Secret Paws Summer Edition: Nelson, Edmond, Nitro, and Xing Lu

Charmee got a Secret Paws package from Nelson, Edmond, Nitro, and Xing Lu and was he ever excited!

I get mail all of the time 'cuz I'm the doyenne of the Feline Americans. Charmee NEVER gets mail 'cept stuff addressed to "occupant" that Mom gives him 'cuz she feels a little sorry for him. So when she came home with the mail and there was a furry big envelope addressed to LUCKY CHARMZ, he was beside himself with joy! You should have heard him:

"Oh, oh, oh ... Lookie! Mail fer MEEEEE! Gimme! Gimme! I wanna open my mail rite NOWWWWW! Mom. Mom. Mom! Mommmm!!! Now! I wanna open my mail! Cut off duh tape! I wanna see ...".


The little fella was not disappointed either! His envelope was full of his favorite stuff: Toys and treats! He got some really great smellin' furry mice, some crinkle balls (that are now all over the house), and some turkey-flavored Greenies in a package huge enough for sharing. Don't tell Mom, but Charmee got into the cabinet and bit open the bag so that all of us could have a Greenie binge on the kitchen floor. They were really delicous!



Thank you to Nels, Ed, Nitro, and Xing-Xing for makin' Charmee so happy!


DMM

The 20,000th Visitor will get a PRIZE!

I am currently at visitor #19,928 ...

If you are the 20,000th visitor to my bloggie, please take a screen-shot of the hit counter and email it to me at daisymaemausATcoxDOTnet.

If you're a kitty cat (or a woofie), I will send you a specially painted SQUILLION of your furry own.

Be sure to check the hit counter efurry time that you visit me to see if you might be the WINNER!

Fine print: Squillions can only be made for kitties or woofies. Personalization has its limitations as the terracotta bases of squillions are already designed by the manufacturer. Only one squillion will be painted for the winner. In fairness to others, please don't repeatedly hit the reload button just to advance the hit counter. Parameters of this contest may change at author's whim.

Tara's squillion arrived ...

Mom was practicin' her painting and made a Meezer squillion. I thought that we should give the Meezer squillion to Tara 'cuz she's been bein' so patient and big-sisterly with her new brother, Kavan ... and Mom agreed ... so we put the squillion into a box with some newspaper for the journey to Tara's house.

I just found out today that the Meezer squillion arrived safely and Tara LOVES him/her.

Here is a photo from Tara's bloggie. See how happy the Meezer squillion is to be with the lovely Tara?


Yea! A perfect match ...
DMM

Saturday Photo Hunt #26: SWEET

SWEET!

The Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt theme for this week is SWEET!

Mom calls me her "Baby Sweet Girlie" and efurryone knows that I have a sweet tooth, so it should be no surprise that my choice for this week's theme ... SWEET ... would be a Hostess Berry-flavored Fruit Pie. There's one in the freezer right now ... Mmm ...



Even Charmee likes a taste of pie ...

Friday's Feast #26

Appetizer
How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?
I used to wear a watch, six silver bangles, three pair of earrings, and twelve silver band rings ... I've pared it down to the three pair of earrings and the watch (and occasionally the "Return to Tiffany's" silver bracelet). When I'm on vacation, like now, I'm just wearing the tiny diamond-chip studs in the upper ear piercing ... that's it.

Soup
What is your favorite instrumental song?
"The Swan" from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens featuring Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

Salad
Who has a last name that you like?
I've always liked seemly stodgy last names like "Sloan" or "Bentley" ... They sound dignified and aristocratic. I REALLY like "Windsor," but I don't think that either of Prince Charles' sons are my type. Sigh ...

Main Course
Name a popular movie you’ve never seen.
I've never seen "Midnight Cowboy" although I hear and see references to it all of the time in entertainment magazines (and there's a great set of scenes in an episode of "Futurama" with Zapp Brannigan and Kif playing the Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman roles) ... I've also never seen "Apocolypse Now" even though it's one of the most widely referenced films of the past fifty years. I tried to watch "Deliverance," but got too grossed out to finish the film ... Poor Ned Beatty.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________.
Nothing makes me feel in the thick of "summer" like smelling a roaring campfire at the beach.

Concatulations to Junior Babee!

The winner of my 500th post contest is Junior Babee. He has selected a PetSmart gift card to go with his Temptations® prize pack. In addition to those fabulous prizes, he also gets to sponsor the cat of his choice from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. He chose ROCKEY, a cat with whom he shares a resemblance ... Check him out and read his story!



