Get Back to Living Your Life (Not!)

So I'm supposed to 'get back to living your life' - as the professionals who handle all these fire, insurance and renting things say - and I'm with the pets at a furnished, wall-to-wall carpeted townhouse with a lot of stairs because I said I have pets and no one will rent to me.  Finally someone said, we will for $$$$$.  I have the insurance coverage to fork over the $$$$$, and my dogs have been outside for 50 nights, and I've said 'yes' to every house that didn't have visible repairs made with duct tape and string.  Problem solved when the insurance company said OK.

No, problem temporarily solved.  30 days later, I'm living my life at work because that's where I think I should be Monday - Friday, and I get a call from my short-term company who collects the $$$$$.  The complex where the townhouse entered my unit and found pets.  I have to go.

Even though I did have a foster cat named Keyser Soze in the past, I'm not a criminal mastermind that can disappear after walking out of a police station with my SUV full of pets and their supplies, so I had a reality check with - I told you I have pets and other people in the complex have dogs (some also have 2) and other people have cats.

Not good enough, even though she admitted I had honestly rented and fully disclosed my pet head count when renting from them.  It's not them, it's the complex - and they hadn't thought they entered units 'at will'.  Yeah, I don't like this 'at will' thing either.  They didn't even lock the door when they left.  It was closed, but not locked.

Meanwhile, I can't repair and move home because the insurance company stubbornly thinks my house was a teardown with boarded up windows before the fire, so they're saying they're not paying to 'improve' the dwelling by replacing windows.  They also denied my request to winterize the house (drain the water from the pipes) because they don't think New Jersey ever has temperatures below freezing.  And if I do any work on the house they haven't pre-authorized, my fight for windows and drywall for where I used to have walls goes up in smoke.

It seems common sense to prevent pipes from freezing in an unheated house, but there's a lot of people from Sandy that either used their own savings, credit cards or an initial settlement amount,  and they started to get some work done because their houses were being taken over by mold.  Their insurance companies - home, flood and FEMA - then said any repair to their damaged house invalidated their outstanding claims.

After the lack of action on the part of the corporate, short-term housing experts last time, I started making calls on Day 3 of the Hunt for Somewhere to Live Part Deux.  Within an hour, I was speaking to a real estate agent who emailed me photos and showed me a house that evening.  I said 'yes' again, and since he already explained my situation to the homeowner he was ready with a lease.  I signed with the caveat that I need approvals from the insurance company because common sense seems alien to them, along with anyone giving a flying rat's ass that I will have nowhere to live again.

It's now Day 7 of the Search Part Deux - legally I'm now in a mess because the insurance company didn't give a 'yes' or 'no' within that 72 hour refusal period of the contract.  I'm antsy, and didn't settle for leaving voice mail so I kept picking up the phone and dialing.   What's the hold up?  Am I moving in 3 days or not?  Clock is ticking.  I need someplace to live.  If I can't live there, I want them finding me someplace because that's their profession not mine.  I know I'm a difficult case because my pets did survive the fire and I'm a cold-hearted bitch unwilling to cooperate and put them into a shelter (they have no clue about the definition of 'No Kill').  My pets are part of my family, and since I don't look for attractive pets they'll be euthanized if I go along with the professional advice on how to 'get back to living my life'.

Temp housing accomplished

Let me start off with the positives -

1. No person or animal was hurt or worse during the fire.

2. They are all still relatively well.

3. There is one company that will short-term rent to my family of one full-time adult, one part-time adult student, two dogs, and some cats (number varies due to foster adoptions)

After I consider all that, I suppose everything that follows is just aggravation.

One dog has to be retrained because he doesn't respect the gate after 50 nights of living outside.  I've had to crate him when I'm not present. He's good in the kitchen if I'm on the first floor with them.  I've restricted their 'hang with me' time because it seems to confuse the dog being crated.

I also have a third company that I'm not pleased with.  Since they have the contents of my house hostage right now, I'm grumbling about their shortfalls.  They were supposed to clean and pack a pile of items I made to take to the temp house.   A big pile of boxes formed while they worked, and I waited while wondering if I needed so much stuff - it hadn't looked like that much when I put it together.  I had a subset already with me where I was sleeping.

When the housing was finalized, they had said they'd move the items in their van.  Then when the time came, they backed out of it.  Inconvenient, and since the billing goes directly to the insurance company instead of to me - was that charged?  And because this was a professional relationship, my disappointment was greater because I'm used to personal acquaintances saying 'no' when I call them after they grab my hands in theirs and insist 'call me if you need anything'.  For some reason, I take that literally and call them.  I know, I know - it's only a saying that doesn't really mean anything.

