An *OLD* catcher like me can really identify with this dilemma! :)

So that's how people like *W* and *Gov. Rod* get reelected! :(

Since I shared the bad with you, I will now share the good, too. :)

You will recall my hassles with both the Tribute card people and with One Way Furniture about my jewelry armoire? Well, today I received some kitty furniture that I had ordered from Doctors Foster and Smith, a pet supply place that I have used frequently in the past. Because of the addition of Woody to my Kitty Cottage, I ordered the *Cozy Corner* kitty furniture.

Previously I have been extremely pleased with the sturdy quality of Drs. F/S cat furniture ~ so much that I have returned to buy more for both me and for Neighbor Elly.

Although the price of the *Cozy Corner* remained comparable to furniture I have bought from Drs. F/S in the past, the quality was extremely disappointing. Besides being rather difficult to assemble because of the tightness of the bolts, the overall quality and stability are flimsy, and the carpeting is of a much cheaper grade than that used on furniture I have bought from this store before. In fact, at *Wal-Mart* I recently bought a bigger tower that was of better quality and at half the price.

I e-mailed Drs. F/S this afternoon, and almost within the hour, I received a reply e-mail from their Customer Service, telling me to return the *Cozy Corner* for a complete credit. I wrote back, saying that I had already assembled the thing and that I didn't want to deal with the hassle of shipping back something so bulky.

Almost immediately, I received another e-mail with a $50 credit for any future order with Drs. F/S!!!! That was half what I paid for the *Cozy Corner.*

I was *AMAZED.* These days so many companies just want to pass the proverbial buck. Look at how *little* satisfaction I had from One Way Fruniture ~ and how much hassle I had with the Tribute people just to get them to credit my account for a check that they had cashed a month ago. So high fives to Doctors Foster and Smith. If you need anything for your pet, go here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/! A great ~ and ethical company with an on-the-ball customer service department!

More good news: Joey and Woody are actually becoming buddies now ~ though Woody is just a little intimidated by his *big* brother. After all, Joey weighs 20 pounds, and Woody weighs less than three pounds! However, Joey is learning to play more gently, and Woody is learning that Joey means no harm. In fact, yesterday when I awoke from a nap in my recliner, I had both my little boys on my lap, sleeping together! :) Good thing I have a *big* lap, huh??? :) Melanie and Chelsie are learning just to ignore their new little brother ~ Elly Fae still growls and hisses, but we're working on adjusting her cattitude. :)

Ta-da! Tribute has credited my account for the CapOne check! Yippee! I checked in first thing this morning, and then cut up my Tribute card, wrote them a letter telling them to close my account and why, and sent the card and letter on their way this afternoon! :) Even now I think Tribute might be trying to pull something because the money wasn't posted until *TODAY,* but the date given for the posting is May 24, the day before they cashed the check. Hmmm... But I won't make an issue of it ~ I just want to be done with these people!

And Woody had his first vet appointment this afternoon. Dr. Britt confirmed that he is a little boy. :) He didn't like being in the carrier at all, but he was so good at the vet even though we had to wait for a while.

He weighs a big two and a half pounds ~ he needs to be at five for his little operations. I asked Dr. Britt about Soft Paws, and she says they are worthless and come off after just a couple of days. So Woody got his toesies clipped today and will again when he has his booster on the 11th ~ and we'll see what his weight is then for declawing and neutering.

His itching was indeed fleas, so I had to buy Frontline for Joey and the girls. Woody got Advantage this time since he's so small, but on the 11th he will get Frontlined. I will need to Frontline Joey and the girls again, too, in about six weeks. Dr. Britt says Frontline lasts a lot longer than Advantage. He was dewormed, too, and got his shot ~ which took *three* sticks. I wasn't happy about that, but Dr. Britt said he has really thick skin, so the first stick was a problem, and then some off it spilled on the second, and she had to give him a third to make up the spilled amount. He didn't even peep ~ but for one who hates the crate, he was surely happy to get back in it ~ and even happier to get home.

I had no trouble Frontlining Joey, Melanie, and Chelsie, but Elly Fae put up such a fight that I had to call Neighbor Elly over to administer the Frontline while I held Elly Fae. Even then it was like World War III, and I was just sure Elly Fae would be mad at me for days ~ but an hour later she was wanting some cuddles. :)

My precious little boy is already costing me some big bucks ~ but he's worth it. :)

Happy Daddys Day to my daddy in Heaven. And thanks be to God ~ the MIA kittens and Prissy have come *safely* home! They were waiting for me for breakfast this morning. I will keep Woody inside though: putting him back outside now would be too cruel, and he seems to really like being inside. I explained the situation to Prissy, and she seemed to understand. :)

We have some changes going on. Wade turned up missing somehow ~ the last time I saw him was Thursday morning. And as of Friday evening evening Dawson was gone, too, and Prissy was nowhere around.

I am not THAT surprised about Dawson because lately he had been following Prissy every time she left the yard, but I am surprised about Wader because he was such a scaredy-cat about everything.

As you probably expect, Neighbor Elly and I are worried sick about both of the kittens ~ not so much Prissy because she is an experienced child of the streets, and she had been gone more and more lately.

I'm guessing that Willow had been alone the bigger part of Friday because when I checked into the shed after a workshop in Carlyle and then again after supper, she was very happy to see me. I just couldn't leave her alone in the shed overnight ~ especially with such mysteries connected to Wade's and Dawson's disappearances ~ so I brought her inside. My Fuzzy 4 are *NOT* happy about it ~ lots of growling and hissing, but I am praying they adjust soon.