"Where did everybody go?"
Rockey once had a friend. But he didn't turn out to be much of one! When he moved one day, he simply left little Rockey behind for someone to find.
Then Rockey made another friend -- this time, a real buddy! He was an older gentleman, and he took pity on the beautiful cat, sneaking him into his senior apartment complex -- even though no pets were allowed. He taught Rockey tricks and took good care of him. But with no pets allowed, Rockey's new friend was afraid it was only a matter of time before the furry stowaway was found out. And then what would happen to him?
Thank goodness, there was soon an opening at Best Friends. Rockey's new friend was so relieved! The beautiful boy would be safe, after all. And it was none too soon, because it turned out Rockey had a little heart condition, and may need to go on medication.
But thanks to Best Friends members, he's getting medical care, and has a place to call home for as long as it takes him to make a new friend. Would you like to be his first new friend by becoming his sponsor?

And as if THAT wasn't fabulous enough, Junior Babee is also gettin' a hand-painted SQUILLION that my mom painted to look similar ... See?!? Doesn't this Squillion look at least a little bit like Junior? I think so, too ...

DMM

Uh, oh ... I think that I need an INTERVENTION!

Gosh. I'm officially out-of-control. I must have an addictive personality, 'cuz I'm addicted to Temptations®, I've got a "use problem" with primo 'Nip, I attract "bad boys" like Rocky the Gutter Cat and Jake, my "tomfriend" ... and now I'm addicted to blogging, too!

I found this quiz when I was over at Darling Millie's bidding on a super-patriotic "Fourth of July" Gizzy Quilt. She's only 52% addicted, but I'm more than 3/4ths addicted! Help!

75%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Online Dating

Until we meet again ...

Sweet Buzzerbee went to the Bridge. We'll miss his gentle spirit ... Please stop by and visit his fambly: Buzzerbee and Meep.

Thursday Thirteen #26: NOT painted by Earl Scheib (and this is my 500th post!)

This is my 500th post, efurrybody! Who won my contest?
Who is the winner of all of those fabulous prizes?
Who gets to sponsor a Best Friends Animal Sanctuary cat?
Whooooo?!? Inquiring minds wanna know and we wanna know NOOOWWWWW!

One of Mom's old friends, Steve, sent her an email with a bunch of photos of a custom-painted truck.

Now Mom's not big on trucks ... she finds MOST of them to be wasteful gas-guzzlers at best and invokes the name of some Greek guy (Testicles) when she sees an especially penis-compensatory one forcing its way into a "compact" parking spot ... but she does appreciate an especially well-executed paint job (Isn't this odd in light of her experiences with Earl Scheib?).

These pictures of the "Heroes" truck, a 2004 Chevy enhanced with an Escalade front end and grille owned by Dale and Connie Ison, have been ALL OVER the internet and you've likely been sent the email yourself. The truck is reputed to have cost $650,000, and taken more than 50,000 man hours to build and 1,200 hours to airbrush.

DMM's note: Just think how many hours that would have been if they'd been CAT hours?!? Think of how many bags of Temptations® could be bought with two-thirds of a million U.S. dollars?!? Wow! An' how many deserving cats from Best Friends coulda been sponsored? It boggles the mind!

The website dedicated to this truck can be found at Heroes Truck. It's billed as "the world's greatest airbrushed, custom design show truck" and has been dedicated to "past, present and future American heroes".

For this week's Thursday Thirteen ... In light of the proximity to the Fourth of July (Non-Americans blog readers please bear with us ... We're feelin' a tad patriotic!) ... I give you the "Heroes" truck and two other examples of patriotic paintsmanship!

Well ... We HAD thirteen great pictures here once ... But, as Miles Meezer would say, "Crappity, crap, crap, crap ...!" The pictures got EATEN by Blogger! IF you wanna see the truck, please click HERE.

The winner of my contest for my 500th Post is Junior Babee who guessed June 28th at 11:00 AM.

Junior,
CONCATULATIONS, DOOD! You're the WINNER!
Please email me at daisymaemausATcoxDOTnet with the name of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary cat you'd like sponsored in your name, your preference between Petco or PetSmart for your giftcard, and your snail mail address so that I can send you your fabulous prizes (giftcard, a Temptations® prize pack, AND a custom painted surprise [it's really nice 'cept my mom isn't that terrific of a painter]).

DMM


Thank you to efurryone who made a guess in my contest ... and to those who've let me know that I'm creepin' up on my 20,000th visitor AND my first blogoversary, too! So many milestones ...

Mom, I need to borrow your plastic money again!

Wow! Wednesday: Zoey and the Furballs' presents

BTW: This is post #499!

Mom just got this box from Joe, the man in the bloo shorts. It comes all the way from Oregon and is from our cousins: Zoey and the Furballs.

Open it! Open it!

Lookie! There are a bunch of goodies inside for us!

A fluffy pink Barbie® wand! Uh, oh ... Charmee is interested!

