Helpful Cat (and helping folks...)

We jokingly call our cat, Willow, "Helpful Cat"... He seems to always be wherever we are, doing something that is UNhelpful but he's just so darn CUTE doing it that you can't help but laugh. For instance... if I am dealing with laundry, he's RIGHT THERE to pounce on the laundry basket to make sure the laundry doesn't get unruly. Or he'll pounce Mr. POSSLQ's bed to make sure the bed doesn't attack him whilst he sleeps.

The other day I was doing some yoga (3 legged dog, if you're familiar), Helpful Cat came along, flopped on my yoga mat and then grabbed my hand and started licking it. This does NOT help concentration, let me tell you. But he's just so darn CUTE.

So, that's what we deal with here at the Little House on the Hill. Our own brand of insanity in feline form.

Now on to the "helping folks" portion of the post. The charming Very Bad Cat has some goodies up on ebay - go check them out. I know that for most (all?) of us, the belts are tight and we are pinching pennies, but if you can get something cool and help someone out at the same time, all the better, right?

Also... I've been meaning to do this for a while. If you shop on Amazon.com please give this a thought... If you shop at Amazon.com, you can let them throw a few dollars to my friend, Beep...
if you use a special link to make your purchases, a small percentage of your purchase goes to help with her medical expenses.
The link is http://images.spinics.net/ambeep/xxxxxxxx,
where you replace xxxxxxxx with the ASIN or ISBN of the item (that Amazon displays, for each item they sell).
Please note that this link goes NOWHERE until there is a valid ASIN or ISBN in place of the xxxxxxxx.
This is done at NO cost to you as the purchaser.
Thank you for letting Amazon help her out !!!!

Now, I can hear you all thinking "Why should we care?" And my answer to that is this: Most of us are actually pretty fortunate, if you think about it. We have homes, jobs, reasonably good health... but I think that many of us are a paycheck or two away from doom. Some because they are young, fresh out of college or in their early 20's and working on getting established, some have been fuxxored by the economy and have been de-jobbed and unemployment is a bandaid holding back a flood, some have chronic (or acute) health issues... But if you have the means to lend a hand when you have your necessities covered, there is a better chance that when you need help (and I think EVERYONE has a point at which they need SOME sort of help... not financial all the time but sometimes you just need to know SOMEONE cares),that someone will be there for you. And I like to think that the blogosphere is like family... sure, sometimes they make you crazy but most of the time they're funny, helpful, loyal and kind.

Helpful Cat is guarding the bedroom door now. In case....ummm, I dunno... but since I haven't been ambushed by maurauding hordes of anything, I am confident he's doing his job! Thanks, Helpful Cat!