Going

This week’s round up is inspired by my dear friend, Jenniemarie, from Another Housewife, who decided this week to hang up her blogging keyboard, at least for now, in order to be more present in her life. While I will miss her voice, I completely understand. Go read her lovely post on Saying Goodbye to Another Housewife and let her know she’ll be missed.  (But this is also a “coming” as our friend Jana will be taking over and adding Another Housewife to the growing Daily Money Shot empire.)

In another kind of going, Kari and the entire Dog is God in Reverse recently moved (back) to Alaska. Having finally recovered from the experience of having to fly 4 dogs on two different airlines (including two Pits through Denver *shudder*), Kari is gives us something positive in her review of a pet carrier from the Sherpa Pet Group.

One of the saddest parts in life is saying goodbye to those we love. Life by Pets was started because I was having a hard time letting go of Moree, and sadly, Smokey passed only a few months after I started it. I say this by way of saying I understand why Just Ramblin’ has been on a bit of a hiatus. He’s doing his best to focus on Miss Sadie Lou, who is fighting her last fight. Lean on Me, he says to her. Lean on us, say we in the pet blogging community. We can’t be there, but we will be here.

As hard as it is to prepare for a beloved pet’s passing, it’s even harder for most of us to prepare for our own declining days and eventual death. Do we want to live in comfort every day of our lives, or is it more important to leave a legacy for our kids? How do we plan to protect ourselves and our family? Average Joe writes this week about his recently passed father in law and lessons in Long Term Care Planning.

 Comings

This bear will never live upstairs, My dogs would destroy it.

On to happier things, and we’ll start with the happiest. If you’ve ever been to the Complete Blogroll page here on Dog Ate My Wallet, you might have noticed a section of blogs labeled “On Hiatus”. These are blogs I follow that have stopped updating for one reason or another. I go back and check on them occasionally to see if they are back in action. This week, I noticed one was back (more on that later) and that another posted an update, an update I had been hoping for. Money for College Project announced his new project and his new baby! He and his wife adopted a baby girl about 6 months ago, hence the reason for his long absence. I hope to see the blog come out of my “hiatus” status soon. But in the meantime, go congratulate the new father.

The blog that officially came out of hiatus is Budget or Fudget. After a really awful, no good, rotten 2012 she’s back in the game and figuring out her future. And that includes sometimes having to look a gift horse in the mouth.

On the pet blog side of things, Pittieful Love had been on a bit of a break, too. But now they are back and with the great news that they’ve been able to foster (at least short term) again. If the pictures from A Weekend with Gremlin can be believed, Chocko is going to be a great foster brother.

Speaking of fostering, Oh, Corbin had both some goings and comings recently. Foster dog Sophie went to a different home while Corbin’s “aunts” Bethany and Avery, two adorable Lab mixes, visited, but now Sophie has returned, and Corbin is getting in some extra snuggles.

Bonus Comings

I know I only usually do 4 each of the blogs I regularly read, but this week’s theme applied to  a couple more posts that I really wanted to highlight.

American Debt Project recently welcomed its first staff writer! Head on over to read Curtis’s second post on the siren call of payday loans and to add your support to a man who is seriously working on turning his life around.

Curtis will tell you he is a former convict. But he’s working hard on turning his life around. I am a strong believer in giving people the opportunity to change. Did you ever watch the Animal Planet show Prison Dogs? It was about animal programs in prisons that gave both problem dogs and prisoners a chance at a new and better life. Now, Something Wagging This Way Comes introduces to a new web series about a specific prison dog program- Jail Dogs in 1C. There is no better way to care about animals than by caring about people. And I honestly believe there is no better way to help people than to have them experience unconditional love- something every dog excels at.

New to Me

Heart Like a Dog is one of my favorite dog blogs. So when I noticed that 2 Brown Dawgs Blog was co-hosting Follow-up Friday for a second time, I knew I had to click over to this “new to me” blog. The two brown dogs appear to actually be three Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. And I actually love Follow-up Friday as a great way to introduce me to a blog because I get to read a little bit about a number of posts from the previous week all at once.

