Good Riddance

My regular readers know that we've been fostering cats for about 2 years now.  Of those 2 years, we've had 2 cats for a year, and six more for 8 of those months as well.  When we signed up, we were under the impression we were going to have the cats for a couple months at the most.  And initially that was true.  For the first year, we'd had 3 litters of kittens that all got adopted out pretty quickly.

I'm not sure what changed (I have theories I'm not going into today), but needless to say, adoptions through the rescue we were helping went to pretty much none. 

My family LOVES furry animals of any kind.  In fact, my hubby took in a rabbit because he was convinced if he didn't, it would be dead by the end of the day (for the record, he was probably right). That said, we officially hit our limit.  Within a week of replacing our roof, our A/C died.  After looking at those expenses and how much we were spending per month on food, litter, and gas and time getting the cats to adoption events, we decided it was time the cats had to go.

I am proud to say we are done.  Today, I took 8 cats to be fostered somewhere else.

My daughter is sad to see a few of them go.  I on the other hand am not.  Although most of the cats were friendly, they were getting to be too much.  In addition to feeding and scooping them, we essentially had to baby-proof the house.  On those occasions when I didn't get that done, things were destroyed.

I am happy to say, that we are now a 1 cat family.  We may get another cat down the road, but as far as I'm concerned it won't be for about a year (I need a break).  Will we foster cats again?  Perhaps, but I've learned a lot about the process, and I've learned that who you foster through is VERY important so we won't be fostering for the person we just finished with.

Getting Used to Disappointment

"Get used to disappointment"... that's a line from one of my favorite movies.  Today I discovered an excellent way for me to get over disappointment.

You see, I have been in contact with someone since the end of September.  They were buying an existing business in the area and therefore wanted to find a house nearby.  I've been trying to reach them for a couple months figuring I was always catching them while they were at work and they were so busy they couldn't return my calls.  So, today I packed up the kids and we went to their new business.  It just so happens to be a gift shop / deli so the kids and I went there for a late lunch.

Much to my disappointment, I figured out the real reason they had not been in touch with me.  Apparently they just moved into their new house on Jan 1.  So what's a girl to do?  Suck it up.  Eat the food I'd ordered.  And take the kids to the beach.

OK, so I'd already planned to do the beach and checking in on my "client" on the same trip.  What I discovered though is that sitting on the beach, digging holes and tunnels in the sand with my kids, watching the sea gulls, and collecting shells makes all the cares and concerns about a "lost sale" float away with the tide. 

Kissing My Bank Goodbye

Well, I'm officially over it... my bank that is.  I've been with them for over 6 years even sticking with them through a merger.  When I was informed that I would be charged a $30 per month fee on one of my accounts I decided it was time to go. 

I know it was the right decision to make, but can I just say how much of a pain it is to switch while still being able to pay your bills.  Add to that, we are trying to buy things for the new house while not digging into savings too much.  Hard to do when your savings is spread among multiple banks.  Ugghh!