Thankful Thursday: Gotcha Day Wrap Up

 Meows from Mudpie!

Earlier this summer I was one of the lucky winners of Basil and Smooch's Birthday Giveaway. My package made it's long journey over the pond in record time and arrived during one of our heat waves in July. Since I haven't been interested in playing with any of my toys in this heat Mommy decided to set it aside to open on my Gotcha Day.

Lemme tell you, these goodies were worth waiting for! I got a snuggle mat and catnip pillow, and Mommy got a mouse pad, hair scrunchie and beautiful pink bracelet! 

I instantly tore into the catnip pillow. 

Mommy loves these pictures of my precious little paw holding it down. I may have overindulged a little at this point and was waiting for the room to stop moving. 

We can't get over how adorable the pattern is on my new snuggle mat. (Mommy says she'd love to have a face mask with this design!) I can't wait to use it on our bed or maybe even my KatKabin once it gets cooler. 

Did you know I'm fanatical about pom poms? Mommy had the hardest time getting a picture of me near the snuggle mat because all I wanted to do was bat the cute pink pom poms around! 

We can't thank Bionic Basil & the B Team enough for pawsome prize package. It totally made my Gotcha Day! (Can you tell in this picture how much I want those pom poms?)

Many thanks as well to CK and Timmy Tomcat for their sweet cards, and everyone who sent messages on my special day! Love you guys!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!!

Meows from Mudpie!

This is such a busy week for my family! Not only was Sunday my Gotcha Day, today is my grandma's birthday! (Was I the greatest birthday gift ever 5 years ago or what?!?!)

I love my grandma so much, and she thinks I hung the moon too! Today I wanted to make her a card featuring my favorite picture of us cuddling. I hope she likes it!

Happy birthday, Grandma! I love you so, so much and can't wait to cuddle with you again this winter! Save a spot on your lap for me!

Happy 5th Gotcha Day, Mudpie!!!

Meows from Mudpie!

Five years ago today my life changed forever when Mommy decided I was the kitty to fill the empty hole in her heart that Truffles left behind. We've told this story for the past 4 years on my special day, but it's a real life "fairy tail" and I didn't think you'd mind reading it again. I know that I never get tired of telling it!

It all began 10 days earlier with a series of photos posted on the shelter website. Mommy says she saw my picture and had the same feeling in her heart that she had the first time she saw Truffles. Still, she didn't want to make a hasty decision so she saved my picture to her PC and tablet and kept looking at it over and over. When she finally decided to call the shelter and ask about me it didn't take long for her to decide that I was the one.

She filled out the adoption application, gathered the needed references, and was immediately approved, but then we hit a bit of a snag. The shelter doesn't typically finalize adoptions before the prospective family meets the pet, meaning I couldn't be placed "on hold" (for lack of a better term) and when Mommy spoke to the shelter on Friday afternoon she learned that another lady had just stopped in and was very interested in me! Thankfully the nice shelter volunteer heard the panic in Mommy's voice when she reiterated that she just couldn't come get me until Sunday (they had already agreed to open the shelter just for us!) and said she'd do everything she could to steer the lady's attention to another cat. (People are just drawn to me...what can I say???)

So on a sunny Sunday morning Mommy and my Grandpa made the hour drive to make our union legal and bring me to my forever home.

She had never been to this particular shelter before and thought it was so beautiful. She especially loved the cat quotes on the walls.

She enjoyed spending a little time with Thomas, the shelter mascot, but her heart was pounding with anticipation to meet *me*!!!

There was a cute little tortie in the front holding room, and at first Mommy thought it was me! Then she was told that I was sequestered in the shelter director's office because I don't play well with others. Tattle tails!!!

As soon as Mommy saw me it was all over...I held her heart in my paws!

In no time at all the paperwork was complete and I was on my way home. Mommy rode in the back seat with me and I barely made a peep. We just gazed at each other as well fell completely in love.

