So, we adopted this 12-year-old dog...

Meet the new love of our lives, Sammy, who is slowly making me realize that my cats have a long way to go with showing us any kind of love, affection and gratitude for the way we treat them all like royalty.

Sammy came into our lives when we got word via a non-business post at my husband's work that she was going to be put down if no one adopted her by a certain date. After little consideration, we made the decision to give the rescue organization a call and see what was going on with her. It turned out that no one else had called about her, so, long story short, a week ago, she was welcomed into her new home with me, my husband, and our three ragdoll cats.

It was immediately obvious what a kind and gentle soul this dog was. Yes, she was old, and yes, she had issues, the most notable being her obvious weight problem, which in turn contributed to obvious joint and hip problems. But as soon as we saw that sweet little face, there was no turning back.

It's been a heck of a first week with Sammy. About three days into being her new mama, I came home on my lunch break to check on her only to find that she had vomited all over the place. There were no less than 20 piles of vomit like land mines about the living room and dining area of our house. My cats were looking at me with the same disdain I'd become accustomed to since we brought Sammy home. But the main concern was for the dog, and with the advice of friends and a trip to the vet, we had her back on track two days later.

We bathed her the day we got her and took her to the groomers today for an all-out day at the doggie salon. Afterwards we took her out in the truck to look at Christmas lights with us and, honest to God she would perk up and look at the lights every time we would drive close to a house that was all decked out.

In a week she has really taken to both my husband and me. The cats are still a little snobby with her, but cats will be cats.

I know it sounds like a corny line from a cheesy Christmas movie, but I swear this is true. When we got Sammy, I thought we were doing a great thing for this dog by saving her life. But in a week, Sammy has shown me something I've been missing in my life. She's given me a new being to love just by being her. And in return, I will give her the best of whatever I can for as much time as she has left in this life.

Welcome home, Sammy. We love you already!

Thank you, that will be $2, sucka

I work in the IT department of the local hospital. This afternoon I had to go over to one of the nursing stations to look at an application they were running. On my way over, I started to wonder, like a lot of women do at certain points throughout the day, if there was anything embarrassing going on with my appearance since the last time I checked a mirror.

There are a number of things that can happen through the course of day: Make-up can run. Eye lashes can fall out and land on your cheek. One introduction to an outside element and hair can look like nothing you every intended when you left the house that day. So it's a good idea to check every once in a while. As I was crossing the bridge carrying nothing but my iPhone, I started to wonder if there was any way I could check my appearance before arrived on my destination unit.

I was fully aware that I could either (a) use the camera option or (b) stop in a bathroom and look in the mirror. But instead, I searched the apps store for any kind of "mirror" application. I found one for $1.99 that had a five-star rating. Equal parts curious and vain, I entered my husband's password, eager to purchase the mirror application.

Seconds later, it was on my iPhone. I clicked on the app only to find that it worked exactly like the camera, except you could put three stupid looking frames around your face. (OK, one of the three frames was actually kind of cute, but that's NOT the point.) I even got a picture of myself looking annoyed and perplexed as I clicked on a button that took my picture, without knowing it was about to take my picture.

And then I texted my husband:
"I'm a sucks."
"Sucks."
"SUCKA!" (Damn you, autocorrect!)
"I owe you $2 for being stupid. Downloaded a mirror app that works the same as the camera."

"Nice. Didn't you read the reviews?"

"Can we just assume I'm a dumb Donald dodo and move on with our day?"

For the record, there was nothing in my teeth and my hair and make-up looked just fine. I may be $2 poorer, but today I learned to read the reviews along with the rating before you download anything. I suppose it's better that it was a $2 lesson than a $200 lesson.