiously .      I do not eat pork for example.    When I worked for AFLAC years ago I had an open enrollment at Purdue Sausage Factory. After finishing my enrollments I said I wanted to see where the pigs were killed.      "Are you sure?" asked the employee.     "Yes, I can handle it. I want to see what it's really like," I said.         So he walked me down to the factory where the large pigs were brought...

When our son was a little over a year old my husband and I opted for him to have a vasectomy.      Until our son began eating solids (a.k.a. baby mush) at 5 months, he had only breast milk.  Breastfeeding is birth control by design; this is another great benefit of exclusively breastfeeding your baby. There's an informative link on this topic at the bottom of this post.       So, for about a year husband and I didn't worry much about formal birth control since  1.) we weren't having a lot of sex anyway since the first year of parenting is extremely exhausting and 2.) there was a tiny part of us that wouldn't have minded if I were to get pregnant again anyhow     However, when the hormones started kicking back into full gear and our sex life started heating back up, the pull out method was making me a nervous wreck!  Heating Up! So, I did 2 things I do very well: worried and researched . The worrying would ...

You know how it's different when people tell you, "Everything will be OK," when they truly don't know everything will be OK?     When a child needs stitches, mom says, "It will be OK. You will be OK," and it's sincere. It's scary but she knows her kid will be OK.           Or even when someone loses a job, people say, "It will be OK. It will all work out." They believe, and typically are correct in saying those words.      However, when a mom tells her adult child, diagnosed with a terminal disease that, "It will be OK. We will get through this," there's uncertainty sensed. It's unavoidable. Mom hopes it will be OK but doesn't know that.  Over the past 48 hours I've heard the, "It will be OK," from those closest to me in the uncertain way . They want to mean it. They want to believe it but they don't know it will be OK, in the short term.      I'm humbled and grateful I have...