Pay It Forward!
For whatever reason, the blogging community (and it is definitely a community, as I've come to learn) is rife with contests. I've mentioned a few of them on my site, as it's always fun for people to win things -- and some of them would be really cool to win; who couldn't use a bouncy house? Or popcorn? Or a really fancy schmancy Brighton handbag (yep, week 2 of the SITS six weeks of summer)? Or heck, twenty days of giveaways? (See the button to your left. No, your other left -- there, click it!)
I've talked about other people doing contests, and I sort of feel like I should reciprocate in some way. Mostly because of all that good Catholic guilt I had placed upon me as I was growing up. But much like I delayed blogging because I didn't have the faith in myself that I could do it and thus kept putting it off, I've delayed holding a contest of my own.
Enter Swistle. She has what I think is a great idea. She's hosting a Pay It Forward contest where we're all starting the paying it forward. Essentially, you enter my contest here. Whoever wins is then obligated to host a pay it forward contest where they give something away and whoever wins that contest is thusly obligated, etc. It's kind of a virtuous circle, if you will. And I like being virtuous.
What's my prize? I don't know yet. And thankfully, I don't have to know yet, which is part of the fun. I can promise that it will be an at least somewhat cool package -- which means more than one item. I may even get creative enough to have a theme.
How do you enter? All you have to do is post a comment below. In your comment, tell me a little about a childhood pet. If you didn't have one, tell me why you didn't (I'm just curious -- no novels needed, just a brief overview). One entry per person.
Who's eligible? Because this requires paying it forward, only bloggers will be able to enter (sorry for any reader without a blog -- but hey, good time to start a blog, no?). And because I can only commit to paying postage in the States, I'll request that you be located in the US (although I don't think I really have any international readers anyway).
How will a winner be chosen? I'll use a random number generator and whoever has that number comment wins. Ta-da!
When does the contest end? The contest will go through Friday July 4 at ohh around 8pm CST. (Note: I obviously have children too small to take to fireworks. What a bummer!) Get your comment in before then! Friday night I'll post the winner... and if I'm lucky, the prize, too! Or maybe it will be a total surprise to the winner. It depends on how busy I get this week.
Oh, and like I said... this is a group effort. Go check out all the other contests that bloggers have put together for this pay it forward hoopla! Good luck!
52 comments:
We had a fricken awesome yellow lab named Peaches. Every dog since her just couldn't measure up...(sigh...lol!)
We had a dog named Sheba that we had to give away when my grandma came to live with us. Then we got a really old, gentle collie named Max from the pound. What a sweetie. He used to sleep in between me and my sister when we had backyard campouts. He laid his little head on his paws like a person! I still get a tear in my eye when I think about him.
I had a cat, who was cross eyed, and could catch mice better than any cat I've seen since.
I had a dog named Taffy. He was a fat yellow lab. My friend kept calling him "Happy." I miss that dog!
I had a horse named Windsor. Who taught me everything. Seriously. Loyality, friendship, being proud of what you do, even how sometimes, when you love something, the only thing you can do is let go. I had to choose to have him put to sleep after 2 years of treathing two conditions he was diagnosed with which were both incureable. He's still braided so tightly in my heart that just speaking his name bring tears.
HI! We had a irish setter/golden retriever cross named Brandy. Such a great dog. He lived to a ripe old age and then just went and laid down near the pond and went to sleep. Aww.
I had a black and white kitten named "Figaro" after the cat in Pinnochio.
We had a golden retriever named Samantha who was super hyper the first half of her life, then super sweet the second half. She was a great dog.
Sam. A siamese cat. The best E.V.E.R. I loved him. He died at age 20. Amazing.
(And by NU football, do you mean the Huskers? Because here I sit in my Nebraska football shorts and wonder...is she part of Husker nation...or something else? Hmmm...)
Cool! My first pet was a Basset Hound named Bruno. And yep, my first words (there were two, LOL!) were "Puppy Dog."
