TAGGED!

Cooper tagged me! AUGH! He's such a quick cat so I couldn't get away. So, here are some interesting things about me (which I am figuring you know...but for the fun of it here are 7 things about me):

1) I ADORED watching red 18 wheelers when we would drive. I would get very excited when I saw a red truck and jump onto the back of the seat and watch it with great interest.

2) I was never much into hunting - I always perferred my food to be served to me - the civilized thing to do. BUT, I did catch a little lizard - which we have many of in Florida, and run in and drop it on Daddy's bare foot. It was still alive...don't worry...Mom got it from the house and Daddy praised me for being so quick!

3) I loved to walk around in our grass in Tallahassee. I only got into a yard a few times in Palm Coast, but did it often in Tally-town. I would venture out and about, but never outside of the yard. Mom and Dad called me a wild kitty when I did this.

4) I ADORED massages, which Mom would give to me often enough. I would stretch out and let her rub me ALL over....ah...those I miss.

5) I wasn't really a lap cat, but I loved to be around people. I would come up and sit next to someone or close by. Mom and Dad tried to get me to sleep on their laps, but I didn't really care for it. BUT, whenever someone was sick I would come to bed with them and lie right next to them so they would feel better. Mom and Dad miss that :(

6) I use to sleep inbetween Dad's legs in bed during the winter months. Mom and Dad said it was strange this year for I wasn't on the bed with them as I had been for so many years before. Daddy has big, furry, warm legs so I was always toasty!

AND

7) I left a note behind for my non-furry brother, Jack-Jack, to remember me. Mom and Dad still talk about me and are teaching Jack-Jack about me since I took care of him while he was growing inside of Mom.

MURR!
~Camilla

Joy and Sorrow - by Cammie's Mom

I am Camilla's mom, Rene, and am writing this on her behalf.

Well, as most things go in life, we had some great joy this past weekend due to the birth - rather unexpected, I should say - of our son, Jack. He was 1 month early, but arrived in extremely great health at only 5lbs and 18 inches. He was born on the 25th of October; however, we also had to deal with a rather big loss only 2 days after Jack's arrival.

Camilla was put to sleep on Friday, Oct. 27th, only 1 day away from meeting her non-furry brother (we were released on Saturday, Oct. 28th). She had become extremely lethargic, was not eating and was beginning to labor with her breathing. Grandma, who had traveled from PA to meet her new non-furry grandson, noticed her state and requested Doug come home to check on her - he stayed mostly at the hospital going home once a day (our cousins were taking care of the animals while we were away).

Doug noticed that she was not herself right away and upon arrival to the vet it was noted that she had lost 1 lb. since we had taken her to see them 1 week prior. She was not suffering and we are SO very thankful for that. We decided she was letting us know that it was time for her take her leave and granted her a non-painful death.

Doug and Grandma saw her away, while I said my goodbyes via a cell phone, since I was stranded in the hospital.

It is a very painful thing to have so much sorrow at the time of so much joy.

We had Camilla for almost 9 full years and enjoyed every single minute with her. Our only regret is that she was not able to meet Jack, for she loved children so much.

On behalf of Cammie's Dad, Doug, and myself, we'd like to thank all of her great friends in the Catster community for their support over the last few months. Cammie really enjoyed getting to know you and has requested that her canine annoying, but loveable, brother, Shamus, take over writing a blog on his Dogster site. He agreed to do it for her, in memory of her, and should begin that in a few weeks.

We posted a picture of Jack on her so that you, her feline friends, can see her non-furry brother, whom she would have loved SO VERY MUCH if given the opportunity. However, her body had other thoughts than her mind.

MURR!!!!

With a heavy heart,
~Rene and Doug

Foreign pumpkins for sale & health update

I heard an interesting story on the news today about pumpkins. Tis the season for pumpkins, you know. Pumpkins are EVERYWHERE now. Mom has 4 on the entertainment center - they aren't real - and there is another fake one serving as Mr. Pumpkinhead's head outside on the front porch. Usually Mom and Dad get small ones and carve them right before Halloween and then we get to bake the seeds from inside.

