Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's been a little over two months since I last posted. Where does time go? I guess it could be because this season hasn't been quite as exciting as last season. Remember.....this is the place for me to brag about the Kokopellie cats.

For the last three years we have been actively campaigning Polar and Frosty for International wins. Joining them this past season were PJ and Nicky as well. Campaigning can take a lot out of you physically, emotionally and financially. Plus it's tough on the cats as well. But through it all the boys all did fantastic. Not a grump in the bunch.

The plans for this season and next are to relax a bit and try for a regional win on whoever we show. So you won't be seeing us all over the country. Time to stay home and recoup.

Nicky and PJ, kittens at this time last year, have come along quite nicely. Check out the website and the Show Cats page to see their big boy photos. Grrrr..........very, very grrrrr........

Let's see......I've been trying to put together a cookbook to aid research in HCM and FIP. It has been completely overwhelming. I expected to get 200 recipes max. I received over 600!! Now I have to pick and choose and edit. And....not all the recipes came via email. Some need to typed into the computer from handwritten notes as well. Ah.......it's a labor of love. I had been hoping to get it out by Christmas. That's not going to happen. Unfortunately. I'm also thinking that it's going to be multiple volumes as well. Just to keep the size down. Otherwise it could rival the yellow pages.

What else has been keeping us busy? Hmm.......lots of local Arcadia shows. And of course I'm the vendor coordinator for those shows. Never a dull moment here that's for sure.

Jon just had surgery on his shoulder. Ouch!! He's recovering and doing well. Unfortunately he'll miss one of his favorite shows this coming weekend in Tucson.

Other than that........the rest remains the same for now. The Bobtails are up to their usual antics. Last night was quite an event. I didn't have to look outside to confirm that there was a full moon. I was ready to put the whole herd up for adoption. LOL. It is really quite amazing how the Bobs all stick together. They run in a little pack.

So now we're gearing up for Christmas. Lots to do in the next 25 days. Two cat shows, a trip to Disneyland, guests for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas breakfast. Fun, fun, fun.

meow for now,
melissa

TICA Annual-post weekend wrap up

I almost forgot to post about the TICA Annual held over Labor Day weekend in Orlando, FL. We had an absolute grand time. The trip out was uneventful. The hotel was nice. Mom and I met up with Jon and Jan on Thursday for dinner after they came back from an airboat ride. Sounded like a lot of fun.

The whole weekend was a whirlwind. Arrive on Thursday. Dinner out on Thursday. Epcot on Friday. Welcome reception Friday night. Dinner with friends Friday night. Show on Saturday. Meet and greet our new kittens that we picked up on Saturday. Banquet on Saturday evening. Collect all the awards. Show on Sunday. Dinner on Sunday after the show. Monday fly home. Monday evening come down with bad cold. :-(

I was really happy that we were able to do some sightseeing. The hotel was really nice and tropical. We ate at some great restaurants. The banquet on Saturday evening was nice. We went home with some great memories. Got to see Cindy, Claire and Debbie again. Haven't seen Cindy in 5 years. It was like old home week. Put in an order for a Maine Coon with Cindy. Took lots of pictures, etc, etc, etc.

Now it's back to business. There's a show in Vegas this weekend. Alas.....we won't be there. Eventhough the counts are phenomenal just kind of decided that we needed a break. We have Arcadia next weekend and Lodi the weekend after that.

I'm going up to Jon's this weekend to check up on our future show babies. We have two little fluffballs from Mufasa and Sasha that are showing a lot of promise. If they shape up accordingly they'll debut at the November Arcadia show. The only problem will be which one to show? They are both really nice. Time will tell.

JJ, Polar's Mom, is due any minute. We bred her to Snow Fox, PJ's Dad. Hopefully we'll get a whole litter of show babies. I told Jon to rub her belly and wish for 4 show babies. I know someone in England who has been waiting forever!!

Sometime in all of the preparation for the Annual I decided to put together a cookbook to aid FIP and HCM research. Why? I have no bloody idea. Like I don't have enough going on right now. It seemed like a good idea at the time. :-) So now I'm collecting and organizing recipes. So please share your recipes with me. You can email them to me, megncats@cox.net Be sure to include your city and state or country on your submissions. I'll meow more about the cookbook another day.

