“At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.”

I sure hope he’s right  :)

Hace poco mas de una semana, mi papá falleció en un accidente y por este motivo mi mamá va a dejar Guadalajara y muy desafortunadamente, no se puede llevar con ella a nuestro querido perrito Jack por que todavía no tiene un lugar propio al que llegar y aparte, ella esta planeando viajar mucho para visitarnos a sus 3 hijas que todas vivimos fuera.

Necesitamos ayuda para encontrar una nueva casa y familia para Jack. Por favor, comuníquense conmigo para mas detalles o preguntas lo antes posible por que mi mamá se va a finales de Abril, asi que no tenemos mucho tiempo. Estamos en la mejor disposición de hacer todo lo posible para que Jack se quede en un lugar donde sea querido y pueda él seguir siendo el buen perrito, noble y leal que siempre ha sido. Mi dirección de correo: lupemariabeal@gmail.com

Algo de historia…

Jack nació aquí en la casa hace casi 13 años. En aquel entonces yo ya vivía fuera de la Ciudad pero estaba yo aquí en Guadalajara de vacaciones y me toco el nacimiento de los cachorritos, 8 en total si no me falla la memoria.

Cuando estaba chiquito y todavia no tenia dientes, pero quería probar las croquetas que comía su mama, cogía una y se la dejaba en la boca hasta que prácticamente la disolvía y se la podía comer, siempre hallaba la manera!  Hasta la fecha sólo come sus croquetas, no necesita de ningún alimento especial.

Ya que crecieron un poco los cachorritos, mis papás y hermanas se dieron a la tarea de encontrarles una familia a todos, incluyendo a Jack.

Jack se fue a vivir con un buen amigo de mi hermanita, Lalo, quien adoraba al Jack, lo traía con él para todas partes, incluso en la bicicleta! pero unos años después Lalo se fue a vivir al extranjero y no pudo llevarse a Jack con él y asi es como Jack regresó aqui a la casa con nuestra familia.

Jack ha crecido fuerte y saludable, no tiene ningún problema de salud o necesidad especial. El está acostumbrado a pasar casi todo el día en el jardín, siempre está al pendiente de quien pasa por la banqueta o la calle, las historias que nos platicaría si pudiera hablar!

En las noches, Jack entra a dormir al cuarto de servicio, donde tiene sus croquetas, su agua y su cama… y muy lindo porque después de cenar y antes de irse a dormir, se viene a la ventana del cuarto de mis papás, donde mi papá lo sobaba y le platicaba antes de irse a dormir. Así que como se imaginarán el también esta extrañando a mi papá.

Por muchos años, Jack compartió su espacio, comida y agua con otra perrita que mis papás encontraron lastimada en la calle, la Mili, y él siempre la quiso mucho, nunca tuvieron problemas entre ellos, incluso cuando la Mili murió era notorio que Jack le extrañaba y buscaba.

Jack es un perrito muy tranquilo y paciente, tan así que recientemente conoció a mi sobrina de casi 4 años de edad la cual procedio a tomarle fotos, seguirlo, ponerle florecitas en la cabeza y hasta a bailarle “poker face” a un lado y Jack siempre tranquilo, disfrutando la compañía y la atención.  Aquí esta el video de esta sesión  :)

Acabo de tomar estas fotos el día de hoy, poco despues de que se prendiera el riego en el jardín y que Jack gozara del momento abajo del agua, asi que se ve algo greñudo, pero nada que una arregladita no corrija.

Aqui estoy subiendo mas fotos de Jack: http://picasaweb.google.com/lupemariabeal/JACK

Agradecería enormemente cualquier ayuda para encontrarle a Jack otra familia y casita, porfavor comuníquense conmigo a lupemariabeal@gmail.com para cualquier pregunta o detalles, estamos en la mejor disposición de hacer todo lo que esté en nuestras manos con tal de que encuentre una familia.

GRACIAS!
Lupemaria & Familia.

