Meet Joker!

Joker-a very good dog waiting for his home
Joker is a sweet boy who is currently at the Coos County Animal Shelter. He's been there since the end of April. People walk right by him all the time because he's a big, black, pitbull. But, he's so much more than that. He gets along well with most other dogs, will chase cats if they run from him, but otherwise is fine with them, loves people and most especially kids! He is neutered, about a year old, has pretty good leash manners, and knows most basic commands. I'm sharing a link to a video of him playing fetch w/my 11yr old daughter Riley. He really is this good, and this was right after we took him out of his kennel to the play yard...and trust me, I don't trust my kids around just anyone, but I'd trust Joker with them w/out hesitation:

http://youtu.be/lA9p6Vv9GME

Mascot of the Day!

So, on July 26th, I entere Clarice inthe Mascot of the Day contest at the Animal Rescue Site. Today, she is the Mascot of the Day!!!! You can check it out yourself & vote for the Coos County Animal Shelter in the Shelter Challenge by clicking on this link:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3&ThirdPartyClicks=ERA_073111_ARS_Html

Hawaii

So, I've wanted to go to Hawaii for as long as I can remember. We were supposed to go for our 10th wedding anniversary, but I was 11 days away from giving birth to Riley, so we obviously didn't go. Now, I'm pretty sure that Gregg never intended that we go, or at least that he would go. We've been together for 26 years, he KNOWS how bad I want to go, he doesn't want to go.

I've threatened to go without him before and he's been fine with it, and I've come to the conclusion that he really isn't going to go with me, so I've started planning the trip without him. I've checked out airfares, hotel rates, food, souveniers...I've got a pretty good idea now how much money I need to save.

Now, comes the savings part. I'm going to open my own, separate savings account. Every payday $50 or so will go into the account, also all my overtime. Will probably take me a couple of years to save it up, some of the prices might go up, some might go down. I have a hunch they'll stay pretty close to the same and I'm saving the high end of the estimate just to be on the safe side.

Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures when I get there.

Our Cats

Cookie, aka Cookie Monster, is the oldest now. He's about 9. My grandfather had a soft spot for cats and adopted his mother, who was pregnant at the time and gifted him with four kittens. When the kittens were about 4 wks old, Grandpa went in to have colon surgery. It was routine and when the kittens were about 5 wks old Grandpa came home. I had been visiting him while he was in the hospital, and came to visit him at home. All the great-grandkids were outside playing with the kittens and I could tell he wanted to see them. I brought in little Cookie-not named yet-and that little guy snuggled on Grandpa's lap for the next hour. It is the last memory I have of my Grandpa happy. He was back in the hospital that night and never came home. When I was asked if there was anything of my Grandpa's that I would like I asked for his pocket knife and his kitten...best inheritance I've ever gotten.

Tatiana, better known as Tottie, was from the feral cat colony that lives on my parent's street. She was caught by my mother when she was about 3-4 months old, because my mom knew that I wanted her. For the first week she lived at our house, she wouldn't leave the kennel she was transported in. She was totally feral and it was the first time she'd ever been in a house. Now, she runs the joint. She has the calico attitude, but with me, she's my snuggle kitty. Her favorite place to sleep is mine & Gregg's bed, and she's trained us that she needs a can of cat food first thing in the morning. She loves the Dachsunds, tolerates Cookie & Simon, and is adjusting to Clarice. Now if I could just convince her to stay out of Gregg's shop & off his cars...

Simon showed up at our house sometime after Halloween. At first, he was just the white streak running off the porch. Eventually, we figured out he had orange ears & tail. My son, Doug, set out to catch him. It took a couple of months, but Simon would come stand next to Doug & as long as Doug didn't try to pick him up, would stay there. Finally, the kids cornered him in the shop, and caught him. Doug believed he was a girl, and so he was named Sophia. Once caught, this little kitty became our most affectionate kitty ever! One day, while loving on me while I was sitting in my chair, he turned around & stuck his butt in my face, like cats will do. "Hmmm, testicles, that's awkward" was my comment at the time & Sophia became Simon. Simon these days will go outside, but once he realizes he's out there wants right back in, right now. He also loves everyone, but Doug is still his absolute & obvious favorite...he takes full advantage of Tottie's earlier training of us about the can of cat food first thing in the morning.

