The past couple of days Wampi hasn't even gone near his cage. He is definitely happier! He sleeps outside the cage, sometimes in the bathroom, sometimes on the floor next to the bed, sometimes in our bed on my pillow. He has been walking so much more and even though he has a funny walk now and his back legs still bend at this weird angle, it doesn't seem to bother him. Also, he seems to be able to jump off the couch ok, but he can't jump up onto things. He tries. Oh, yes, he is definitely trying. He gets his paws up on the edge of the couch and you can just see him trying to push off like he used to. Sometimes I help him up but sometimes I let him work at it. He needs to work at it, I think, so he can rebuild the muscles. It might be that he never jumps again but who knows, he might be able to. He seems to want to try.

Yesterday, I did pick him up and put him on the couch with me and he found some random catalogue from the mail that I was about to throw away ... but Wampi was fascinated with it! He used to always love to play with balls, and feather mouses, paper & plastic bags, and probably his favorite thing to do was to just shred paper. It's pretty funny to watch unless it's your homework or some important bill or something! lol. Well, it is still cute.

Here are the pics from Wampi's playtime with the magazine, ie Wampi makes confetti!
=)

Yep, that's right. The Wampster stayed out of his cage the entire night. He is making leaps and bounds when it comes to getting rid of his fear. I kept thinking he would want to go back in, but no, he slept under our futon couch/bed the entire night. He woke me up this morning meowing beside the bed because he wanted me to pick him up and pet him. I was still really tired but I managed to pet the little guy for a bit.

Last night late, Wampi sat next to the couch meowing and I could tell he wanted something. Then, he tried to jump up onto the couch and of course, he couldn't do it. He got his front paws up on the edge but his back legs just can't push anymore. So, being the industrious kitty he is, he used his front paws (claws) to scale the side of the couch. Normally, I would not encourage the use of his claws on the couch, but I was fascinated. I wanted to see if he could do it ... and he did. He got up on the couch by pulling himself with his front paws! It was really amazing to see how he was compensating. And he was really happy afterwards too ... curled right up with me and seemed almost proud of himself.

Before December rolls around we will have to move out of this apartment because our lease is up ... and we'll probably be moving to Brooklyn because the apartments are bigger and much cheaper than in Manhattan, even though I live in one of the cheapest areas of Manhattan. Once we do find a different place, I am thinking I might get him those foam steps that someone mentioned in a previous post. This way he can lay on the couch or chair without clawing everything in site up!

On a different note, I wanted to alert all you dog-lovers out there as to what Emerald is up to ... tomorrow she's on her way to rescue a toy American Eskimo dog that is scheduled to be put down. She doesn't have much money although she has donated to Wampi's recovery several times by auctioning off some of her things, recycling cans and spreading Wampi's story. If you can, go to her site, check it out and help her a bit if you can via her PayPal button. She needs to raise $100. Emerald is really a wonderful person and cares deeply for animals. And that little dog is absolutely the sweetest, cutest, little thing.

Even though I haven't paid off all of Wampi's bill yet (geting super close though!), I am going to donate the $5 from my can collecting/recycling efforts from this week to help the little guy out. I truly believe that if everyone were to recycle and make a little effort, we would all have a few bucks extra a month that we can use ourselves or donate to a good cause. Not to mention we help the environment and reduce our public landfills. =)

Yesterday, Wampi spent the entire day out of the cage. For those of you new to this site, that may not seem like a big deal but after all he's been through ... with the surgery, the cast changes, the final cast removal, the mental trauma ... it's amazing.

He spent the morning sleeping on the couch, then I put him on the floor so he could limp around a bit. Yes, he still has the limp but he doesn't seem to be in pain (no crying or meowing). The vet says he may have arthritis from all his trauma.

So he walked slowly through the apartment (very small so he didn't have far to go!) and then I turned around and I couldn't find him! omg ... I panicked. I looked everywhere ... I even looked out the window even though I knew there was no way he could even jump up to the window ledge let alone climb the gate to get to the top of the window (and yes, now my windows are locked). But I was still freaked. He can't even jump up or off the couch by himself yet.

So I got a flashlight and looked behind everything and there he was ... behind the couch in the far corner, grooming himself and looking quite happy. So I decided it was good for him to stay out and I left him alone. He stayed back there until almost 9pm when he came out for dinner and then he went to the table where his cage was and meowed. He slept in the cage but wow, he got the courage to stay out of it all day! He is definitely healing not only physically but mentally too.

