Serendipity

Halloween, in theory, is supposed to be 'fun' for children...and I know that as a child, it was for me. Times have changed though. Halloween is no longer the safe, carefree night of the year for children, it's now one where dangers lurk...and children can be cruel. My 12 year old niece, who loves this holiday, so looked forward to going out with friends trick or treating. Days before, she and a few friends, made plans to meet at a specific place at 6 p.m. and from there, walk through our little town. She had decided early-on in November that she wanted to be a dead bride...and so we spent the time to acquire a dress, and all the things we would need to make her look somewhat real. We 'shredded' the dress, made a veil out of an old slip, which I then hand sewed to a headband. We bought the fake makeup, complete with 'blood' (fake, of course) and proceeded to splatter it all over the items...even the little bunch of flowers she would carry. On her o...

Sammy and Jack Let it never be said that all townships are the same, that every single person in them is a good person and does only good deeds.  I'm here to tell you what we are experiencing right now. Back about 4 weeks ago, my daughter's younger AmStaff was let out by accident by yours truly about 7 in the morning.  I immediately grabbed the leash and went to get him, as he had traveled next door onto the neighbor's property.  These neighbors have 2-3 dogs, all of which are chained outside 24/7 and Sammy went up to their Yorkshire terrior and began just sniffing him.   I called to Sammy and in the next second the dogs were fighting.  I hurried over to them, and grabbed a hold of Sammy, put the leash on him and then did my best to get the two dogs apart.  By then, the owner came out and she worked with me to get them separated...we'd get one dog to let go and the other dog would clamp on. Within minutes though, we had the dogs separated a...