You don't say if your classmate has had other children, but I'm going to assume no. In that case, her home may not have some of the customary things that accumulate with children - board games, craft supplies, markers, crayons, etc. I really think some board games might be great - it will give the new family some time to sit together and get to know each other, while having fun. A craft box of markers, crayons, glues, craft scissors, glitter, paper, felt, etc. will give a young girl and her mom many hours of fun. Her new home will need some refrigerator art! I also think an inexpensive camera (maybe get disposables) and a photo album might be a good gift. The young girl might like to record the first days of her new family life, create new memories for herself. If the disposables are successful, then Mom and Dad can get her a real camera for Christmas/Hanukah. When you said a 10-year old girl being adopted, I immediately thought of the Anne of Green Gables books, although I think the reading level be higher than a 10-year old. The complete Harry Potter books might be great - then the new family can read them out loud together. But I do think a nice collection of classic books might be a wonderful retreat for someone who is adjusting to a new life. Whatever you do will be greatly appreciated. It warms your heart to see a new family get started, doesn't it?

I prefer to adopt older dogs because I don't have the time or energy to deal with housebreaking a puppy. If I met your dog, I would not adopt him for the following reasons: 1. I don't know if he gets along with other pets. You have other pets and there must be a reason this dog is outside while your kids are inside. I assume that it is because you do not trust him with your kids. If you don't trust him with your kids, I sure as heck am not going to trust him with mine. 2. I am over housebreaking adult dogs. All my dogs were rescued as adults, one was an outdoor dog all her life (6-8 years) and she was VERY difficult to housetrain. If I wanted to deal with housebreaking a dog, I'd get an 8 week old puppy. 3. He may be destructive in the house. My Tatyana was nicely housebroken by her foster mom, and got along great with her other Husky friends, their cats, and even their children. But she didn't get along with being left alone, and destroyed several rugs and 2 pieces of furniture. I want to know the dog has at least some manners in a house. If all those other conditions were met, I wouldn't mind the jumping thing. That's easy to train. But not in addition to housebreaking, possibly not getting along with other dogs, and possibly being destructive. I know you think the dog would be fine in the house but there's no proof of that. I don't have a fenced yard so if he wasn't fine in the house I'd be screwed. That's just my own situation. Obviously if someone wanted an outdoor dog, he'd be fine, especially if they didn't have kids or other pets. The dogs that get adopted the fastest are the ones that don't have any issues and that appeal to the greatest number of people. There are several things about this dog that eliminate potential adopters from wanting him. The more you can correct, the better chance he has on being adopted.

It is possible for females to bond closely, however. Decades ago, I had a female named Tempest who I raised from kittenhood. Although Tempest eventually (and much to her initial displeasure) had to learn to live with other cats, she never bonded with any until I took her into my marriage with me as an "only cat". We rescued an unrelated female kitten shortly thereafter. I don't know what it was about Pea that appealed to Tempest (Pea was always an extremely disagreeable feline), but she took Pea under her wing. Tempest and Pea were closely bonded for the remainder of Tempest's life ... many years into Pea's adulthood. Once Tempest passed, Pea never made even the slightest attempt to bond with another cat for the rest of her nearly 23 yrs. In fact, she made her intolerance of the other cats that came into our family very, very clear up until the day she died. Come to think of it, I did adopt a typically rowdy male kitten sometime during Tempest and Pea's adulthood. He was accidentally killed by one of our dogs within a couple of weeks, but while he was with us, T & P both hated him with a passion. My current three littermates (females) and their male cousin don't have similar relationships, either, despite the fact that they are all blood-related and were raised together as one litter. Two of the sisters and the male are all closely bonded, but the third sister only enjoys the company of one of her other sisters. You just never know how any two individual cats are going to relate to each other. Laurie

I love Costco! I take my mom shopping with me to save her the cost of a membership. I don't buy as much bulk frozen as I did when boys where home and teenagers, but youngest DH and I love their frozen french onion soup cups. On a fairly regular basis I buy paper products, laundry and cleaning products, salmon, beef, chicken, pork chops, organic chicken stock (a top recommendation of Cook's Illustrated), canned tomatoes, fresh berries, cases of Smart Water, milk, butter, olive oil, small household appliances, books, DVDs, beef jerky, pistachios, wine, and alcohol. We've also bought the big flat screen for the FR and some bookshelves. Oh, bought my suitcase there, too. I go every 2 weeks or so. In fact, I need to go tomorrow--better get my coupons ready!