Griffin

If you hear of a dognapping in the area, I'll go ahead and confess - it was us. Okay, me. I'll not implicate my innocent family.

What, pray tell, would compel me to commit such a heinous act and embark upon a life of crime?

This guy ... meet Griffin.

Because if I were ever going to dognap a dog, it would be this one. There is none other that I want.

Here's how it happened. A few weeks ago, a friend of ours asked my husband if we would be willing to dog-sit for the weekend. As in, bring his dog to our house. My husband (oh-so-wisely) put the query to me, and to our mutual surprise, I said, Sure, why not? With the following conditions: YOU make sure the fence is secure, YOU feed the dog, YOU walk the dog, YOU take care of any and all requirements pertaining to the care of the dog. Having thus absolved myself from any onerous obligations, I resigned myself to tolerate having a dog in my house for a weekend.

What happened, of course, was that this scraggly little pooch stole my heart. I mean, just look at that face! What can I say about Griffin? Probably first and foremost, the thing I loved best about little Griffin is this: not once did he make any attempt to lick me. Not once. That alone sets the bar high for any dog which may come after him. So very high.

As if keeping his tongue to himself wasn't enough to forge an undying attachment to him on my part, Griffin also happens to be a love bug. Docile, sweet, gentle. Say a word to him, or merely glance in his direction, and he rolls over onto his back and looks up at you with a face that simply says, Rub my belly. It is slightly reminiscent of the dog in the movie Up: "My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you."

We didn't tell the kids beforehand that we were dog-sitting. We thought that would be a fun surprise. It was. It played out like this: The kids walked in from school, saw Griffin, and immediately exclaimed in ecstatic and rapturous wonder, We got a dog??!!

To which we laughed, and said... no.

Don't worry, they were not scarred (on some level, they knew such a fortune could not possibly be true); the initial disappointment was eased plenty enough just knowing we had a whole weekend with our new friend.

As a family still grieving the loss of the old man cat, we showered our pent-up affection on this willing recipient. I knew I was sunk when the little guy snuggled up in bed with between us at night - and I liked it. (Not to besmear the memory of the old man cat, but did he ever snuggle with us? Uh, no.) That dog has a special way about him.

When it came time for Griffin to go home, how the tears did flow from you-know-who. And I'm not embarrassed to tell you that the first couple of days without him, I missed him something fierce.

*In case the father of the sweet girl to whom Griffin belongs is reading this, of course you know I'm kidding about the dognapping. Besides, we already returned your house key.

The latest stack

Well, I've done it again. Why can't I stop myself? After a quick afternoon trip to my favorite branch of the Austin Public Library, I returned home with yet another insurmountable pile of books. The three books I had on hold were ready, plus I found a few others.

Is this a sickness? It's like being at a buffet and not being able to stop yourself from piling 2 weeks of food onto your plate. Sure, you're hungry. But you're not THAT hungry. I feel like a glutton. Why can't I leave some of these books on the shelf? What am I afraid of? It's not like they're going anywhere. At least not for more than 3 weeks.

So, here's what I've got and I've got 3 weeks to get 'em read.

The three on top are books on CD (for the kids) for the car. And one of the books is my daughter's (The Battle of the Labyrinth). And one of them I actually just finished (Into Thin Air). But I didn't photograph the one I'm currently reading (The Sun Also Rises). I don't know, maybe the stack isn't so daunting after all. Besides, I'm anticipating having oodles of time over Thanksgiving. Because that always happens.

P.S. I love you, Library.

Meet your favorite rock star author

I know Betty White thinks that Facebook is a huge waste of time, but here's is why I disagree (for the most part.)

The other day as I was scanning my Facebook page I noticed that one of my friends had posted a quick comment about an upcoming event (that very day) taking place at a local bookstore. It was the world release party (WORLD release, people) of the latest in the Diary of Wimpy Kid series. The author himself would be on hand signing copies of the book and meeting his young fans.

Being the mother of a Wimpy Kid fan, I knew I would be AWESOME MOM if I surprised my kid and took him to the event. A quick internet search provided all the necessary information. With an assist from my husband and a quick call to my Facebook friend, we were armed with a plan to head downtown, pick up our copy of the new book, and meet the man himself - Jeff Kinney. Woo-hoo!

All thanks to Facebook. Someone should tell Betty White how useful it can be. You never know, it could even help you get a gig hosting SNL.

We came. We stood in line. We slung mashed potatoes. We stood in line. We sat. We stood in line. We took pictures. We stood in line. We read the entire new book, cover to cover. We stood in line. We stood in line. We stood in line. We met Jeff Kinney. Whew.

My feet hurt. The boy's head hurt. We were hungry. We were tired. Would we do it again? You bet. Why?

That's why.