I may have picked up a new hobby and that is reuniting lost dogs with their owners. There was that failed attempt during Christmas…only to learn the owner didn’t care about the dog anyways. That made me bitter. It confirmed my stance on how much I should care about things.
Then less than a month ago, when I was out on my evening walk with my dogs, we came across a young terrier and it kept following us for the entire walk. The terrier had a red sweater and no collar with a tag. I knocked doors at the homes I guessed was the young terrier’s because it kept sniffing the front yard but I had no luck wandering my street for an hour. I took the terrier to a neighbor’s house because they had a chip reader (the nephew is a vet tech) and hopefully we could contact the owner. The young terrier did not have a chip reader. I posted a found dog notice on Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social networking site, and my neighbor cared for the terrier in her place. The next morning, I got a response from my Nextdoor post that the young terrier was theirs. They sent photos for proof and they picked up their dog. The owners do have a collar with a tag but they were giving their dog a bath that day. It took about a night to get this dog reunited, so I guess that’s a fairly quick turnaround.
This past week, my neighbor and her nephew found another lost dog. It looked like a senior labrador.,. but I’m not too sure. It had no tag or chip. She sent me a photo to create another found notice on Nextdoor but 8 hours later there was no one claiming the dog was theirs. Maybe the owner does not have a Nextdoor account. One of the people who commented on Nextdoor referred me to a Lost and Found Dog Facebook group for the area plus Pawboost and 24Connect to expand my reach. It took about a week for the dog and the owner to reunite.
This weekend is very busy. I think it’s because it’s the three-day weekend, we have more out-of-town visitors coming in. Honestly, it’s really refreshing because for many years we were the out-of-town visitors making the long trek on long weekends. Now we can relax and make the short drive to the next neighborhood to meet-up. One of them is a childhood friend. I bought artwork from her and she offered to hand deliver it because she’ll be in town. The last time we saw each other was high school…I think? Also we have friends from Utah coming in this weekend and we’re showing them around LA.
Things I’ve been into lately:
Before Midnight parties – I like this idea — why can’t this be a thing? Before Midnight parties are exactly what you think they are, it’s all the things you would find at a night club but it ends at midnight. For New Year’s Eve, we celebrated Noon Year’s Eve. It has all the liveliness you would find in a New Year’s Eve party in New York City, but it happened from 10 am to noon. I did it so my kid would have the New Year’s experience without staying up too late. It was much cooler than I expected: they had a DJ, sparkling drinks, a dance floor, party horns, confetti, and a balloon drop. I shared this article to my friends and they’re all for the idea of a Before Midnight party. One of my friends replied, “I always wanted to leave a party early.” Sure there will always be clubs open until 2 am and sure you can always choose to leave early and not have to stay until the party is over, but I think a Before Midnight party removes that pressure of staying around. Believe it or not, there are many people in their 30s who still experience FOMO. Or just that feeling that if you leave early, it may be perceived that you are no fun
Creating a family management binder
A place where I can have my kid’s calendar, meal planning, travel planning, and general calendar all in one place. I prefer a folder with the 3-hole punch prong fasteners because it’s much lighter than a three ring binder. I also got a clear pocket which came in handy when I had to bring Lana’s Valentine’s Day cards to daycare. Behind it are clear page protectors to hold travel planning stuff, daycare calendar, meal plan template, and other loose leaves. Everything I got is from the Dollar Tree.
“Why am I like this” by Orla Gartland – I am feeling nostalgic. Orla Gartland puts my teenage anxiety in a song form.
Eat, Play, Live 
My girlfriend has a habit of stumbling across lost dogs often too and has happily reunited a few dogs and owners.
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Aww that’s so nice! But I have to say it’s a lot of work. The reason why I partner up is because I don’t have space to house another dog but my neighbor can. I do the work of posting and looking through sites for people who are missing a dog.
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Tiss a noble thing you do with those lost pets. I once caught what had to be a lost pet bird and tried my best to find it’s owner. While waiting for my posters to find the owner, I bought a small cage and cared for the bird along with my toddler son who named him, Mexico for a reason I never understood. We had a good time with him and we never found his owner. We didn’t want to keep him permanently so I gave him to a peer at work. Every now and then our son brings up Mexico and how he recalls us saving the bird from a life he most certainly did not understand or was equipped for.
Bravo for you Julie.
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Hmm…Mexico, I’m going to guess it was a tricolor parrot? That is too bad about not finding the owner, I’m not sure if birds are microchipped like how dogs are…
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