Yum! Temptations® in salmon and (Zoey's favorite!) BEEF! Can we have some NOW, Mom? We've had dinner ... Temptations® NNNOOWWWW?!? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeee ... ?

There's a container of 'Nip bubbles, too! It's a good thing 'cuz Charmee's nearly used up the ones from Aunt Annie!

Oh, and there's a cute pink silicone paw bracelet for Mom ... Be careful, Mom! Charmee's gonna steal that bracelet!

Quick! Throw that golf ball for him to chase so that you can distract him!!

Mom is gonna need a relaxing cup of tea in her new pawprint mug after playin' with us and that TERRIFIC Barbie® wand.

We all wanna say a big "THANK YOU" to Zoey, the Furballs, and their momma and daddy! We LOVE our gifts!

Check out us playin' with the Barbie® wand! It's really fun to play with! Mom will have to store it in the refrigerator overnight or Charmee will destroy it in his enthusiasm! Little brothers ...






And I really like playin' with the wand, too ... It's fun and smells like feathers! Whoo hoo ...

Here's Cocoa Puff ... He didn't wanna play with the Barbie® wand, he wanted to WEAR it like a feather boa ... He's channeling his inner Skeezix the Cat ... Mrow, mrow! Doesn't he look manly?

WoRdLeSs & WaCkY wEdNeSdAy: Heffalumps?!?

Secret Paws: Ready To Go!

It's about time!

Mom put the finishing touches on her "painting" and then got the packages for Summer Secret Paws ready to be mailed!

As you can see from the picture, Mom's got a lot of packages that have to be mailed: One package is goin' to our cousin Benjamin and his momma (our Auntie Toni) ... He's gonna like what's in his box!

The red package is for our Aunt Montie ... There's nothin' in it for Whimpy or Tribles this time; just stuff for our Aunt Montie to enjoy!

One tube is for our Uncle Jer ... It's somethin' for his house. Perhaps it'll arrive before the package Mom mailed ten days ago does ... Why does that happen?

The other tube and one of the little gold envelopes goes to Perla and Gus's momma; and the other gold envelope goes to Zoey and the Furballs' momma. Those "mommas" are Mom's cousins. We like snoopervisin' their presents 'cuz there's usually something fun in the packages!

That leaves FIVE boxes for Secret Paws and one little box that's a surprise for one of our fellow bloggers ... We won't tell who SHE is ... It's a surprise!

If you haven't gotten your Secret Paws package yet, it could be that you're OUR Secret Paws. Don't worry ... It'll come soon and there's a lot of furry fun and delicious stuff inside! Our Secret Paws felines (yep, all cats) live all over the United States, so our boxes will be flyin' efurrywhere before July 4th!

Keep an eye on your mailboxes ... You could be gettin' presents from ... Pumpkin ... or Cocoa Puff ... or Sparky Fuzzypants ... or Charmee ... or even ME!

DMM

FYI: Feline Heartworm

Because knowledge of feline health is important, I'm reprinting the content ... in its original form ... of the email that I received today:

KNOW Heartworms ... The campaign to eradicate heartworm disease in felines efurrywhere!

Dear Daisymae Maus and family,

After seeing your blog, I wanted to let you know about some online cat resources. I am working on a campaign called KNOW Heartworms, sponsored by the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the American Heartworm Society. Most people know about the danger of heartworms to dogs, and this campaign is trying to raise awareness of the danger of heartworms to cats. Studies have shown that while 59 percent of dog owners use a heartworm preventive, less than 5 percent of cat owners do, even though cats are at risk any time that dogs are. When a cat does get heartworm, it is difficult to diagnose and treat.

This is a non-profit campaign. I hope you find this information useful and may even consider posting something on this topic. If you'd like more information, please visit www.knowheartworms.org, or feel free to contact me. Further cat health information is also available on www.catwellness.org, which is updated frequently.


Best Regards,
Emily

Emily Carpenter
emily.carpenter@germinder.com
Assistant Account Executive
Germinder & Associates, Inc.
6201 Brookside Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64113
816-822-0192 x 34
816-822-0610 Fax

Visit our Web sites, Germinder, Cat Wellness, and KNOW Heartworms

ManCat Monday: Cocoa Puff

This is post #495 ...

It isn't efurryday that Mom is able to capture the glorious ManCat Cocoa Puff on film ... The living room carpet and most of the furnishings are dark green, and he's black. Even in the best lighting conditions, Cocoa Puff tends to blend into whatever he's lying in/on/around. But she was finally able to get a really good shot of him, so ...

Here he is! ManCat Cocoa Puff:

Benjamin Fuzz's "Nap-In"

Stupid flashy thing!

The four of us were havin' perfectly good pre-dinner naps (participatin' in our cousin Benjamin Fuzz's "Nap-In") when Mom shows up with the flashy thing and WAKES US UP! What's the deal, Mom?!? Jealous of our abilities to sleep anywhere at any time without sleep aids?