I moved the pile, then began unpacking.  Then I had to unpack it all quicker because the stuff I was looking for wasn't there.  It could be in storage with everything else.  It could have been thrown away or stolen.  I won't know for months because I do not have access to the items put in storage until it's delivered back to my house.

It's stupid things, but I need some of them.  Like my printer - it made it, along with the USB cable that was attached to it.  But the power cord was removed, and I searched through all the boxes looking for it.  And I don't like getting lip about it must be my mistake when I put it on the pile - uh no, I unplugged it with all related wires and wound them once around the closed printer.  This one folded up into a nice rectangular cube with nothing sticking out.  And although I have another Canon printer and a box of spare cables, they were all packed up.   Amazon was more than happy for my purchase of a printer power cord and other little things that happened to be omitted.

What was in the rest of those boxes?  Well, in the lightest box ever were all the instruction manuals to my appliances that I had in a kitchen drawer wrapped in paper plus a lot of air.  I know I didn't request them.  Someone guessed I'd like to read about my dishwasher features while I'm washing dishes by hand daydreaming about moving home.  

The same stupid asses packed up every stuffed animal from my daughter's room to send with me.  Do I look like I need them?  She doesn't because she went to college without them.   Those are going back with the other eight boxes I already have repacked to go back to my house (I'll stick them in the attic to get them out of the way).

And you know why I think they did this shit on purpose?  To further aggravate me, my full boxes of cat litter had a hole stabbed in the bottom.    Lots left in them since I buy the 40# boxes, but it looks like someone shoved a screwdriver into the middle of the bottom through the tape into the plastic liner bags.  One box is an accident, two, three, and four is not.

They also misplaced the key to my house.  There's a lockbox on the front door, and when the next contractor visited, it was empty.  I had to leave work to admit him. They answered my question of 'where's the key?' with an accusation that I must have taken it.  

Update on Fire Aftermath

Actually there is no real update, and I am counting days since the fire on Day 0.

After the initial two weeks of hurry up and get over there to disarm and arm the alarm (electricity restored on Day 3), and lock things back up, besides making sure if they've removed a board from a window that it's replaced (not always done), nothing has happened in the past two due to waiting for the insurance company.

They have been to the house twice already - on Day 2 (ok to hire electrician to turn on power), and on Day 25 to confirm the adjuster's assessment on Day 2 regarding future structural work to restore.

Their initial structural adjuster on Day 2 talked about smoke in the hollow walls all the way up to the second floor. (I realize how lucky we were to catch the fire that quickly due to that tidbit about balloon construction used for over a century) 

Before any approvals can be given to do more than cut peepholes in the wall, another insurance company rep needs to inspect the house.  He has an appt for Day 35.

Even if I try to see it from their POV (point of view), this seems inefficient.  Let's say their initial person dispatched has no authority other than to say 'yep, it was a fire', the second one should have some assessment ability to report back to them and begin the approval process.

Also, I am using their chosen restoration contractor.  Do they distrust this company so much they need to do this many reinspections?  

There's also my sarcastic angle.  I was told this week I will be out of my house 6 to 12 months.  If they send two guys a month out to my house to stick a dry sponge in their peepholes that long, will they eventually come out clean?   When that happens, they say 'No further work needed other than some spackle and paint'?

I've also let my not-so-nice side out of the cage to talk on the phone since I'm 'definitely not satisfied' with the ability to utilize my loss of use coverage through a company that specializes in short-term disaster, emergency, corporate, and government leases for temporary furnished housing.

At first I was not sure how long I'd be out of my house, and I realize a dog-owner with cats would be difficult to place.  However, I expected at least ONE phone call or email for me to list preferences, quantity, or any dealbreakers at some point because I was told they would call me on Day 1.  They didn't.  They didn't call for many days.

This morning I rec'd a response to my 'not satisfied' ranting - Day 30.  I'm told expecting any query regarding my preferences would be premature because they need insurance company approval first.

Am I supposed to empathize with these bureaucratic buffoons because I know what it's like to have a place to live with all the comforts of home, including my pets?  But apparently since my life is not their life, these numbnuts prefer to dick around for a month.

Meanwhile my dogs have been sleeping outside for a month.  They made it to their golden or senior years without ever doing that for even one night.

