CARPET CLEAN COMPANY

Hello friends and supporters,
It’s been a while since I posted to you all, though I have done a couple pics for a few of you here and there. I have had a very intense month and though I have faced more physical, mental and economical challenges than I ever have before in my entire life, I have no regrets and have learned a lot from these experiences, though many of them were very brutal and treacherous to go through. I am sorry that during this time I lost contact with many of you but most of the time I was doing all I could just to move forward to the next day. I spent several days in the streets living amongst the people we serve, it was cold, dirty and nothing about it was comfortable. Our toys stored in San Bernardino got flooded and the situation impacted me so hard that I had nightmares for several nights in a row. I worked for a week, 18 hour days one after another to clean up the mess so we could keep our comitment to maintain our storage area and continue our relationship with the facility to collect toys there. Even with this loss we were able to get clothes, toys and other supplies to the mud-slide victims all while being part of the tragedy ourselves. Though this was not a usual go visit the family, sit by the fire and eat a big meal Christmas and New Years for me, it was the most real and fulfilling I have ever experienced!
I got home a little over a week ago and was so sore I could hardly move, so mentally exhausted I could hardly gather my thoughts. Quite frankly I am in awe, blown away at all I have seen and all I have learned. Every second of this experience, though much of it was painful at the time, has now served for good!
We are already moving forward to remedy many issues we faced and I am working hard to locate some much needed resource and funding we will need to operate through 2011. We have some awesome opportunities ahead including a recycling company that we may be partnering with who will cover most of the resources we are now lacking.

I want you all to know that I have been thinking a lot about you all and I do care about you!
I still got all these cute little plush here that have been waiting since before Christmas to go to their new homes. Though I know that you all support our efforts in heart please remember, it costs us about $3000.00 a month just to operate at our minimum right now and for the most part, that has all been coming from my pocket. I know most of you are not in the situation to offer much in the way of monetary support but please do understand that while I want to do so much more including sending many of you these very late Christmas gifts, I can only do so as funds permit so this may take a few more weeks to get em all out to you. PLEASE, if any of you can help cover shipping it is very much appreciated…:)

In other news, after seeing my condition upon returning home and realizing my need for sanctuary, a good friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer has been working with me to redesign the Bear Den. The construction is well under way now, thanks to the generous help he has given me along with a few other supporters who have pitched in to make this dream a reality. The new Bear Den will include a cave with color LED lights, a LoveSac bed, a new expanded Bear Bed that will be able to cuddle the bears around you (more on this after it is running), new air filtration and climate control to keep the bears happy and more room to hang out and play. I will be posting pics of this in a few weeks if not sooner…:)

The Zoo will also be getting a redo soon after the Bear Den is complete and the entire place will be done and ready by the end of Feburary so I hope to see some of you here for a visit soon.

I have realized that we all need a sanctuary and I am glad to say, this will soon a be great place not only for me but also others who wish to stop by in need of that place to de-stress, relax and recharge...

As if getting old, cantankerous and hissy were not enough, Tabitha (being the territorial creature that she is) had to go and pick a fight with a wandering tresspasser who gave Tabitha a pierced ear for her troubles.

I tried the home remedy at first: hydrogen peroxide, antibotic cream, but to no avail. When the bite wound started to abscess, I took her to the vet who professionally cleaned the wound and prescribed some antibotic pills.

She's all better now of course, but her ear looks pretty raw and yuckky here - that's because I took this photo just after we came back from the vet!