baking and walking dogs

Crafting has been set aside this past week. My mind has been elsewhere. What with the holiday and work being insane, it's hard to fit anything else in anyway. I did bake some blueberry muffins. First I baked a batch from a box (see the one on the far right in the pic). They weren't horrible, but not great either. So then I baked some from scratch. They came out AMAZING (the one on the left, if you couldn't tell). Never baking anything from a box again! Brian and I also cooked up a typical Thanksgiving dinner. We did a pretty good job for it being the first time doing it on our own. I'm excited for some turkey sandwiches later today.

It's interesting how you go to the shelter to donate your time and love for animals, and you end up never wanting to leave. I've only gone twice so far, but I could easily find time every day to go. It took a ton of courage on my part just to go that first time. I ended up finally talking myself into it on Wednesday and also went yesterday. 2 days in a row, and I want to go again today before work. Only twice and this place has become a new addiction. I want to learn about all the animals, be able to know all 80 cats by name, walk any dog there without fear, get to know the staff, and then blog about everything. It's amazing how many stories can come from an animal shelter.

Right now a skinny 'Toto' looking dog has my heart in pieces. She's pretty new to the shelter from what I can tell from her signage, and super scared. They call it 'shy', but to me I think she's just deathly afraid. The first time I took her out to walk she wouldn't budge. She'd just plop down and start shaking. So I picked her up, walked her around the trail and sat with her for a while. The first time she warmed up to me just fine. In fact, she didn't want to leave my lap. Yesterday, she did the same thing. Thankfully I was also able to get her to walk a few steps. When I would crouch down she'd walk to me, hesitantly of course, but still a few steps is a lot. Standing up would scare her again, so I stayed crouched for most of the time there. I hope today she's a little more brave. The day I go there and my favorite dog is adopted is going to be the toughest part of all this. But of course, that's what we are working for here. All dogs to have warm, loving homes.



I spent some time in the cat rooms too, and the kitties in there are quite amusing. As soon as you sit anywhere in the rooms, you have a cat eyeing your lap. It's interesting that all these cats have each other, but when a person comes in the room, the sociable cats go right for them. They obviously know where treats and head scratches come from. This is a pic of the screened in porch they have set up for the cats.