I can haz home now?

I currently work at an animal shelter, and it just amazes me how many pets we get in when the economy goes south! It just saddens me that pets seem to be the first thing to go when people have to cut down on spending (but I would much rather have the pets get dropped off with us than have them be neglected because of money troubles). So what I'm saying is that chances are, because of the economy here in the US, wherever you live, your local animal shelter is filled to the brim with pets (especially cats) looking for loving homes!



If you have the room, a little money and a lot of love, I guarantee there's a pet that's right for you at your local shelter! Many shelters right now have deep discounts because we're just inundated with pets, so if you are in the market for a pet, but keep putting it off, consider getting one now! You'll save money on the adoption fees, in addition to bringing home a new, fabulous family member!
Take a look at the Petfinder website to see what awesome animals are waiting for you in your area!

A quiet cat to give you company while you work? A lively and talkative cat to brighten up your day? A friendly dog? A fuzzy bunny? Pets for all personalities (or purrsonalities, if you like cat puns)!

And if you're not able to adopt a pet right now, consider volunteering, or donating dry or canned pet food to your local shelter! Trust me, with all the pets we've got, we're ALWAYS happy to see donations of food and other sundry items. Even just a can is a big help!



Sorry for the push about pets. Working around so many awesome and wonderful pets (and wishing I could give them all a home) makes me emotional sometimes. Thanks for listening!

35 Questions: 1-word answers

So I was tagged by the Lost Earring to answer these 35 questions with just 1-word answers. It was tougher than I thought it would be for many of the questions, but I hope it still gives you a better idea of who I am! :D

1 Where is your cell phone? Purse
2 Your hair? Brown
3 Your mother? Lively
4 Your father? Smart
5 Your favorite food? Indian
6 Your dream last night? Croatia
7 Your favorite drink? Water
8 Your dream/goal? Non-profit
9 What room are you in? Living
10 Your hobby? Reading
11 Your fear? BEEEEEEEEEEZ!!!!!
12 Where do you want to be in six years? House
13 Where were you last night? Home
14 Something that you aren't? Religious
15 Muffins? Warm
16 Wish list item? Dog
17 Where did you grow up? Boston
18 Last thing you did? Laughed
19 What are you wearing? Comfy
20 Your TV? Cableless
21 Your pets? Cats
22 Friends? Awesome
23 Your life? Good
24 Your mood? Sarcastic
25 Missing someone? Friends
26 Vehicle? Used
27 Something you're not wearing? Kilt
28 Your favorite store? Etsy!
29 Your favorite color? Blue
30 When was the last time you laughed? Today
31 Last time you cried? Yesterday.
32 Your best friend? Kyle
33 One place that I go over and over? Library
34 One person who emails you regularly? Husband
35 Favorite place to eat? Creperie

Wedding! Wedding! Pig and Froggy Wedding!

I'm at my cousin's wedding today! Enjoy!!!

Random Acts of Kindness and almost ending up with a baby

So a few nights ago it was absolutely pouring rain here in Maine. I'm talking pouring cats, dogs, ferrets and possibly a llama or two (or maybe an alpaca. I get them mixed up), along with thunder and lightning. But my husband and I needed to go to the store, so we drove to our local supermarket, picked up what we needed and headed for the exit.

At the exit we could really see that it was coming down even harder than before (it's raining hippos now!) and the lightning was pretty much right on top of us. Also looking in dismay at the current weather conditions was a mother and her young daughter in a loaded shopping cart. I heard her say quietly to her daughter, "I can't take you out in this!"

Now I know how sketchy it may seem for two perfect strangers to offer to watch your baby, and I considered that she might react angrily at the suggestion, but I figured, why not offer and see how it goes. So I said, "would you like us to watch your child while you bring the car around?" Her face lit up and she said, "really?!? Would you? My van is just right over there!"

Now I know that many people would balk at leaving their kid with two strangers, and maybe if this had happened while I was living in Boston, the mom would've immediately declined, but I'll give two theories why she trusted us: 1) Portland may be a city, but it feels more like a large town in many ways (good ways). And 2) My husband and I look like very friendly and trustworthy nerds. Seriously. I was at a club in NYC with some friends, sitting at a table and a stranger asked me if I would watch his drink for him while he went out for a smoke. My NYC friend said, "you're not afraid she'll roofie it?!?" (meaning put drugs in it) and he said, "you look trustworthy." This gets me in trouble sometimes because homeless people ask me for money all the time and if there are any drunks or crazies around, I'm apparently fair game to talk to. But hey, it comes in handy on occasion!