Due to my reliance on these companies at this time, I am leaving their company names absent from this blog post, but I intend to edit them in later once I get a sliver of deplorable service out of all these slower-moving-than-a-glacier incompetents.  Future updates may reflect an improved level of service, but at the moment I'm not classifying the insurance company or temporary housing specialist as efficient or able.

My Free Time

OK, so this blog isn't about what I do at work during the day or even my PT job - though they may give me inspiration to write.  This blog is about me as an author, but since it'll come up on page 1 of a Google search I thought I'd clarify some of my recent posts.

My volunteer work takes up some time, and if you don't want to scroll around to find out - I foster kittens for an animal rescue group, take them to adoption events, and will take care of them till they're adopted.  There's no expiration date so they can stick around until they find their family.  There's a limit to how many I have in my house so it's not out of control as long as I'm on top of it. 

To some, this seems a waste of time because I'm not helping people in some way.  I used to do volunteer work with children, both at my daughter's school, and when I worked at a large corporation that formed a partnership with a middle school to mentor pre-teens. 

When I chose to volunteer my time to assist animals, it's due in part to my beliefs that they need help and that there's a combination of factors involving other people that put these animals in this position.  A short list would be abuse, abandonment, and lack of spay/neuter.

And to some people, these hours I spend helping animals isn't good enough.  I can accept that - universal adoration is not my goal in life.  There will be no pleasing some people, and I am not helping animals to try to please those that will never be satisfied.  I like the baby cats.  And my own cats.  And my dogs.  And my daughter too.  Some of them may like me outside of meal times.  Win-Win.

So back to the more objectionable part of my life.  I write.  I don't watch that much television any more.  I don't travel because of the animals.  I no longer play an MMO.  And I never got the thing about dancing drunkenly in the street while talking loudly, except to commend the individuals for choosing not to drive.  (those who know the city I live in might get this - at one time, the Rand McNally "Places Rated Almanac"  listed it as having the most taverns per capita in the U.S., 1 for every 218 residents)

When there's an event like National Novel Writing Month, it gives me a goal.  50,000 words in 30 days.  Quantity, not quality.   Not even first draft ready.

After the event is over, I mold those words.  For 2011 and 2012, I wrote some fan fiction to push my word count to a greater number after working on my original novel.  I post it for free on the internet.  I make no attempt at selling it because someone else created those characters.  It's my comfort food writing, and some people like reading it.

However, I can take the original characters and turn those into publishable work.  That's going to take months, but in the end my investment could lead to some income.  It will become latent or passive income because once it's published, it's a finished product.  I don't need to make monthly updates.  The royalties are direct deposited into my account.  So writing is a third job for me, and I'd like it to replace my second job one day.  Replace my primary job?  Let's wait on that.  I'm going to need to have a backlist of books first.  That's years at the rate I'm chugging along at.

Liking the idea of a goal, the third job of writing may one day produce a list of titles that will generate noticeable income allowing me to be more particular regarding my other work.  The ability to choose is important to me.

My ability to choose also goes into writing.  I write about topics I want because chasing trends and following formulaic plots doesn't seem that interesting.  There's no guarantee that writing something that's like what's been written before will equal actual dollars.  If I did that, I'd be in ReWrite X, maybe with an agent now, who would query publishers on my behalf or a possible publication date in 2014, rather than having The End of the World Sucks out there as an indie published piece.  It's making money today, shaking with this mama gave it.

Considering writing to be a third job is putting me and my family (I die, and the rights go to my estate) before the needs of others.  When I go to my other jobs, I believe that is the same situation.  I work hourly to get paid.  When I write, it's a self-employment opportunity, and the hours invested are not translated into a livable wage.

I really don't get why people need to be so vocal about what they expect others to do when I'm not too sure what they're doing regarding making the world a better place other than giving others grief.

Cool It Nerd

Hey,

I backed out a couple of recent blog posts because I'm reentering the job market for a full-time job since my contractor job that's been extended a few times already is now out of funding :^(

I like it there and I've liked working at other places, but it's not solely up to me.

So I thought I'd better restate in politer terms what I had posted regarding National Novel Writing Month before anyone thinks I wig out.  No, there's things that go through people's minds, but they don't say or act upon them.

I think Chris Christie put it the month in perspective for those outside New Jersey -
“Now we’ve got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for – we’re plenty tough and now we have a little more reason to be angry after this. Just what we need in New Jersey, a chance to be a little more angry.”