I made myself at home the moment I walked in the door, immediately gravitating to the toys set out waiting for me...

...and the pawsome cat beds too! (Geez, wasn't I a skinny, scrawny little thing???) I was totally tuckered out at this point!

The whole day was just a dream come true, one Mommy and I will never forget. Life is pretty darn amazing for this little tortie today. I have a wonderful family who worships the ground I walk on, and loads of friends in the blogosphere who welcomed me with open arms.

Of all the kitties in the world, Mommy picked me. And I thank Cod for her every single day.

Do you remember the day you moved to your forever home?

Special Request #CaturdayArt

Meows from Mudpie!

Last week we had a request from our friends at the Dash Kitten blog to see my selfie in black and white. Ask and you shall receive! We added a pretty craft scissors frame too.

Visit more artsy kitties at Athena's Caturday Art blog hop!

And now our answers for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs!

1. One word to describe my week is long. I wish the weeks leading up to Halloween and Christmas were as long as weeks during the summer months!

2. For me, pursuing what brings you joy and fulfillment is the meaning of life.

Mudpie's answers:

3. My biggest success has been finding a forever Mommy who loves me to the moon and back. This weekend we'll be celebrating five years together!

4. Not to brag, but I am insanely cute. I know you're probably thinking, "Mudpie, that's pretty obvious from your pictures!" but even pictures don't do me justice! (Okay, that kind of sounds like I'm bragging...)

Fun Feline Finds: Street Cat Bob Tribute & Back Issues

For those of us who loved him and followed his story closely, the unexpected news of Street Cat Bob's passing earlier this summer was shocking and devastating. If he had been lost to illness or age it would've been hard enough, but needlessly getting hit by a car seemed an especially cruel end for a beloved cat who meant so much to millions. 

I was thrilled to see The Big Issue publish a tribute edition to honor Bob's legacy and ordered my copy as soon as it hit their website. While I was there I also ordered the two back issues with Bob on the cover they still had in stock. (Now I wish I had bought each of his cover stories as they had been published!) They arrived in just a couple weeks and are now a cherished part of my collection of Bob books.

The three issues I bought are all still available but I would recommend acting fast if you're interested in purchasing any. The tribute issue sold out it's very first day but more were printed because of high demand. 

Rest in peace, Bob. I wish you were still with us.

Christmas in July Wrap Up

As I sit here typing this Isaias is knocking at our door, predicted to pass right over my town. I'm worried sick about a repeat of Halloween when we got 4" of rain and my basement had tons of water in it. I've replaced my window well covers and have the wet vac plugged in, ready to go, hoping to not get caught off guard this time. It's been such a long day just waiting for the storm to arrive, I can't wait until it's outta here!

Storms like this with heavy rain are one more reason I *hate* summer. Give me a good ol' snowstorm anyday! 

Today we want to thank our sweet friend Ellen at 15 and Meowing for her surprise Christmas in July gift that arrived last week. Mudpie got a precious pink fishie that she absolutely loves, and I got Grumpy Cat footie socks and note cards!

Among other things Ellen and I share an intense dislike of summer and a love for all things Christmas and Grumpy Cat. Her package was the purrfect way to end Christmas in July!

UPDATE: Thankfully by the time the storm reached northern Vermont it was losing steam. We got over 2" of rain throughout the day and into the evening but it was nowhere near as bad as I feared. On the plus side, we got a fabulous north wind blowing through!

Mudpie in a Bottle #MewsicMovesMe

The theme of this week's Mewsic Moves Me blog hop is songs about islands or an island theme. Because of the heat an island is the last place I'd ever want to be but we found a few cool tunes for you anyways...

Several years ago CMT counted down the greatest country duets of all time. This ended up in the #1 spot. Personally, I think it should've been a Conway & Loretta duet, but I'm far from impartial...

Here's a question for you...WHO would you want to be stranded on an island with? I don't think anyone needs to think too hard to guess my choice. (I would never go anywhere without Mudpie so she doesn't count.)