a change of plans

What's that, Peepers?  What?  WHAT?

What do you mean, we have to change our plans?

But I don't want to.

Awww...   FINE.  MOUSES!

As many of you know, I was waitin' and waitin' and waitin' with great anticipation for the moment I hit one hundred thousand visits to my blog.  I was so excited and the peep said we could do somethin' special for the event. I had such plans...

First of all, I was gonna introduce a new award 'cause nothin' says celebrating like bling.  Well, bling and nip.  And speakin' of nip, I was gonna do a giveaway and yes, nip toys were to be involved.

Then came the flood.

For those of you who haven't heard, between all the snow meltin' and the torrential rain last Tuesday, the basement of my house is now a swimmin' pool.  That's right.  I have an indoor swimmin' pool in my house but, I assure you, there is to be no swimmin' in that pool.  This is not a pool party kind of situation, if you know what I mean.

But that's not the worst part.  The worst part is that on Wednesday mornin', the water came up high enough to knock out the furnace.  No furnace means no heat and no heat means no hot water. MOUSES!

Nothin' can be done about the furnace until the water table drops another eight inches or so.  At that point, the peeps will find out if the furnace can be repaired or if it needs to be replaced but none of that can be done until all that nasty ol' water recedes.  It's a waitin' game for now and as you all know, games that do not involve nip or wand toys are no fun at all.

We're all okay and that's the important thing, I think.  We still have power, too.  Thank goodness for that.  But I've got my paws full with a couple of super cranky peeps and I don't know WHAT I'm gonna do with them.  The first peep keeps sayin' somethin' about her feeling like she's living in the nineteenth century which really, isn't so bad.   I mean, I've travelled there myself, usin' egg beater-whisk time travelling-teleportation technology and seriously, there are worse places to travel to.

Anywho...  Back to the change of plans.

Peep #1 says that I can still introduce my new award but the giveaway has to be put on hold.  Put on hold until we have a working furnace, heat, hot water and the mess in the basement has been all cleaned up.  I don't exactly know how long it's gonna take but I've got my paws crossed that it won't be too long although knowin' my peeps...   MOUSES!  And I sure could do with all my pals out there crossing their paws for us, too.  I think that at times like this, the more crossed paws, the better.

In the meantime, let's talk bling.

My new award is called the Yoo-hoo! YOO-HOO! Award which, as you know, is one of my favourite sayings.  It's a saying just made for celebratin' and that's exactly what we're gonna do today.

The rules for acceptin' the Yoo-hoo! YOO-HOO! Award are pretty simple.
- Firstly, post the award on your blog and thank the blogger who gave it to you.
- Secondly, visit at least three of the blogs that are receiving the award along with you and leave a
  comment.
- Thirdly, tell us all three things you have to celebrate.  You know, three things for which you are
  thankful.
- Lastly, pass along the award to seven other bloggers and let them know you have done so.

Pretty easy, huh?

Oh, I need to list three things I have to celebrate.  Let's see...  Hmmm...

Well first of all, I'm celebrating having reached one hundred thousand visits to my blog.  Secondly, I'd like to celebrate the fact that unlike the peeps, this lack of hot water business has not affected MY bathin' schedule.  And thirdly, I'd like to celebrate that on Tuesday I'll be turnin' eleven.  That's right, Tuesday is my birthday although, truth be told, I'm thinkin' it's not gonna be much of one what with the indoor not-a-pool-party swimmin' pool in my basement thing goin' on.  MOUSES!

So without further ado, the first ever winners of the Yoo-hoo! YOO-HOO! Award are....

WAIT!!!  I have to mention that as this is the introduction, I shall be nominatin' twenty-one blogs, rather than seven 'cause I really wanna make sure the award gets off to a really good start.

And the nominees are....
- Savvy at Savannahs Paw Tracks
- the staff at Dash Kitten
- Herman at It's a Wonderpurr Life
- Sparkle at Sparkle the Designer Cat
- Crepes at Cat in the Fridge
- the Kitties Blue at The CAT on my HEAD
- Sammy at onespoiledcat
- the gang at Owned by a Husky
- Spitty at Spitty Speaks
- Speedy at Speedy the Cheeky House Bunny
- Hisiableue at Bleue comme Aby
- Nylablue at Nylablue & Sherriellen's Purrfect Pad
- Austin at CATachresis
- Brian at Brian's Home
- Derby & Ducky at Derby and Ducky
- Hailey & Zaphod at The Hailey and Zaphod Chronicles
- Marty at MusingsbyMartyManx
- Whipple & Pepper at Whipple & Pepper
- Archie, Oscar & Henry at My Three Moggies
- Maxwell, Faraday & Allie at a tonk's tail
- Mario at Mario's Meowsings

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY!  You're all winners, for sure.