HMMMM - so yummy.

At any rate, it seems that in NJ they are having to import pumpkins! That's right! They have to have pumpkins shipped in to pumpkin farms where people pay to pick their own pumpkins. The pumpkin crop in NJ was plagued by a "combination of weather, fungus and hungry deer "

Of course, being 1/2 awake when I heard this I was thinking, "They have pumpkins in China?" I mean that's where all of our imports come from now a days, right?

Turns out that they are shipping them in from Michigan and Canada....not China!!

Rain, fungus keeping NJ pumpkin crop low

Sometimes......I don't know....I have to giggle at myself!

Speaking of pumpkins, I'd like to thank my dear sis, Keiser, for my lovely new pumpkin and pink rosette on my page. I love them! Thanks!

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

Well, I went to the vet again today. I didn't want to go and put up quite a fuss when Dad put on my harness and leash. While I was on the table waiting for the vet to inspect me I decided I could make a break for it by jumping through one of the two windows on either side of the table. Dad stopped me by continuing to pet me and so I bit him.

Well, I didn't really BITE him. I gave him a nice love nip to know that I meant to get away from that dreaded place. He responded by, "OW, she bit me!!!!!!" in shocked tones.

Sometimes I have to let them know that I mean business!

The vet looked at me and pulled more blood. Turns out I have lost another 1/2 lb in one month. I don't see how that happened because I have been eating a lot!!! The tests came back that my kidneys had stabilized - which everyone was happy to hear - but, my cancerous growths continue to grow. The vet doesn't think that I have too many months left, but he was also surprised to hear that I was eating as well as I was. Plus, Dad also told him how active I have been.

I am fighting the cancer right now. I like a good fight! I'll let Mom and Dad know when my time has come...until then...I'd like to continue to eat what I want, when I want and I am looking forward to meeting my baby brother, Jack.

MURR!

Hope all of you, out there in Catster land, are doing well.

Smooches,
~Cammie

16th c. music making a come back.....

Sting's 'Labyrinth': 16th Century Pop Music, discusses his latest CD that is out now. It is yet another different road for this musician. We all watched him on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday and Dad decided that although he REALLY enjoys his music, he doesn't think he would like him if he met him. Dad seems to feel he is a bit pompous and Dad is probably right.

I think you may like the music, though. I found it to be very relaxing.

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

What a weekend! First, I must say, it was BEAUTIFUL!!! We had all the windows open because it was in the lower 70s during the day and 50s at night. It was LOVELY!

Mom and Dad spent all of Saturday rearranging the office - they are making room for a couch/sleeper - and cleaning the porch outside. Since they were moving stuff they wouldn't let us in with them. I understood this. They didn't want us in the way sine we could get hurt. Makes sense, right?

Well, not to my stupid dog brother! He got so mad at them he ate my food 3 times this past weekend. That's right - 3x's!!!!!!!!!!!! I was LIVID and so were Mom and Dad. They fixed the gate so now I can walk under it and they can close it tightly. Before it was held open by two doorstops, one on either side, and Shamus could just open it easily.

Stupid dog!! He ate all of my prescription food!!!! I would go eat his and see how he likes it, but dog food is NASTY!!!!!

He better not eat my food anymore or I may take his nose from his face with a swift hit of my claw.

AUGH, dogs!!!!!! MURR!!!!

Ciao,
~Cammie

Let them eat cake......

I am glad I don't have a job where I have to drive someplace in one of those metal things that people call "cars." I am also glad I don't have to sit in front of a computer all day long with those horrible overhead lights beaming down on me.

NOPE....not for me!

But, if I HAD to work I'd like to work at NPR's show, All Things Considered. I say this because they have a producer there that bakes and brings in a different cake each week. YUMMY!!

