Feline Unemployment Rate Plummets to 75%!!!

"3 Out Of 4 Felines Count Their Blessings And Go Back To Sleep."

Yes, that's right ... somebody's been put to work, and that somebody would be this guy:


Little Grey Kitteh has been appointed to the position of "office cat". This position will allow him to fully realize his napping, cuddling and paper-throwing-on-the-floor talents, as well as allowing his humans to pretend that at least one of The Horde is pulling his/her own weight.

For those couple of site visitors who aren't actually related to me by blood or marriage, let me give a little background: 2 years ago I jumped ship with Corporate America (thanks be to God Almighty!) and went back to school to get my Horticulture degree. I have since gotten a job (permanent, but seasonal) with a local garden center in their tree and shrub nursery, and decided to also open my own business as a landscape designer. Since I'll be working out of a home office, and since the space in question is currently occupied by LGK, he was the obvious choice for the office cat job.

I'm still working on the website, marketing materials, etc., but Mr. LGK will have a prominent place as the furry face of the business. And while I am intending to keep my kitty-person blogging and my professional life separate, I will share some of LGK's glamour shots with you when they're all done.

Now, if I can just figure out a way to make the other three a little more productive...

Holiday Scene

This morning I got up early(ish) and set out to run some holiday errands. While the early start did help me avoid some of the usual crush, by the time I'd visited three different stores and dealt with cranky clerks, rude customers, whiny children, ugly traffic and some of the worst Christmas music ever, I was most definitely In. A. Mood.

I was thinking decidedly un-jolly thoughts about the season in general and the rest of humanity in particular when I heard the distant ringing of a Salvation Army bell. Now, you may not know this about me, but I am constitutionally incapable of passing by one of those red kettles. I'm not saying this to sound holier-than-thou - it's just a holdover from my childhood. Salvation Army kettle = cough up some dough.

So there I was, trying to stand out of the way and juggle my packages while I fished a single out of my wallet, when I realized that someone was singing Christmas carols. You know how people sing in the shower? (Guilty!) And you know how sometimes people sing really enthusiastically in the shower, even when they know they suck? (Also guilty!) That's the kind of singing that I was hearing. I free my dollar bill and head out the door only to see this short, portly little Asian guy, all bundled up against the cold, ringing his bell with one hand and holding a notebook page with hand-written Christmas lyrics in the other, belting out "O Holy Night" for all he was worth. And thanking people for their donations in between:

"Faaaaaalll on you knees! O heeeeeeaa..."
"Thank you, Me-y Chistmas"
"...the angel voooooiiiiices"

(Like I said ... little Asian dude. He tended to drop his "Rs". Not being racist here, just trying to paint the scene.)

Anyway, I was in a much better mood when I headed back to the car. So thanks, Salvation Army guy.

VOTE TODAY!!!

Nothing like finding out about this stuff at the last minute!

Please go here today and vote for "Pets Forever". (It's option #1) The voting ends tonight!!!

You can read about the program on their website, here, but the gist of it is that the Pets Forever program matches veterinary students at Colorado State University with elderly, low-income and disabled pet owners so that the owners are able to keep their pets with them for longer than they might otherwise be able to.

Full disclosure: I am a CSU alum, and my college roommate graduated from the vet school there. (She's the one who brought Electric Mayhem into our lives.) However, I'm one of these people who doesn't have any warm fuzzy feelings at all about her alma mater ... except this program!

Most of the people who read this blog have already gotten an e-mail from me on this, but just in case I missed someone in my haste, please vote today! Pets and their people will thank you for it!

Absolutely No Cat Content In This Post

I just felt like saying, what with the holiday season in full swing and all, that I am one of the very few people in this world who lacks the necessary gene for overdosing on "Feliz Navidad". It's not Christmas for me until I've heard that song 70 or 80 times. It puts me in a happy, Christmas-y mood each and every time I hear it - no matter how many times I might hear it in any given day.

That is all.

Cats on Film

This is what always seems to happen whenever I try to take video of our kittehs.

And of course, the real reason we'll never have a reality show.

I hadn't visited the "Heart of the City" site for quite a while, so I'm glad I thought to pop in there today.

The Lord & Master Has Returned!

Big Acoustic Kitty is home and very happy about it, thankyouverymuch. It's a long story and we've got a busy day ahead of us (including a trip to our regular vet for yet more blood work) but the gist of it is that they're pretty sure his diabetes has gone into remission and this pancreatitis is on the way out, and it was all his medicine that caused the problem.

(And I've discovered that "mother guilt" can attack kitty-mamas as well as human ones, since I feel awful about being the one who gave him the medicine that morning that set him off.)

So ... more later, after things settle down. But for right now, BAK is home and resting and enjoying lots of skritches and cuddles. And stern instructions to never scare me like that again!

Many, many thanks to everyone who send prayers and good thoughts our way. They were much appreciated, and obviously worked very well!!!

PSA: Puppy Bowl VI

Better late than never, right?

If there's anyone out there who shares my complete and utter disinterest in football and isn't aware that there is a cute n' fuzzy option out there, please hie yourself over to Animal Planet's website and check out all the info on tomorrow's broadcast of Puppy Bowl VI. This year there will not only be the All-Kitten Halftime Show, but also hamsters flying the blimp and rabbit cheerleaders. (I'm waiting for the Disapproving Rabbits reaction to the whole thing.)

The Amazing Husbandini has set the DVR to record Puppy Bowl for me while he watches that other sporting event tomorrow. That way he can call me if there are any worthwhile commercials to watch, but I can still get my furry critter fix.

Kitty Glamour Shot

Thing One found himself a sunbeam this morning. You should have heard the purrs.

In celebration...

...of writing out our very last rent check, I went online and sent some money to our local jazz station. Got my name read on the air and everything. :-)

Most of the public radio folks are doing pledge drives right now, so if you have a couple of bucks to spare, why not send some to them?

This was my public service announcement for the day. Regular programming will resume with the next post.