PS I posted that quesadilla recipe for you over in my comments. Hope you like it!
Great idea! I love the concept of paying it forward!
There were many pets in my childhood that came and went for various reasons. None that I really bonded with or were around for very long. Sob! I want a puppy now!
I had a cat when I was very little that I called Mr. Cat.
Stacy - Welcome! I love the name, Peaches! And the first are always the best, aren't they?
Barb - Welcome to you, too! I looove the animals that sleep with you. I think that's one of my favorite parts about having pets.
Mzell - Another welcome coming your way! A cross eyed mouser. That I would not have expected.
Cookie - Taffy / Happy... it's really all the same, isn't it? Taffy is a good name for a fat yellow lab though!
Sara - More welcomes! I know how hard it is to put down your first horse. I had to do that with my leopard appy (Lady). And I still wonder what my Schnozzles is doing now.... What kind of riding did/do you do?
Lorraine - Welcome to you, as well (I should just throw out a blanket welcome to everyone!). I always think it's so neat and yet so sad that animals know exactly when it's their time.
Erica - A hearty welcome to you. Very cool! I love the name and connection.
Mimi - Welcome. My parents are still waiting for that calm part of their lab's life. Good to know that it did eventually arrive for you!
Angela - I'm so going to check out that recipe. I was getting some blueberries out of the freezer tonight and discovered some salmon that I need to cook ASAP (which means Thursday), and that sounded so intriguing... given that I have tortillas, gouda and spinach in my house already!
-Bridget - I think it's cool, too. That's why I decided to take the plunge and join in. And it's not too late. You can still host your own contest starting tomorrow through the 4th and link it back to Swistle :)
Swishy - That is so obviously a child named cat. Those are my favorites (see: Meow and Roar at our house now).
Oh and Beth.. sorry, but no, it isn't Husker football (although I dated a Husker fan for a couple years and HAVE been to three games in Lincoln, including the massive temporary bars AND drunk red beer in a Husker bar in Chicago).
My NU is the *real* NU :) Northwestern. The Wildcats. You know... from Evanston IL (nope, not Boston, that's Northeastern). Ummm... won the Big 10 three out of six years in the late 90's? Coach Barnett's (Colorado) former coaching stop? Yeah... that's probably the one that did it, isn't it? ;)
I had a Pug named Buddy. He smelled like old quilts and went nuts at the sound of tin foil.
We had 2 dogs growing up. Borris who was part collie part something I can't spell and Jaques... a french poodle. Borris was a sweet dog. Dumb as dirt. He would spot a snowflake IN THE AIR and follow it down to the ground... INTO the ground... snout first. Jaques was a mean lil dog. He bullied the bigger dog alla time. Weird... animals.
One cat named MiMi
One dog named Muffie
My favorite childhood pet was Susie - my cat - she was our family cat, but loved me the best.
Have a good Tuesday - see you - Kellan
We had a wonderful Samoyed named Jökull (lit. glacier)who was the sweetest, silliest hairball of a dog.
We had five kittens at one stage, that just appeared in our yard. I gave them ridiculous names that I can't remember but I know they were insane.
We had dogs. Lots of dogs. But MY dog was a dachsund named "Missy".
I have had several hamsters- Genevieve and Spunky. And I had a cat named Sasha for three days before my husband said I had to choose him or that cat.
Oooooh, I love me a good contest. I had tons of pets growing up but I think one that stand out is my first lamb. She was an orphan that we got for Christmas and we bottle fed her. She followed me around like I was her mother. It was awesome. (The horses were always best though.)
Hmmm... I had LOTS of dogs growing up, generally 2 or 3 at a time. My mom THOUGHT she didn't like cats, but when I was a teenager, two kittens were abandoned at my grandparents' house and SOMEHOW we convinced my mom to let us have them. She INSISTED they live outside, and we complied. We hadn't even given them names yet when they climbed up inside my stepdad's truck motor. Someone tried to break into the truck one evening, my dad jumped into the truck to chase after the guy, and the fan belt killed one of the kittens and cut open the chin of the other. That is the long sad story of how the surviving kitten got the name "Scarface," even though she was a girl. Also, my mother fell in love with her and has had cats (along with her dogs) off and on ever since.
