Watch for Signs from Spirits of Your Loved Ones on Thanksgiving !

Our loved ones are with us today!

Holidays are a prime time to get messages from spirits of loved ones who have passed away. As I mention in my books "Ghosts and Spirits: Insights from a Medium" and "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead," our loved ones who passed are with us during holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.

  Think of it this way: During a holiday, birthday or anniversary you will usually either have friends and relatives over for dinner or call them and wish them a great day. It's no different from the other side. They want to do the same for us, because we can't pick up the phone - so they come to us!
   People who have passed and crossed over become spirits. Those who choose to stay behind on Earth are ghosts. Spirits have the ability to to come to people anywhere in the world, and even come to multiple people at the same time. Whenever the Holidays roll around, they are known to try and pass messages that they're there with the family as well.
  So, how do you look for signs from them?  
- If you turn on the radio today, Thanksgiving, and you hear their favorite Christmas song (because radio stations are already playing them) - the spirit has influenced you to turn on the radio to know they're with you.
- You may find yourself doing or saying something that your late mother,  father, sister, brother or friend would be doing, or saying. Spirits can influence us to do things and say things they used to.
- You may also see someone that resembles a late loved one if you're traveling about today.
   - Look for pennies or other coins on the ground. Check the year, too- because it has some significance. I was out walking our dogs this week and found a Quarter with the year 1981 on it. That was the year my grandmother passed, so guess who dropped that coin for me? 
-  On Thanksgiving 2011, my friend Lynn's brother Michael came to me with messages for her. He told me things I had no idea about, including that they had the same eye color. SO, be vigilant and don't dismiss happenings- our loved ones DO come back during the holidays to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah."
  Wishing you and your loved ones a great Thanksgiving- and KNOW that those who have passed are still around your table. You just don't have to feed them! :)
Rob Gutro

Nothing Says Happy Easter like a Blonde Joke

Happy Easter and Happy Passover Here's a funny Easter Egg photo from our friend "Ski" in Mass. and below is a joke from Mom F. in Maine for you! Have a fun day!


A man is driving along a highway and sees a rabbit jump out across the middle of the road. He swerves to avoid hitting it, but unfortunately the rabbit jumps right in front of the car. The driver, a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulls over and gets out to see what has become of the rabbit. Much to his dismay, the rabbit is dead.
The driver feels so awful that he begins to cry. A beautiful blonde woman driving down the highway saw the man, and pulled over. She steps out of the car and asks the man what's wrong.
"I feel terrible," he explains, "I accidentally hit this rabbit and killed it."
The blonde says, "Don't worry." Then she turns around, goes back to her car and returns to the man and the rabbit's body with a spray can. She bent over the dead rabbit and sprayed it.
The man looks at her in astonishment and is puzzled. "Why did you do that?" he asked the Blonde.
She replied, "It's Hair Spray silly. It restores life to dead hair."

Happy New Year! / 4 Men and 4 Dogs

(Photo: Tom gets a kiss from Franklin)
New Year's Eve was really nice. The 2 temporary rescue dogs that we called "Smokey" and the "Bandit" (and Rob learned their real names were Maddie and Lincoln) settled down and got used to treats and being held for the first time in their lives. Both of them are 3 1/2 YEARS old and have never seen grass (they came from breeders and grew up in cages) - what horrible lives they've had. Thanks to our friends Susan and Cary, they let us borrow a cage to put the rescue dogs in (because they're not housebroken, of course). At least they were crate-trained, so that ended the accidents in the house.
(PHOTO: Rob gives Dolly a big hug)
Darold is rooming with us and our friend Jeff came over early and made us a great barbecue pork dinner! So, there were 4 men and 4 dogs! (Our dogs: Dolly and Franklin and the rescues: Lincoln and Maddie).
(PHOTO: Jeff holds Maddie the "blue" wirehaired dachshund from the rescue, who lost most of her hair due to a thyroid condition)

