It's all about the award that Penny sent out to humanity.  An award that has circulated this planet spreading goodwill and peace.  A gesture that embraces the unconditional, non-judgemental love that our animal friends share with us.  

It's all about me continuing to live with, rather than suffer from my mental health issues.  It's all about my transparency and trying to be of help, of encouragement to you.

It's all about this and it's all about you.  For I'm grateful to you on the other side of the computer screen.  Thank you for being here for me.  

Greetings, yes it's me, Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar!  My human, Gary, has been visiting some of his human friends the last couple of days.  He phoned and asked if I'd do an article while he's away.  So, after my human brother, Tristan, fed me, I dogged in, um, logged in and away we go.

I asked Gary how everything was.  He told me he was having typical chats with his friends.  In other words, they discussed bodily functions.  Amazing how the words "fart", "poop" and "poo", can turn him into a giggling wreck.  I've now realised that the word, "poo", doesn't  just make two year old humans laugh hysterically.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by his obsession with bodily functions.  I think the influence has come from some of your human songs I've listened to.  "To everything, turd, turd turd...." Why do turds suddenly appear, every time you are near?"  "It's only turds and turds are all I have, to take your fart away..."  "Poo are you?  Poo, poo..... poo, poo....."
Speaking of poo, Gary has watched this commercial and thought the character was a poop with a problem.. Especially when the "talking turd" states its had an accident.

There have been profound times in my life. Times that defined me.  Made me open my eyes to other realities.  There was a time that truly challenged me. The days when I was a support worker in a shelter for the homeless, the "rough sleepers", in the city of Stoke-on-Trent. 

To see those not fortunate on the street, despairing, dishevelled, brought out the best and the worst in passers-by.  Most too busy, to find that moment to see beyond the rags and to discover the reasons as to how it got that way.  Apathy, the not my problem, the pretend you don't see the homeless person, all too prevalent in a society that doesn't want to know. 

To be with them, to listen, to learn, opened my eyes to the stories that told of a world that many had never envisioned.  I understood from their heart-breaking stories, that one moment you can have everything, the next, wondering if you'll survive the night.  

Those times working at the shelter provided me with lessons I cherish.  It's all too easy to make preconceived notions and assume the convenient stereotypes. Yet, when you look beyond, see the soul beyond the eyes, the truth can truly humble.

Imagine being cold, hungry, scared.  Your home, a cardboard box under a bridge.  Your home, a darkened shop doorway.  Imagine those who look at you in disgust without even knowing the torment that brought you to this hell on earth.  
In these times when the vulnerable, the poorest in society, are paying for the mistakes of the incompetent fortunate, you get moments like this.  

Here are the mystery prizes. You can click on the photo, if you so wish, to see the prizes in greater detail. Penny has had some of the doggy treats and being a clever dog, understood the English and French words on everything. All things Canadian!  I'm in hoser heaven, eh. Delores, thank you so much.  The wait was worth it. Time for some Tim Hortons coffee. Oh yeah!  There is always something to be thankful for.

Speaking of coffee, Laura, whose blog can be found here, Austanspace, sent me coffee last Christmas and also for my birthday. I'd joked about British coffee being really good for constipation. Bless Laura, she duly sent me over some actual coffee. I've just finished off the fantastic coffee she sent me. The coffee certainly was grounds for making me happy. Local folks did, however, ask me why my eyebrows were stuck to the top of my forehead. Thank you, Laura. There is always something to be thankful for.

How could I possibly not make a mention of the adorable Michelle over at, All Consuming. Michelle, if you haven't had the delight of visiting her blog, covers a wide variety of topics. Sometimes serious, sometimes zany, but always worth a look.

They say God gives second chances. 
Forty years have shown Wilhelmina has nothing but a lifetime of four failed marriages, a job she hates, and her most recent affair with a married businessman. Until one day, while sipping coffee her silent prayers are answered--she’s visited by her future self, offering Wilhelmina a chance to re-do her life, giving her a mission to save the future world from the baby she’s unknowingly pregnant with. Is it the miracle she hoped for, or will this lead into a whole new set of problems? 


When Shelly isn't doing the laundry, cleaning, cooking, chasing grandkids, listening to daughter drama (five of them), or lopping heads of hair at the salon, she's writing beside her two fur-peeps, Sir Poops and Hair Ball, popping an occasional chocolate while her hubby is flipping through TV channels.

She lives in New Port Richey with her husband and two dogs. She's also a member of Florida Writer's Association and Writer's of Mass Distraction.