Wampi is a survivor!
=^..^=


ps-can ya'll tell that his fur is getting thicker? He has gained a little weight (his back isn't bony anymore) and he is looking sooooo much better overall.

A lot of people have asked me lately about Wampi's name. It is pretty unusual!

Well, Wampi means "white beads" in Algonquin and it is also the name of a tropical fruit - Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeels in the family Rutacease (the Orange family), but these are not the reasons I named him Wampi.

I named Wampi after a little Ecuadorian boy I met while doing research for my Ph.D. in Biology. I started doing research in Ecuador while I was an undergraduate and was fortunate enough to win a nice grant that paid for my trips to South America and my graduate tuition. Now, I'm still a grad student but finished with all the research (thanks to that grant!) ... and now just trying to take care of our daughter, Wampi, and write the final dissertation so I can actually be called a "Ph.D."

Back to the story.

The little boy I named Wampi after belongs to an indigenous group known as the Huaorani who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I lived in their village several times 4-6 weeks at a stretch learning from them and studying tropical plants. No electricity. No running water. No outside communications. Just palm-thatched huts, small meandering rivers, steep terrain and green jungle for as far as you can see. Very intense and definitely life-changing.

This little boy was such a sweetheart. When I first met him I was struck by how social he was. All the other Huaorani children were shy with me on my first visit (they don't even speak Spanish). But not Wampi. He was smiling and laughing and trying to climb up my leg. He was a little 3-year-old ham! I loved playing with him and as I got more familiar with their language, I could actually talk with him. The Huaorani speak an unclassified language and was difficult to learn. But after a few visits and dedication to learning the language, I got the hang of it.

So how are Wampi the boy and Wampi the cat connected?

This beautiful Maine Coon kitty was so loving right from the start (you now know how he came to live with me now). He would meow and meow at me on his very first day in my apartment ... he wanted me to pick him up. And ... if I didn't pick him up he would try to climb my leg! It was funny and remdinded me of that little boy. Still, I didn't think of naming him Wampi yet.

A few days later, I put some cat food on a plate and when he started eating it he made the funniest noise. It sounded like he was chirping! I had never ever heard of a cat chirping and I just listened in fascination.

"What was this?" I thought. At the time, I didn't know Maine Coon's are famous for this "chirping" sound that they usually do when they are really happy.

It was around this time that I just connected Wampi the boy and Wampi the cat. Both are incredibly social and loving, both tried to climb my leg and liked to ride on my shoulder, both have a unique way of speaking. Eureka!

And that's how Wampi got his name!

=)

I just wanted to post really quick to let everyone know that Wampi is making some more progress. Yesterday, he came out of his cage for about an hour, sniffed around the apartment a little bit and spent some time in both my lap and my husband's lap. I think he is getting up more and more courage.

His limp is still there, but he can definitely walk. The leg that had the cast on is soooooo much skinnier than the other one. I'm not too worried about that though because I know anyone who had a cast on for 2 months would lose some muscle tone. I'm just so glad he's getting a little bit of his courage back!

I have to go to school all day but tonight I'll finish the story about Wampi's name and post it with some photos. =)

HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU'S go out to Jan & James, Old Controller, Sharon and Judy who have donated recently to help pay for Wampi's vet bills. You guys are so incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! That brings the total up to $4,569.36. Wow. Almost there. So amazing.

So when I happened into Petco about 2 years ago I was naturally drawn to the adoption area where they keep all the cats. I've fostered a lot of them for short periods of time through the years, but never adopted a cat because I didn't think it would be fair of me to adopt a kitty then take off for my research during the summer(although I did have a cat during my undergrad years).

But when I saw Wampi, I was so in love. I thought, "OK, he's almost a year old ... he'll be harder to adopt out. I can foster him for awhile and maybe find him a good home." The year before I fostered a beautiful Norwegian Forest Cat and he eventually went to live permanently with my neighbor April. Later on I was to learn that Wampi had been adopted out twice before but returned shortly after because he was too high maintenance & too energetic.

So I went over to his cage and we just looked at each other.

