Look Up To THIS Hero, Kids: Her Name is Haley Ham

I wanted to call attention to a young girl who took a tragedy and turned it into something that will cause widespread change.

Her name is Haley Ham. My mom actually brought her to my attention a couple of months ago, because the woman my mom works for asked if I could sign one of my books to Haley, who--I think--is a friend of her family.

To summarize what happenned, Haley lost her two beloved dogs because someone gave them a concoction that contained things that were toxic to dogs, mainly antifreeze. She was, obviously, devastated and wanted to make sure this didn't happen to anyone else. There were no laws in her homestate of Tennessee that required manufactureres to put a bitter tasting additive into antifreeze to discourage animals from drinking it, and Haley made it her mission to educate others and try to help get legislation passed to make that happen.

And she did it.

Did I mention that Haley is 11 years old?

The news story says it all better than I do, so read this first, and then this, and then this.

I received a couple of lovely e-mails from Haley's mom, who is--while also heartbroken over their terrible loss--so very proud (and rightfully so!) of her daughter.

My heart is warmed by learning of young people like Haley. One person really can make change.

Audio-Visual Memories

For the last two days, we've been watching old videos of the kids (I'm actually trying to find a specific clip, and I can't remember the date it's from, so we're just watching the whole videotape!). I forgot, until I put in the first tape, how prominently Bijoux/the real Ruby appears in all of our home video, back in the day.

While the reminders of how big she was (twice as large as our beagle Roxie), how sweet she was, and how good with the kids she was are bittersweet, it is heartwarming to see her (and hear her!) "in action" again. I have spent the last year only focusing on the photos (for the book), and totally forgot that I have plenty of memories to revisit on video.

La...Ti Da...Ti Da!

Every few days I do a few internet searches to see if anyone new is talking about the book, and also to see if any publications have printed information or a review, basically because I'm an impatient person (but working on it). I have found lots and lots of internet sellers that now offer the book, most of which have names I don't recognize, but...

I found something WAY cool just now. The book is available at TARGET.COM!!
I created something that you can get at Target! Woo Wooooooo! Can I get a What-what??

Long Live Happy*!


*The book was not in this commercial. Don't worry; you didn't blink and miss it or anything. I just added the ad (ha!) for ambiance.

Thoughtful Husband, Great Gift!

I had to share the birthday gift my husband gave me yesterday. SO COOL:



Yes, he framed my book. Took me totally by surprise. I love the way it's framed, and I love the frame itself. It's one of the most beautiful frames I've ever seen...and I've seen lots of them, as I did custom framing for about six years way back in the day! He was adorable as he told me he framed it in mind for our family room wall, and talked about how he wanted to frame ALL of my books and hang them there. (I only have one more planned...but you never know, right?) It was a great surprise, and not the first time he has framed something special. This is what he got for me for our 20th anniversary last December:



At the risk of sounding like Chandler from "Friends", Could he BE any more creative?


(Go to 1:40)

Normally I'm the creative one. I'm a great gift-giver, and proud of it. But he has totally outdone me twice now. What will I do for HIS birthday in January? Ugh, I'd better start thinking about it now.

Who Knew The U.S. Post Office Had Such Amazing Customer Service???

I have another chapter of the "Ellen book and the Post Office" saga for you today!

In keeping an eye on my Delivery Confirmation number, I found out (Friday night) that the book that I sent to "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" was indeed delivered on Friday morning at 11:22! Whee! So that was a relief, that I wouldn't have to expect it back in my mailbox in a matter of a week or two...

And then yesterday (Saturday), I left the house to run some errands and discovered that I had a voice mail message when I turned on my cell phone. To my surprise, it was the Post Office lady! Say it with me, people: "Whaaaaaa???"

Here is her message, word for word:
"Hi Melisa, it's M from the post office. That book going to Ellen's show should be fine because back in May they made some changes and now they're saying that if it's rigid you can do Delivery Confirmation First Class and it doesn't have to be 3/4 of an inch thick; they added some stuff in there and I was wrong, so I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell you that, that piece should be fine. Thanks, bye."

If I had been standing up at the time I listened to it, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

But wait! How did she get my number, you're wondering?

During my time at her window, she was dazzled by the labels on the envelopes and asked about them. I told her about the book and she seemed interested, so I gave her my business card! (Workin' it, workin' it!) Turns out it's a good thing I did that; she probably was up all night thinking about this situation and how she thought I was totally freaked out; it's great for both of us that she was able to make that call! Now I know just how great some post office employees are. I plan to call her branch manager tomorrow to give her a big "Holla!" Management needs to know these things, you know?