Hi all, Just wanted to let you know I clipped the coupons in this Sunday's paper as assigned by Oprah on August 20th. I'm happy to help where I can, but you were right - the coupons in Sunday's paper were for pretty low-nutrition foods. I did find some for peanut butter, nuts, canned fruit, pasta and tuna though. I'll go shopping this week for these items and drop them off at the food pantry. I can't help but think donating some money would be more helpful - since I'm sure the non-profit organization knows how to stretch a dollar further than I'll be able to, even with these coupons. (Oh, please excuse the hair and the pajamas - my husband didn't tell me quite how much of a "schlumpadinka" I looked when he snapped this photo!)
And also - we adopted a kitten from a shelter (the Tree House in Chicago). Of course, everyone knows Oprah is a dog fancier, but all she wanted us to do was adopt our next pet from a place that didn't buy from "mills" and to follow some simple guidelines. Since we had some choice in the matter, we chose a feline friend to join our current cat. That's the Oprah-excitement for the weekend. Talk to y'all on Monday.
Best,
LO
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26 comments:
Cute kitten! I hope it works out well. I adopted a cat from a shelter about a year ago, and she still doesn't get along with my roommate's cat. But, I would not trade her for the world - daily cat fights and scuffles and all.
yo wandering coyote - so far, we haven't let them out at the same time. my resident cat is hissing less that yesterday (OY!) - the shelter told us to expect it. we're doing what the so-called experts say and hopefully it'll work out. it's suppose to take a month or so until we finally allow them to be together in the same room, depending on their progress. oh what fun! good luck with your cat as well - daily scuffles make me nervous! xoLO
Lady, I saw a link to you and I had to come, mostly on a lark. I was/am quite impressed with what you're doing, I actually read you're whole blog so far this evening, wow! My mom used to drive me NUTS with "Oprah says.." and "Oprah does..." and I always wondered just how much of her stuff was just commercial bunk, I mean, if her way is right then we all should be multimillionaires after following her path, right? Healthy, perfectly content and balanced, strong and decent... Oh, and we'd have lots of shoes and containers...
Sadly though, I don't think weight management is her forte, I'm not putting her down, I think she'd be gross all thin, but she seems to have a handle on everything but her body, the poor thing. I can empathize, I have Crohn's and its real bad. Its not easy to make your cells just shape up or ship out.
Anyhow, you hooked me, I'm here for the long haul. Your cat is sweet too! I just got one from my sister a month ago. I didn't get him from a shelter but I saved hm from one - do you think Oprah would approve?
Great blog.
*blush* apparently my grammar is flawed tonight, I just took my night meds,...
"you're whole blog" should have read "your whole blog", sorry... codeine is grand but somewhat confusing at times ;-)
Congratulations on the newest family member! All of our animals came from shelters or were homeless. We have seven cats and just give it some time. They;ll be friends in no time. Well, if not friends, they'll ignore each other and it will all work out well!
Good for you with the coupons. I would have opted for the cash donation.
We acquire our pets through people dumping them in the nearby fields and from grown children who return home with them and leave without them. Thankfully, we live in a rural area and said pets can live outdoors.
I read that the obvious food pantry can buy up to three times what you can, in spite of your coupons. I suggest you just donate the cash not the food. But they appreciate the food too.
when I say obvious I mean average
Hey LO! something I got a kick out of this weekend... I live in podunk Idaho and have been reading your blog for a while now. I was at our county fair this weekend and heard another woman telling her friend about your awesome blog! looks like you've become quite the phenomenon even in the middle of nowhere!
Best
Hey LO! something I got a kick out of this weekend... I live in podunk Idaho and have been reading your blog for a while now. I was at our county fair this weekend and heard another woman telling her friend about your awesome blog! looks like you've become quite the phenomenon even in the middle of nowhere!
