When we adopted Alex in February of 2001 we were a bit surprised that the shelter had implanted a microchip under her skin. Not an option at this shelter, you get it with the pet. While it felt a bit Big-brotherish, we were assured it was highly effective in returning lost pets to their owners. Vets and shelters can scan the pooch or kitty and get their number. A quick call to the American Kennel Club's Companion Animal Recovery and they are able to contact you. It's a great piece of mind since collars can come off.
...There's a really great story (the lady was on Ellen) about this working for a Florida lady whose cat was found 9 years later in San Francisco! Read her story here.
...If you have an animal, we recommend this - ask your vet! We can't imagine if Alex was lost and we weren't able to find her so we are glad the SPCA embraces this program.
Check out the website of the Microchip folks and the AKC.

Dan, with his pooch, Seinfeld, and Amanda with her baby, Diesel, in the new room.

Inspired by a co-worker's experience on the Discovery Channel Show, Surprise by Design, and a desire to give her sub-letter/boyfriend an organized living space, we set up our own surprise design. Amanda's parents, her aunt, Niles and Amie headed over on Saturday as soon as Dan (a sports editor for the local paper) headed off to cover and event. Niles primed and painted the wall-paper-free bathroom while the ladies tossed, moved, re-arranged, cleaned and re-organized what had been Amanda's storage room (with a path to the bed for Dan) into a beautiful, neat, clutter-free space with new sheets and matching items throughout the space. We hung pictures and put out a few of Dan's items to make the room his. It was hard work but a lot of fun, especially seeing Dan's face when he came in for the "reveal."

The biggest surprise? Afterwards, Dan, Amanda, Amie and Niles went bowling! It was the first time since college for Amie and Niles but Niles won the first game and Amie came in second the last game. And it was actually fun...who knew?

After 16 years of service (the last many, inactive) it is time to retire my loyal saxophone. Many repairs have been made and one-too many parts have broken, so now it's time to send him to his final memorial place. In his new position as a lamp, he is again part of my life on a daily basis, looking pretty darn cool all the while (and most lamps of this type are worth more than he was as a new beginner alto back in '88).

We've had some good times through the years. He suffered through beginner's band (worse only is beginner's orchestra), but was rewarded by meeting famous people and traveling to exciting places. He laid down a blues progression for Wynton Marsalis, and made his out-of-state debut in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He flew to Texas and Indiana, performed in 5 bowl games, several Disney World Parades, halftime show at the Carolina Panthers first ever regular season win, and at the NCAA Final Four tournament.

He suffered monsoons at Florida State and having oranges and bagels hurled at him at Virginia and Georgia Tech. Through wind, rain, sleet and snow he was there (or snuggled safely in his bag as I waded through the snow and ice). He's been knocked off bleachers, dropped, kicked, and who knows what else but through it all he persevered. Time and too many moves have finally forced him into long over due retirement. It was a fun ride; we'll miss your music, old friend. - AB

We went to the second show on the opening day of Jersey Girl, the latest Kevin Smith movie. Since the closest theaters playing it were 30 and 45 minutes away, we were all set to head 30 minutes to Jersey - what a great place to see Jersey Girl, right? But then inspiration struck. After a search we found the only Chick-Fil-A in any reasonable radius was about an hour away - just past the second closest movie theater. So, having nothing better to do, we headed to a mall in Allentown where we ate at a very crowded Chick-Fil-A. It was everything remembered and more - YUM!

The movie was good. Most critics (including one of his fans from Newsweek) don't like it because they either think Kevin Smith sold out and made a sappy, commercial movie, or they are just tired of Ben and Jen (although she dies pretty quickly into it). In fact, Kevin was just moved by being a father and wrote a story using his feelings. Think the sentimentality/love story of Chasing Amy but without the lesbians and with more commercial appeal. Well, it wasn't our favorite Smith movie but we certainly enjoyed it.