Melissa Gray brings in a new cake every Monday morning for her co-workers to share. Here is why, "Why cake? Because cookies are too juvenile. Why Monday? Because no matter how much you love your job, Monday is the day you look forward to least. A slice of cake makes it better."

HECK, YEAH!!!!

Check out this story AND recipes!!! The Cake Lady: Welcome at the Office

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

I'd like to thank my friends, Keiser and Cooper, for my new lovely stars!! I'm very honored!! Thank you! MURR!

Well, Mom and Dad came home last night to find that Shamus had broken through my fence and eaten ALL of my food! I was waiting on them right by the door so that I could tattle on him. I don't care!! I WAS STARVING!

Stupid, dog. He doesn't even eat his own food! I don't like his food!!!

Dad says he is going to have to fix the gate so that Shamus can't open it anymore. I hope he does it soon, because I am tired of him eating EVERYTHING!!!

AUGH!

MURR!

~Cammie

Failure is success.....

NPR has been having an essay submission for its listeners. You are to write about something that you believe for the essay portion of the show is titled, "This I Believe."

I've listened to quite a few of them and enjoyed them all, but one I heard the other day really struck a chord with me. It was an essay about failure and how it is actually a good thing. The author states, "Success i boring. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do....Failure is how we learn."

Yes!! I so agree!!

I think that is part of the problem with our society today, too. People just don't try something again if they fail at it. What's that about? What ever happened to that old saying, "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try all over again!"

I see it happen with children especially. Parents don't want their kids to fail at things and so they don't make them do the thing again. Not me!! Not my mom and dad!! You do it until you get it right!!

Good Lord!

Mom has a nice quote that I would like to share with you related to this topic. It was said by Malcolm Forbes, "Failure is success if we learn from it."

But, I highly suggest you read this essay. In fact, you can even listen to it in the author's voice - that's better. Failure Is a Good Thing.

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

Things otherwise have been good. I don't have much to report since I've been sleeping a good deal and Mom and Dad have been busy with doctor appointments and birthing classes. I can't wait until they finish with this stuff so we can spend more time together. They always make sure to spoil me some, but you know...some days....you just need more cuddling!!!

Hope all my kitty friends are doing well!

MURR!

Smooches,
~Cammie

A $4000 cat???????????????/

What is going on with people? Now, they cannot adopt we felines from pounds, Humane Socities and other such organizations, but have to buy us from a company that calls us "lifestyle pets" and have messed around with our biogolical makeup so that we are hypo-allergnic. Think of how many animals people could save instead of spending them on one cat that costs $4000 dollars!!!!!!!

If you are allergic to cats and you like cats, why don't you try to keep their dander down by bathing and brushing them and keeping the floors and furniture clean? My parents have always done this with me and no one who suffers from feline allergies has ever complained about problems when they come to our house.

A couple is quoted in the article & states that they have done just what I said and to no prevail: Mr. Cullen and his girlfriend, Cheryl Burley, have fought a losing two-year battle to engineer a tolerable co-existence with Cimbi, because Ms. Burley, a devoted cat lover, has had cat allergies since childhood.... giving Cimbi a bath to reduce her allergen load; he takes Cimbi on a leash to Morningside Park for a day, to give his girlfriend’s allergies a break.

The couple never put down carpets. They installed HEPA filters and vacuumed incessantly. But Ms. Burley’s symptoms worsened in recent months and that fragile equilibrium fell apart two weeks ago when the couple took in a second cat, Marley. Ms. Burley could not work, could not breathe and had a seizure. They took Marley to an animal shelter.

Then maybe you should just accept that you can't have a cat and stop taking them back to the shelters and spend your money on helping the poor homeless kitties in the shelter.

Cat Lovers Lining Up for No-Sneeze Kitties .

Okay, I must step down from my soap box. I just don't understand people.

