Local Bulldog Saves Kittens

Have no fear, Napoleon is here!!!

I heard a wonderful story on FOX2 the other night about this local hero of a dog. And since one idea behind my blog is to report positive news, I thought I'd share...

This fearless English bulldog (pictured) saved a burlap sack of drowning kittens the other day on Tamarack Lake in Ortonville, Mich.

The dog’s owner didn't know why her pet had darted across a street and jumped into the water. The dog grabbed a burlap sack and pulled it ashore. His owner expected the bag to be full of garbage. She was surprised when she heard meowing coming from inside the sack.

Napoleon's valiant effort saved four kittens. Unfortunately, two of them did not survive. It's sick to think someone may have been trying to intentionally kill them, but I'm here to talk positive. Four survived thanks to Napoleon saving the day!

What's really interesting about this story is that English Bulldogs are notoriously bad swimmers. With a giant head and chest compared to a lighter tail end, they have a tendency to go bottoms up in the water. It’s hard to keep that head up above the waves when it’s the largest part of your body. Somehow, someway, Napoleon was sent to save those kittens.

I guess dogs truly can be man (or kitty's) best friend.

Sunday Song: "Lessons Learned" by Carrie Underwood

We all have things we wish we could have done differently in our lives... But, alas, nothing is perfect and everything truly does happen for a reason -- and the reason generally results in a life lesson.

Former American Idol/country superstar Carrie Underwood's song "Lessons Learned" describes this to a T.

If you're down, tune into the song and remember: some pages turn, some bridges burn, but there are always LESSONS LEARNED.

Sea Turtles: My Favorite of God's Creatures

Me holding a baby loggerhead sea turtle, August 2005

I was looking through old photos and came across a few happy ones that reminded me of an amazing trip I went on during school to volunteer with the Sea Turtle League of Singer Island in Florida.

Holy moly. These creatures are the most amazing things I have ever seen come to life. In my week of walking the beach with our inspirational guide, Debbie, I learned more about sea turtles than I could have ever imagined learning in a lifetime. And since then, they have held a special place in my heart.

You see, because of the harm man has done to this earth, these poor little guys follow the lights given off by fancy ocean side condos and resorts instead of following the light of the moon to the safety of the ocean, like their instincts should tell them to do.

It was my team's job at 4 a.m. to walk the island's 4 miles of beachfront property in search of baby turtles that hatched during the night and gotten "mixed up" and gone in the opposite direction from the ocean water and toward the false light, which often made them fall victim to a lurking predator or a speeding car.

We even got to see some of the hatchlings come out of their eggs where they had been incubating for two months and rise out of the sand when they were ready... It truly was the miracle of life that happened right before our eyes.

Unfortunately, there was days we were too late and some of them had already overheated in the hot sun. Those days we all wanted to cry. If only we could've been here sooner...

I could go on and on with turtle facts and reasons we need to be aware of the threat we are posing to these beautiful creatures, but instead I'll just point out a few statistics:

- All species of sea turtles are on the endangered species list.

- The longevity of sea turtles has been speculated at 80 years!

- It is estimated that only one sea turtle hatchling in 1,000 survive to maturity (to put it simply, the time when they can make babies), which is approximately 18 years old.

- Most turtles return to nest at the locations where they were born.

Our planet's resources are so precious. Let's not take that for granted.

TURTLE POWER!

Sunday Song - "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men

Since I can't make the Boyz II Men concert that's coming to the D in August, I'm giving the "Boyz" a tribute here.

I would LOVE to see these old school guys live. As an alto singer, they are my harmony heroes (well, on the man front at least!) and I don't even care if many of their hits are over a decade old -- they are timeless!

Motownphilly is one of my favorite song's of theirs. Maybe it's because they reference Motown or maybe it's because Cooleyhighharmony was one the first cassette tapes I ever bought with my own piggy bank money. I have many fond memories of this song -- one being doing the M.C. Hammer and Roger Rabbit on the boat to Bob-Lo Island (R.I.P.) when I was just six years old.

And who can forget the music video??? It is def one of the best of the '90's. Gotta love that Philly style!

Here's the scoop on the song, according to a fun Web site I came across -- http://www.songfacts.com/:

In the US, this was Boyz II Men's first single. It confused DJs for a few reasons: many didn't know how to pronounce the band name, and some thought the song was called Boyz II Men and the group was named Motownphilly, since the words "Boyz II Men" are in the lyrics and the chorus states, "Motownphilly back again."

The song tells of the group's dreams and how they were discovered. The song includes a rap by Michael Bivens explaining how they sang to him one day. Bivens was a former member of New Edition who was part of Bell Biv Devoe, who were a very popular group at the time.

The lyrics talk about the "East Coast Family." "ABC" is the group Another Bad Creation and "BBD" is Bell Biv Devoe. ABC and BBD weren't around a few years later, but Boyz II Men were wildly successful. (thanks, Andy - Arlington, VA)

The title implies that Boyz II Men were bringing the Motown sound to Philadelphia. Motown is a legendary record label from Detroit featuring black artists. (really? j/k. We're proud they signed with Detroit record label Motown Records!)

All I know is that these BOYZ can sing and beat out any modern day boy band! Be sure to listen to their latest album, Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville, U.S.A. It's absolutely gorgeous -- especially their rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon In The Sky" and the Commodores "Easy."

They may not be from Motown originally...but we're surely happy to have adopted such a wonderful group!

