I am a police officer's wife.

Thank you to every police officer out there risking his/her life, every day.

My husband has been spit at, shot at, punched, and kicked. He's been in more wrestling matches and foot pursuits than I can count. More than once, criminals have tried to run him over with a vehicle. People scream obscenities at him as they drive down the street. On their way to jail, bad guys threaten his family. He's been first on scene when children have been killed, when moms have been murdered in front of their children, sons have committed suicide, and dads have been shot. He's saved children who were being held hostage, and gingerly taken women who were beaten and raped to the hospital. He's served numerous warrants to armed and dangerous individuals, recovered lots and lots of stolen cars, and yep, he's written hundreds, if not thousands, of traffic tickets and, of course, been told he should be out looking for real criminals as he hands the offender his citation. And still he puts on his vest with a smile as he heads out the door every morning. 

"He signed up for that."

You're damn right he did. Every time he goes to work, he willingly protects and serves the citizens of his community to the best of his ability and training. But nowhere in the manual does it say he should die while protecting and serving. In fact, he's been trained to do just the opposite. Anyone who wants to Monday morning quarterback decisions he makes to keep his brothers and sisters in blue, as well as himself, alive needs to know that most agencies are hiring; by all means, put your application in.

He despises dirty cops and the black mark they put on his profession and the distrust they create in his community. Yet, because of the uniform, he is still lumped in with them when "fuck the police" is chanted by angry mobs.

I'm not even going to speak about prejudice, and he's been accused, other than the idea that he would target someone because of race, religion, or creed rather than behavior is offensive, to say the least.

So I am struggling with all that's being said on the Ferguson issue. I don't know that community, I don't know Michael Brown or Officer Wilson. But I do know Officer Wilson's wife - but for the grace of God, I am her.

Brown dog, brown dog, what do you see?

We have a temporary visitor at our house.  I'm just calling him Brown Dog, although KC, Middle Kid and Dear Daughter have all named him (different names, I might add.)

A few weeks ago, I received a frantic phone call from a lady who had adopted one of my fosters; she had found a dog in a parking lot at the movie theater.  When she stopped to pick him up, a homeless couple came out of the shadows and said he'd been following them for days and handed her a leash and canned food (gee, that would explain why he'd been following them - more on that later.)  Not being able to keep him and not wanting him to go to Animal Control, she did the only thing she could think of, she called me.  I should mention at this point that I have agreed to help dogs in need in ways other than fostering.  We had started fostering again last fall and by January, I had failed AGAIN so I SWORE that I would take no more.  But in my defense, the new boy, Baxter, had been returned twice and can be a bit of a jerk but we think he's the cat's pajamas and the thought of him being returned a third time was more than any of us could bear.  He's actually KC's "2nd favorite, behind Frank."  Still, I was somewhat panicked at the thought of how KC was going to react when he came home to this little guy.  I should also mention Brown Dog is freaking adorable.  I greeted my husband at the door with, "It's only temporary - I promise!  There just needs to be a few adoptions so a space will open up for him at another foster's."  That was 10 days ago.  Since he's getting neutered tomorrow, I said we would keep him until he recovered.

Brown Dog adores Middle Kid, sleeps with him and charges at him full-speed when he gets home from work.  And because I raised Middle Kid right, he loves him back.  Still, I refuse to call the pup anything other than Brown Dog, despite the many names my family has christened him with (Hobo, Rufus, and Scooby.)  My girlfriend has taken to calling him Charlie, as in Charlie Brown (Dog), which is quite clever.  Baxter shadows him like he's going to steal the silver but the other dogs have accepted him as part of the pack and he fits in well, except at feeding time.  As I mentioned earlier, the homeless couple was feeding him canned food.  I have 6 permanent dogs, I do not have the money (or time) for canned food.  Still, my dogs act like they've won the lottery twice a day by howling and dancing when their bowls are being picked up to be filled with plain ol' dry food.  Brown Dog didn't buy the hype and would not even eat for the first day but realized by Day 2 at our house, that was the best he was getting.  He would, however, follow me until all the bowls were distributed, just to make sure I wasn't holding out on him.  I thought we had finally come to an understanding after he had been eating for a week straight but unfortunately, I was wrong,  The other morning, he followed me to the end of all the bowls being put down, took three bites of his food, then walked over to my curtain and peed - while looking right at me - as if to tell me how upset he was that CANNED FOOD IS FROWNED UPON IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT!  (That is an ETrade commercial reference, for those of you who are scratching your heads.)