When they opened his cage door they said "careful, he doesn't let anyone hold him ... he might try to jump out and run." But this didn't happen. Nope. Not at all. I leaned forward and he carefully put his paws on my shoulder. Then he hopped up on my shoulder! "Wow," I thought. "What an amazing kitty!"

I turned around to see all these volunteers and people staring. And Wampi was perched on my shoulder staring back at everyone.

The woman who was helping me exclaimed "I think he chose you!" And I was thinking the same thing. I was so in love right then. I knew I was going to adopt and not just foster, and this was a good time since I was pretty much done with my research (just writing & analysis left to do!).

I said I wanted him. "Where's the paperwork?"

The woman smiled and said I could fill it out, but there was another couple who had already said they wanted to adopt him. They were finished with the paperwork and standing there watching me with the kitty. I was so heartbroken. How could this be? It just seemed so right. Maybe you know the feeling I'm talking about. Just seemed absolutely right and to be told, "no" seemed surreal.

She said I could fill out the paperwork anyway and if something fell through with the other couple, she'd give me a call.

You know the end to that story. She called the next day and said the couple hadn't returned her call and that it seemed they weren't as interested as she first thought. She said I could have the kitty! I was ecstatic!

So within a day Wampi came to live with me. But it took me another 3 days to figure out his name.

(Tomorrow: How Wampi Got His Name)

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a few days ... it's been a crazy few days but I'll have to post more on that later. I had to register for classes yesterday, my daughter got vaccinations today, and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Wampi actually seemed interested in coming out of his cage today! He played with a toy mouse in the cage until it was totally slobbered over and torn up, then started meowing for help to get out. I put him on my chair and he hung out with me for a while.

More tomorrow! But this is all I have time for now.

p.s.-I'm behind on all the emails too ... I should catch up on that tomorrow afternoon! =)


I think Wampi is considering jumping on the floor, but of course he didn't. He definitely seems just a teeny bit better.

Thanks everyone for your kind words while I was sick. I'm still feeling run down but I'm doing better. I took Wampi out a little while ago and he purred up a storm sitting on my lap, but not surprisingly, as soon as I set him on the floor he limped over to the stool again ... he wanted to go back in his cage.

I think if I'm holding him he feels safe. But when he's out in the open he gets scared and that's why he wants back to the safety of his cage. I leave the flap open (during the day) and the makeshift stairs are there but he doesn't use them yet. He'll poke out his head and meow at me when he wants food, water or is about to use the cat box. Yes, it is sorta funny but right before he uses his cat box he will meow a bunch to let me know so I come running over, he uses it and then waits for me to scoop it out. lol. Smart kitty. He's got me waiting on him hand and foot! =) I don't mind.

And actually I'm starting to worry about him a lot less. He will be able to use the leg to walk around the house when he's ready. He's shown me he can limp across the living room too. I haven't given him pain medicine in 4 days and he doesn't seem to mind, but I do have more in case he wants it.

Now, I just have to take him to the vet one more time to see if he says Wampi can heal without another surgery. I really think he's just mentally traumatized and that his leg is probably sore and tender, but on the mend. He'll be going back once more (hopefully the last time for this situation) this Friday. As always, I'll keep people updated. =)

Wampi is almost healed and the vet bill is close to being paid off! Yay!!! Only need to raise $560.64 to reach the fundraising goal!

HUGE HUGE THANK YOU'S go out to Wampi's latest donors: Emerald, Stacy, and Robin. Ya'll are Awesome! =^..^=

Sorry everyone ... I'm sick and haven't been able to post. Hopefully I'll post some Wampi pics tonight.

Wampi, some of his nicknames include: Wamp, Wampers, Wampster, & Wamp-meister! Too cute, huh? =)

So every day I've been taking Wampi out of his cat cage to exercise a little bit, and every day he walks a little (limps) and then returns to the stool in front of his cage wanting to go back in. He can't jump up on the table by himself.

Today, I picked him up and he was purrring furiously ... it was so nice. I pet him and held him then sat down on the couch with him in my lap. Almost immediately he went to the edge of the couch, stepped carefully on the box I put next to the couch, then onto the stack of books I set up, then onto the floor.

Yes, I made him kitty steps!

Today, within a matter of 2 minutes he went down the steps, walked about 5 steps over to the stool and meowed for me to put him back in the cage. Who would have ever thought he would want to stay in there?? It is his safe place, true ... but I thought about something else.