After dinner, our friends Susan, Cary and Ed came over for desserts and a really fun, wacky game of Uno. We had a wonderful time, and all four dogs behaved very well. We took a break in the game to get desserts, and then I (Rob) had to carry out each of the rescue dogs in the backyard (it was raining/sleeting/freezing raining) to do their business. The dogs are afraid to go out in the backyard, so they needed to be carried outside, and I had to walk around with them and give them treats to do what they needed to do, to train them.
(PHOTO: Darold holding Lincoln, the red, smooth-haired male dachshund, who was bare-bones thin, timid, and loved being held).
Our Uno game and appetite were waning by 11pm, and several of us (who got up at 4:30am for work) were fading. Fortunately, Cary won a round of Uno around 11:25pm, and we called it quits. Everyone left or were home in bed by midnight. Yeah, we're old! :)
(PHOTO: This is little Lincoln. He was such a precious boy, I wouldn't have minded if we adopted him).

A FULL NEW YEAR'S DAY - Tom and I got up at 5am and fed all 4 dogs, and went outside with them (the rescues one at a time). We met Melissa of Coast-to-Coast Dachshund rescue over an hour north of our house at 7 a.m. to give her Lincoln and Maddie- both of whom already have foster homes (Lincoln in NJ, Maddie in CT). It was sad to give them to Melissa and say goodbye to them, and I think I squeezed and kissed little Lincoln (my favorite) about 5 times. In fact, when Melissa was pulling out of the parking lot with the dogs in the backseat of her car, Lincoln stood up and looked out the window at us leaving. That choked me up.
We returned home and had breakfast with Jeff (who stayed over) and Darold. We cleaned house and went shopping at Kohls, Lowes, Macys and Bed Bath and Beyond, then returned home for lunch. Afterward, we watched a movie called "Crank 2" with one of Tom's favorite hunky actors, Jason Stratham.

To Get you in the Spirit: Carpenter's Video: Merry Christmas Darling

Tom's all-time favorite group is the Carpenters. I absolutely love them, too. I can't believe that Karen has been gone almost 20 years now... but her music is timeless. Here's one of our favorite Christmas songs from one of their old TV shows! Maybe it'll help get you in the Christmas Spirit.

Holiday Prep!

Thanksgiving was nice this year - There were 6 of us, including us. Tom's parents, his sister Lisa and our friend Jeff celebrated with us. This year, we ordered a pre-cooked turkey from the local grocery store, that included stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberry, pumpkin pie and rolls for $40! I would absolutely do it again! After dinner and dessert (no dog walk after dinner because of the 5th consecutive day of rain), we all went to see the Disney "Christmas Carol" movie. It was really well done, too! We recommend it!

PHOTO: Dolly and Franklin during the Christmas 2008 season... anxiously awaiting their hat and antlers in 2009...well, maybe not so much).
Now it's time to look toward Christmas- We've already ordered and received our Christmas cards, so we just have to write them. Then there's putting up the tree, etc. Rob worked most of the day on "Black Friday" while Tom enjoyed the day off. Then yesterday, Saturday, the 28th, we went Christmas shopping, and wrapped stuff, too. We also met friends for dinner at night. Busy day!

Happy Father's Day

(PHOTO: A Robin's nest with 4 eggs in our front young maple trees)
Happy Father's Day all! To celebrate today, we met our friends Steve and Jane for breakfast at Panera Bread (Steve's a dad) and we're dads to Dolly and Franklin! :) - It's a beautiful day here in Maryland, 75F, a mix of clouds and sun, low humidity, and a nice breeze. Perfect.
As a tribute to my dad today, I started reading another one of my dad's paperbacks by author Vince Flynn. It's another spy/espionage book -- and he's a very good author. I also made a couple of calls to some dads I know, and we're making dinner and dessert for Tom's parents this afternoon. We plan on eating out in our screened in patio as the weather is perfect!
(PHOTO: Franklin telling it like it is).
(PHOTO: Dolly giving Tom a kiss because we walked the dogs for 40 minutes down to a local farmer's market this morning).
(PHOTO: Tom bought his parents' old car, so he can use it to drive to a jobsite a couple of days a week for the next year. It's 68 miles north of here.)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from us to you!
On Saturday, our friend Holly (who owns the Yuppy Puppy Pet Boutique in old Ellicott City, Maryland) was hosting the Easter Bunny at her shop for photos. The proceeds went to the SPCA. We drove up and had our picture taken with the bunny himself.
(Photo: Holly, the Easter Bunny (aka: hubby Rick) and Brendle their dog in front of their shop - on a sunnier day).

