My friend Eileen's mom stayed at a goat farm called Celebrity Dairy in Siler City, North Carolina just outside of Chapel Hill. According to her mother:  "They also run a Bed and Breakfast called the Inn at Celebrity Dairy. I stayed there for a few days while I did some research at Chapel Hill and had a great time. Very laid back and no worries."

Linky-poo to their site here

I heart goats and I heart kittehs.  It's a good combo. 

I hope you find them squeeeee-worthy as well!!  Photos courtesy of Kathy Lowe.  Thanks Kathy!!

The other day I walked into my office building and noticed a pile of flyers with a smiling, familiar face looking back at me.  I stopped and read that Angela, a woman who works in my building, is searching for bone marrow donors and was holding a potential donor drive in a few days.  I picked up the flyer and went upstairs to read further.  It seemed easy enough, all they need is some cheek cells.  I made a vow to myself to do it.  I've heard that donating marrow could be a real pain...but all I could think was "I'd want someone to do this for me."

So today on my lunch break I went upstairs, filled out a form and gave them my cheek swab.  It felt good to know that even if I could not be of help to Angela, I could potentially help another person.  Cool.

I recognized the two women at the table and came to the conclusion they must work in the buidling, too, and know Angela.  I pointed to the picture of Angela and asked, "I'm curious, does she have bone cancer....?"  One of the women smiled and said "I have leukemia..."  "OH!", I said, "That's you...its weird, I thought the picture looked familiar but now that I see you in person, you are very familiar...I've been in the building for almost 8 years so...I know I've seen you around."     

Angela then told me her story.  She's 30 years old and has been living with this cancer for two years now.  She's been told that a marrow donation is her only hope.  She has three children and the last pregnancy was particularly difficult.  She was put on bed rest for most of it...her daughter was nearly miscarried a few times, but being a fighter, survived and is now a healthy baby girl.  But all the while, even after the mandatory post-baby blood work and the struggles she had with breast feeding...No one realized that her body had been trying to tell her something.  Then she became gravely ill and the diagnosis was made.  Angela gave me a piece of advice that could be life saving for everyone - if you ever have a baby KEEP YOUR UMBILICAL BLOOD.  She wishes she had known that...

There is an important factor that makes her fight even more difficult...she's a little of everything ethnically, but primarily Hispanic.  This narrows her search drastically.  She had 90 members of her family tested who were of age and none of them were a match.  While it is true that some matches have been made between people who are not of the same ethnicity, they are extremely rare.  In the U.S., Caucasians have an 80% chance of finding a match.  But the case is not the same for minorities because of population size.    

Her baby girl clearly takes after her...this woman is a fighter.  So many people with this disease are.  I was blown away by the efforts she and a few volunteers have made through The Icla da Silva Foundation and the National Marrow Donor Program to help find a match for her.  Even though she is fighting for herself at this time, she knows that even if a match isn't found she may help another person have a second chance at life.  The rewards are endless. 

I promised her I would write this post and make it available to the public to help spread awareness about the donor program.  Marrow donors are rare.  There is very little awareness about the need for it and there are all sorts of boogey man tales about how invasive the procedure can be which wiggs people out.  But the truth is, regardless of the amount of time you may have to sacrifice and the VERY minimal pain you must be willing to endure, I imagine the reward of saving a life will stay with you forever.  I hope I have the chance to find out one day.

The links provided in this post can give you more information about how to register as a potential donor or how to make a gift.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.       

Yeah, I thought you might.  I know you guys.  This may take a minute or two of your time but its a worthy cause. 

The website zootoo.com is sponsoring a contest for an animal shelter to win a FREE MAKE OVER!  How cool is that?

Whats even cooler is that my beloved animal shelter, The Central Missouri Humane Society, has enough points to easily put the shelter in the top 20, to be toured by the judges and narrowed down to the top ten, BUT it can't hurt to show how many people support them, which may help to keep them in the top 10.  From there the winner is selected by us Animal Lovers.

My folks were very active in the shelter and I spent a lot of time there as a kid.  Some of my best memories of that place include going along with my parents for volunteer work, pet fairs, pet contests...you'd always find me in the room with all the kittehs, making friends.  ^__^  And one of our more precious cats (my mom's favorite), Little Red, the stripedy marmie flash of floof that she was, came from this wonderful place.  She was taken from us too young, only two years old, hit by a car.  :(   

Mom wrote an excellent review of CMHS on the zootoo site here that explains more about the history of this great shelter and why they deserve this honor. 

So what can you do to help?  It's really VERY easy.  All you have to do is go to the homepage of zootoo.com and join as a member of the site.  They only want the very basics - your name, location and email.  Easy enough. 

In order to benefit CMHS directly, in step 3 of your joining process, enter the zip code 65203 and select Central Missouri Humane Society. 

Simply by joining this site and becomming an affiliate of CMHS, you earn points to keep them in the top 20. 