And finally, the latest edition to the Yakezie Challenge is Cheap Students. I’ll be honest, the first thing I thought when reading it was “why can’t I live in Canada” and specifically “why can’t I be from Ontario”. Why? Because apparently, residents of Ontario get 30% off their tuition. I know I’m not in school right now, but C is, and 30% off of our tuition bill sure would be nice.

It has once again been a very busy week. I’ve had next to no time to read any blogs. It’s been sad, really. But between moving on to the next phase in the adoption process (child search, here we come) and trying to get everything together for the refinance of the house (sure we can come up with $18k in cash), I’ve been just a little stressed, with my mind on everything but reading and commenting.

But that’s okay, because this month also marked my 3^rd anniversary of taking part in a no spend thread on a money message board. I know some people out there think the idea of trying to get no spend days is silly, but it was huge for me. It helped make me much more aware of our spending, not just the money, but the patterns. We could not have gotten to where we are today (with the ability to come up with $18k in cash for the refinance) without my having learned the lessons of tracking no spend, controlled spend, and spend days. So in honor of that anniversary, I am first sharing with you the blogs of four amazing women I met first on the No Spend/Controlled Spend message board.

You all know my love of Jana @ Daily Money Shot. I met her on that thread. It’s an amazing friendship that I am so very grateful for. And this week, we found out that Daily Money Shot is up for the Personal Finance Blog of the Year award. First, go visit Jana and tell her how awesome that is, and then, go VOTE FOR DAILY MONEY SHOT.

You’ve also seen me link to Another Housewife before. Jenniemarie is another of part of the great support group I wandered into when I joined the no spend thread. She and I are very different people, and yet, she inspires me in so many ways. She’s been sick recently, so feeling like the ship is sinking. But I know she’ll soon be back on her feet and wowing us in new ways.

Gin from Frugal Students actually wrote a guest post for me a when this blog was fairly new. She and her husband bought a duplex and were renting out half, and she wrote about being a landlord on a tight budget. Now, she’s opened up a whole new world. To quote her “Frugal Student has Added a New Hat”. At the end of January she became a mom to a beautiful baby girl. Congrats!

And speaking of babies, I also met Red of Red Fish, Blue Fish on the no spend board. In fact, I met her before she and Blue were married, and now, they are also parents. Back before superstorm Sandy, she gave birth to twins! What that means for Red is that it is now time to go back to work. I know it’s hard on the new mommy, but I have faith she will make this work.

Since I decided to focus on one of my major support groups, personal finance wise, I thought I’d focus the pet blogs on the first support network I was welcomed into in the pet blogging community. I was asked to join a Triberr tribe because the members thought my voice would fit in well with theirs. I have been blessed to get to know the blogs and members of this group, as well.

Cindy Lu’s Muse is who actually invited me to the group, in a sense, she’s the chieftain of our tribe. This week, she shares an important warning with us all- Beware Coyotes in Your Neighborhood. They really are everywhere.

Leslie and Bella of Bringing Up Bella have quickly become some of my favorite blogging friends, even though we’re unlikely to ever meet. It always makes my heart soar to hear of Bella having a good day, so you can bet I was grinning like nobody’s business during this video- Sometimes, She’s Just a Normal Dog.

The Chronicles of Cardigan always makes me laugh. Not only are Dewi and Jon Farleigh adorable (I mean they’re Cardigan Corgis, it would be impossible for them not to be adorable) , but Elizabeth just cracks me up with her sense of humor and gift for song. This week, it’s Cats Are Cool, as sung to the sound of a vacuum cleaner.

And finally, the last member of our little tribe is Keep the Tail Wagging. They’re a magazine more than a blog, but still. This week my favorite article is on Dawg Grog Beer for Dogs. Just because I don’t drink, should I be denying my pets?

And I’m falling down again on the new to me blogs. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with my life without any new things in it. Next week, I promise. (Though I may have said that last week…)