Day 1: Chewy makes me cry

Way back in 2011 I started an annual tradition of writing a blog post a day for NaBloPoMo or National Blog Post Month, which was sponsored by Blogher. Somebody started it as kind of a joke to go along with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and for a few years it stuck. And I stuck with it because I won $250 from Blogher that first year, and I liked getting paid to write. Turns out that $250 was for 6 years of writing. Unfortunately last year another women's blogging platform, Sheknows, bought out Blogher, and now Blogher is only a couple of blogger conferences and NaBloPoMo is gone.

Everything changes ...... but I think I'll continue my tradition. I won't have the support I've had the past 6 years. No public place to share my posts and get encouragement from other women bloggers across the continent. I've made some friends through NaBloPoMo, and I'll miss that. But I'm still going to do it, damn it. So this is my first of thirty posts this month. May the gods help me, because life is full right now.

I have some really big news I want to post about, but I'm saving that one for when I have more time. Today I'm going to tell you what made me cry. 

I was upstairs changing the sheets on my bed when I heard the doorbell. I wasn't expecting anybody, but I still ran down there. I've heard an unexpected ring of the doorbell can mean someone with a million-dollar check is standing outside with a camera crew. I smoothed my hair as I hurried to the door .... just in time to see the Fedex truck pull away. That's odd, I thought. I didn't order anything.

On the porch lay a flat shiny package from Chewy, the people I order my dog food from. That's odd, I thought. My packages from them usually weigh about 35 pounds.

I carried the package into the kitchen and slit it open. Inside was a card and a small flat square wrapped in tissue paper. Written on the envelope was "To Reticula and your furbaby." I opened the card, and it didn't really make sense to me ... until I opened the package.

Inside was a portrait of my standard poodle, Crow Cocker! A real portrait painted by a real person! Signed and everything. I was stunned. I felt tears pool up in my eyes, sap that I am. You would too, right? Look! C'mon. How cool is that?

What an unexpected and kind gift from a company that must have thousands of customers. I remember sending a photo of Crow to one of their customer service representatives a couple of months ago, after I'd ordered some chews along with my auto-order of 70 pounds of dog food. I didn't check the ingredients, even though they were right on the order page.

Turns out they had sorbitol in them, which is a laxative. A very effective laxative for those of us who are sensitive to it. I won't describe for you the mess I found all over one area rug and my old hardwood floors the next morning. Let's just say 140-year-old floorboards have space between them, and I had to use my toothbrush. On the floor.

Crow hates to have
his photo taken

I left a scathing review, and expected that to be that. It wasn't. A short time later I received an email from Chewy expressing their apologies and telling me my money had already been refunded. I emailed back, and they responded a couple of times. Each time I heard from a different representative; nevertheless, as always, their customer service was excellent.

One of them asked for a photo of my "furbaby," so I sent her this one. Our conversation was over and that was that.

Last week two boxes appeared on my porch holding 70 pounds of dog food, and as always, I appreciated the convenience and the price, which is better than I can get anywhere else. Also, if I don't like what I've ordered for some reason -- even if I screwed up my order -- they will come back and pick it up for free. I already loved this company.

And then they made me cry by doing this! 

I don't get paid for endorsements here in Reticuland, so if I make a recommendation, you know it's coming from my heart. If you've got pets, at least check out their website at Chewy.com. Maybe order some food and have it delivered to your door. They've got about a thousand brands, shipping is free if you order enough, and did I mention they're really good people? Even Amazon doesn't give service like this.

See you tomorrow! I'm doing this. I mean it. I really mean it.