Safe Stuff for Kids and Pets

I talked to my old college roommate Aras yesterday and she told me about a webstore called Ape 2 Zebra where you can find fun educational toys that weren't made in China. Now I don't want to be alarmist but one of my primary concerns this holiday season is product origin, especially when it comes to shopping for the mancub. There are plenty of countries, including my own, with disturbingly lax manufacturing and consumer safety standards, but this site has many choices from more stringently regulated places like Germany, Italy, Canada, and France. Yes, they are more expensive, but that just means the mancub will get a couple of quality toys instead of heaps of toys that won't fit in our apartment anyway.

T-Bone's interview for the Promising Job Prospect was scheduled for yesterday but on Wednesday night, the man who was supposed to interview called to postpone. Apparently he had picked up a bug on his last trip to Africa and had to call out sick. He didn't have his schedule with him at the time but he is supposed to call sometime next week to reschedule, so please keep those positive thoughts/good juju/groovy vibes/prayers coming! Thank you to everyone who has lifted us up, with special thanks to Uncle Luap for his drum dance.

After work yesterday, I went home to get the dog and then we drove to the bank to deposit my paycheck. I decided to go to a different branch. As I turned into the parking lot, I noticed a new shop next door called bark! It promised "premium natural pet food and supplies" so I decided to check it out. They had so many wonderful things, gifts for pets and humans as well as a daunting variety of organic, natural, and raw food diet options for all kinds of animals. The staff was super friendly and very knowledgeable; they helped me select a bag of Orijen, which is a grain-free kibble made of 70% meat ( a combo of "the highest inclusions of fresh grain-fed chicken, fresh wild-caught Whitefish and fresh whole eggs — regional ingredients that arrive at our factory fresh — never frozen or dried, and are low temperature cooked at 90c to preserve their natural goodness") and 30% veggies, all farmed in western Canada. And the best part? It was the same price as the grain-based Chinese-made Menu Foods brands that have been poisoning dogs.

I think what I appreciated most, though, was the time each staff person took to get down on the floor and coax my somewhat shy dog into his or her lap. She is still shy of men but even the one guy in the place got her to eat out of his hand and roll over for a tummy rub. By the time we left, she was wagging every time he came near her. What a great place!