The Generosity of MAZ75

Instead of gifts, Mom asked her birthday party guests to bring pet food for her local animal shelter and food bank. We were amazed at everyone's generosity - altogether we collect over 1,000 pounds of dog and cat food plus toys and treats.

I delivered the first set to the Lake County Animal Shelter Monday morning. They were thrilled to have it all. The staff said they sometimes get elementary school age children who forgo their birthday presents and ask their friends for donations for the shelter instead but that it had never happened for a grown-up before, let alone a 75-year-old.

Here it is all unloaded at the shelter, stacked two deep in some places.

Because hungry people have hungry pets, Mom delivered the smaller bags to the food bank later in the week. If you give them larger bags, they break them down into smaller ones to make the food go as far as possible. All these bags (and cans) were 4 pounds or lighter. 

Here it is, filling up her trunk:

A huge thank you to everyone who attended the party and brought a donation. Mom and the animals thank you too!

RIP Squeaky

Our sweet little guinea pig died Sunday afternoon. Santa brought her for Thomas for Christmas 2006, after T wrote him a letter at school saying he wanted a guinea pig so much he would name it Santa. Instead we named her Caramel Cocoapuff but came to call her Squeaky because she liked to squeak at us, especially if it was time for a treat. She loved anything green and leafy, especially herbs like parsley and cilantro. Guinea pigs only live 3-5 years, and she was over 4. I think she might have had a heart attack as she was acting like her normal self, even on Sunday morning - eating, drinking, etc. 

We buried her in a nice spot under the camellias in the side yard. We're all doing ok but I know we'll miss having her around.