During the month of November, I was participating in National Novel Writing Month.  I did not get off to a great start because I was writing with a pen in a notebook, usually at night by flashlight and candlelight while monitoring the stove to heat up my house with steam.  I had no power for a while, but I was able to contact both jobs and get some hours.  Both are hourly, so if I don't work, I don't get paid. Sandy and Thanksgiving were not helpful to my bottom line.  I did not have much loss compared to others so I know I'm lucky. 

I did not travel to somewhere else with better facilities, like a hotel, because I have pets and foster animals in my house.  In an emergency, shelters will take us in, and I do have carriers and a vehicle that can hold them all.  I am prepared to a degree, but it was easier last year with Irene to have an evac plan with an older, driving teenager in the house (at college now) and a storm that wasn't 800 miles wide.  So I lived at home, went to work, and left early enough to return while there was still daylight.

There was also the maneuvers to gas up the car.  I started with a full tank so I wasn't involved in the initial panic, but once I started travelling to work sites, I needed to pay attention to the odd/even days and get in line.

After I visited Union Beach to help with clean up at a feral cat sanctuary and the person's home, I was settling back into a schedule and that included my free time activities.  On my evenings off, I sometimes go to programs or meetings for writers.  In November, a lot were scheduled so after checking to see that a particular library was open and the program was not cancelled - I went.

I was the only person that showed up.  I went to the librarian desk at the start time and asked, and she said it wasn't cancelled and asked me to wait to see if other people showed up.

Well, there was an angry mom hanging around the library who overheard me inquire about the National Novel Writing Month event.  Her mind was made up that November as National Novel Writing Month should have been cancelled if it wasn't already.  I was a *bleep* for participating when so many people were suffering.  And there's schools that have been washed away that I should be rebuilding.

Her mind was made up without knowing anything about me, or that National Novel Writing Month is a worldwide event. I doubt she was even aware of the volunteer needs of the unnamed washed away schools because if I think it over, I would not want my child going to a school that was rebuilt the same way an Amish barn is raised.  Without planning, skilled labor and the right materials, the new building may be unsafe.  Also, what am I supposed to do in the dark to rebuild a school, or is she insisting people no longer go to work if their workplace is open? 

I also did not observe her children in tow - she was flying solo, enjoying the heat, lights and internet, but they may have been left in the children's section of the library which also rubs me the wrong way.   The librarians are there to assist, but they aren't babysitters to give mom time to go pick a fight in another part of the library.

Anyway, the result was I wasted my time and gas going there, but the thing that ticked me off more was judgmental mom who doesn't possess the ability to keep her opinion to herself.  Anything I said about sand, mud, lives on the curbs - not good enough.  If I'm not working to get her kids out of the house during the day, I'm not doing shit.

I do consider writing a third job - or some may say a hobby that produces money.  I've already heard about making the big bucks on eBay by visiting garage sales or becoming a distributor ... I'd rather write.

St. Francis Feline Fellowship

I also blog for a cat rescue group, and since this is an update on why I'm not churning out the word for National Novel Writing Month - I've done some mud mucking besides bleaching the crap out of things.

On Saturday (or Caturday), a group of SARA volunteers with power troubles that barred our normal adoption afternoons went down to Union Beach, NJ to help St. Francis Feline Fellowship.

Union Beach, N.J. on Raritan Bay is a community hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy.  Even two weeks later, not all traffic lights are operational on Route 36.  One of the banks has a truck set up in their parking lot as a mobile banking center.  There were signs flashing alongside the road with info on where to get food, water, and ice.

NJ.com and News 12 have both picked up that Union Beach is a community that needs rebuilding.  From Tomas Dinges of NJ.com:

The night of the storm the wind-driven tidal surge swept into homes with violent force, crashing through locked doors and carefully sealed windows and tearing through living rooms, hallways, bedrooms and kitchens.

Walls ripped from foundations and two-story houses sheared in half. Brook Avenue and Front Street became roads of ruin, with homes like Stenquist’s reduced to concrete and wooden rubble.

Between 200-300 were knocked off their foundations or rendered uninhabitable, authorities say. More than 100 houses are simply missing from the tightly knit community of 6,200 that lives in the tiny town of one square mile.

Houses that weren’t obliterated were flooded, the water cresting at eight feet, then draining away, taking with it anything that floated.

St. Francis Feline Fellowship is located at a residence that still exists.  Repairs are needed to the residence, and while I was out there Saturday, FEMA came by twice to take pictures and notes.  Even though that'll help later, the primary home insurance adjustor has not visited.  The second step is the flood insurance, then FEMA's assistance will be last. In addition to the house, Sue's car was floated onto the front porch and considered totalled.

