I just love this little girl

Sorry, but I just can't help saying, I heart heart HEART our puppy.

I'll admit those first few crazy weeks of housebreaking just about killed me. I wondered what the heck I'd gotten myself into: didn't I already do my time as a mom, forgoing sleep for late need feedings and diaper changes? And now I had to be awakened in the middle of the night to take out a puppy?

It all turned out okay though.

Because I just couldn't imagine life otherwise, without this little beagle pup running at my heels. How bare our backyard seemed before she took it over. Today my heart sings when I look out of our back kitchen window and see Ella, big ears flopping in the wind, sprinting across the lawn with the kids running after her.

What would my mornings be like, without suddenly being interrupted by two big paws plopping into my lap reminding me to disconnect from the laptop and come play? (BTW, she’s doing this right now as I type).



She's so cute. Guess I can overlook her eating our brand new Wii remote and chewing up my favorite Lands End sheet set.

When life gives you rain, make Lemon Bars

Rather than whine and complain about being stuck indoors because of this yucky yucky weather (flooding and tornado warnings in the Bay Area? Yikes!), I decided to bake some Lemon Bars.

Not just ANY lemon bars though. These truly are the World's BEST Lemon Bars. I got the recipe from Food Gal who shared this over the top, super lemony bar recipe on her website--you can get the recipe here. BTW, Check out the stunning photos on her website--yes, I know my picture is pathetic, but you get the idea.

(I just discovered my neighbor has a Meyer lemon tree so I didn't even need to go to the store. Yay me!)

I didn’t use the full amount of butter (16 Tablespoons), but no matter. It still turned out sublime. Look at all that lemon! The recipe calls for a whopping 1 cup and 2 Tablespoons of lemon.

I just love a lot of lemon in my lemon bars.

Pulling together on Twitter and putting Words into Action

I've been a little fed up with Twitter lately.

All the marketing and social media gurus shouting ME ME ME in my twitter stream.

All the petty infighting and politics.

But the other night, when news of the horrific earthquake in Haiti first surfaced on Twitter, I was reminded of why I love the service.

People (for the most part) pulled together.

And, just talk turned into action.

Twitter was suddenly besieged with tweets of #HelpHaiti offering information on how you could help, either by texting a pledge or donating the old fashioned way to various relief organizations such as the Red Cross and United Way (I’ve got a check here myself ready to send out).

It was something to beautiful to behold, the collective on Twitter trying to help the victims of Haiti.

While I don’t view Twitter or any other technological medium as a panacea for natural or world disasters, it surely is a testament to the power of social media and it's ability to transcend different countries, cultures, politics, and religions to ultimately do good.

Haiti, our prayers and hearts go out to you.

Photo courtesy of Sweet Trade Photography via Flickr.