Cocoa Puff is all stretched out for a "widebody siesta" ...








Lucky Charmz catches up on his beauty sleep ...









DaisyMae Maus sputters, "What the heck, Mom?!? I was sleepin' 'til you flipped on the lights!"










Sparky Fuzzypants thinks, "If I ignore her, maybe she'll go away and I can resume my sleepytime ... "





The only Feline American immune from Mom's abuse of the flashy thing is Pumpkin! He's safely ensconced under the bed in the master suite where no one can disturb him ... Argh!

Sunny-spot Sunday

We've been banished to the living room. Why? Because Charmee wouldn't leave the Secret Paws boxes alone. Mom's not quite finished getting our Secret Paws packages ready to be mailed (she's off to PetSmart to pick up a few last gifts ... ), so they've been relegated to a laundry basket.

She assembled the boxes yesterday and put on the address labels, but didn't want to seal the boxes quite yet, so she put rubberbands around the boxes to keep them shut (and seemingly keep us out of them).

Charmee is resourceful and more inquisitive than a cat should be, so when Mom got up this morning, she noticed that the packages had been compromised. Some stuff with feathers had even been moistened by Charmee's lips.

Uh, oh ... Mom's mad.

So, since Charmee couldn't resist the temptation (Temptations®?!?), we've been scolded and banished. It's a good thing that there's lots to see and do in the living room, 'cuz I'd get awfully bored otherwise.

I think that I'll spend my time in this sunny-spot takin a ... snoooooooozzzzze ...

DMM

Chatham: See you at the Bridge one day ...

We're very sorry to announce that one of our friends in the blogosphere, Chatham, has gone to the Bridge today. Stop by his bloggie to express your condolences to his fambly: ChatCat's Chat. You can also visit his brother, Salem.

Saturday Photo Hunt #25: SHINY

SHINY!

The Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt theme for this week is SHINY!

Mom loves shiny stuff and has quite a collection of reflective things. She claims that she must have been a crow in a former life, 'cuz crows have a thing for shiny objects, too. That would make a lot of sense ...

Over the past couple of weeks, Mom has made trips to the mall (which she HATES) to a store called Tiffany (which she really, really likes). She's made these trips 'cuz people have given her presents from this store and Mom wanted to have these presents engraved.

As you can see from the photos, the store has a signature color that is used for gift boxes and bags, protective containers, and even the enamel band on the pen.

Each item is made of Sterling silver (which is Mom's favorite). When Mom picked up the presents that she had engraved, each was shined up extra sparkly for her.

The pen was a gift from the senior class of 2003 from Mom's school. She had her name engraved on it.

The bracelet was a gift from her best lady friends and is engraved "T.O.Y. 2006-07."

They gave her the bracelet last September for when Mom was "teacher of the year."

The third present is a key chain with the same heart charm as her bracelet. It was a gift from the senior class of 2007 and it says, "c/o 2007" along with her name.

While Mom was in Tiffany, she visited her favorite shiny, sparkly things: A pair of 4 ctw diamond solitaire earrings. They're furry expensive, so we've been saving our Temptations® money for them.

Mom says that at the rate we're saving, we should be able to buy them in 2067 when she turns 100 years old.

SECRET PAWS Summer Edition: My Paw was Kellie the Orange Cat all the way from British Columbia, Canada!

This is post #490 ...

I wanna say a huge THANK YOU to Kellie the Orange Cat who was my own personal Secret Paw for "Summer Secret Paws."

Kellie the Orange Cat sent my package of neat-o presents all the way from British Columbia, Canada! Wow! That's furry far away from San Diego, California!

Mom helped me to cut the tape on the envelope so that I could get inside the package and investigate all of the presents.

Lucky Charmz and Sparky Fuzzypants (and even Cocoa Puff) checked efurrything out that was inside the purple gift bag. Kellie the Orange Cat even made me a pretty envelope and card with stickers!

Look at all of the wonderful things that I got from Kellie the Orange Cat! Temptations®, Greenies®, bouncy rubber balls to chase in the kitchen, a fishie charm, some fev-ver butt mousies (including a pink furry one!), a catnip pillow that smells oh, so delicous ... catnip mousies, and two cans of stinky goodness from Fancy Feast (we had to eat those right away because they looked so yummy ... the labels were written in French!).






My Secret Paws from Kellie the Orange Cat was furry excellent!

Thank you, Kellie the Orange Cat ... You are a terrific Secret Paw!

Love to you!
DMM

Oh, and speaking of Secret Paws Summer Edition, Lucky Charmz helped Mom get our boxes ready for Joe, our man in the bloo shorts, to mail out to our super-secret Secret Paws ... Watch your mailboxes, efurryone!