YouTube Trap

Darn you!

Yes, YouTube, YOU!

Why do you trap me with your funny animal clips?

Draw me into animated shorts about cats?!

And why Ellen, does your show have so many guests,

games, and silly side notes that keep me watching

and clicking... WAY TOO LONG?!?!

Why?!

Sigh.

It's my fault.

All me.

Yeah, it would've nice to throw the blame on other people,

but it was me who throw myself down the rabbit hole of spinning video clips.

I'm an adult.

I work with teens...

I should know better...

Well, I guess I do, but I still do it.

Okay, here it goes...

"Hi."

Cough. Cough.

"My name is Lori., and I'm addicted to YouTube."

I bury my head in my hands.

I'm not sure when it happened, but like any addiction it started slow.

So slow that I didn't notice it was happening!

It was one video...

 

"The Ultimate Dog Tease" or as I call it "Bacon"

Yeah...that might have started it all.

If only it stopped there, but it didn't.  Not even close.

Then two...

Sweet Denver, "The guilty dog."

Then three...

"Banana"

And then...sniff...giggle...haha...I tumbled down the rabbit hole!!

I hang my head in shame...but then, I realize...

I COULD USE THIS FOR GOOD! (Light bulb!)

If I share my favorite videos

and they make others smile or laugh or just giggle a little,

then all of that time wasted!

It wouldn't be in vain!

(YES!)

So here they are...some of my favorite videos.

The top three are at the top of this page...but here are a couple more.

This one just tugs on my heart.

My sweet older pup Quincy cried like this when I came home from college.

 

Or this loving boyfriend knowing how to help heal his girlfriends' heart.

 

Murphy is a fan of YouTube also.

Not surprisingly, his favorite videos are animal related...

 ...and currently they are the "goat" videos.

 

"Miley Cyrus-Party in the USA"

 

"One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful"

(The multiple goats really got his attention.)

 

And finally...one of my all-time favorites! 

This video makes me chuckle every time.

Best. Ever.

I hope these videos made your day just a little bit better.

Hugs,

Lori

The Power of Kind

"Kill them with kindness"
You've heard it before.
My parents would use that phrase when my brother
and I were dealing with people that thrived on mean.

You know those people too.
I've never understood that.
What joy can be achieved through mean?




I watch it every day...
People laugh at the pain of others- on TV and in real life.
They trip each other (literally and figuratively) and claim that they're friends.
Sure kids/teens might be more literal in their tripping, but adults do it too.
They set each other up to watch them squirm and eventually fail so that they can move ahead.
When did this happen?

My students have commented that I smile
and that I'm a nice, happy, positive person.
Good.
I'm glad that they see that, because I have to work
really hard at it every single day.
Sure some days are easier than others.
I'm really happy on a Saturday morning!

But I worry that people have forgotten the power of kind.
It is powerful.
It part of being joyful.
You need kindness in your world to maintain joy.
I can tell when my joy is being sucked away...
I can feel it like a cold seeping in.
My jaw tightens,
My shoulders scrunch up,
My sparkle fades,
and I have to fight against it.

It is a battle.
I just hope that society hasn't and won't surrendered yet.
Some days I worry that it has...
today was a day I worried about that.
I saw too much mean.
Rarely did I see kindness...
But that's just it...
I DID see kindness and it gives me hope.



I saw:
The swift, superhero speed movements
of one of my students to catch a falling table so that it wouldn't hurt another.




A hug to a crying friend.

A basketball team rally a win after losing every. single. other. game.

I saw friends, parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents cheering from the bleachers. Win or lose, they cheer, clap, give thumbs-up to their teams. They don't have to be there...but they are.

When you feel down, look for the joy.
Practice kindness.
It's a powerful force.
I believe it can change the world.
Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all practiced kindness every day?
I sure do.
Won't you join me?
Together we'll practice kindness and maybe,
just maybe,
we can change the world.

Hugs,
Lori

Happy Rescue Day!

One picture.

That's all it took.  Just one.

One look at this face and I knew.

That face and those four paws needed to be in my life.

How did I know?

I have no idea...it's just a feeling.

A feeling that your life would never be full without them.

A feeling that you had to go get them, wherever they were.

A guess that's how love at first sight feels.

I've never felt that with a guy with two legs,

but I definitely know the feeling with a guy with four paws.

 

We had never met.

He was in Yakima, Washington...I was in West Linn, Oregon.

He needed a home...He needed someone to help him get well.

I had a home needing a dog...

I had a hole in my heart that only a furry best friend could fill.

I guess you could call it a successful online relationship!

I didn't ask any questions about him.

Really, I didn't care.

All I knew was that I needed to have him in my life.

I knew that he was sick.

There was a month waiting period before he could be adopted.

I never asked what he had...

I didn't care what it was, because I would care for him.

I needed to care for someone, and he needed care = perfect combo.

I drove hours...

He had waited months...

Nervously I arrived at the house-run shelter

...not knowing what I would find.

I saw him...he saw me.

He cried at my feet, and my heart jumped.

It was done.

We were each others, to care for.

He was scared, so I gathered all 35 pounds of him in my arms

and carried him to my car.

I briefly asked about his personal and medical history.

This is everything that I heard...

-He and his sister were rescued from a home filled with feces. (Hoarder)

-They were the only pups to survive.

-They both had parvo, worms, and any other parasite that a dog could have.

-They had to fight for food.

-They had been very sick.

-They had both been "fixed".

That's it.

But, really...I didn't care.  Whatever he needed, he would get.

 

Miracles do happen.
Two lives changed forever.
One picture was all it took.

Murphy- Rescued, March 13, 2010
Lori- Rescued, March 13, 2010