Willow has done a lot of exploring and a lot of playing. She just ignores her siblings' lack of hospitality. :) She has been littering and eating just fine ~ and she loves to cuddle and purr. :) It looks like my Fuzzy 4 have become my Fuzzy 5 unless Dawson and Prissy show up? Just what I needed, huh? I asked the Lord to give me a sign if I was supposed to bring Willow inside, but I surely didn't want to sacrifice Wade and Dawson for the sign. :((((

There were still no sign of Prissy or Dawson or Wade this morning ~ and breakfast was one of the prime times to see them all. Prissy was *always* here for breakfast, and the kittens were all active and playing at that time of the morning. Some kitty *was* in the shed last night because I had left a little canned kitty food, and it was gone, and the litter had been used ~ not by a kitten though because the clump was bigger. We are keeping our eyes open, and today we even drove up and down streets in the neighborhood to see if we saw any of the missing kitties. Neighbor Florence and her kids and grandkids are on alert, too, and we even checked into animal control to see whether ours had been picked up, but no. I surely *thought* I had made them a comfy home, so we are hoping and praying that someone somewhere took them inside and is spoiling them outrageously?

The latest development is this: I have gender identity issues! Now that *Willow* is inside and I was able to get a good look at *her* beneath some decent lighting, methinks my Willow is really a Woody. :) I'll get confirmation Tuesday when he/she has his/her first vet appointment. However, I just looked at some pictures online, I am pretty darn sure I tried to make my little boy into a little girl. :)

Update on the Tribute card issue: They refused to talk to CapitalOne, citing third-party privacy issues. So CapitalOne sent me copies of the cancelled check. I will go on record now as stating that I sent TWO letters with appropriate enclosures and sent TWO faxes with the same attachments to Tribute on Thursday and Friday, and that money better be in my account SOON! GGGRRRR!

Not that I'm implying anything ~ okay, I am. :) And I must confess that having just read Seymour Hersh's *The Dark Side of Camelot,* I am sorely disillusioned by politicians past and present. At one time, I would have walked through the proverbial fire for Robert Kennedy. Okay, I probably still would ~ but not for his brother even if RFK asked me! While I can't and don't believe that JFK would have *really* compromised the safety of our country and integrity of the Presidency for a few rounds in a rumpus room, I do believe that he was a very naughty boy on a regular basis. I can't help wondering how different his situation would have been in *this* era of tabloid journalism????

I thought you might like an update on my grandkitties. Here you see Wade, Willow, and Dawson on the glider swing on my *pitio* ~ my *pitiful patio.* :) They are getting so big and *too* adventuresome for my peace of mind. I know they have to learn how to be outside kitties, but their *Grammy* can't help worrying about them. I wish I could bring them *all* inside ~ and I have been *thisclose* to bringing in Willow a couple of times. She is the one who likes me best ~ except for Prissy. What keeps me from bringing her in is having to leave Prissy, Dawson, and Wader outside ~ it just doesn't seem fair to them. We have a new tomcat in the neighborhood, and he's mean. Tonight Bootsie, another stray that my neighbor Elly and I feed, got into a big fight with him, helping Prissy protect the kittens. As usual, Bootsie took his licks ~ poor little guy ~ and Buster, yet another of our strays, wasn't around to help him. Elly and I put Neosporin on Bootsie's cuts ~ and cried because we can't do more to keep them all safe. :(

Another update on my Tribute card situation: I am going another round with Tribute. Today CapitalOne told me that Tribute had *cashed* their check, but the amount still wasn't showing up in my account either place. So I was on the phone about that for a while this morning. A CapitalOne account specialist is supposed to be faxing a copy of the cancelled check to Tribute, and then we will see what happens. So in the meantime, I guess I have to pay Tribute as if I owe them to avoid any negative consequences on my credit or late fees. :( It's always something, isn't it? Please send good vibes my way? :)

Memorial Day Part II! :)

I have another *buyer beware* for you. If ever you get a tempting credit card application from Tribute cards, throw it immediately into the nearest trash can.

I should have suspected that these people were trouble from the very first when errors at their Web site prevented my registering my account online ~ and there was no link to report the problem then. Subsequently, I tried to phone in the problem, only to be told by the customer service dude that there was nothing he could do about the Web site. Finally, after about three months, someone caught on to the problem, and I did register ~ much to my relief because I do a lot of online banking. However, by then, the high interest rates were beginning to register in my teeny brain ~ my own fault there.

My next step was to attempt to transfer my Tribute balance to my CapitalOne card. Although CapitalOne reported that the transfer had been made, it didn't show up in my Tribute account ever. When I called Tribute, once again, I was moved through an automated round of voices and ultimately told *Good-bye!* by the automated voice. I tried again ~ punching buttons for options that didn't fit my situation just to see whether I could get a real person. I finally did ~ but he couldn't tell me why the credit wasn't showing up in my account ~ only that it wasn't. Well, duh. So he put me on hold for a good ten minutes and came back to tell me that Tribute doesn't accept transfers?????

I called CapitalOne back, and they have put a stop payment on their check to Tribute and will send me a credit card check to deposit enough money into my personal checking account to pay off Tribute and close that account-from-Hell.

So learn from my experience, Grasshoppers. CapitalOne has been *fantastically* helpful and polite ~ Tribute so *not.* Of course, the bigger lesson might be to avoid using credit cards at all ~ but if you must use one, CapitalOne gets my vote forevermore! What's in your wallet??? :)

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh ~ in the good ol' summertime...! :)

Kudos to the judge for bringing us to this emPARISsing event! :)

Never forget the power of prayer ~ aka *knee mail*! :)