2011 is going to be a year of new recipes. I have become a little complacent with the old standbys. While they are good, I want to increase my repertoire and try some new things. This is the beginning of what could be a really tasty year!
Here's hoping 2011 brings us all what we want and need. The new job is still fresh and I am loving every minute (even if some of them are frustrating). I know it is only going to get better and I will be able to really help some of the animals in our community who need it the most. We have to work really hard this year if we truly want KC to become a No-Kill community by 2012.
I still hear Thailand calling to me. Leila and I need to figure out how to make this trip a reality. If not Thailand, then we need to start getting out of the country and exploring the world once a year, at least. There is so much to learn by doing. You can read all the books about travel and watch all the shows, but until you can smell and taste the country, you really don't know what it is like.
Speaking of Leila, I am a very lucky man. She makes me smile and laugh and feel loved. She is smart and funny and talented and imaginative and beautiful. 2011 is only going to bring great things for us.
I don't really make resolutions anymore, but I have thoughts and plans and hopes and dreams, some I share, but most I keep to myself. There are things I want and things I need and we will see what this year brings. Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful year and 2011 brings your dreams even closer!
“This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun, and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence towards the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men; go freely with the powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and mothers, of families: read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life: re-examine all you have been told at school or church, or in any books, and dismiss whatever insults your soul.” -Walt Whitman
Ahh, things were starting to look as if Leila and I would be going to see Notre Dame in Orlando for the Champs Sports Bowl. As games were played yesterday and with wins by Washington, UConn and West Virginia, coupled with Oregon State losing (as if anyone thought they would beat Oregon), it looks as if Notre Dame will probably be going to El Paso on New Year's Eve to play in the Sun Bowl against Miami. I will be sitting on my couch watching this game, if this is indeed where the Irish end up. In a few hours, we should know exactly where the Irish will go bowling...
Yep, that's soon to be my new title and I am bloody excited about it. No More Homeless Pets Kansas City has offered me the above position and I start December 13th. More to come as the date approaches...did I mention that I am really, really bloody excited!?!
In November, Missouri residents have the opportunity to vote on Proposition B, also known as The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. If you would like to read the proposed statute in its entirety, you can view it here: http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/2010petitions/2010-086.asp. In essence, this act will require large scale breeding operations (more than 10 dogs) to provide each dog the following:
Sufficient food and clean water
Necessary veterinary care (at least one visit per year)
Sufficient housing, including protection from the elements
Sufficient space to turn and stretch freely, lie down and fully extend his or her limbs
Regular Exercise
Adequate rest between breeding cycles
This act would also limit the number of breeding dogs to no more than 50. Sounds reasonable, eh?
Having worked for the last five years in an animal shelter in Kansas City, I have seen the results of the over 3,000 puppy mills, both licensed and unlicensed, found in Missouri. I have held the dogs who are missing limbs, who have teeth rotting out of their mouths, who are so matted you don't know their sex until after they have been groomed, who are infested with fleas and ticks and intestinal parasites, who have brucellosis and mastitis, who are terrified to walk on the grass because they never have before and who need calm, caring homes because they have never known human interaction and love.
I have also held the dogs we couldn't save. The dogs I, and many others, had to euthanize. The dogs who were so far gone that no amount of medical or behavioral help could undue the years of damage inflicted upon them by the people who only viewed them as a way to make money. These dogs all started out like the dogs lying at you feet or sleeping in your bed or giving you years of endless joy and unconditional love. We have the right, the opportunity and the duty to stand up and say no more.
In November, we have the responsibility to pass Proposition B. It is time for all of us to stand together to let the operators of puppy mills know they are no longer welcome in Missouri, that Missouri no longer wants to be known as the puppy mill capital of the world and that we will no longer stand for this abuse.
It's been a while since I have updated anything and wanted to let you, my dear reader, see what I have done with the kitchen. There is still a little work left to be done (the floor and a couple more shelves), but things are coming together beautifully. I love the new kitchen.