Brown Dog is getting neutered tomorrow and I'm somewhat worried how he's going to express his displeasure with me about that.  I'm also a tiny bit worried how Middle Kid is going to handle it when he leaves.  I'm surprisingly okay at the thought of him going.  I'm comforted by the thought that he'll end up someplace where they will feed him canned food and give him a proper name.

Maybe not naming them is the key?  

Wet blankets on ice water challenges

Today on social media, I read two different negative articles about the Ice Water Challenges that seem to have taken America by storm and I have to tell you, I’m annoyed.  Only in America would people bitch about something that is supposed to be a good thing that supports others.  Whether it be about the delivery, people’s intentions, or God knows what else, people are complaining about it.  That seems to be the American way.  Forget the good that it’s doing – let’s find something to kvetch about from my comfy couch while I do absolutely nothing to contribute to the greater good.  Or better yet, my contribution to the greater good is better than yours, so I can be judgmental and criticize it.

One of the chief complaints is that people are not drawing enough attention to the cause they are supporting.  My response to that is – how are they hurting the cause?  Does it really matter that John is only doing the challenge so he can be shirtless on camera and show off his abs, or Tiffany just wants to look noble in front of her country club friends and neither are educating me on what the cause is about?  I couldn’t give a rat’s ass less.  They’re publicly saying, “this organization is worthy of my help” and that’s enough for me.  Then there’s the domino effect.  These two do the challenge – then challenge their friends, let’s say four total, then those four each challenge four, then those sixteen each challenge four…. Well, you get the idea.  Much like an unaltered cat will multiply (please, spay and neuter!), so did this challenge and the good it’s doing.  And frankly, it kind of did my soul good to see so many people get behind something positive for a change.  Who am I to judge if they have ulterior motives?  I don’t care about Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s intentions when they show up to a charity fundraiser.  If they’re there to hobknob, promote a “good side” to the press, show constituents they care about the people, impress their boss, win over their daughter’s future in-laws, or meet another couple they can swing with – I DON’T CARE.  They showed up, they donated money, and they legitimized the cause.

Another grievance is that so many people are opting to do the challenge and not donate.  Okay, here are my two issues with that.  1) OF COURSE they’re doing the challenge – otherwise you probably wouldn’t know about it and 2) every video I have seen, the people are saying they are donating some amount to some cause – although ALS research seems to be the celebrity beneficiary, two of the charities that are dear to my heart (LEWC and SaveThePetsAZ) have been local recipients.  How is this a bad thing?  “Well, how many are REALLY donating what they say they will?”  I don’t know – and again, I DON’T CARE.  I’m betting on the fact that they made a video for the world to see – including the charity they are supporting – and said they are going to donate will be motivation enough for them to follow through.  But, as in life, there are going to be people who don’t keep their word.  Hopefully the people they called out will at least keep theirs and hence, they still helped in some small way.  In animal rescue, we know people back out all the time from commitments they make (agreeing to foster, pledging money to help with vet care, donating food, etc.) but the MAJORITY come through.  I’ll take 10 people publicly saying they’re going to do something and only have eight come through than four people privately saying it and following through ANY day.  That’s what this challenge is – a numbers game.  By calling out 1,000 people who may have never contributed and even getting only a 75% return, that’s still 75% more than there was.  And even if they can't afford to donate, this provides a way for them to show support; where's the harm in that?

And finally, the water wasting…. Unless you’ve never played in the hose, let your shower run to “get warm,” taken a bath, swam in a pool, rewashed the clothes in the washer because you forgot about them, let the water run while brushing your teeth, or emptied your cooler full of water and ice after your trip to the beach is over, you really need to shut the hell up about this one.  

In short, I’m in a bit of a tizzy about this because people are taking something positive and actively looking to find something negative about it when there is ZERO gain to be had in finding something bad and so much to be reaped in finding the good.