Due to my husband’s illness that first took hold of him during Christmas in 2004, I had no choice but to reclaim control of our diet. I hadn’t been able to change his destructive eating habits no matter what I did, and now he is dealing with the aftermath.

Since that time of cleaning out cupboards and trying to eat right, I have given up my greatest vice- chocolate.

I strayed off the path recently when a group of friends invited me out to lunch~ Here is my prayer of forgiveness:

Oh God, I am heartily sorry for straying back into the path of temptation. Thy path I strayed on is called Chocolate and the signpost in the road was by Oreo and so I wandered.

I very carefully twisted the sinful cookie desert to separate the creamy white filling from the cookie center. I then indulged in the decadent cookie and rich ice cream and now carry sorrow in my heart for sinning against the god of calories.

I promise as an act of contrition I will walk an extra thirty minutes tomorrow, even if it rains. Because I know that I have offended Thee, but Oh Lord, this sin when it melted in my mouth, the taste was extraordinary and in the midst of sinning, I smiled. Although my spirit was willing to stay on the good path, it turned out my flesh is weak..

I firmly resolve that by your good grace, I will sin no more~ at least not until after I finish the package of Hostess Ding Dongs that I bought on my way home. Not to mention the ice cream bars I stashed in the freezer (underneath the frozen broccoli and tofu). I told you I was weak!

I remain your humble servant~ and in order to avoid any more occassions to sin, I will from now on ignore the cookie aisle at the local grocery store and close my eyes as I walk through the ice cream section at the local Safeway.

Amen

I recently received this charming, whimsical ceramic pet fountain and I love it! The artist Eberhard Basler makes magic with every fountain he creates. What I love besides the nature scene on the lid is how quiet this pet fountain is- how well it works and how easy the upkeep on it has been.

The cats all love it- and instead of dismantling it to fill it up, all you do is lift the small drain on the lid and pour the water in.

It is a hit with the kittens as well as the cats- I am now a convert, no more plastic pet fountains for my crew!

The website is here

Totem is now gone. He went so fast we are still unsure what happened. Fever 108 and climbing-vomiting bile, pooping green stool with mucous all pointing to the liver shutting down. At only two months old it is baffling and I feel so out-of-sorts. I told the vet it was like he fell off a 30 foot cliff because he was fine yesterday.

He is now in the company of angels and Mike and I are both trying to work through the loss of such a special, wonderful kitty.

Last night, when I finally let Muddy out of his carrier in Robb and Oksana’s bedroom and I saw two faces light up in surprise and delight- this confirmed why I rescue.

When I think back to the day that Muddy arrived into my arms – and he was near-death; cold and wrinkled paws, cold ears, pale gums. Nothing on hand to bring him back to the world but me and my cup of exotic coffee. I carefully dropped drips of coffee (called a Mudslide) into an unresponsive mouth (using the typical straw that Buzz’d provides with all their hot drinks).

Stroking the throat of the kitten, I prayed that he would find the strength to at least swallow some of it. That the sweetness along with the caffiene would wake up organs that were starting to shut down, all the while muttering expletives at the person who left him to die. Then after some anxious moments of rubbing him with an old sweater I always carry in my car and wrapping him up tight- I felt movement in my arms. I blasted the heater full-bore and I raced him to the vet arriving just as they were opening up for the day.

He came back to us just as I pulled into the parking lot of the clinic and they wasted no time ushering him back, giving him warming fluids and telling me the coffee was the best thing I could have done. Muddy, the vet said was about 4 weeks old.

Well, looking at those two young people and the smiles on their faces, I knew it was all worth it. Muddy now has a forever home, and eventually, I know he will make friends with TJ the lab/border collie mix and these two newly-married folks will love on him and care for him.

He no longer will have to fight to get his favorite nap spot away from MK or wait patiently (or sometimes not) for Baker and Trump (my strongest alphas) to finish their meal before he can start without being kitty challenged.

I think of this morning when he wakes up on their bed in their spacious and clean apartment. He does not know clean- he does know clutter though! LOL. I will miss his chin kisses, his tentative searching of his paw at my mouth- almost as if he is saying- “Mom what actually is in there anyway? Any treats for me?”

All the worrying I do, all the praying, the maintaining, cleaning, scooping filling of thirty litter pans, the-round-the-clock feedings of the latest bottle baby arrivals, the 4:00 a.m. “MOM you aren’t awake yet?” wake-up calls by the cats- making sure all the food trays are filled and then washed after the cats are through eating. The juggling of household bills to accomodate the vet debt- the herding of the cats during flea treatment day, all of it becomes inconsequential when I am able to deliver such delighted smiles to people searching for just the right cat for their lives.

And thanks too to Fran Krieger of K-9 Homefinders- a dear friend who allows me to share her PetFinders page and list the cats I have who are available for adoption.

So one more goes out the door, and I am sure in time, one more will appear on my doorstep, or in my radar and this kitten or cat will need me along their way; in their journey of finding their own forever home.

It is a lovely place and Oksana and Robb flipped for Muddy. I have no qualms in leaving him there but I cried when I left as I will miss my lap buddy so very much.

I have had Muddy on Petfinders for awhile. A few people have contacted me about wanting him,but it has never gone through. He remains here looking for his forever family. I believe, I might have just found the family for him and they will meet this beautiful long-hair tuxedo boy in a few days. They live in Eugene which is about 100 miles from us. They sound like the perfect fit- they only want one cat, they have a dog- Muddy loves our Ms.Brook.

I hope this goes through. Muddy is a sweet, lap kitty who doesn’t get much time on laps. Mom’s lap keeps moving all over the house and Pop’s lap is occupied either with Taylor or Totem. Muddy likes to lick chins and tries to stick his paw into your mouth. He’s done that since he first arrived here- he was 5 weeks old and near-death and now he is a healthy five year old male. He deserves his own family with laps that don’t move during the day.