I think I got this whole physical therapy thing all wrong.

I've been trying to rehabilitate him. His leg is healing with time (and Emerald's reiki! thank you!) but he needs to exercise it and get comfortable with it on his own time.

Maybe I'm pushing him a little bit too much. I can tell he's in some pain(not horrible though), but he can walk with a limp. I highly doubt the vet is going to say he has to have surgery. I've had my share of traumas, broken bones and surgeries and there is always a period of time to recoup in addition to the initial repair and healing. Especially with joints.

And, he has some sort of post traumatic stress disorder going on.

So, I think taking him out to pet him is a good thing, but I am going to set up some sort of step system (here too) and leave the cage door open. He can come out when he's ready and go back when he's ready. If I had room in our apartment, I would move the cage to the floor to an out of the way spot so he'd feel better, but we don't have anywhere else for the cage.

I know his legs are going to heal, even if he has a little bit of a limp. It's the emotional scars now that I now believe will take the longest to heal. Little bit, by little bit!

Some pics from today:


Here's Wampi just hanging out. He seems really happy here and mellow.


Wampi wonders what the heck I'm doing.


Wampi ventures out just a little bit. He never came all the way out of the cage.


Wampi was meowing a lot here ... I think he was just afraid to go any further on his own. He turned around, and went back inside.


Wampi retreated to the back of the cage. Maybe he thought I was going to take him out again. Poor fella.

I can't believe it. After several years, three landlords, and numerous run-arounds ... the windows are fixed. The frames weren't bent. They just needed new latches!


Here they are ... the defective latches ... probably cost them 5 bucks to replace.

I got a check yesterday for $650! This was not a donation, but rather a paycheck that I was supposed to be paid last spring for web work but never got it. We limped along without it and during this Summer of Broken Things just done without and scrimped along ... and finally this check came in!

I'm putting the whole thing in the Wampi fund! =D

So that means the total is now up to ---> $4,216.96 !!!

I'll be back later with a post on Wampi's Physical Therapy complete with pics. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm getting really close to paying this off.

Mrrrawwr.

OK, well it might be a really good thing that Wampi wants to still spend most of his time in the cat cage. Our window latches are not fixed. It's not safe for him to roam the apartment unattended.

The window repair guy arrived around 2pm and after inspecting the windows said the window frames were bent and they had to be completely replaced. He'd have to order new windows ... if the landlord would approve of the expense.

Well, I thought, of course he will. I should have locking windows right? I mean, I should ... deserve ... to have windows that lock, right?

Well, more excuses. I called and left a message with the landlord as to what the guy said. He called me back and seemed upset regarding the verdict. He wants to inspect the windows himself. In his defense, I think he wants to do the right thing but omg I'm so tired of waiting ... and getting the runaround.

He thinks that if all three windows have bent frames and since there is no obvious damage to the windows (like a burglar trying to get in with a crow bar) then the building may have settled and what we need is a mason to fix the brick work around the windows instead of new windows.

AGGGGGGHHHH.

He's coming to look next week and decide what to do. If he wants to redo the brick work around the windows ... well that's bad. How in the world can we live in a tiny little apartment with all our windows torn out, exposed to the world (NYC world) while a bunch of people rebuild our frames? It's more than inconvenient. It's not safe. It's scary. I don't know what the heck we'll do. There is no way, NO WAY, we will stay in conditions like that.

Our building is really old. I think about 200 years old. Our floors slant and we even have ancient gas fixtures (non working, of course) in the bathroom. I wouldn't be surprised if the verdict is the actual window opening has shifted. A building across the street totally collapsed a few years ago...every single person had to evacuate their homes.

OK, I'll stop. I'm just upset. I should stay positive. Maybe things will work out and he'll say something simple next week and this will get resolved.

In the meantime, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing ...keep working with Wampi. Coaxing him to walk a little more and encouraging him to stay out of the cage longer and longer. Both yesterday and today, he limped about a little bit, layed on the floor a while, then sort of scooted himself over to the table where his cage sits. Then he would look at me and meow. He tried to climb up on the stool but it hurt him so I just picked him up and put him in the cage. He's making a little progress and I'm glad he's got a safe haven.

ps-I recycled 86 cans. =)


Surprised by the flash.