Cuddling babies this weekend!! Can't wait. I think we'll be naming the little fluffballs this weekend. They are so incredibly adorable. Can't wait to hold them again!

Have a great weekend. Stay cool if you're in a hot area.

meow for now,
melissa

The day that changed our lives.....

I can remember that moment as if it was yesterday instead of 8 years ago. It was 7:36am and I was reading my TICAMEMBERS emails. I had WGN news on in the background. I had just finished reading an email from JP Demers when I heard something in the background about a plane hitting a building in New York. I stopped emails and went and watched the news for awhile. I changed channels to Good Morning America. I admit it. I changed channels because it looked like an interesting news story and I knew that the network morning news shows would be covering it because it was local.

Then I heard Diane Sawyer's voice talking about the second plane. I saw it on live TV, but it didn't register in my mind what I had seen until I saw it again. Just unbelieveable.

The flood of information that kept coming at you minute by minute, second by second. I still can't believe what I was seeing. Sometime during all this I called and made a reservation for a hotel for an upcoming cat show. Then the Pentagon got hit. Then there was another missing plane. Then the first Tower came down. Then the second Tower came down.

Was this really happening? What was next? Then all the planes were grounded. Grounded for days. It was eerie. We lived close to O'Hare Airport so the sound of airplanes was common place. The day we heard the first plane over head was creepy. We were in Franklin Park when that plane went over head. It sounded so loud, so close.

Our lives turned upside down that day. I remember keeping my TV on for days afterwards. It never went off. I slept with it on for the first few days, just in case they found a survivor in the rumble. I didn't want to miss it. Instead we saw the flag draped stretchers that carried out the firemen that went in and never came out.

I will forever remember that day, that minute, that second. Hopefully this country will never forget what happened. In spite what over inflated Hollywood egos seem to think. The US government did not orchestrate this tragedy. Religious zealots did this.

In my opinion, this day and December 7th should be national holidays. A day to remember a tremendous loss for our country.

I hope everyone will remember this day and what happened and how it changed our lives forever........

meow for now,
melissa

All is well once again

I know my last post was a bit ominous. It was a bad week. To hear my best friend sound so down on something that he absolutely loves. It was heartbreaking. Luckily.......it was a bad week and things and feelings have passed and all seems right with the world again.

We are so looking forward to the TICA Annual sneeking up on us in just over a week. Very exciting. Plans are being made. Restaurants are being sought for some good old fashioned fun. Theme parks are being investigated for which will provide the best time. Mental lists are being made for what needs to be packed. A great time is being planned.

Plans for the future are also being made. We have several Siberian kittens that are showing great promise. We anxiously watching the two from Sasha and Mufasa. They're little butterballs with the thickest, fluffiest coats I have ever seen on 5 week old kittens. They look better than some adults. And the heads!! Round with perfect profiles. We can't wait to see these little ones get bigger. It's always exciting to see something with so much promise at such a young age. I'll post pictures soon of these little shaggy bears.

So.....luckily our little dark cloud that was hanging over us has passed. Sometimes it helps to take a breath and think things through and to realize how lucky and fortunate we really are. It also didn't hurt to receive TICA's newest brochure in the mail on Saturday. It has a picture of Jon holding Frosty and receiving a Best Cat rosette from Hisako Yamada. He was truly touched and honored that TICA would choose to use that photo on the 30th Anniversary brochure.

On to Orlando and tons of fun!!!

meow for now,
melissa

What do you do?

What do you do when something you love, something that is a part of you is no longer fun? When you feel like you're being passed by and left behind? Unfortunately a dear friend of mine is facing that right now. He said that the cat fancy isn't fun anymore. There are cliques and hierarchy that nobody can get into.

In some ways I very much agree with him. Let's face it. The cat fancy is a bit like high school. You have the in crowd and everyone else. Sometimes the in crowd will let you in briefly, to give you a taste of what you're missing, and then send you back. No matter how hard you work to achieve your goals, nothing you do matters, unless you know the right people.

We have tried very hard to achieve that level. Never in a million years did I think I would be going to an Annual show to collect four awards. When I entered my first show over 14 years ago, I didn't even know if I would get a regional award. Now.......with lots of hard work, I've achieved a certain level. Definitely not the in crowd, but a higher level. If you think of it in high school standards, perhaps a junior. My dear friend is the same way. He has struggled and fought for every win, every point, every award. When you work with minority breeds, it isn't easy.