Clarice Olivia started out as a foster kitten along with her brothers & sister, but she stayed. When I brought the litter home to foster, they were about 4 weeks old and we were going to keep them until they weighed 2 lbs & could be spayed/neutered. When I got them I was told that Clarice was a boy...she started out as Clarence Oliver. It became obvious fairly quickly that she would be staying. Simon liked all the kittens, but Clarice was his obvious favorite...she was also my favorite from day one. A week before the kittens were going in for their surgeries I let the animal shelter know that we'd be keeping "Clarence", but I still maintain that she adopted us, she started posting her name on Facebook as Clarence Oliver Kirby. I dropped them off at the vet on the assigned day & an hour later got the call that Clarence was a girl, and she became Clarice Olivia Kirby...after I was told she was a boy I never double checked & she's a fuzz butt, so it never became apparent until she was shaved. Most days Clarice & Simon spend the morning running amok around the house-after canned catfood breakfast-and the afternoons sleeping in the sun spot on my chair, sometimes with Gracie Lou...and occassionally I'm invited to join them. She's also been called the "cutest kitten ever", mostly by me, but it has been said by others. She's also usually a crucial subject of my Daily Pile of Cute pictures that are posted semi-regularly on Facebook.

Untitled By Anonymous

Spreading chaos & destruction
wherever she goes.
Thoughtless, careless, selfish,
are her hallmarks.
Others don't matter,
unless they benefit her,
it's all about her.
Never her fault,
always the victim.
Addiction fed by addiction
fed by enabling.
Lies fall from her mouth.
Manipulation her friend.
Sociopath, psychopath, bi-polar, personality disorder, bitch.
All labels she's born.
I'm done, I exit here.
Good luck with your mess.

Cassie Kirby March 1998-March 2011 Beloved Kitty

Cassie was 13 yrs old, she was born in the basement of our little house to the last of the feral cats we inherited when we bought our house. Doug came running in to tell me about her when she was born & told me that he was keeping her. Wh...en she was first born she was black, but had silver guard hairs over the top of the black. That's baby Doug holding baby Cassie. We ended up weaning her & her sister & brothers when their mom disappeared for 24hrs when they were 4 wks old. We bottle fed them for a week first. When they were old enough we found homes for the other kittens, but Doug got to keep his kitten

I love this picture of her. It's actually framed & hanging in our dining room. Cassie was very independant & did things her own way. She could come in the house anytime she wanted to, but wouldn't. When is snowed a few months ago, I tried to bring her in, it lasted all of five minutes. She loved her family, but really didn't let anyone else close to her. She was an excellent ratter & mouser.

About 10 days ago I noticed that she was bloated in her abdomen. I thought she had worms so I wormed her. A couple of days later she was still bloated, I still thought it was worms, but a more serious case, so I took her to the vet. It wasn't worms, her abdominal cavity was filled with fluid. They drained off the fluid & sent some off to be tested. None of the results would've been good, it was all pretty much a death sentence. They sent me home with some antibiotics for her & pressure bandage around her tummy. I kept her inside as long as she would stay, but short of keeping her in a kennel, it wasn't going to happen. She hated the antibiotics and after a couple of days on those she disappeared. The neighbors were seeing her, but she wasn't coming to anyone including the kids.

This morning I went about my regular routine, got home from Zumba about 10:45am. At 1:30pm I went outside to get the mail. Sometime in that almost 3 hours, Cassie had come home, crawled into her bed and passed away. She buried not far from where she was sitting in the second picture...she loved to sit up there and watch. I'll miss you so much Cassie, who will be waiting for me on the front porch when I come home from work? Who will sit on the front porch with me and keep me company on summer evenings? We love you, safe journey.

Why I Love the Animal Shelter...caution use of F-bomb

I love my job, I really do. However, when I'm at my job there are people who think it's perfectly acceptable to call 911 just tell me I'm a "worthless fucking bitch".

When I go to the animal shelter, I've got dogs who are VERY happy to see me. Today, Vince, jumped straight up in the air just to give me a kiss on the cheek. BTW, Vince, is a pitbull and an absolute sweetie, so no bad talking the pitbulls.