Ratchet the Iraqi Rescue Pup - Coming To America?

Ratchet the Iraqi rescue puppy has been cleared by the military for transport to Minnesota, where his human caretaker, Sgt. Gwen Beberg is returning after her tour of duty in Iraq.

I've been tracking this story since a friend of mine sent me a link, and it's almost irrational how happy it makes me to hear this good news.

Beberg pulled Ratchet from a burning pile of trash when he was four weeks old, and he's been her saving grace during a stressful wartime tour of duty in Baghdad.

For awhile it looked like he was going to have to be separated from Beberg, and possibly shot. But word spread and petitions were signed and Minnesota senators made phone calls, so let's all keep our fingers crossed.

President Obama Huggypants

Healing America, one adorable little boy at a time.

Look Out, She's Getting Bigger!

Nutella Nonviolent Telfer, I mean Novella Violet Telfer, is growing at an astonishing rate!

Dan blogged:

Took the baby to the pediatrician today. She gained weight, which is good. Better still, she'd gone from 21 to 24 inches. This puts her in the upper 90th percentile for length in newborn 1 week old or younger. So she's a larval Amazon, basically.

Three inches in a week! She is amazing. She's become the unofficial mascot of Chicago comedy. Do you think she knows that so many people are excited about her and talking about her?

Here is an incredibly touching and transcendent post about Novella written by the wonderful Carrie Callahan. Actually, it's so nice, I'm going to post most of it here for your enjoyment, with my favorite parts in bold:

Novella, you decided to join the party at a weird time. We've got some people here that are out of control with violence and greediness. They weren't loved right when they were little. The weather has gotten way more intense because those people have created a world where everything runs on gasoline and coal, and we let them do that because we didn't understand how bad that really was. We've been letting those people run the show for awhile now, hoping to placate them, but that's probably going to end pretty soon. You don't need to worry about it, us guests who have been here for awhile are figuring out how to handle them.

HOWEVER, even though the party has gotten weird, it's still a party! Your hosts, Dan and Vicky, are very kind and smart people, and you are going to have a ton of fun with them. They're going to introduce you to lots of cool people, animals, ideas, stuff to do with your new body (bowling! dancing! softball! punching and kicking! swimming! cuddling! you wouldn't believe all the stuff we've thought up), food, books, pictures, the list goes on and on.

Everyone's been invited to the party for a reason, but the deal is you have to discover your reason, no one can tell you (because we're all as clueless as you are). So take in everything you can, and observe how you feel while you're trying everything out. You have a sensor inside that'll give you a signal when you're getting close to figuring out your reason for getting invited. It's called a 'calling', or a 'vocation', or your 'dharma.' It's a physical sensation, you'll feel all of sudden like you know exactly what to do and that you're in harmony with a larger process. It's cool and a little freaky.

So since we're all trying to find our reasons for the invites, the way to relate to other party guests is to love them. That means when you look at them you try to see all the potential people they could become, and also all of the people they have been. It can be tough to do. Your hosts are your best examples for how to do this, because they effortlessly see all your potential and remember everyone you have been. Now, your hosts will make a lot of mistakes, and as you grow up you'll sort all of that out and figure out where you can do better, but their example is a valuable gift. When you love someone you make it easier for them to discover their reason for the invite, because you're relating to who they really, truthfully are. Oh, and you absolutely have to love yourself. That's actually the most important thing to do, I should've put that first. Being down on yourself is never ever the right thing to do, you're not viewing yourself honestly, and why waste your time?

We're so excited you came! The party needs someone like you to really get bumpin'.