this is a gross story, but it just goes to show you how pathetic my life has become.

BTW, I love the "Your Mother Is A SAINT." Really fantastic writing.

I think table 19 should be in memoriam and table 20 should be to those who have not yet found SAINTS.

marshmellow can play with paper bags and be super cute cuz he is a cat...if your mother started whacking them around the floor and putting paper bags on her head, it would just be creepy and weird.

sigh...but it did look like a lot of fun.

I would love you even more if you played with paper bags like marshmmellow. and No, I have not found that song yet because I am suppose to be doing that thing I said I was suppose to do for Leila but oyu keep writing stuff and the blog ... ok and so do I. lol

hah!...you love me...that is because i am so gawd darn lovable... just like you, it runs in the family!

did you find that chasing cars song for the video?

Luke is table 11.

Sorry of the grammar error in my tale I was wrote it quite rushed I promised the Kullars I would send out my donation list of items I have at my house for the silent auction, but I got distracted with the blog.

OH I have a Table Tale:

Table 12: "Your Mother is a saint"

People often tell my sister, brother, and I that our mother is a saint. Yes she is (now).

My mother was the youngest of five children. And if they were here, they would tell you that she was a bratty younger sister when she was a child. Like me, she was stubborn, dramatic, and a little bit spoiled. She loved animals and mary-jane shoes. She no longer wears mary-jane's but she does still love animals.

She was married at 17 and raised three beautiful, strong, articulate, and caring individuals. One is a video game producer, the other is a teacher, and I am a university granduate with my Bachelor Degree in Communications, trying to find a job in the non-profit/ public sector ... no luck yet.

My mom was great mom. She always took us to and paid for our various extra-cirricular activities: dance, soccer, singing lessons, track & feild, basketball, gymnastics, acting lessons ... and so forth. She never complained about the demands we made of her. In fact we rarely had to ask her for anything, she just knew what we needed: a ride here, a cheer there, a word of enouragement, a kiss, a band-aid, whatever, she gave it. It was like she could read our minds.

Truth be told there was a time in my life (I was much younger) when I actually thought my mom could read my mind. I said to her one day:

"Mom, stop doing that!"

"Doing What?" she asked?

I turned to her and glared, "Reading my mind. It's an invasion of my privacy!"

Like the over 600 animals my mother has helped over the years, my mom always gave my siblings and I the freedom to be who we wanted. She allowed us to succeed or to fail and in my case, sometimes make some huge and scarey mistakes. She loved--ok still does, love us unconditionally.

After we were older, she began to be able to do the things she wanted to do for once: helping abused and abandoned animals. She volunteered for a small rescue society and fostered animals. A few years later she started her own rescue group with a focus on cats. Pretty soon our home had multiple animals in every room, all with their own unique sad story and medical issue. She brought home the very sick and elderly ones and also the ones with the biggest behavior problems.

With five people and often over 14 animals in our house, life was ... well ... cramped, noisy, and to be frank alittle bit smelly.

She decided to leave the rescue group she had started which had been very sucessful and was continued on by other volunteers to start a new adventure. She took two weeks off work. Bought a plane ticket, booked a hotel and flew down to Utah. She worked for two-weeks at Best Friends and even contemplated moving there and quiting her nursing career. In the end she decided to return and start a santuary for eldery and special needs animals (SAINTS).

She bought some property and from the group-up she began the ardus journey of finding volunteers, getting donors and supporters and caring for high-needs and animals with very expensive and complex health issues.

She has become a respect fiqure in the so-called animal rescue world. SAINTS was number one in Canada and #43 in the Petfinders shelter challenge this year. SAINTS was featured in a 7-minute CBC National News Segment. Other animals rescue groups from all over Western Canada and the the United States often send elderly and special needs to SAINTS.

I think SAINTS is a unique and innovative animal rescue group. It is multi-species, learning about and sharing with the others the hearts and minds of cows, pigs, rabbits, donkeys, llamas, sheep, goats, cats, dogs, chickens and ducks. It is also a hospice and sanctuary. Its first manadate is to provide medical care, a safe and comfortable place (home-like) and the freedom to allow them to be happy and who they are. IF a forever home comes, then that is great, if not, then their home is with SAINTS until the end of their days. SAINTS has no budget per-say. If an animal needs a thousand dollor surgery they get it. Thank goodness our vets let SAINTS rack up credit. This year alone, SAINTS has spend over $50,000 in vet care.

But sometimes all the money in he world can't make them live forever. When the quality of life is gone, then it is usually time to help that animal pass away. Over the years my mom has lost many special friends. But I know that she remebers every single one of them and that they will never forget her, wherever they are now. She has also helped animal animals that would not otherwise have a change find wonderful homes.

She may be a saint now, but this former stubborn child is my mom and now uses her stubborness for good.

Please raise you glass, enjoy your meal and please spend alot of money today to help SAINTS and my sainty mother continue the wonderful work that she does!

table 12 is luke is it not?

She is right mom, you skipped table 12 ... now 12 is my favorite and lucky number so maybe you are saving table 12 for someone very special ... perhaps Marshmellow? Perhaps Spritely? perhaps a former SAINT ... ah do it on Lexi!!!!! and tell about the time Nicole saved her from almost drowning. Or do it on Frodo and how he is the King of SAINTS ... oh or do it on Copper and how after almost 10 years he has probablly, most likely, we hope ... found his forever home!!!!

I think it would be a cute table story - after all one of the reasons we love animals is because they bring humour to our lives. BTW, I hate to tell you this but you are wrong on table count. Table 13 (the lucky one) was actually Table 12 - you missed a table. Ahh ahh, you thought you only had 3 left to write.

Gotta love Tika!
Speaking of gross. My cat peed in the bathroom sink until I found the preferred litter for her needs. She would come in when I was doing my business and stare at me while she did hers just to prove to me that I still hadn't gotten it right. And we think we are the smart ones.

That is sweet!!!!

Ah Tiko! Did he really pull a towel into the sink to make a bed? lol that is too funny. This story made my morning.