Green on St. Patrick's Day

Despite being 1/2 Irish (my dad's side) I've never really celebrated St. Patrick's Day, other than wearing green. That is, if someone tells me something is green, because I'm color-blind with greens, browns, greys and reds. I'm working from home today and wearing a green Superman shirt. That, and my complexion is GREEN from constantly coughing from this darned bronchitis that won't go away (Week #3).
Just so you know, Saint Patrick's Day is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland. He drove the snakes from Ireland - If only he was still around, he could drive them from WALL STREET, too!
Of course, nowadays, I think "trolls" are the modern day Leprechauns. After all, they love green. Trolls are people that we think are just nasty to others, and selfish (you'll always run into one somewhere). So, if you see a person wearing green outside of St. Patrick's Day, it could be a troll! That's when you wear one of these buttons. (there are of course, the rare "happy trolls.") OKAY, so Sudafed PE, Robitussin with Codeine, Mucinex, Albuterol and Nasonex are all getting to me. :) Thankfully, I've got a doctor's appt. today.
Happy St. Patrick's Day... even to the trolls and leprechauns.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Adventures

New Year's Eve for Tom and I is not an exciting night. We don't venture out and go to parties or nightclubs. In fact, we usually get tired by 9:30pm and that's what happened. We did meet our friends Todd and Erica for dinner, who are expecting their first child in 10 days. That was fun. We returned home by 8pm to watch TV and wind down - which happened fast!
We watched one of our new (OLD) favorite series on DVD: "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" is a British crime-comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. The series starred Patricia Routledge as the title character (Hetty Wainthropp), Derek Benfield as her patient husband Robert, Dominic Monaghan as their boarder (and her assistant) Geoffrey Shawcross and John Graham Davies as DCI Adams. Many of the episodes have been featured on the American PBS series Mystery!. The series is based on characters from on the 1986 novel, Missing Persons by David Cook (who co-wrote the series with John Griffith Bowen). After one episode (It's like a British Murder She Wrote -our other favorite), it was 9:45pm and bedtime!!
NEW YEAR'S DAY-We breakfasted at home and welcomed the new year in. Tom worked on assembling a bench that was delivered with a broken piece, so we had to go to Lowe's for lumber. Tom rebuilt the piece and spray painted it, while I organized our trip to Savannah in February!
We also drove about 2 1/2 hours to Lusby, Maryland (extreme southern Maryland) to do a home visit for a potential Weimaraner adoption. Wolf Creek Weim Rescue (Where we adopted Dolly from)in Tennessee received a request to adopt from a nice couple in southern Maryland. They do home visits to ensure good surroundings for their dogs, and this couple's home was very comfy. They also had a Weimaraner before, and I gave them a sterling recommendation.
Hopefully, although I have to work Friday, we'll get to the movies tonight to see "The Spirit"!

VIDEO: Happy New Year- We've Elfed Ourselves!

The local Baltimore country station I listen to daily found this video on JibJab.com where you can personalize it with your own and other faces (up to 5). After some editing to fit the images, up to 5 faces can be put on elves doing different dances. Then, you can purchase it for $4.99 to keep! - I did. Attached is our Video for the holiday Season!
Rob, Tom, Dolly (the Weimaraner)and Franklin (the dachshund). Happy New Year!

Christmas Photos!

Gingerbread men decorating Gingerbread men on Christmas Day! - Gary (far left)and Jeff (2nd from left) came over for Christmas dinner. Jeff and Rob cooked. Afterward we decorated gingerbread men (can you tell how excited Tom was about doing that?). I can't show them here, because this is a family web page. Needless to say, we had a lot of laughs, and it was a memorable time.


