Happy New Year!

Damn it is 2009! and I am ever so grateful….

Although it started out awful, I spend New Years Eve puking my brains out and it was not even alcohol induced, what fun is that!  I had the damn flu!  Just now getting back to my normal self, if there is such a thing.  

But things since the ring in of 2009 thing have already climaxed….. Leave it to me to get a new job in this horrible economy without even looking!  A promotion even, with a fantastic agency, less costly benefits, a raise, and managing a group of people I know (for the most part) and already have established relationships, not to mention the impact that the program has on our community!  I am so excited and terrified at the same time.  (Being terrified only means that I am anxious to do a good job.)  I am ever so grateful for having friends & acquaintances who believe that I am a capable, compassionate  and confident leader; over the years I have been fortunate to experience many growth opportunities thanks to this network of individuals.     

And Woody, the ever so adorable being below now resides with us.  We adopted him just before Christmas from the Community Cat Connection, the shelter where I volunteer and sit on the board.  

Woody has brought much love and odor into our lives, yes I said odor.  He is assaultive with his affections, demanding and persistent.  He loves to sit on my lap and knead, he usually goes for the boobs, I am after all his new mumma, but damn he has the biggest paws and claws of any cat I have ever owned.  He also has some problems with gas, stinky, smelly, offensive toots.  Have you ever met a cat that farts?  We we now are owned by one.  We are researching the cause and how we might be able to resolve the gas.  Probably a food issue.  It is on the checklist for his first vet visit with us.  Oh and he doesn’t meow, he quacks like a duck, is 15lbs (huge) and drools when he gets excited.

Hence all his Nicknames:  Duckman, Sirdroolsalot, stinky boy, the Tunaeater (say it like Arnold Schwarzenegger), Quackman,  Sweaterman (he looks like he is wearing a sweater), the boobymonster….. and the list goes on and on and on….

Woody’s transition into our home is very slow, with the ever so dominant female Boo who rules the roost not yet accepting his presence.  So for now he is set up in the finished basement with his own pad, toys, scratching post, beds and bathroom.  We call it his bachelor pad.  From all the reading I have done, slow transitions are the most successful transitions with hostile territorial first pets in the home.   Woody comes upstairs and watches TV with us, snuggles in bed and wanders the house under our watchful eyes, but does not yet have full access to the house when we are not present and engaged in his supervision.  Someday though, time, it will take time. 

Anyway, Happy New Year to you and yours; 2009 the year of CHANGE, for me, for you, and hopefully for the whole country.  It is going to be a good year for us all, I can feel it, can you?

Namaste 

Oscar went to his Forever Loving Home today!

Congratulations Oscar!

Last night, at the end of my shift at the Community Cat Connection H and I said “goodbye” and “congratulations” to Oscar the cat.  For today he went to his forever loving home.

All of us volunteers at the CCC will miss Oscar.  He came into us after having endured some extremely traumatic conditions of severe abuse and won all of our hearts. (see earlier post)  He is such a gentle and loving soul he will make his new “mom” very happy.  

This is what I love about the volunteer work that I do at the shelter.  Now, you think it would be sad to say goodbye to a cat or kitten that you have gotten “attached” to or “bonded” with, and I will not say that it is not a little tug at my heart.  But it makes me thrilled to learn when I go in for my shift each week to discover that one or more have been adopted and gone home.  That is what we are about, rescuing cats & kittens from bad environments (whether it be abandonment, surrender, abuse, neglect, or stray) and finding them PERMANENT homes to love, protect, nurture and respect for the remainder of their lives whether they be 10 weeks or 8 years.   I thrive on the sense of hope that all of our cats, even the “old unadoptable” ones will someday go home.  

I have learned in the short time at the shelter that for most people, the real cat people who know cats, when you walk into the CCC to “adopt a cat”, you do not pick out a cat because they are pretty or cute, truly, the cat choses to adopt you and deep in your heart both you and the cat know that you have found “the one”, your pet, your new “family”.

I love my work at the Community Cat Connection, yes even scooping the poop.  I now am privileged to sit on the Board of Directors.  As an all volunteer operated organization we are doing pretty good, we are developing business plans, working on sustainability and everyday we become a more stable respected organization.  However, we are far from hiring staff, having an investment account, and a multi million dollar facility, but I have confidence that we will get there someday.  It is an honor to work side by side with the humane, dedicated and loving team of CCC volunteers, the CCC Family. 

But we cannot do it all alone! If you are able please consider contributing to our humble little shelter.  Money is a good thing, but we also accept donations in the form of cat food, litter, toys, hand sanitizer, beds, bleach and laundry supplies, paper towels etc……  We are also selling Cookbooks and Calendars, they make great gifts (we even take Pay-Pal online).  Community Cat Connection, Webster Massachusetts.      

Your assistance would allow us to continue to help cats like Oscar find their home.