A Confession + A GIVEAWAY!

I confess.

I'm addicted to online shopping. I shop online for toothpaste and cat food. I'll have anything delivered. But it's not because I love things. Nope. It's 98.8% because I adore receiving mail. I check my physical mailbox the way 'tweens obsess over Snaphhat. I always have.

At five, I nearly blew a gasket upon delivery of an 8-inch, red and pink Strawberry Shortcake birthday card. It was from my sweet grandma while I was living 2,000 miles away in Huntington Beach and it had MY NAME on it. It was also scratch-n-sniff and there were stickers involved, so perhaps you can relate to the excitement I felt as a young mail-obsessed girl in the 80's.

Later, at ten, receiving a package from overseas filled with colorful foreign currency nearly knocked my mind-socks right into next Tuesday. And whenever I got to order something from the back of a cereal box? Forget about it!

I still LOVE having things delivered to me. I don't care if it's a 30-pack of Charmin or a Hortense Choupette Necklace from Catbird; just plop it in a plain brown box and pop a freakin' stamp on that sucker! I'll be waiting by the door when it arrives.

So, how do I assuage the guilt online shopping can foster?

One way is shopping via smile.amazon.com because Amazon magically transforms that purchase of Kind bars - or whatever - into a charitable donation.

For those who know anything about me, it's likely no secret that my charitable organization of choice is Tenth Life Cat Rescue.

Amazon has basically personalized my shopping experience so that I can support something I love (kittehs!) while doing something I love (shopping!). Yes, please!

I hope you'll consider signing up and adding Tenth Life Cat Rescue as your charity today (you can change it any time but you won't want to).

If you sign up for Amazon Smile (the easiest thing ever) and place an order for any eligible item via smile.amazon.com by December 31st they'll donate $5 to Tenth Life Cat Rescue in addition to 0.5% of the purchase price! Don't you need dish soap or something? 

Don't forget to look for this when ordering: 

Then, for giggles, you can come back here for a chance to win a copy of "Lil BUB's Lil Book: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Amazing Cat on the Planet" because, well... kittehs and shopping, duh!

Oh, plus we're best friends. Obviously. 

Anyway, it'll be shipped via smile.amazon.com (U.S. addresses only this time around) and will benefit Tenth Life. Don't you just LOVE when things come full circle?

***If desired, winner may substitute a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

If you want to, you can learn more about Amazon's extra $5 donation promotion here. And if you need to, you can learn more about how to sign up for Amazon Smile here.

Remember to always begin shopping at smile.amazon.com to get that lovin' feeling and ensure that Tenth Life benefits from all your online spending sprees.

Oh, and if anyone's just dying to make this girl's year, drop this in the trusty blue box. ;)

catbirdnyc.com

Doesn't it look just like the Tenth Life logo?
I'm smitten. It's kismet!

xoxo,
megan


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Ps. Just so you know, I have not been compensated in any way by Amazon.com, Tenth Life Cat Rescue or anyone else for this post. These opinions, thoughts, and ramblings are all my own.  I'm genuinely interested in helping people give while they receive ... or give. Huzzah!

This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Amazon or Tenth Life Cat Rescue (Tenth Life). I hereby release Amazon and Tenth Life of any liability. 

The prize for this particular giveaway will be shipped via Amazon.com and can only be shipped to US addresses (excluding Puerto Rico). Winner will be contacted via email 48 hours after the giveaway ends on January 1st and will have 24 hours to reply with a valid US shipping address. If a reply has not been received within 24 hours, an alternate winner will be selected. I reserve the right to alter or cancel this giveaway at any time. If you have any additional questions - feel free to email perpetualfirstpancake@gmail.com. 

I'm A Bad Mom

Guess who just fell, full-plop, off of the windowsill because he just doesn't fit now that it's gotten chilly and the windows are closed. Yep...

This guy right here. 

That's my Tenth Life foster kitty, Walter.

While I love Walter just the way he is, lately I've been feeling a little bit like the over-indulgent mama who rewards her kids with McDonald's and Ben & Jerry's for not hitting each other with whiffle ball bats all day long. Not that Walter has any bad behaviors to speak of; he doesn't. But I definitely enjoy indulging him a bit too much and it shows.

I admit that I saw him slowly expanding but I turned a blind eye and slow-danced with that haggard old broad best known as denial. We're chums since childhood, she and I. We tend to band together, eschewing the road less travelled for the one with comfy beds, Bon Bons, and HBO. Gotta keep up with GIRLS, after all. 

It's true that he did not wake up one morning suddenly sporting 18 pounds of blub. I obviously just did not know when to say when. 

In fact, it is with some embarrassment that I offer you a size comparison from just a couple of months after I got him in January of 2013. 

Walter, March 2013

Look! He has shoulders AND a waist. He's also sporting some catwalk-ready cheekbones if you ask me. Oy.  

So, no, it wasn't exactly magical, his weight gain. It was gradual and I could have stopped it. But I didn't and here we are.

But come ON! Just looooook at him. He's so handsome. 

Walt LOOOOOOOVES Mindy Kaling, you guys.
He ALWAYS sits by her when she's on the television. Always.
It's Mindy, Ellen, Jimmy Fallon, Alex Trebek, and Kat Dennings. 

And to be fair, he's a naturally LARGE cat. That is, I believe, a 40-inch television. So, he's bigger than your average dude. Just, like, in general. 

And, to be fair, I could barely tear the Cookie Butter jar our of my own hand long enough to write this post, let alone implement new kitty feeding schedules. So, I'm not your best candidate for a weight loss coach by any stretch of the imagination. 

Note that he does not eat "people food"
and only eats dry cat food but, ya know,
 I supply it. Sooooo.

His extra padding has even presented a few roadblocks to a fledgling modeling career as of late. He was recently turned down for a gig and that's no lie. I won't go into detail but it was, in fact, his girth that got him replaced. He's also arthritic. So his paunch, while adorable, isn't doing him any favors.

Therefore, much to his chagrin and mine, his diet is now being closely monitored in an effort to rediscover his waistline.  

Which means he follows me around pretty much constantly, practically licking his chops and staring at my head like it's a cartoon corn dog. 

photo source

Meh. At least he's getting some exercise.

In the meantime, it appears that I'll need to find a temporary solution so that he can hoist his (heavier) haunches up and into the daylight this Winter, lest he be relegated to couches and boxes with the hoi polloi. 

Come to think of it, he'd probably be juuuuust fine with that. 

And, yes he does always look this serious. He's the Feline Woody Allen. He reads Sartre and listens to Mahler. 

And he's a fantastic listener. 

Do tell. 

Interested in saving poor Walter from my lackluster, permissive parenting? And, quite possibly, a fate that looks a whole lot like this...

help.

You're in luck! He's still searching for a place to call home forevers and evers. His words, not mine. Okay, okay. They're technically mine but I know he was thinking it. 

You can view his profile here. And you can apply to adopt him from Tenth Life Cat Rescue right here. 

If Walt's slow-as-molasses waddle isn't exactly your speed, that's okay! There are, like, one billion more awaiting homes.

Check some of them out!

xoxo, 

megan