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

Tonight is the start of the new season of Battlestar Galactica. This means LOTS of chest time on Daddy....he never misses an episode. I will also get an hour of lap time with Mommy right before because another new episode of Dr. Who.

Have a great weekend, my dear friends!

MURR!!

Smooches,
~Cammie

Astrobiology....what?

I read a really interesting article that touched on astrobiology. Ever heard of it? Basically it is the study, in space, of life and it does so by using aspects of astronomy, biology and geology. Dad has been studying it somewhat in his classes that he is taking online for Aeronautical Science.

So, I thought that I should know what the heck he is talking about when he discusses his classes!

Read more about it: Is Anybody Else Out There?.

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

Nothing new to really report at the house. I am sleeping in Jack's room and I think Mom and Dad know how much now because they found my hair on the Pooh bear they had to take to birthing class last night (it was to pratice diapering).

Oopps!

MURR

Look at me, though...how can you be mad at a face like mine?

Hee, hee!

Ciao,
~Cammie

For the love of art.....

It always amazes me at how ridiculously prudish some people are. A very popular teacher was suspended this past week in Frisco, TX (seems to be a suburb of Dallas) due to the fact that her 5th grade students saw "nude art" during a museum trip. Please note that this trip was approved by the school and no one had any problems with it until a parent complained. And it was noted in the article: Over the past decade, more than half a million students, including about a thousand from other Frisco schools, have toured the museum’s collection of 26,000 works spanning 5,000 years, he said, “without a single complaint.”

Museum Field Trip Deemed too Revealing.

PLEASE!

Considering the problems that children must deal with today - drugs, violence, sex, etc - this ridiculous complaint should be LOW on a parents' list of things to be concerning them.

Honestly, I don't know what bothers me more. The fact that someone actually took time to complain about a teacher taking students to a museum to expose them to something cultural or the fact that the school took sides immediately with the parent and did not even try to back up the teacher.

Humans are crazy! Celebrate the human body - it's the only one you have. You'd never see we cats complaining about something so silly.

What happened to people loving art for art's sake?

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

Nothing to report otherwise. Been quiet around the house since Mom and Dad are at work during the day. Stupid Shamus keeps trying to get my food, but the gate provents that...HA HA HA!!!

MURR -

Smooches,
~Cammie

Animal Protection from the Terminator

A new bill was signed into law today in California which protects we, the animals. It is one of a series of bills that have made their way to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk that assist animals. The law today forbid the "tethering of a dog unattended for more than 3 hours," while another law that he recently signed made it a crime to "leave animals unattended in vehicles in hot or cold weather, or without adequate ventilation, food or water."

Series of Laws Toughen Animal Protection in California

This is WONDERFUL!!!!!!

Of course, as the article notes, it isn't hurting Schwarzenegger with the voters either - especially those who are animal lovers and who tend to be a bit left of center.

However, it is a law in Florida that you cannot leave an animal unattended in a vehicle either. Cousin Christina called the police when a family left their dog in their van at Ripley's Believe It Or Not in St. Augustine and had NO windows open for it. The family did not claim it was their animal as Cousin Christina went through the place asking who owned the car because the police had been called. Only after the police arrived did the family claim the car and dog. They were fined $500.

This also happened at a Friendly's restaurant the other weekend when Mom and Dad were out for breakfast. The manager asked who's van had the dog locked in it because the police had been called. Again, no one claimed it until the police arrived and then the woman went and got her dog from the car.

Personally, I think that these people should be locked in cars with no windows down. See how they like it.

For more interesting topics check out Keiser.

Feeling a bit feisty today. Had a good weekend with Mom and Dad and ventured into Jack's room for a nice nap on Sunday.

The best part of the WHOLE weekend was that I got to go outside on the small space outside of the patio door. I sunbathed near the grass and smelled the great outdoors. It was wonderful to be able to survey my property!

Hope all is well with you, my dear feline friends!

MURR!!!!!

Ciao,
~Cammie