Good news and we do need help

Friday morning I got call from the shelter's attorney, Jeff Holland. He received the dismissal papers from the attorney that was representing the ferret/mink farm in southern Ohio.

THEY agreed to dismiss the suit. Though they do have one year to reconsider suing. But at this point in time, I'll take what I can get. Trust me, I am very grateful.

Well, my magical, magnetic personality did it again. For some reason the USB ports would not work, but after 16 hours of reinstalling XP and finally talking to a tech at Dell who is AWESOME. We are back on line, the machine isn't right yet, but I can get some things done.

Do you have some time December 23? We need help running the gift wrap table at the Borders Books in Strongsville, from 10 AM to 10 PM. They provide the paper and tape, we provide the wrapping skills, and the customers provide donations.

Ideally there should be three to four people on duty at a time, two or three to wrap, one to wear the ferret costume. Shifts should run three hours each. Not too long, but long enough to make it worth the drive. According in to the store this is one of the busiest days they have, so there is a great potential for some donations.

Here is my dilemma. Normally I would be there start to finish, but my son wants me to be at his house in Virgina. He wants to go buy a tree and ornaments (he never had a tree up at his house before, so this is a biggie) on Friday, have a dinner Saturday with his friends and Marine buddies (yes I do know some of them) celebrate Christmas and then hubby, dogs and I would come home.

For any normal house hold that wouldn't cause any type of problem. For this one it does. Unless I can make sure that the day at Borders is covered, and people keep there word and show up to wrap, and get the shelter covered for food, water, and clean up checks, I can't go.

Now, even if we get the whole man power thing covered, unless the shelter has donations come in to cover it's own expenses, I have to find a way to cover it, which means what every husband brings in, and what I can scrape up goes to cover, and again, it comes down to giving up family needs for shelter needs. Many times through the past years my family has taken a back seat to the shelter, and I have missed many things with my children because of the shelter.

It so needs to be in it's own building. Do you know anyone involved with the "Green" builders? I have been trying to get some, involvement with the building from them, a way to show case what an environmentally friendly shelter can be, and what is possible. But I haven't had much luck. So, if you have a name or two that I can directly contact, I would be most grateful. Did you know that there are several grants available to build a "green" building?

So, if you have time to cover, or a spare dollar or two it would be greatly appreciated.

I understand it is the Holiday Season, and things are tight for everyone. This is when we need the help the most. It is when it seems all avenues dry up.

So, please help, if you can.