I recently finished this book and loved it!  it has a lot of monsters, monster-killing scenes, humor and unexpected twists… I’m not sure how big the book is, but time just flew while reading it

I don’t remember how i came to know about it, but i got it from the Amazon Kindle store and now i’m hooked! I’ve already purchased the sequel ‘Ancient Enemies’. Joseph Miller is now one of my favorite characters… 

1655Hopeful96/65

This is a real shame, I have been craving a new Harry Dresden book since i finished the previous one a year ago!  and the book he released last fall with short stories didn’t count, I was a bit disappointed by it, which only increased the longing for a new, real Harry Dresden book… 

This book better be extra-good Jim Butcher!   ;D

Earlier this year, i decided to be a vegetarian… i’ve been thinking about this for some years now, but always thought it would be next to impossible, way too complicated, too difficult, that it would be like having a life sentence to eating lettuce and salads every day… never thought it would be something i could stick to… 

I really wanted to give it a chance, especially after reading all those articles, exposes, news and others about how farm animals are treated, it’s just horrible, but again, i kept thinking that it wasn’t anything i could do… ever… 

But this year, i decided to find out more about this before making any decisions or going back to my typical preconceptions… so I bought 2 books:

‘The Kind Diet’ (Alicia Silverstone) and ‘The New Becoming Vegetarian’ (Melina Davis)

‘…Becoming Vegetarian’ is a really good book, it’s packed with information, you have countless tables with facts… but the book that really did the trick for me was ‘The Kind Diet’, it had it all, and in such accessible, non-pressure, non-technical way, almost like having a chat/conversation with somebody about the topic… i highly recommend this book to anybody even toying with the idea of going vegetarian/vegan, for any reasons, it doesn’t have to be related to animal welfare/rights.

I was trying to do this for my love/compassion to animals, and the book touched on that, without filling your head with horrible pictures and stories, but at the same time, it said very clearly, in no uncertain terms the inhumane treatment farm animals endure.

Also, i was still on the fence, not about the motives, but about being able to do this, long term… and the book also helped me with that… basically it says, here’s the info, you don’t have to make a lifetime decision, just read about it, think about it and most importantly, try it… there are suggestions and recommendations for people like me, that wanted to do this but were unsure, there are suggestions and information for people that have made up their minds and want to go all the way to ‘Vegan’… 

At the same time, it addresses a lot of preconceptions I had about this lifestyle, including the type and variety of foods you can eat & the nutritional considerations… i was very surprised to see all those athletes mentioned in the book, how could they be eating a plant-based diet and still be so strong? and not have black/brown bags under their eyes? for me, it was really an eye-opener. I was very happy that this book crossed my path and that i opened it and read it before any other on the subject… 

After reading this book, i couldn’t not do it, i was already sold, even when i knew it was going to be a challenge the fact that i never cooked, that there were so many dishes with meat that i just loved and the fact that my husband was not going to do this and i knew he would support me on this, but i also worried about what he may think about me and this change, it was a very radical move, i actually ordered the books and started reading about this online without mentioning it at all… 

I didn’t say a think until the books arrived from Amazon.com and i wanted to start reading it, so i told him i was just curious, that i hadn’t made any decisions, and that if i did, he can be assured this meant no pressure, no changes for him… i was concerned that he would think i was one of those ‘animal nuts’ out there… and don’t get me wrong, I am kind-of, and i was so ready to take this next step, but i didn’t want him to see it in any negative light… and he loves animals too… but still i felt nervous about it… 

And after 7 months of being vegetarian, i have to say, he’s been great  ;D  extremely supportive, even more than i imagined… 

Today, I am more convinced than ever about the path i’m following, i even have high hopes that one day i will be able to make the transition and join the ‘vegan’ ranks… even now, i’m trying a lot of vegan alternatives, i already have some cheeses i like, milk, and as of last week, ice cream!!!  i never thought soy ice cream could be that good… now if only they would open another ‘Green’ Restaurant on my neck of the woods… drive 35 miles one-way just to eat ice cream may not be practical, and ice cream is one of those things that i have to have (or so i think right now…)

I feel so good, and i think it’s been a lot easier than i anticipated, i even spent a week in Guadalajara, surrounded by all those delicious meaty dishes and i was not really tempted… but definitely recognized that it’s not the same thing to be a vegetarian here in the U.S than in Mexico (at least Guadalajara) because a lot of products/options we have available here are just not there…

Ronan, our brown and black tabby, just discovered little bugs and he couldn’t be any more excited, he even makes the dance of the bug all around until Dexter puts a stop to it! 

We did it again! This weekend we adopted two kittens from HALO Animal Rescue. We named them ‘Ronan’ (on the left) and ‘Dexter’. They are a mix of Tabby and Main Coon… They are 2 and a half months old right now.