In addition to the personal loss, Sue realized that the storm surge was higher than it had ever been in Union Beach.  She stated her house never had this kind of flooding.

There is a cat sanctuary on the property.   It was recently built, and has an interior section with heat and air conditioning.   Feral cats were being sheltered in it, including a cat that was at my house for two years waiting for a sanctuary spot to open up.

Sanctuary - didn't think to take a pic till I was taking a break

Sue evacuated as many cats as she could from the sanctuary that night, in the dark and in chest-deep water.  They were crowded together on a high shelf, needing her help to reach somewhere safer.  Grabbing feral, scared cats is not easy, and even though Sue has practice handling difficult cats, the only thing that mattered was getting the cats out of this shelter.  Not a single cat was injured or lost.

Shelf, after I cleared out everything else

What I worked on Saturday was getting the sanctuary shelter cleared out, cleaning it, and getting it ready for the cats to return to their normal home. 

Out of the cat supplies, a great deal was lost.  Any soft furniture was waterlogged, cat trees with particle board bases was considered totaled, even if it did not come apart because of possibiilty of mold or mildew, blankets and towels were saturated with mud, and full bags of dry cat food had become wet.

There was a second small building that was used for recovery for any ill cats or those needing surgery, including spay/neuters.  There were more materials lost from that building as well. 

St. Francis Feline Fellowship needs donations - there is a donation button on the web site.  It's also 501(c)3, like Summit Animal Rescue.  It might seem odd one rescue group pointing at another, but St. Francis is similar to SARA, but also different.  Sue does more TNR, socializing cats that may seem unadoptable, and will sanctuary a limited number of ferals that have nowhere to go.

I have no hands-on experience with TNR work, and I've only socialized a few somewhat feral kittens.  Morticia's, currently a resident in Sue's sanctuary.

Morticia

Sandy

Just a quick blog entry to say, yes, I live on the Jersey coast facing Staten Island, and not much got broken at my house.  The stray roof shingles I saw falling outside my window on Monday afternoon were from someone else’s house one street over, and they were in the middle of a project so it’s not like they lost their roof just before the worst of the storm hit.

I have no power, internet, heat, or phone (either) service when I’m at home.  I can do some things at work, but when I’m at work, I’m trying to work :^)  So I just wanted to briefly post something in case someone’s inquiring.

I’m fine, the pets are fine, and I’ve sawed the tree branches into easily handled hunks of wood.

Less than a week till November (National Novel Writing Month)

My head's been in planning mode for November and writing more Vanna and Thanos.

November 1st seems closer than it is because I attended a NaNo kickoff party this week.  It was scheduled on Oct. 23rd by the library because there's some other events next week.

I added a NaNo counter on the site here (<- to the left), but it might not take off quickly because I've already been scheduled to work at the second job on November 1st.  I also worked both jobs last year so I think I'm good, but I shouldn't be staying up late on Oct. 31st to start writing as soon as the clock strikes midnight. 

I've also been doing some tweaking on Neferseshotep before I put him aside for the month, unless I write like the wind, complete a novel in less than 30 days, and then can return to writing super-powered fantasy.

My book signing was nice.  I didn't sell out of books, I didn't sell half my books, but I did get a bump on my Amazon rank over the weekend so was it due to me talking to someone?  I also talked about National Novel Writing Month because I had a six foot table and only one title.  I added a selection of NaNo and Young Writer Program flyers to the front side.

Since I also set-up on Friday for the Pet Adoption Fair, I picked the tablecloth color that went best with my book cover. 

Wednesday Addams

Joining me at the table were two foster cats - Miss Wednesday Addams and Mr. ZuZu.  As you can see, I wasn't kidding around about being queen of black cats.


My other fosters were on the table next to us so I could easily answer any questions regarding their awesomeness, or tell off my mama's boy for sitting around with one eye closed like a furry little drama king.

ZuZu

Update: Pet Adoption Fair Flyer

The flyer for the Pet Adoption Fair - if only I had waited one more day :^)

I'm one of the things not mentioned, but that's OK.  It's about the animals, and maybe the bake sale.

Pet Fair With Book Signing - Oct 20 and 21, Scotch Plains, NJ

I have a book signing planned in a couple weeks at Parker Gardens’ Pet Fair Weekend.  No, I didn’t write a pet book, but my foster cats will be there, and I was asked so once I also knew the other author in the group who actually wrote a children’s book about cats was invited, I said ‘sure’.  I am the chauffer for my ninja cat attack squad (most of my fosters are black cats), or maybe a better description is I drive the getaway car.

