Friends, I have to say that I just can't believe what happened tonight. Barb, Sue, and the Other Sue were at the shelter to welcome two new volunteers. So Barb asked the Other Sue to run over to KFC and get a big bucket of chicken for us. I was thrilled! In case you don't know, chicken is my "thing." I love chicken. I live for chicken. I dream of chicken. It can be fried, baked, broiled, grilled, roasted, with or without gravy. It can be white or dark meat, I don't care. I just love chicken. So the Other Sue comes in with this ginormous bucket of chicken. Being the complete gentleman that I am, I help her into the office/meeting room and you'll never guess what happened next. Are you ready for this? I got picked up and unceremoniously closed into the Queen's room! Can you believe it?! I'm still stunned. All that chicken and they threw me out! After all the hard work I do around the shelter, and I wasn't even invited to stay for dinner. In fact, I was rudely moved to another part of the house. I think I'm now suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I doubt I'll ever be the same. I'll be in therapy for months . . . maybe years. Oh the humanity . . .

*sigh* Well, let me get to why I'm blogging tonight. We have a couple of events coming up, and I wanted to let everyone know where we're gonna be. First, this coming Saturday, Barb will be at the Marriot East (21st and Shadeland) with the Starbase Indy folks for a Relax-a-Con! This is a free event, and it's a must-attend for anyone who loves sci-fi and fantasy. There'll be vendors and food (probably chicken . . .); it'll be lots of fun! And next Wednesday, please join us at the Barking Dog Cafe at 49th and Penn for an afternoon and early evening with Mrs. Claus. Now, this is gonna be a very cool event. Mrs. Claus will be outside, reading a special kitty-related Christmas book, and you can bring your dog (or cat or iguana . . . or chicken) to have his or her picture taken with Mrs. Claus!! There will be special hot drinks available, and if you don't have a dog with you, you can sit inside and enjoy a wonderful dinner (maybe chicken)! Part of the days' proceeds will go to Cats Haven, and the pictures will be $7. That includes the pic, a decorative sleeve, and all handling/mailing costs. And you can even purchase a copy of Mrs. Claus' book for a mere $10! Part of those sales will also benefit the shelter. A big Thank You goes out to the Barking Dog for sponsoring this event, and to Mrs.Claus for taking time out of her busy day. 

In other shelter news, I'm very sad to report that we lost Paquita and Blue Ice on Sunday. Paquita was a spinal injury kitty who had made great strides in the last year or so. She was a good friend to all of us, and we will miss her terribly. Blue Ice was a Siamese gal who was dumped by a backyard breeder, along with her brother Prism. Ice had been in declining health for several weeks. Thank you to Dr. Myra who made a special trip to the shelter to let these two beautiful girl kitties cross with dignity and kindness. 

I want to send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to my friend Christine Jeschke from Spay Neuter Services, Indiana. Christine was just offered the position of Director of Operations at the Humane Society of Indianapolis, and she accepted!!! Woo Hoo!!!! Christine will in part be working to get the Wellness Center at HSI up and running as a low-cost spay/neuter clinic! HSI has made some very positive changes in recent months, and the addition of Christine is just one more positive step. Christine is such a babe. If she weren't married, I'd invite her over to bring chicken and share it with me. I know I'd share my chicken with her . . . hmph.

It sounds like Barb has gone to bed. It's quiet upstairs. And Miranda put the kittens to bed a couple of hours ago. I'll bet there is at least one piece of left-over chicken in the frig. I mean, could those women have eaten all that chicken in the ginormous bucket?  Certainly not. It looked like there were at least ten or twelve whole birds in that bucket. And cold chicken is better than no chicken. I'm just one door away from that refirgerator. All I have to do is get the door opened . . . Okay, gotta go . . . - Raspberry

Hi again, friends. I just got done updating our events calendar, and we are going to be busier than ever this year!! It looks like we've got one event after another coming up, and I don't know where I'm gonna find the time to plan all of this, take care of the kittens, do all the paperwork here, keep the shelter neat and clean . . . oh, boy. I'm gonna be one tired little orange cat before it's all said and done and Christmas day is finally here!!I'm gonna need more catnip . . . But check  out the calendar and be sure to attend as many events as you can! Barb will have lots of our, er I mean her Gypsy Cat jewelry at The Gathering of Artists this coming weekend. It's a very cool event, so do stop by if you can!

The Christmas Gift and Hobby Show was a roaring success this year. Thank you to everyone who came out to see the kitties and who either purchased stuff from the booth or left a donation. And huge thanks and hugs go out to everyone who volunteered to staff the booth. Thanks to Diane, Martha, September and her daughter, Rebecca, Sue, Chris, Kylee and friends, and to Linda, Sonya, Dzana, and David for making sure the shelter was neat as a pin when Barb came home each day. Vicki, I sure hope you're feeling better. If I could have gotten away, I would have brought some chipmonk broth and hot cat grass tea to you. It works every time here at the shelter when one of us is under the weather. And Miranda's chipmonk broth is the best! She takes fresh chipmonk and . . . well, I'll give you her recipe another time. And thank you to Zippy, Annie Sullivan, and that pesky Polo guy for coming out and representing all of their friends in the shelter and in foster care. 

We've had several adoptions recently, but I can't find all the paperwork to let you know who found their forever homes. I've got to get this office cleaned up, but congratulations to everyone who found their families! On a sad note, we lost our little Sphinx this past week. She was a teenaged mom who had her litter in a trap last summer, and very sadly she joined other kitties on the other side. I'm going to miss her adorable little face, but I guess I can take comfort in knowing that she was loved, fed, and cared for. I get choked up just thinking about her . . . 

Annie Sullivan and her pesky little brother Polo have been out and about making personal appearances. Most recently, Polo was a guest on Radio Brownsburg and talked about adoptions, keeping pets safe during the holiday season, and special-needs kitties. Polo's next personal appearance will be on December 1 when he goes to the WRTV Channel Six studios to tape our annual Toy Drive segment. Again this year, Cats Haven is participating in the Toy Drive, and we'd like to invite all of you to participate, too! You can buy a toy and drop it off at the shelter, and we'll take it to the television station with us on December 1. The toys don't have to be pricy or big; just new and unwrapped. Kevin Gregory will take all of these toys and make sure they get to deserving children for Christmas. And I'll let everyone know when our segment will air so you can all see Barb, the Other Sue, and Polo on TV! 

The Other Sue told me a couple of days ago that plans are already underway for a 2009 Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure Kitties for Ti**ies team! Yup, we're gonna do it again, hopefully bigger and better this next year. The date for the Race is April 19th, so even though it's cold, windy, and rainy outside now, just keep your eye on April when the weather will be warm and sunny. It'll be here before you know it! And so will Thanksgiving, which is one of my favorite holidays. I'm already smelling Miranda's turkey and giblet gravy . . . mmm mmm mmm! 

I better get this office organized and cleaned up. It looks like a tornado went through here and I can't find any of my paperwork that I'm supposed to be working on this afternoon.  So have a great week, everyone, and I'll blog again to let everyone know about Thanksgiving at the shelter! - Raspberry