Here is how the contest works (taken from zoo too):

This year, the makeover contest is divided in 3 phases.
Phase 1: shelter supporters earn points by being active on zootoo for their affiliated shelter. The shelter with the most points accumulated is NOT the winner of the contest. The top 20 shelters become semi-finalists.
Phase 2: Zootoo and its advisors will tour these shelters in order to narrow the 20 semi-finalists down to 10 finalists. The top 10 finalists will be announced at the HSUS Animal Care Expo in Las Vegas on Tuesday, April 7th.
Phase 3: it will be up to America to vote on the most deserving shelter. The shelter with the highest number of public votes by America will win the makeover! For the complete set of rules, please see the contest rules (‡) below. 

PHASE ONE ENDS MARCH 13TH!!!! You can also give them points by uploading a profile picture and writing a review of the shelter (which can be something as simple as:  My friends have told me about this place, they really deserve this, etc.).  So far by simply doing these three things, I've earned them 110 points, which is the bare minimum.  I've included a *list of things members can do to generate points below...  

If you want to "friend" my family and I, our names on the site are "DKN", "Ironhead" and "aaplinc".

I hope you can help!  This place means so much to me and while it isn't the prettiest of shelters it is efficient, clean, well staffed and compassionate.  Hence, they deserve to be the prettiest!  Once the voting commences in April, I will be sure to let you guys know so you can participate.

Thanks for your support!!!!!!!!!   

*How to get points

Vote on Pet War

1 point

Limited to 5 votes per day

 

Hello all!  As some of you know I spent this last weekend in Providence, RI to visit my friend Megan. As usual she spoiled the heck out of me by showing me a kick-ass time.  But this trip she really outdid herself by hooking me up with a bunch of her hand made bags and a "Catnip Activity Mat" for good measure (There's a special kitteh in my life who will be enjoying that).  In fact, let me start by showing you that item: 

Totally cute, no?  (note the complementary bag of organic catnip)  AND practical - which is what Megan and her mom Nancy are all about.  No more nip flakes on the floor!  All you gotta do is unzip the back of the mat, sprinkle some 'nip inside, zip it back up and viola!  A place for kitteh to zone out or wig out and settle down for a nip nap.

Megan sells her items in boutiques including Oak on the ever bustling shopping strip, Newbury St., in Boston, Mass. In addition to bags, pouches and nip activity mats, she also makes super cute aprons, plastic bag holders and CD holders.  All of these are also available on her Etsy Online Store. 

My personal favorite of all of their creations are the trusty totes that come in all sorts of cool designs and colors:

Their totes are sturdy and have handy pockets inside!!

I also love their smaller bags that can serve as anything from toiletry travel bags to make-up bags.  The smallest size makes for a perfect coin purse.  There is a wide variety of these to pick from, as well.  They also come in similar patterns and colors so they can be matched up as a set.  My array:

    

 

Voxers - if you receive this email, please note that it is a phishing scam.  The IRS simply does not email tax payers.

From: carcalacul@verizon.net
Sent: 11/12/2008 4:25:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Please submit your Stimulus Payment online form

 

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined
that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment.

Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it.
A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access the form for your Stimulus Payment, please follow the next URL:

http://www.camt.cmu.ac.th/appserv/direct.din.constanta.o.pula-n.gura.la.americani

For security reasons, we will record your ip-address, the date and time.

Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.


Regards,
Internal Revenue Service


Copyright 2008, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Oh snap

Happy New Year to my Jewish peeps....all two of you!

I'd like to share a recipe with you.  It's one my mom's been making for years and is my favorite of hers.  It's simple, beautiful and is a great dish for serving large groups of people.  Summer Pasta is peasant food at its finest.  Not only is it delicious served hot fresh off the stove, it makes for a delightfully light cold left-over as well.

Ingredients:

For 1 lb pasta (preferably spaghetti or linguini)
(serves 4-6 people)

1.5 - 2 lbs Tomatoes
1 cup (packed) fresh basil
1- 1.5 large lemon
1/4 - 1/2 cup Olive Oil
Lots of salt and pepper to taste

Start by blanching the tomatoes for 30 - 40 sec in boiling water.  Peel the stems and skin off under cold water in the sink.

Slice the tomatoes into chunks, seed if necessary, and place them into a large mixing bowl.  If you are not using a food processor, squish the tomatoes with your fingers into smaller chucks. 

Finely chop the basil and add to bowl.

Add the juice of one large lemon or more, to taste. 

Add the olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. 

Mix the sauce, continuing to break down the tomatoes.

If you have a cusinart or food processor, divide up the ingredients into smaller portions and mix together by chopping the basil first, then adding a dash of the olive oil and chunks of tomato and pulse until squishing them lightly.  Be careful because you do not want to puree them.  Once this is all placed into a mixing bowl, add the lemon juice and salt and pepper and stir well.

Cover the sauce and store at room temperature (or in the fridge if made far in advance) while your pasta cooks.

Pour you pasta into a large serving dish and pour the sauce over it. 

Serve with a loaf of french bread for sopping up the juice (which is the best part) and remember that a little grated parm or romano never hurt anyone.  Another fun pair-up for this dish is grilled sweet Italian sausage.

Here are some out of focus (grrr) pics:

     

Hey guys,

I know most of you will remember me talking about my girl Megan who I visit in RI and vice versa.  She and her mother have teamed up to do some crafty craft work and they have really cute stuff such as craft and kitchen aprons, cosmetic bags, totes and pouches.  

Check it out:

Etsy Site

Photos of their work