My First Blogiversary

Today is my first blogiversary. I can’t believe a year has gone by so quickly. And what a year it’s been! Better get comfy because this blog’s gonna be a little on the long side. MOL!

Here’s a partial list:

My sweetie Curzon

1. Joined Twitter, Fursbook, and Facebook and started blogging.
2. Gained over 1,000 Twitter followers, 246 Facebook friends, and almost 100 regular blog readers.
3. Wrote 97 blogs here and a couple over at Anipals Read.
4. Tweeted over 13,5000 tweets. (I’m a real chatterbox, aren’t I?)
5. Met tweeters from all over the world and made tons of amazing friends.
6. Sadly, had a bunch of friends go OTRB.
7. Wrote (well, edited) a book. More about that later.
8. Adopted a shelter to help support (still working on how to do that effectively).
9. Went to Blogpaws West 2010.
10. Stayed in a hotel!
11. Went lots of cool places in my stroller.
12. Met some of my twitter friends live and in person.
13. Went out to dinner at a restaurant. How many kitties can say they’ve been to a restaurant?
14. Been interviewed for Cats Who Twitter and Anipal Times.
15. Adopted two fursibs, Candy & EK.
16. Joined #pinkangels and got a cool Hello Kitty motorcycle.
17. Became a barktender for #nipclub & #pawpawties.
18. Got an even cooler vehicle - a Lamborghini Gallardo.
19. Had a hareem for a while, but now I got a sweetie - Curzon from @UsCoons.
20. Was bridesmaid in a wedding and am going to be in another one.
21. Attended lots of pawties.
22. Won mountains of super cool prizes.
23. Got Toki Poki cards and traded them with my friends.
24. Got to wear lots of cool costumes.
25. Was nominated for an Anipal Academy Award (but didn’t win).



Candy & EK

26. Entered the 2011 Teddy Olympics.

And that’s just what I can think of right now. I know there’s stuff I’m forgetting.

Most of my blogs have been about fun stuff and exciting adventures, but there have been a few serious ones, too. And I’m gonna get serious now for a little bit. As you all know, I keep trying to raise funds to help out Duncan’s Place (http://duncansplace.org/), which is where Candy and EK came from . I’ve put up a chip-in to raise some money for them. They do so much for the cats in their care and for the community and I really want to do whatever I can to help them. If you can see your way clear to donate, even just $1, please do so. 

Another way you can donate is by getting a copy of ‘Summer at the Lake with Petie’. My good pal @BlindMaximus was kind enough to write a blog about it and to put a link to my chip-in on his site. How amazing is that? @Rumblepurr is also helping. He has a link to my book on his blog. If I’ve missed anyone who still has a link up, please let me know. I want to make sure everyone who’s helping me gets mentioned. 

I’m gonna really push the book here for a minute, because of the way the website where I sell the books works. There has to be $25 in my account before they’ll cut a check. What goes in the account is the difference between the cost of the book and how much extra I added on to have to donate to Duncan’s Place. I’m short by about 4 books worth in order to get paid. It was 6 books worth, but @BlindMaximus bought a copy in addition to blogging about it, and @iamDaisyDoo bought a copy to donate for a prize for the next #pawpawty. Anipals really are the best pals. So I’m really hoping that at least 4 of you will order books so I can get one last check to donate.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for - the Giveaway! A while back I won a wonderful prize package from the folks at Nutro. It was very similar to this one:

It took a while until we actually got to eat the Nutro Natural Choice food that was in the prize because of Candy’s tummy problems, but we finally got to try it a couple weeks ago. We loved it!

Even more important, it doesn’t upset Candy’s tummy. We think the food is soooo good and you know how we love Greenies, so I wanted someone else to have a chance at the same wonderful prize package. I asked @EdnaAtNutro and the wonderful folks at Nutro if it would be possible to arrange one for my blogiversary. The answer was yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So it is my pleasure to offer you a chance at this package full of fun and yum. Here’s the particulars:

1. Anyone is welcome to enter for the drawing, but the prize is a cat prize.
2. Apologies to my pals outside the U.S.A., but the winner has to be in the U.S.A.

Here’s how you enter.