Dolly and Franklin waiting to open their Christmas presents. Dolly is dressed in a Santa dog outfit our friend Maureen sent last year. Franklin's in a Thomas the Train shirt.


Tom opens a present from Rob wrapped in 20 layers of plastic bags, just to make him crazy! :)


Christmas Day was 60F degrees, so Tom tossed sticks outside for Dolly (Franklin just harassed the neighbor's dogs along the fence) while Rob was cooking inside.


Christmas Morning Breakfast at Tom's parents' house - posing with Franklin and Dolly.
The only thing missing this Christmas was time spent with my family. We did everything long-distance this year.

Christmas Without You

My all -time favorite Christmas album is by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, called "A Christmas to Remember. It holds a special place in my heart, especially now since my dad has passed, and this is my first Christmas without him. I have a special memory of that album with both of my parents, and when I listened to the upbeat song "With Bells On" and "Christmas Without You," both brought tears to my eyes - and made me miss my dad.
Here's the memory: Back in the 1980s when it came out I played it over and over again when I lived at home with mom and dad. One Christmas, after all was done, and both of my brothers left, I stayed home with mom and dad one Christmas night and played the tape (yes, it was a tape). I handed them copies of the lyrics to both songs, and all three of us sang them. Of course, we sounded really bad, and laughed afterward. It was a memory I'll always cherish, though. And now, "Christmas Without You" really does have more of a meaning. I miss you and love you Dad.
To see the Video of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX3c0DumGio/video

Tree Trimmin' Time!

This weekend, we had Tom's parents over to help trim our Christmas tree. We started the tradition last year, and it's really been fun! Below, Tom picks out the ornaments and hands them to Bob (his stepdad) and I to hang. Mom is supervising.

BELOW: The Ornament Men: Bob and I

BELOW: Mom being camera shy by thrusting Franklin in front of the camera. Dolly was on her bed gnawing on a bone and out of the picture.

The tree looks really nice and it is positioned in the living room, so you can see it outside through the large front window of the house. Looks good! Tom previously hung up pine boughs on the three posts in the front of the house and a wreath on the front door.

Halos and Christmas Trees

EYE SAY, IT'S A HALO - Tom's right eye is still recovering from cataract surgery, and it's going to be a slow process. He can see the outline of the lens the surgeons implanted, and it looks like a waxing moon in his peripheral vision. Further, around every light, he sees "Blue Halos." Our friend Patrick asked if Tom was seeing a halo over my head. I told him, he should, everyone else can see it! LOL.
Anyway, the surgeon told Tom it may take a week to months to get the eye healed. Tom has a followup appointment next month.

CHRISTMAS TREE ADVENTURES - Last year may have been our first Christmas in the same house but we didn't have time to get a tree we both liked and put up my 5 year old-pre-lit multicolored 6.5 foot tree. It was from my past, so this year, we decided we wanted white lights (and I got a taller artificial tree, now 7.5 feet high) and we need to put the past in the past, and pick out a tree we both liked. We did.
A simple pleasure was going to Lowes and finding all artificial trees were 50% off! Of course, the one we wanted was out of stock, so we drove to another Lowes and found it there. It looks great (see picture). We added blue lights, but are waiting for Tom's parents to come over and help decorate it (our tradition began last year).
Because the old tree was in great shape and all lights worked, we put it on Craigslist.com. In FIVE MINUTES, I received 6 desperate pleas for it. Single mothers with kids and more. If you want to help someone, buy a prelit tree and put it on Craigslist as "free." You'll get a lot of responses and you'll make someone's Christmas. So, we gave it to the first respondent, a single mom in Washington, DC who never had a tree. She picked it up last night with her dad and brother, and it choked me up. So, look around this year. There are a lot of people hurting that could use some cheer.

Happy Thanksgiving from us to You!