He finally thought that he had reached the senior level. Only to be basically told to go back to the sophomore level. It's made him rethink being in the cat fancy. It's given him a new perspective on things. It's making him consider leaving the fancy.

It does make one wonder. Why are some people told that they have to put in their time, to pay their dues, so to speak, before they're rewarded with the higher wins, while others are welcomed with open arms and lavished with finals and praise? It's discouraging. You hear stories from people who just celebrated their first supreme. After 16 years they just received their first supreme. Then you hear others who brag about 3 show supremes.

Is it all really about the cat? Or is it about who owns the cat? We do need to be honest. Everyone knows it's not just about the cat. Anyone who thinks otherwise should take off their rose colored glasses. Showing cats is political. A friend, who is also a judge, has told me time after time, the Best Cat, Kitten, Alter, etc isn't necessarily the best. They just happen to have more money and opportunity than others.

I've always known that the cat fancy is political. Let's face it. It's a competition. There is bound to be politics involved. Some of it is who you know and who knows you. I guess the biggest thing for us, is that it never really effected us until this past season. When we were briefly let in to run with the seniors. Now that we've been sent back to be with the underclassmen it's a bit of a hard pill to swallow. Makes you even wonder at times is this all worth it? Is it worth the heartache? You bring something to the show that you've worked on producing only to be told it's not any good. Eventhough you were told months ago that it was great. What's changed?

Are the only ones who do well in the cat fancy those who prey on others to get ahead? The ones who play the game dishonestly? The ones who are in the good graces of the judges? The ones who can afford to go somewhere every weekend? The ones who offer you their friendship and then stab you in the back?

We had an incredible show season last year. We showed some incredible cats. They are the epitome of the standard. So what changed? We're still showing the same cats.

I guess there comes a time in everyone's life when they need to step back, take time off and make decisions about their future. It's when you realize that life will go on without you. That your shoes will be filled by the next person in the door. That nobody will miss you or what you have to bring to the table. It makes you wonder if all the praise and good things that were said to you were to make you feel good so you keep coming back and bringing entries for shows. How does one know if what is being said to them is the honest truth or a slick way to get you to spend money at the shows?

It really makes me wonder if this is all worth it..........

meow for now,
melissa

The SW Regional

Well.......what could I possibly say. It was a great weekend. Starting on Friday we went to Porto Alegre for Brazilian food, followed by cheesecake and champagne in our room. This started the weekend off.

The show on Saturday was fun. The banquet........we had the best time. My dress was very well received. The champagne flowed at our table. It was just magical. Jon and I had to go up several times. That probably made it the most fun.

When you're so caught up in the moment, it's very hard to visualize the things going on around you. I'm fairly certain and Jon confirmed it that Polar was very much applauded when he was called out for 2nd Best Alter. It seemed pretty loud to me and I think I saw several people standing for him. I do remember it being loud because I was very touched and teared up a little on my way up. I do know that everyone liked the photo that I used of Polar for the Powerpoint. It was just an extreme closeup of his face. I'll have to see about posting it here. I'm also going to see about posting a picture of me, in the dress, with my partner in crime Jon.

With as wonderful as the weekend was and with how much we were looking forward to it, I am amazed at how little there is to say. It lived up to all our expectations to say the least. We had a big box of awards and rosettes to bring home. Our benching area was covered on Sunday. We had lots of people coming over and congratulating us all weekend long. It was almost like a wedding. Too funny.

Now we're concentrating on the upcoming Annual. Again, should be another fun filled evening. Can't wait.....

meow for now,
melissa

special offer from Regional vendor

I will chat more about the incredible time we had at the regional in a separate post. I wanted to highlight an offer that one of my vendors has for everyone.

I invited a Tastefully Simple representative to the show. Karalee Johnson is my rep from where I live. She trekked the two hours north to help out and vend at the show. Karalee loves cats.

So......she is holding an open book catalog show until Friday, Aug 7th. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to an animal shelter.

You can order online and use her representative # 1205, not sure if you have to mention cat show somewhere. Or if you have any questions you can call her at 760-735-5998 or email her at catshow@lovethatgarlic.com

Tastefully Simple has very easy to prepare mixes that taste incredible. They also have some great seasoning blends and sauces.

I'm encouraging anyone who can to order and help the kitties.

meow for now,
melissa