From Making Waves to Making Mom and Dad Proud

My dad always did say I never knew when to keep my mouth shut. For the most part, he's right. But what I've come to find out is that too many people keep their mouths shut when they shouldn't. So, I guess that's where I come in.

For the last week, I've been working to help a family through the process of shutting down a breeder. It's taken a lot of phone calls, press releases, blog postings, and just general email writings to get stuff done. But now the Department of Agriculture is investigating, the CKC is reviewing and possibly issuing a license suspension, and the Tell-N-Sell finally called me today to say they would consider removing the breeder's ads and banning him from their paper. So maybe my big mouth can be productive.

So where does this come in with making Mom and Dad proud? Two nights ago, FOX 28 had me on as a guest to talk about the problems with purchasing puppies from classified ads or at the flea market. I had been out to see my parents earlier in the evening to do adoptions for four of their foster kittens. I told them to tune in if they wanted, that I would be on at 10. My parents usually don't see my TV appearances because they are normally from 5 to 9 am, when my parents are sleeping. But as I arrived home from the studio a little after 11, my phone rang, showing "Mom" on the caller id. She called to tell me that they were proud of me, that I composed myself very well, even with an uncooperative puppy in my lap, and that I looked very nice in my suit. Wow. I'm 29 years old and I can count on less than two hands how many times my parents have actually told me they are proud of me. It's something I strive very hard to achieve, and really makes my day (or night) when I hear those words.