Wampi stretching.

Any minute now the window repair guy should show up to fix our windows! We have 4 windows in our apartment (3 big ones and a tiny one) and 3 of those have broken latches. The building super has tried to fix them but can't. The previous two landlords have brushed this off and over the years they never got fixed.

I can't believe that *finally* someone has listened and they are getting fixed.

I'll post more later on this, recycling, and Wampi's physical therapy. (Wampi's sleeping now).

=)

ps- if you didn't know, our broken window latches are the reason Wampi was able to get out of our apartment in the first place.

I've been so busy with Wampi and my daughter that I realize I haven't posted the names of new donors since last Friday. The totals are up-to-date as well as the "Donors & Fanclub" and "Webmasters for Wampi".

Many, many thanks go out to our new Wampi friends:
lilred
Melissa M.
Rachel
Melissa W.
Jacqueline
Anne
Matthew
Roxanne
Dustin
Gregory

Thank you sooooo much for your donations! And please let me know if I can link to your site. =)

I can't believe how much has been raised already. Wow. $3,562.36 has been raised since the blog first began on June 7.

So last night I took Wampi out of the cat cage and put him on our bed to give him some exercise. He limped around a little bit. He didn't cry or meow but he seemed agitated. He kept trying to go to the edge of the bed and jump off. The vet said that I was to absolutely NOT let him jump for awhile but there he went, jumped off the bed about a foot off the ground.

I was horrified. I held my breath waiting for him to cry or scream (his kitty scream is bone-chilling) but nothing. He stood there for a second, then sat down.

Whew. I took a deep breath. My nerves were already rattled!

I let him stay on the floor because he seemed to be happier there. I pet him a bunch and my husband pet him a lot (while I took photos) and I tried to coax him into walking. He wasn't too interested in that but he did walk a little bit when I brought out the food!

Now, he doesn't really seem to be in too much pain. He tried to scratch his head with that paw (the formerly cast one) but couldn't do it. He'd bring his leg up to his head and it would hover there, then he'd put it down. Too sensitive.



But then something weird happened. My husband was sitting at my desk and messing with my things (no big deal) and he was teasing me about my house shoes that stay planted underneath the desk (hey, my feet get cold while I'm sitting here!). These are pretty silly shoes ... ones my mom bought for me when I was pregnant because they each have a little button on the side that you can push to activate a vibration (it runs on AA batteries). I never wore them when I was pregnant kuz my feet were too swollen and I still don't use the vibration part, but they are warm. Anyway, my husband was playing with these shoes and he pushed that vibration button.

And Wampi freaked out!

He didn't hiss, or cry out ... his eyes got big and he backed up quickly on the floor dragging his leg and looking TERRIFIED.

Now, I know a lot of you may say, "hey, don't worry ... cats get spooked ... it's just the way they are."

But not Wampi. Or at least not before the accident. Wampi used to be very inquisitive, friendly, happy, purring and coo-ing all the time. Just amazingly social for a cat. But I guess he has some post-tramautic stress going on ... hopefully he'll get through it with time.

Rich put the shoe away quickly and I quickly tried to reassure him with lots of petting and gentle talking. He was shaking ... shaking like the shaking he does before going to the vet (and he's terrified of the pain of the cast chamge).

Why is he so afraid? And why NOW?

After that, he limped over to the stool that sits in front of the table where his cat cage is sitting on. The cage is up there level with the window so he can look out.

He put his front paws on the stool, holding up his back leg and balancing on the other. Then he meowed while looking at his cage and turned back to look at me.

He wanted to go back to the cat cage.

=(

Well, I guess he associates the cage with safety.

*Sigh*

Little bit, by little bit.

Wampi says hewwo!

Wampi walked a little bit around the living room today for the first time since Friday! He didn't seem to be in much pain and he didn't freak out or start meowing or anything. WOW!!

Today ... I took him out carefully and set him down in the middle of the living room. He took about 5 steps before laying down and resting. He got up a little later and took a few more steps around the living room sniffing at the baby toys that were still sitting out.

His back legs bend at weird angles and he has a little bit of a limp but he did it!!! He walked around the room and he didn't meow his little head off! I couldn't believe it. I started crying, I was so happy.

I have hope that he will be able to use that leg. I'm even daring to hope that he won't need anymore surgery. Little bit by little bit...one day at a time, right?