Best
Oops sorry for the double post my Crackberry hates me
jgrrl, i love your comment - and i would never judge you on grammar - have you seen how often i write like an 8th grader?! yeah - i've got a body that rebels against "normal" as well. it's very interesting - i also try to connect to oprah's physical issues through my own chronic pain/physical health problems. nice to see great minds think alike! good luck with the Crohn's - my heart goes out to you - i can't even imagine the challenges you need to overcome on a daily basis. hope today is a good one!
steve and stepher - i hope you're right! WOW 7 cats! good for you! since we're in the city, ours are indoor cats. this is a new thing for me. i've only had indoor/outdoor cats in the past. indoor cats need a lot more entertainment! thanks for the support.
anniegirl1138 - UGH. that makes me so mad to hear about people dumping their pets. good for you to take care of them. not everyone would do such a generous thing.
laura - i know - you're totally right.
ashley! - come on, how podunk can your Idaho town be when it's filled with people using Blackberries! :) thank you so much for telling me about what you overheard. that tickles me to no end!
xoLO
Any names for the kitty yet? Oprah, Gayle, or perhaps Dr.Oz???
anon! omg - i totally suggested "gayle" to my husband. we do want the kitty to be my current cat's best friend, afterall. jim said no way...plus he had a good point...in 4 more months when this project is over, am i really going to want so much Oprah in my life? we named her Selmarie - after the cafe my husband and i had our first "real" date. (we actually met on a blind camping date) we're calling her Selma as a nickname. xoLO
Hey, What's your sweet kitty's name? One of my favorite things to do when I get a new pet is to go over names and choose one. Although, it seems I'm always out-voted in my family, and we end up with my second, third, or fourth choice. Hope you get more of a say so than I do. :>) Have fun!
Wow, LO! I posted my question and your answer appeared! I guess we passed each other here on the web. I think Selma is a really cute nickname.
hey dawn-michelle! see the comment right above yours - we must have published at the same time! i came up with her name pretty quickly - our last cat took a month to name. i think that's the reason why he never responds when we call him. i think he believes his name is "the cat" and "little kitty." (it's actually Wasabi). poor thing. and clearly you need to keep adopting pets until you finally win the name game! it's your year! xoLO
Awesome! You went to TH! Who did you get? What was his/her TH name? Glad I could help with finding a kitteh. Hissing and scuffles are totally normal until they figure out the hierarchy (it's not always the oldest cat who gets to be "top kitty"). If no blood is drawn, no harm, no foul. In most cases, the cats generally work out their issues over time, and even if they don't become best friends, they do become companions.
Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you; I'm usually there on weeknights.
orora - her name was Dilly in the kitten room. do you remember her? she's SUCH a love, but also a goofy, energetic kitty. i adore her already. i'm just a little bummed about how my current cat is reacting. but, when i saw how many cats could co-exist at TH, i realized that this would be just fine in the long run! i thought TH was amazing. i was so impressed. thanks for the advice to go there! xoLO
I just love your article and you kitten. I am so glad you got kitty at the shelter.
I was certianly impressed with your going by the food bank to drop off coupons. I love your research.
I also could identify with "wandering coyote." I have three wonderful cats who were found around a culvert when they were about 2-3 days old. They were fellel cats, and were rescued by this veterinerian. They were fed around the clock, every two hours, for days. I got them from her when they were about 3 months old.
(I am not sure if this Vet.ever got to spay the ferrel mother; this was a kind passion for her.
These cats are wonderful, 2 females and a male- all spayed and neutered. They are the spoiled loves of my life. Two are afraid of everything except, trying to kill each other at least 2 to 3 times a week. One female is really afraid of almost nothing.The love of her life was a male Cocker Spaniel who lived in an apt. to the left of ours. He looked in the window at her every day, and one day she ran out the door and made a home visit, prancing right in their apartment for an up close visit. The family moved when he completed school at UT. She still looks for him to the left where she believes he still lives at our new apartment.She also has a way at looking at you as though you do not have good sense- like huh???
Each cat has a different personality. One kitty is very petite and lithe. She jumps right over the other two when they get mad at her.
The remaining male and female, which includes the cat still looking for her dog friend, are very very large cats. Two different fathers, or a good case for genetics in weight and a case for enough kitty mothering????
