Going Green Hint

As part of my becoming more eco-friendly, I decided I would try to modify something I did every month to become less toxic to the earth. Last month, we switched our cat litter over to a brand called Swheat Scoop. It is biodegradable, chemical free, and doesn't contain clay free (which may be harmful to your cats digestion system. If you are worried about clumping, this does a really good job. It isn't as great as the really strong anti-clumping brands but I think it does a better job deoderizing.

Each year, 2 million tons of cat litter is taken to the landfill. Most cat litters are not biodegradable. So, if you have a cat, at least try it. There really isn't a downside to it. Petco and Pet Supplies Plus carry it in Fort Wayne.

Now I need to find something for this month. Keep you posted.

Don't Judge Me and My 3 Cats ( a short story)

Quote of 2007 by P.J. O'Rourke

"Never wear anything that panics a cat."

Sometimes, when nothing else is more interesting to photograph, the cats become my subject matter. No, I am not some crazy cat lady. I am just photographically bored and need something to photography. It is only accidentally ended up with 3 cats. The fact that I am married helps my "I am not a crazy cat lady" case.

(Warning***** this is a long story. Stop now if you don't care.)

The story behind my collection of cats began when Jason moved in with me, bringing his seemingly innocent cat, Baxter- spawn of satan, with him. After a year, we moved from an apartment to a house. Upon which time my mother calls and says Lily (one of the two kittens I got in high school) was driving her insane. Since Baxter turned out to be devil kitty, fully devoted to Jason, I was wild about having my own cat back. Lily is just a little annoying with her constant need to be rustling things and knocking objects off any ledge.

After settling in our rental home, we realized that we had a surplus of stray cats living on our block, two of which seemed to have our house staked as their "territory". One cat turned out to be Mama cat and the other obviously was Daddy when the kittens were born under our house. 6 kittens were born, all but one found a home and we brought her in and named her Mona.

Over the course of the year, Cadillac (the mama- named from a dream I had about naming her) and Buddy (Daddy cat- named by really not naming him. Had to call him something when trying to pet him) and Mona (adopted daughter) all had their sterilization surgeries and all the appropriate shots. Turned out Cadillac was only 4 months old when she became pregnant- her uteras said so. Then I graduated college and had decided to move back to Fort Wayne.

What was I going to do with these outdoor cat? I would feel to guilty leaving them after being responsible for feeding them for the last year but the indoor kitties (especially Satan kitty) didn't like the outdoor kitties. The solution became my mom. She had a large florida room that could harbor Cadillac and Buddy while they became used to her backyard. Unfortunently, what we thought was a mouth infection in Buddy, was actually feline leukemia and cat AIDS. All his nights of defending his territory had left him with contagious diseases. We had to seperate Cadillac into the house and leave Buddy in the Florida room by himself (which was a shame since he was the most affectionate cat I had ever met). Luckily, the diseases seemed to only attack his gum line and he was otherwise healthy.

Meanwhile, Cadillac was not getting along with my mom's other cat, Fern. Fern is a doormat that says "attack me". There was talk of my mom's boyfriend's daughter looking to adopt a kitten. Well, why pay all that money for a kitten when you can adopt a cat that is less than 2 years old, has all her shots and is spayed. Off Cadillac went. She is a very happy house cat now.

Eventually, Buddy became too sick to eat and we had to put him down. Very sad, even now.

That is how I ended up with a plentiful amount of cats. I am not a crazy cat lady, I do not wander the streets looking for stray cats to feed. I just have a soft heart for animals. I even cry and can't watch animal shows that show animals attacking each other.

101 in 1001

start my own business
adopt a dog
buy a new car
see grandfather
get in shape (toned and flexible)
finish the house
vacation in 3 states with Jason
cook a new item every week for 4 months
read a book 2x a month (or 24 books in a year)
save 20% of my income for a year
floss daily
send out holiday cards
start yoga for back
visit Cheyenne in California
quit 2nd job
donate $ to charity
move in an aerobic way for 20 minutes every morning
quit drinking soda
set up account to start family
buy software needed
have backup system for computer completed
have a booth in a bridal show
start personal photo project
take a photo a day
set up 401k
spend a day at a spa
work from home
blog everyday for a month
do portraits of family
introduce more color in wardrobe
start new hobby
register to vote
change bank accounts/ drivers license
host a party
keep a fitness journal
have fast turnover rate
buy dream camera
get collection of photo props
watch less television
promote blog
comment on other peoples blogs
go to the dentist regularly
vote
put up flyers/ promotional fliers around town
get taxes done for me
save all work related reciepts
write a business plan
finish office- just for work
add to collection of books
advertise
get professional work attire
have portrait session done of Jason and I
get new logo
keep financial history (where did the money go?)
learn to meditate
wake up earlier and not have to rush into getting ready
go to bed reasonably (7-8 hours a night)
make a daily list of things to accomplish
have an awesome b-day celebration (take charge)
start a mailing list of clients
be more positive- one minute at a time
vaccuum more
be more energy efficient (more green)
make order sheets
create better contracts
experiment shooting RAW
get textures/ borders/ fun stuff for photos
play with "actions"- create a look
give a compliment a day
purchase a laptop
dine at all the local restaurants I have been wanting to
ride my bike instead of walk as much a possible
support project downtown
frame and hang photos for around house
new furniture for living room
smoke free
be debt free (exept mortgage and car payment)
do something fun with J once a week
offer products with packages
get senior photos going
find 50 locations for photo shoots
Donate photoshoot to charity
find the perfect bag
read the paper/ watch news daily
go camping
go more organic and eat less meat
go hiking
figure out how to make Baxter to quit getting sick
get college photos organized
declutter and organize house
do a wine tasting
make an album of my wedding
buy a new camera while waiting to buy dream camera
bake cookies from scratch
have branding done for company
see a musical/ play once a year
get a day book- be more organized
get teeth whitened
landscape yard
take day trips around Indiana
stay happily married