Old Fashioned Thank Yous: Still Work Like A Charm

I received a nice thank you note the other day. No, it wasn't from a recent wedding or baby shower gift (although I love those, too!) It was from a corporation...Dolly's Pizza, a Michigan-based franchise, to be exact.

You see, a few weeks ago, Jason and I received a hand written envelope from a mystrey person in our mailbox. We were surprised to see a note inside saying "Welcome to the Neighborhood! Come try a FREE medium pizza (up to two toppings) on us!" (the "us" being Dolly's)

We are pizza connoisseurs. And we've never tried Dolly's, so we thought what the heck? It's free! And it's pizza! Woot woot.

The pizza wasn't the most amazing ever, but it was pretty darn good. And for being free and saving us a night of cooking a late night dinner, it was really good.

As if the first nice handwritten note and free pizza wasn't enough, we received yet another hand-written card the other day, this time thanking us for our business and to bring in this card next time to get a free order of cheesy bread. Yum! Again, we're just happy to get free things... even if the dude forgot an 'e' on please.

So, this brings me to my bloggin' point: There's just nothing in this world quite like a hand-written thank you card. Especially from a mitten-based company (we all know they are most likely struggling in this economy...).

Thanks Dolly's for providing us with your greasy goodness. For free. You betcha we'll be giving you some paid business in the future, too.

Suze Orman: The Financial Oprah of TV

Suze Orman has quickly risen to a new breed of sexy: financial feminity.

As the host of The Suze Orman show on CNBC, Suze works her money magic to provide people of all different backgrounds with tough love in the form of financial advice.

And she rocks at it. So much so that she nabbed #73 on Time magazine's "TIME 100" this year.

So, how does one rise to such inspiration and fame? Here's Suze's story, according to Wiki:

Orman was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois to Russian-Jewish immigrants Ann and Morry Orman. Orman came from a working class background and has said that she did not "grow up with money." She was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, from which she holds a B.A. in social work.

In 1973, she and some friends moved to Berkeley, California, and she lived, for three months in a van on Hearst Ave. She became a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery. In 1980, a longtime customer gave Orman a loan of $50,000 to help her fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant. Orman invested the money at Merrill Lynch, but four months later was broke again, after she was swindled by her stockbroker.

Knowing that she couldn't make the money back by waitressing, and having started learning more about finances and investing, Orman returned to Merrill Lynch and entered their training program to become an account executive. After she completed the training, she was hired by the firm and remained there until 1983 when she left to take a position as vice president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, Orman resigned and opened her own financial planning firm, the Suze Orman Financial Group, in Emeryville, California. She acted as director of the firm until 1997, when she stepped down as her writing career took off with the publication of her second book (there's eight total now).

What a neat story...I mean, she lived in a van for three month's for goodness sake!

My shoe is off to you, Ms. Orman! After all, you make it possible for me to not be the old lady who lives in a shoe. Literally. (thnx to CB)

I hate math. I hate numbers. If it wasn't for my accountant husband, I'd probably call my mom, crying and worrying about what "saving for the future" really entails.

But with Suze behind me, I feel hope. She speaks to me. And she gets me geeked about financial planning, mortgages (30-yr. fixed!) and car loans (never lease if possible!). Her show features a segment called "Can I Afford It?" which often reminds me: NO, I cannot afford a vacation to the Greek isles or an iPhone. I need to invest my money and not simply save it in an account where it will grow at a ridiculously low interest rate.

Tune into The Suze Orman Show weeknights at 8 p.m. EST to hear Suze's invaluable financial advice for yourself.

Exit 69: Troy, Michigan = No Place Like Home

I have to admit it, the city where exit 69 is officially the exit for Big Beaver Rd...gives me some mad pride right now. For just a few miles away from this great American road is where my home resides...

Yes, I pay ridiculous amounts of money for taxes and yes, traffic can be quite brutal during rush hour, but still...Troy, Mich. has managed to landed spot #22 on CNN Money's top 100 best small cities to live in America, beating out other great Michigan cities -- Ann Arbor (#27), Novi (#48) and Sterling Heights (#61). And I'm just beaming.

I knew the hubby and I picked here for our landing spot for a reason...and not just for the kick booty public schools that teach Mandarin Chinese and the vast array of shopping and coney islands.

I learned a lot of interesting facts with this list and decided to list the highlights:
Air quality index*(% of days AQI ranked as good)
80.3% (75.9% is best cities avg.)
% students attending public/privateschools (located within town limits)
95.0/5.0 (best cities avg. 89.0/11.0) -- GO PUBLIC!
Restaurants(within 15 miles) -- This is good for the foodie in me!
5,368 (4,094 is best cities avg.)
Divorced
7.2% (sadly, 8.3% is best cities avg.)

So the bags of leaves I'm rakin' is this (thnx, Nicolena):

People in Troy are breathing healthy air, obtaining great educations in a public school system, eating their little hearts out and staying happily married.

Now those are some stats that will make me stay for years to come!

Another point of Troy pride...For those who enjoy Project Runway (as I do), one of Troy's own is a designer on this season's show. His name is Joe Faris and he's described as the "down-to-earth" straight father of two. I can't wait to see how far he can go...

Thanks for making Troy and all of southeast Michigan proud!

And Joe, if I ever see you in T-Town, the drinks are on me. Way to go, brother!

GO JOE!

P.S. Please send my pleasant regards to Tim Gunn!