Every time I clip nails I risk a trip to the ER from bites and scratches if they can arrange it. The large male cat howls like a coyote at any attempt on his hygiene or grooming. (I still wait for the police to come each time I clip nails or matted fur from the mal cat, as he sounds just like a wailing infant.)
He sleeps on my chest at night.
The petite and sleek little cat sucks on her tail at times, making it her pacifer. The tip of her black tail is a lighter brown. Cat maternal deprivation???
She also has grown to hate nail trimmings. However,if one cat cries, the other two come running to check things out.
Hats off to you,"livingoprah and wandering coyote!"
Yay for kitties!
Wow! Your cat is getting more comments than a lot posts! ;-)
I work for a non profit, and while it is true that groups like ours can stretch the dollars because of corporate relationships, etc., some people just want to "do something" and to them, giving money doesn't feel like that. So while, yeah, I wish people would just give money, at least the coupon ideas maybe gets some people to get involved who wouldn't otherwise.
Just my two cents... Thanks for being generous, even if it's not to my org. :-) You Rock!
I'm a bit late to the game here, but I was thinking about coupons vs. money vs. items. I think it's inaccurate to assume food/an item is a less valuable donation (sorry, judes, but I really need to respectfully disagree). Here's my experience, based on a battered women's shelter. By the time they paid the rent and utilities, there wasn't a whole lot left. Sure, they got a (small) amount of gov't funding and some tax breaks, but they didn't have a lot of cashflow. My girl scout troop spoke to the local ladies aide group about what we could do - sell something, whatever to help out (I was in middle school at the time - so this is 12ish years ago). The response? They really needed ITEMS. So we asked and you know what? They needed toys for the children at the shelter. These kids had nothing (or virtually nothing) and were basically in hiding. So we managed to get the local schools to allow us to hold a toy drive. I will always remember how grateful the (annonymous) thank you note was. Rather than assume a cash donation is better than an actual donation, contact the shelter/pantry/etc. Also, I know for a fact (contrary to laura's statement) that my local food pantry has no real purchasing power. They're very small (way too small for the amount of need) and after rent & utilities (no paid employees), there's not much left. They need food / pantry items constantly, and monentary donations would be spectacular, but coupons wouldn't actually go to far. Unless, of course, someone were to use coupons to buy extra items to donate...
i don't mean for this to sound as combative as it may or may not come off; i just get very frustrated with the sense that all non-profits and all ngo's are the same when it comes to bugets, resources, and donation protocol...
anon, cats are indeed the best. good for you for adopting feral cats. i can't imagine the challenge!
cathy, hee hee.
judes, isn't it funny? cats are WAY warmer and fuzzier than the relationship between women and the media! ah - interesting point about giving food rather than money. heck, i always like a well-thought out gift, rather than a gift card. it shows someone cared and put time into me. thank you for helping adjust my opinion on this issue!
hey anon - i think you hit the nail on the head - each organization has completely different needs. bingo. it's not as cut and dry as i've been thinking of it. thanks much!
xoLO
Hey, even if your cats are never pals, it still gives them something to think about. Our two resident felines have lived together over 8 years now, and they squabble every day. Each would just as soon be the only cat in the universe, but I think they're less bored as house cats because they have their territorial dispute to maintain.
LO, If Dilly is who I think she is (kittens come & go so quickly it can be hard to keep track), she was indeed a little love, crawling onto your lap and purring away like mad. jeri's right. Even if your cats never become bestest buddies, I believe they do like to have companionship, and the spats definitely keep them from getting bored. My two girls only bonded after I brought the boy in the house; now they have a common enemy.
anon, tail-sucking by kitties usually means a cat was weaned from their mother too soon and still wants the comfort of nursing. Or sometimes it can just be a self-soothing technique, like when some cats purr when injured. I wouldn't worry about it.
Excellent points about the non-profits needing both cash and items. Cash pays the bills, but you can't eat the pennies that are left over.
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