Shiba Love

   My friend David questioned where HIS drawing was, after he saw the one I did for Zoey this week (David adopted Scooter from me over a year ago, and I hadn't started surprising people with these standees yet). So I mailed this to him today... Can't wait 'til he gets it!!!
   And on a side note, if you type "surprising" on an iPhone, you get... this. I could do without your creativity, Autocorrect!!!

And Another Thing...

   ....that makes me insanely happy: when the people who have adopted my foster dogs give me updates! I really look forward to fostering again someday, once the craziness of my own life has subsided.
   Here is Raven, my most recent foster, and the Montgomery's. I ran into them at Shawnee Mission Park weeks ago, and was so thrilled to see how happy they were. I bet this photo made their Christmas card:

 LOVE this pic of Marissa & Raven!!!

   And here are Swifty and Scooter (Scooter is the lil' black and tan puppy I fostered this spring). David works at Hallmark, and I last saw him & his girls at Hallmark. Since Taylor was with me, it was a black & tan doppelgänger reunion! Clearly David loves Scooter as much as I did, and her sister Swifty does too!

   Renee and her family adopted Rosie & Boo from The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City and they have been our hiking and camping buddies. Proof that perfect dogs can come from anywhere... all they need is the right family to love them.

Astounding Asperger's Animal Art

   My recent animal post got me thinking about the work of David Barth, a 12-year old boy from Rotterdam, Netherlands, with autism who does some astounding animal collages. He has an incredible eye for detail and an interesting way of arranging his compositions which I imagine is due to his brain working differently. I just love them! I tried to contact him through his website to see if it would be possible for me to purchase one, but seeing as how I don't speak Dutch, I'm guessing it's a long shot! Thanks to my buddy John's "Art of the Day" email for turning me on to this.

Random Hallmark Moments: Pass the Pie

  Recently our department split into two teams to compete and see who could gather more donations for Harvesters, a great organization that provides meals to the hungry in our community. I was on the East Side team, led by Sara, and Tara led the West Side team. The losing senior manager agreed to take a pie in the face for the cause.
  There was a lot of good-natured trash-talking during the weeks of the competition, but ultimately it was won by West (West Siiiiide!), so Sara was on the hook for the pie, and Tara was a willing and enthusiastic emcee who clearly was going to relish the pie humiliation.

  Sara attempted to weasel out by putting Dave in a skirt and a wig to stand in for her, but his hairy legs gave him away. She eventually showed up and took one for the team. They were all excellent sports and it made for a fun end to the day. But look out next year, West!

Happy Mother's Day!

    I was returning from SF today and though I left a message for Mom, I haven't been able to catch her to wish her a happy day "in person." But I did get a text from David with a cute photo of the girls. It makes me so happy to know that he & the pups are happy!!!

   My own pups had spa day today (bath, nail trim, brushing) and enjoyed hanging out in the yard all afternoon while I mowed, though it was nearly 90 degrees. Ugh. A huge change from SF, which was in the 50s all day yesterday, and cold this morning. Too much of a change for me; I nearly passed out from hypothermia when I deplaned in KC. Between the mowing, taking care of the animals, doing two loads of laundry, and, oh yeah, getting up at 4 am to go to the airport... it has been a long (but good) day!

Taylor hates being brushed... can't you tell?!

Dog hair explosion!

   I'm fortunate that Dave was able to fix my gazebo for me (after the snow caved it in), as it was nice to be able to put the laundry outside to dry.

   I was also fortunate that I had a bunch of really good pizza toppings in the fridge & freezer, so I was able to cook at home without venturing to the grocery store: sausage, turkey pepperoni, red peppers, yellow heirloom tomatoes, Kalamata olives, onion, mozzarella and goat cheese crumbles.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Swifty + Scooter

VIDEOS: playing inside  /  playing outside

Random Hallmark Moments: Another Match Made in Heaven!

   I don't know why it took so long to dawn on me, but this week I realized that Scooter wasn't the only mini Shiba I'd ever seen... I bumped into a fellow Hallmark employee last fall at Hallmarket, and he had the adorable Swifty with him (that's her, above). So I emailed a mutual friend, Tina, to get his name and fired off an email to David with my favorite Scooter photo and crossed my fingers...

   So we met to talk, and it sounded like an absolutely perfect match, since both girls are petite, young, active and friendly. Not to mention, both look like adorable stuffed toys conceived by a Japanese designer, rather than real life animals. If you need proof, just check out Swifty's baby photo:

   David seemed really excited, so of course I was as well. I had decided from Day 1 that Scooter would go to only the most perfect of homes, and I'd keep her until I found the right one, no matter how long it took. Well, it didn't take long! David came over with Swifty today, and as we suspected, they were fast friends. Scooter had a chance to stretch her legs and the two of them wrestled and played in the dining room, then in the backyard.

   David will most likely adopt Scooter next weekend. I'm really going to enjoy the next few days with her, knowing that she's going to a perfect home with a good buddy and an owner who will adore her as much as I do. (And from the looks of it, maybe even more.) THIS is why I volunteer!