Happy Birthday, Jason & Bean!

Children are the hands by which
we take hold of heaven
~ Henry Ward Beecher

Today is my son's 29th birthday.

Jason, who is a graphic artist, and Bean, who is a dog, live in Florida, so we won't be able to celebrate with him. He will, however, be tops in my thoughts today as I remember the joy I felt 29 years ago when he finally made it into this world. He was five weeks late, and we joked that he wasn't took keen on braving the cold, Ohio winter. ;-)


Jason was a good baby, a great kid, and is a wonderful adult ("Adult!" YIKES!). He's very much our child. We see ourselves in things he says and does. He gets his love for animals, especially dogs, from his mom. He rescued Bean from a Cincinnati shelter in 2001, and he decided that they would have the same birthday.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASON & BEAN.

Happy Birthday, Decker!

Dogs have given us their absolute all.
We are the center of their universe.
We are the focus of their love
and faith and trust.
They serve us in return for scraps.
It is without a doubt the best deal
man has ever made.
~ Roger Caras

Today is Decker's 12th birthday!

Decker was born in Albuquerque, NM and was one of five puppies. The breeder gave all of the pups different colored collars so she could tell them apart, and Decker's was black. When it was time to name him, I knew that I wanted his call name to be Decker, and I stressed over his registered name. We finally settled on "MerryLegs Black and Decker."

A retired AKC Champion, Decker now leads the life of Riley at home with us. He's a little clown. I used to take him to the store with me on Saturdays because the ladies all loved him (and he knew it! Of course, I think he likes having me home full time now as he gets to help me post the blogs and bark at any leaf that blows by the window. Last year he noticed he needed glasses to read the fine print of the newspaper. Luckily, my husband's glasses fit him, so they share.

Decker's featured in all of the photos above, although Kasey, his little sister, is in two of them. She's on the right side in both photos.

Happy Birthday, Decker!

Have You Ever Googled Yourself?

On his blog, Authorblog, David McMahon asks if we have ever "googled" ourselves. He asks that we answer this on our own blogs.

Yes, David, I have. First of all, I was curious to see with whom I shared my name, and, quite frankly, I wanted to see if I popped up. After all, I owned a store, so the possibility was there. Because I normally go by "Chris" and not "Christine," I googled that with my last name.

I found out that I share my name with a bunch of men! Leading the pack is an English percussionist who performs with a number of bands (and is appearing in the Netherlands this week!). Of the more than 15 Google pages that I checked, he had over 95% of the listings. I found his web site, photos of him, a YouTube page or two, audios of his recordings, MP3 downloads, and a number of articles about him.

In addition, I share my name with a Doctor of Dentistry who teaches at Stoneybrook State University in New York, a professor of biology at Georgia Southern, and a Harvard graduate who is a healthcare management specialist in Maine.

The lone female that I found was yours truly. And, as I figured, I was there because of publicity given my store (photo). I guess I need to work harder on making history, no?

Dog Day Festival

"All in the town were still asleep
When the sun came up with a shout and a leap.
In the lonely streets, unseen by man
A little dog danced, and the day began!"
- Rupert Brooke

Today was the Nashville Area Humane Society's Dog Day Festival. Meet a few of the dogs that we met while getting photos for our main blog, Nashville Daily Photo.

Also, meet my two dogs, Kasey (left) and Decker (right), and our son's dog, Bean (below). Kasey and Decker are both Welsh Terriers, but while Decker is a retired AKC Champion, Kasey is a puppy mill rescue. We're fortunate that Kasey hasn't had a lot of the health problems that puppy mill dogs can have, although she has always been nervous and skittish, which we attribute to the way she started her life. Decker, on the other hand, is very grounded and very clownish. He often does things (like put on reading glasses) just to amuse me.

Bean is also a rescue dog. Jason found her at a shelter in Cincinnati while he was a senior at Xavier University. We think Bean is probably a Cocker Spaniel/Black Lab mix, and she's a big sweetheart. They moved from Ohio to Florida about 18 months ago, and Bean now enjoys chasing frogs and herons around their apartment complex.