So she ran out into the rain to her van, which we could see from the exit and started to pull around. Unfortunately, this made it look like she was driving away from the supermarket and my husband said, "great. Now we have a baby...(looks at the food poking out of the shopping bags) and a package of M&M cookies. Sweet!" But within seconds she was right in front of the exit! Phew!
It felt good to do something nice for someone on the spur of the moment, and not only that, it felt good to know that someone was willing to trust us with her most beloved possession (if you can call a kid a possession), her child. Warm fuzzies all around! It made our soaking mad dash for our car not feel so bad! And I hope you enjoyed the awesome drawings I made to illustrate the story!

Kitten Mittens

So I've been a bit sporadic about updating the blog recently. That's because we got a new kitten!!! Meet Cupcake, a former stray we adopted from the Friends of Feral Felines in Portland. She's about four months old, has double paws (polydactyly), is a very light orange and sooooo cute! For those who are unfamiliar with polydactyly, this means that she has several extra toes (hers are all on her front paws, but you can have them on back paws as well), making it look almost like she has a thumb!


We named her Cupcake (or CC for short) after one of my favorite local designers when I lived in Boston: Johnny Cupcake. This is because her double paws look a bit like oven mitts, which are used in several of Johnny Cupcake's designs.

This has also led to another nickname for her: Kitten Mitten!

The other cats, Rosy and Chester, aren't best friends with her yet, but they do play around, sniff her, and generally tolerate her presence. We've eased the transition by giving them lots of treats, petting, and a new and improved (and a lot bigger) scratching post. This one has four levels for cats to enjoy! Pillars at the bottom, a hidey-hole on the 2nd (or 1st floor, if you're European), a little dougnut-shaped (with a pillar in the middle) landing (kitten fits on this level perfectly),

and lastly the top. The top is a favorite amongst all of the cats, but Chester fits inside it perfectly. He didn't really use our old one as much because he was too big and had to sleep with his legs hanging out all over. Now he can curl up and rule over his kingdom with a view of everything!

Our benevolent ruler, Chester Copperpot.

So our fam has increased in size to five (including my husband and me) and we couldn't be happier, even if it's kept me from being as productive with my crafting. Now that everyone's gotten used to each other, I'm sure I'll be able to find the time! :)

Our happy feline household: Chester Copperpot on top, Rosalita on the old post in back, and Cupcake crawling out of the hidey-hole.

The Furry Fam

A brief look at the furry members of my fam (short for family, in case you didn't know). Currently, apartment living has only allowed us (husband and myself) to adopt feline members into our family (although sometime in the future we will find a nice place that allows dogs! Somedayyyyyy!), but that's not a problem, since I'm probably a little more of a cat person than a dog person. Don't get me wrong! I absolutely adore dogs and very much want to get one (eventually two). However, my early childhood (heck, from the moment I was born and all the time since) was spent around mostly cats. I remember thinking as a kid when my parents finally went and adopted a dog, how many cats we could've gotten for the dog's purchase price (I think I figured we could've gotten 7 cats for what we spent to get the dog, but I was probably way off).
Me: "But mommmmm! If we don't get a dog, we can get seven more cats!"
Mom: "Not happening."
But we all know how cute puppies can be, and that led me to be an equal-opportunity pet-lover! For now though, it's the husband, me and our two kitties.
Named after characters from one of our favorite movies (The Goonies), we have Chester Copperpot (the large orange tabby) and Rosalita (the small grey tabby). We adopted Chester first and a few years later added Rosy to the mix.

Chester's a lot more sedate than Rosy. He's one of those cats that never seems to open his eyes all the way (always almond-shaped or squinty). It's always as if he's giving me a look that says (in a tired old man voice), "Oy, what are you crazy food-givers up to now?"
That's the look. Granted, I was taking a picture of him from under our glass table, which is a bit odd. In the awesome book "The cat who went to Paris" by Peter Gethers (required reading for all cat-lovers!), as his cat is getting all sorts of attention, author Peter describes the look as his cat thinking, "well, this is just the price I have to pay for being me."

Chester is also the master of the stiff-arm when you pick him up. *BAM! Right to your sternum. "Don't pick me up. If you must adore me, adore me on my own terms!" If you don't get the hint, he likes to dig his one snaggletooth into your arm, like this:
They never scratch or bite, but Chester gives mean snaggletooth pressure.

Rosy is the more lively, younger one who often has eyes the size of dinnerplates. If she's not sleepy, she always looks like she's thinking, "what the heck is going on here?!?" She also has her own tumbling maneuver that we've named "The Rosy Roll." Here you can see Chester being unimpressed by Rosy's floorwork.
Chester: *Sigh. What are you doing now?

And a close-up of the Rosy Roll:
She also is the first farting cat I've ever had. The vet is helping us work on that, but currently Rosy is the master of the "silent but deadly" variety.

But luckily they tolerate each other (loving each other may be a little much to ask right now, but they do play with each other and don't get in fights) and coexist peacefully. Even though they have to share the bed (you'll notice that this is also MY bed. My husband and I apparently get the top 2/3rds of it)!