Happy Thanksgiving! - This is a picture of an arrangement that Tom made on our kitchen table, with a picture of our dogs, Dolly and Franklin- whom we're extremely thankful for. We're also thankful for our families and friends. We don't get to see all of you as often as we'd like, but that doesn't mean you're not in our thoughts and in our hearts. So, on Thanksgiving, it's you we'll be giving thanks for. We're also thankful for the love we share and every day we have with each other.
As you know from reading this blog, my dad passed away this August, and I'm thankful for the time we had with him. Tom and I got a lot of funny little sayings from my dad (in the three years Tom knew him), and memories that last a lifetime. This morning on the way to work (it's Wednesday) while driving the dogs to daycare, I played my favorite Christmas CD, Kenny and Dolly's "A Christmas to Remember." The song "(I'll be home) With Bells On" came on and I teared up through it- because about 10 years ago, I sat alone with mom and dad on Christmas afternoon, singing the songs from this CD for fun, and that was my dad's favorite. We were all out of key, and it sounded horrible, but it's a memory I'll always treasure and be thankful for. We hope that you can make memories this holiday that you'll be thankful for later in life. Happy Thanksgiving, Love, Rob, Tom, Dolly and Franklin

Thanks, Veterans!

We know a number of Veterans (as does everyone) and we salute and thank all of you for your service to our country. Our friends Mike R. in Columbia, Md. and Sherri P. in SC, Darold in Fl. and Beverlee in Baltimore are just a few of the many we know who served. I'm going to visit Beverlee today, the holiday, to help recognize her. She's 86 and in a retirement complex in Baltimore. I usually get to see her every couple of weeks, and she's always got great stories. She was in the Navy when she was in the service.
Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)

Memorial Day

Wow. Memorial Day weekend is already upon us. It's a time to reflect on those that we love and lost. Most recent to us, Tom's grandma Grace passed a year ago this month in Chesapeake Beach, Virginia. My first puppy, Buzz passed in February 2005. Interestingly enough- both continue to provide small signs that they're around us, guiding us, protecting us, watching us. We mysteriously find pennies (literally from Heaven) often - and that started when each of them passed. So, to them and all of you who lost someone dear- Happy Memorial Day. It's happy because their love and memories live on in us.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms around the world!

Tom and I are fortunate to have great moms (LEFT: Tom's mom, Ruth/RIGHT: Rob's Mom, Norma). Our moms are some of our best friends and we can't thank them enough for all the time and love they gave us and continue to give.
Being a mom is hard work - we know. It's ashame that some people have kids when they're not ready for all that comes with it. We feel for those that don't have good moms, and we really appreciate our moms.
Mother's Day in the United States, celebrates motherhood generally and the positive contributions of mothers to society. It falls on the second Sunday of each May. It is the result of a campaign by Anna Marie Jarvis (1864–1948), who, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905, devoted her life to establishing Mother's Day as a national, and later an international, holiday.

Pet Parents Day - Sunday, April 27th

Sunday, April 27th is Pet Parents Day - that's a new celebration to honor those (of us) who have adopted a dog, cat, bird, ferret, (or spouse in some cases! - but not ours, fortunately!)

* "For all the nights you've been crowded out of bed"

* "For all the treats you've given"

* "For all the poop you scooped"

* "For all the love you've given (and received tenfold)"

Enjoy your PET PARENTS DAY with your lovable pet! We'll be celebrating with Dolly and Franklin (right as a Shark and a skeleton from Halloween 2007)!

It's April Fools' Day!

According to Wikipedia: "April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day, though not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, enemies and neighbors, or sending them on fools' errands, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible."
Here's an April Fool story from 2007:
Duke researchers have trained a monkey to throw poo using a robotic arm simply by thinking about it. The lab monkey learned how to use its own brain waves to signal the robotic arm, which in turn picked up and threw a pile of poo at a group of neurobiologists.
Now, if the monkey could be trained to throw poo at mean people!
Apparently, here's what the monkey had to say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8vC03CrpCE
Happy April Fool's Day!