Parker Gardens is located at 1325 Terrill Road, Scotch Plains, NJ.  The Pet Fair is 11am – 3pm on October 20 and 21. There will be hay rides, a hay slide, and a maze.  Also, I have been to Parker Gardens before, and they have a huge selection of fall decorations besides plants. For the Pet Fair itself, there’s the cat rescue group I’m involved with on-site both days with cats taking applications for adoptions, and I believe there will be one dog group there on Saturday, and a second one on Sunday.  There are information sessions such as pet CPR, a pet communicator, and ‘Ask the Vet’. There will be a bake sale fundraiser for us too.

My delay in posting this here, since I was asked in September, is I’m trying to get my hands on the flyer.  That would be nice, and the Pet Fair’s not about me signing my book and talking about National Novel Writing Month and the Young Writer’s Program (under 17, can do less than 50,000 words).   The Pet Fair was not ideally timed to get anyone fired up about writing in November – it’s just a happy coincidence. 

There is another event in November with the NJ Greyhound Rescue group at the Westfield Armory (in New Jersey).  I’m not iffy about attending it, but I need coming-home info from my daughter in college, in case I’m driving to pick her up.  That’s 10 hours for one round-trip – in November – during National Novel Writing Month.  Not to lay any guilt on her because if it’s when I would be at a pet adoption event, I can’t say I get much writing done at those either.

Sick Cats

I’m busy in a depressing way. 

Still working as a contractor – so that’s good.  And my part-time job is scheduling me for distant jobs.  Don’t work – don’t get paid.

Last week one of my foster kitties developed an odd problem.  He was listless, lying around, and his back legs were shaking.  I was upset recalling how two young brothers I had died separately from heart failure in the past year and a half.  It was very painful to them.

A steroid shot and antibiotics cleared up my mama’s boy after a few days, but I don’t know what kind of infection it could be.  Contagious?  His three brothers that still live with me are fine.

And then my own cat, a large senior tuxedo, had a swollen bottom lip on one side, with gum swelling and discoloration.  They extracted some teeth, put a stitch in where a canine was removed, and gave me antibiotics and pain medication to give him while I waited a week for a pathology report.  The sudden swelling could be caused by an infection on top of a tumor in his jaw.

The pathology came back as only a bad infection, and I need to take his crankiness back to get the stitch removed.  He’s been crying at night – he’s the only one in my house that meows that deep.

And she's back to talking about the cats

Back to the cats because that makes me as attractive as writing about math.
I am involved with a cat rescue group.  I’d rate myself as Crazy Cat Lady, as opposed to CRAZY Cat Lady.   I currently have an embarrassing number of cats in the house, besides my one cat and two dogs.  Number unspecified on purpose ;^)

Anyway, every time I want to say ‘no’, there’s some sad story and these little guys end up fostered in my house.

I have a bottle baby from 2007 that was left in a cardboard box marked ‘free kittens’ outside a grammar school.  The girls in it were only two weeks old, so not on solid food yet.  I have another lady cat that was born at my local Petco in 2008.  Her mother was left in a cat carrier in the back of the store giving birth, and I got a call to go pick them up.

There’s a neurologically impaired cat that visited my house that likes hanging beneath my desk and fighting shadows in the bath tub.  She's gone back to her original foster house to have more opportunity to be observed.  She may be developing more problems, and I'm not home enough (a job and a half outside the home) to give her the attention she needs.

So last year, I was minding my own business on a Friday morning when I got an email regarding bottle baby kittens with a dead mother in Newark, and through the back and forth the story kept getting worse – the mother was poisoned, maybe with antifreeze, one kitten was already dead, they thought there was three kittens left and someone was on their way to get them and bring them to me.  I got all worked up because the rest of the kittens could die on me if they had the milk from the mother after she drank the antifreeze.  Well, I took one adult cat to an adoption that night, and the delivery was made – it wasn’t three kittens, it was seven!  Not all of them have found a home yet, so I have these wild teenage cats that think I’m their mama all over me.  They’re very loving, so I’m not sure why their fur-ever home is taking so long.

The good thing about this rescue group (and many others) is there’s no time limit put on these cats finding a home.  They’ll stay with us, get fed, live in a warm house, go to the vet, and go to adoption events till that special person finds them.