1. Go to the Nutro (www.Nutro.com) site and pick which formula of Nutro Natural Choice you’d like.
2. Go to the Greenies (www.greenies.com) site and pick which flavor of Feline Greenies Dental Treats you’d like
3. Leave a comment saying you want to be in the drawing and telling me which flavors you’d like.

The last step is the most important. I know lots of pals who are not entering will also leave comments, so make sure to tell me you're entering the drawing.

Comments left by April 30th will qualify for the drawing. After the 30th, I’ll throw all the names in a magic internet hat and pull out the winner. The winner be announced May 8th. Good luck!

The Zen of Max

One of the anipals I talk to regularly and whose blog I never miss is @maxthequiltcat. I love Max's Mousey cartoons and couldn't wait for each new chapter of his mystery story. When I found out his mom, Lou Belcher, wrote a book about him, 'The Zen of Max' I couldn't wait to get it. I was so excited that I was lucky enough to win a copy of 'The Zen of Max' at the last pawpawty.

'The Zen of Max' is a very heartwarming book. It's about Lou and Max, how they found each, learned from each other, and shared their lives. But all books about pets and their people have that same basic plot. What makes each book unique are the personalities of the people and pets involved, and how the writer tells their story. Well Max and Lou definitely have interesting personalites and Lou really knows how to tell a story.

I enjoyed learning things I didn't know about Max. For example, I did not know that Max was tweeting and blogging from over the Rainbow Bridge. Max had already crossed the bridge when I met him, and I don't think it was ever talked about when we tweeted or in his blog. At least not that I had noticed. I didn't know that Max had moved from one state to another. I don't even like the short ride to the park. I can't imagine driving from one state to another. I also loved learning about Max's idiosyncrasies.

This book is a must read. I give it a definite paws up!

Thankful Thursday

So far I've sold 34 copies of Summer at the Lake with Petie. Today I received my first payment in the amount of $119. I haven't been paid for all the copies yet so there's more money coming (but not until next month)! I took great joy in going to Duncan's Place and clicking on their donate button and donating that money. As both Blurb.com and Duncan's Place both use Paypal, it was very easy.

Ordering is very easy, too. Just click on the picture below and it will take you to the order page!

The deadline for ordering in time for Christmas in the U.S. is December 12. Blurb.com delivers all over the world, so don't think you can't order if you live outside the U.S.

Thank you to everyone who has or is going to order Summer at the Lake with Petie. And Happy Holidays to all!

Anipals Read!

I've been quite busy this week helping out with a very exciting project! Those of you who attended the last #readpawty know that we decided that we should put together a way for us anipals to share books. @MaggieTKat, @MizzBassie, @Mariodacat, and I had lots of discussions about how it should be put together. Once we decided on the format, I put together a spreadsheet in Googledocs where we can list the books we have for sharing and keep track of who has what books.

The first step was setting up a gmail account for #readpawty where everyone could send their emails and so we had a google account to host the spreadsheet. Then I set up the spreadsheet. Then we got to talking some more, and one thing led to another. Well, the 'another' was a new blog just for #readpawty - Anipals Read. I had lots of fun putting that together. Blogger has lots of cool stuff built in. I even found a background that's a picture of shelves full of books - perfect for a book club blog. @MaggieTKat is working on moving #readpawty stuff from Kruse Kats to the new blog.

Then I decided to make a badge for Anipals Read that pals could put on their own blogs that would link back to the Anipals Read. I knew how to make a picture with a link, but I didn't know how to add the code so pals could copy it. @Rumblepurr to the rescue! He sent me sample code I could use as a base to make the badge.







Copy and paste the code below to add this button to your blog

<center><a href="http://readpawty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Anipals Read"><br><br><img alt="Visit the#readpawty blog" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_BQZVBTBg_TQ/TGMqj6NIeVI/AAAAAAAAABI/Yf-CqByiZkE/s144/books%20public%20domain.jpg" /><br />Visit the #readpawty blog!</a></center>
This has truly been a team effort. It was fun collaborating with everyone and getting this put together. And now my part in this is mostly done. @Mariodacat has volunteered to keep up the book swap list. And of course, @MaggieTKat will continue to be mistress of #readpawty and keep up the blog, just at the new site. Maybe as we come up with new things we want to add I'll work on design. But everything is pretty much set until we figure out what works and what needs to change.

I hope you will all go visit Anipals Read and join us for the next #readpawty.