Here are some pics!


He's got a limp but he managed to walk a little around the room before resting.


His back legs bow at a really weird angle but he got around!


Examining the baby toys while taking a rest.


Wampi without his cast ... he's got such furry paws!

The cast-free leg is a lot thinner than the other one ... I'm hopeful that the more he moves around he will regain his muscles. =)

Well, first off, I have good and bad news.

The Good News is that Wampi got his cast off.

The Bad News is that the break in his leg is not completely healed, but it is as "healed as it's going to get" with the cast on. Keeping the cast on longer would cause the leg to atrophy.

So Dr. Cohen said it was time to take Wampi's cast off and it is time to start slowly getting him to use his leg. He showed me the x-rays of both his legs that they did yesterday and the x-rays of both his legs that were taken right after his surgery on June 10 at the Animal Medical Center.

The back right leg is the one that was shattered, had a bone infection and had to have surgery to save his life. It's doing great now.

The back left leg is the one that was broken near the joint and although they recommended surgery for it too, they said keeping it immobile with a cast might help it heal. Dr. Cohen explained to me that the joint had small fractures and it was dislocated. The fractures were preventing the joint from going back into place properly making it very painful and most likely he would develop arthritis and have a limp. (He told me the exact technical name of the injury and I forgot ... I'll ask him on Monday for those of you medically-minded types who would like to know ... I want to know ... can't believe I forgot!)

Wampi will be reevaluated in 1-2 weeks to see if he is making progress with regaining the use of his leg. Dr. Cohen said that this leg was a candidate for surgery too (yes, the AMC vets told me this back in June) but he might very well do ok with out it. I told him we couldn't get the money for surgery for that leg too and we still didn't have it ... he knows we are fund raising to pay off the first surgery. He seemed cautiously optimistic that Wampi would get control of it himself but just to "wait and see".

The next 2 weeks I will be spending a lot of time working with Wampi encouraging him to use his leg. I also have some pain killer drops that I can give him to help him work through the next week. I think he will really need them. I will post photos every day of his progress.

Here are the pictures from yesterday:


My daughter is fascinated with Wampi & vice versa. Here we are waiting in the lobby of Urban Vets for the vet to see Wampi. The hand belongs to my neighbor April, a wonderful friend and Wampi supporter who walks with me to the vets office since I can't push a stroller and carry Wampi at the same time.


Wampi was nervous and shaking waiting to see the vet



This is the x-ray taken on Friday at Urban Vets. The back right leg had the surgery and you can see there is a steel plate, 9 screws and a long pin keeping the bone together. The other one is the one that had the cast on and you can see that the joint is out of place and doesn't quite look the same as the other good joint on the steel plate leg.



Up close of the steel plate & screws.




Up close of joint on the leg with the cast.




Dr. Cohen (veternarian in beige) starts taking off Wampi's cast while Jamaal (vet. technician in blue) holds him still. They both said it was ok to include their photo on Wampi's website.



Getting the cast off.



Getting the cast off, con't.


Wampi is getting upset and meowing a lot here.


He kept meowing and meowing. I felt so bad for him.


At this point, Wampi got really, really mad. He started meowing and screaming and it was quite upsetting so I stopped taking pictures. I wanted to stay out of the way so they could do their job quickly and Wampi would calm down.


Wampi takes a few steps out of the cat carrier after the cast is off. He was in a lot of pain so I picked him up and put him back in the cat cage. He meowed and meowed and was pretty upset. He wouldn't use the newly liberated leg...he probably felt scared to put any weight on it so soon.

OK, this is going to be brief because I have to leave in 10 minutes to get to the vet's. I just wanted to post some pictures of Wampi with the added names from the last week ... it was hard, let me tell you! I had to squeeze them in whereever I could find a small spot. Hopefully, everyone who donated can find their name on the cast. =)

They told me not to give Wampi any food or water after midnight since he will have sedation today. He looks hot! And thirsty! But at least the vet's place is nice and cool (they have a good air conditioner ... ours barely seems to work lately). Wampi will be home later this afternoon.

BIG BIG THANK YOU'S go out to Rebecca, Lip Schtick, and Melissa for your donations!

**I'll be back later with more updates, photos and updates to the site (yes, I'm still behind). Have a great day everyone! =)