I had guinea pigs. Lots and lots of guinea pigs.
We had dogs and cats and bunnies and horses. The horses were the best. My baby was Junior. He had the cutest dimple on his but and a huge brown spot in the middle of the big white blaze down his face. It looked like a third eye or where his unicorn horn should have been
I had a three-legged chocolate lab named Mocha. Best dog ever.
I had an orange tabby cat, but at the same time we got him, my mom found a puppy abandoned in the road, and the puppy spent her puppyhood chewing on the kitten's neck, so he had cat-sized head and a kitten-sized body.
I had a hamster named tomato, I drove my mom crazy with that hamster and I am scared she will show up at my doorstep with a hamster for my kids!
This is a GREAT idea! My first pet was a German Shepherd named Prince. He was the love of my life and started my obsession with the breed. :-)
if i were to answer truly & honestly the list would go on for days ~ my lil' sis used to bring home strays on a weekly basis ~ it was gross ~ i hated it... we had 2 constant pets ~ an itty bitty chiuaua & a beautiful siamese cat that would go missing for days on end & come home all tattered like a drunk old man who got lost on his way home!!!
Mitzi was our dog. He was happy in Ohio, but stifled in California. One day my sister left the gate unlocked and Mitzi got out and was hit by a car. In front of our house. During family dinner. It's been about 20 years, and I'm okay now.
my favorite childhood pet was our pug named quincy. so nice, friendly, funny - when he passed it was like losing a member of the family. :(
I have never had a pet. Can you believe it? My mom just wouldn't allow it!
I think that my first pet was a dog named Toby.
Hey, my sister Barb at getupandplay just stole my story about Sheba and Max! So... I will tell you about my other secret pet named clem. Clem was a clam that I found at the beach and hid in our car until my Mom said it smelled like something had died in there. Then I remembered that I had hidden my new friend and removed him.
There ya have it.
I had a cat and named it Boots because of the markings on his paws.
My dog was named Rocky. He was a hoss. We played the greatest game called "Project Moose". It involved running around the house screaming "Project Moose" at the top of our lungs, and then jumping on the back deck and watching the dog keep running around the house. Until he noticed where we were. And then the game would start all over again.
Very entertaining stuff...
My first pet? A cat named Licorice, who we called Licky. I had her from age 4-14 at which point my parents had her put to sleep because they were getting new furniture. Yeah. Bummer of a story. :)
One that I remember is our hamster named Cuddles. And how my stepdad hated having a rodent in the house. And how he got out one day =o)
Fun memories.....
We had a mutt named Tully. Smartest dog I've known.
i had a dog name punkin who ran away :(
Living on a rach I have always had lots of pets. The most memorable though was Mr. T - a turkey my grandfather rescued after he fell off of a turkey truck bound for the butcher. He was ONERY!
I had a beautiful grey cat named Tabitha.
We never got beyond goldfish. Mine was named Tiffany. My mother hated anything messy so other pets were out of the question.
We had a cat named Minnie. My mom ran over her in our driveway.
We had a cat named Freeway. Guess where we found her.
We had an enourmous Bearded Collie named Buster. We rescued him from the pound. He was one awesome dog.
When I was little my parents had a purebred German Shepard named Leon -- he was such a gentle, beautiful dog!
I loved my black lab, Gina.
We had a cocka-poo named Brandy. He used to let us ride him (don't ask me how, as I now realize that cocka-poos aren't very large).
Now I have two naughty Ridgebacks and an even naughtier Rottweiler. And no, you don't ride the Rottie--especially if you value your private parts.
We didn't have pets as kids, but we liked to take in the stray cats around the neighborhood. We'd sneak kittens in the house and play with them and feed them.
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