What's that, Peepers?  You have to go out this afternoon? Where are you goin', lookin' like that?

Oh, you're headin' over to a motel to take a shower.  Well thank goodness for that.  I was gonna say somethin' before but didn't wanna hurt your feelings or anything but since you've managed to figure it out all own your own...  Well, I'll see you when you return, all nice and clean.  In the meantime, I'm gonna take a nap.

we have more bling!

My gosh, it's that time again.  It's that time to accept a few more awards.   Oohhh... and what beautiful awards they are. Hmmm...  where shall we begin?

I know!  We shall begin with the Canadian Blog Awards. Perhaps you have heard of them?  Of course you have.  Silly me.

Anywho...  to be eligible for a Canadian Blog Award, the blogger writin' the blog must be a Canadian, like me.  One does not have to be peep.  After all, I'm a cat and I was eligible but one must absolutely be Canadian.

Once a blog is nominated, cats and peeps from all over the world can vote and have their say.  I was incredibly honoured to have been nominated in three categories for the 2013 awards:  Best Funny Blog, Best Blog Post and Best Pet Blog.  Honoured and absolutely thrilled.

During the month of February, voting was fast and furious and before I knew it, the results were in.  I, Nerissa the Cat, had managed to win four awards!  That's right...  FOUR OF 'EM!  Ooohhhh... happy days, for sure.

I am absolutely thrilled to now officially accept my TWO FIRST and TWO SECOND place awards.  I wish to thank all my readers out there who voted for me.  I wish to thank you very much.  Without you, this would never have happened and truly, that is fact.

It is with great honour that I accept GOLD for Best Funny Blog. Nerissa's Life isn't always funny.  It's isn't always supposed to be funny but when it is, I do endeavour to make you all laugh as much as I possibly can.  Thank you!

And I am ecstatic to accept both GOLD and SILVER for Best Blog Post.  My post pointing out what should be obvious, "where there's fire, there is smoke" won gold and my post about Earl Grey runnin' for Premier, "because neglect STILL isn't workin'!" won silver.  I am so very, very pleased about these two posts gettin' so much attention. They both tackled what I believe to be some pretty important issues and I'm simply chuffed that cats and peeps out there read and enjoyed 'em.

Finally, I am ever to happy to accept SILVER for Best Pet Blog.  There were a lot of nominees in this event, many of whom were my pals.  I can still hardly believe I managed to make it into the top three.

So again, I wish to thank everyone for votin' for me in the Canadian Blog Awards.  I owe you all so much.  I also want to thank Toronto Corporate Lawyer, Jonathan Kleiman, for organising these wonderful awards.  Without his organisational skills, there would be no awards to win.  Thank you Mr. Kleiman!

And now...  onto some awards I can share.

Patchy Meow from the incredible blog, Catnip Corner has created a brand new award, celebrating her two-year blogoversary.  A two-year blogoversary is a very special thing and a super good reason to celebrate.  CONGRATULATIONS PATCHY!

Patchy's new award is called the Keep Calm and Blog Award and is incredibly stylish and elegant.  You can imagine how pleased I was to find out that I was to be one of the very first recipients.  I love it.  Yoo-hoo!  YOO-HOO!  What a beaut.  Thank so so much, Patchy!  I really appreciate receiving this, a lot.

The rules are pretty simple.  Just post the award on your blog along with a link to the blogger who gave it to you and then pass the award on to one other blog.  Only one.  That's the hardest part, for sure. With so many amazing bloggers out there, how does one choose only one?   MOUSES!

But finally, I was able to select a single recipient for the Keep Calm and Blog Award.  As I could pass it along to only one blogger, I chose to award the Keep Calm and Blog Award to my dear friend, Mario of Mario's Meowsings.

Why Mario, you ask?  Well, for starters, Mario has an incredible blog. I absolutely love it.  But also, Mario will forever hold a special place in my heart when it comes to awards 'cause it was Mario who gave me my very first award, way back when.  I still remember it well as it was the beginning of my addiction to the bling. CONGRATULATIONS Mario!

Next on the list is the Field of Flowers Award.  Isn't it beautiful?  Beverly from over at MoggiePurrs gave me this award and it's quite a stunner.  Thank you so much for this award, Beverly.  It's one of the prettiest awards in the blogosphere, I do believe.

Boy-oh-boy...  I sure would love to run through that field of flowers.  Clearly, my peep has been slackin' in the gardening department.  She has NEVER grown anything as beautiful as this. MOUSES!

The rules for the Field of Flowers Award are as follows.  One must thank the blogger who nominated you and then place the award on your blog.  Next, you get to nominate seven other bloggers and write a little something as to why you are giving these specific bloggers a field of flowers.  Finally, you'll want to notify the nominees that they have been nominated.

I'm just gonna cheat just a teeny-tiny bit, here.  That okay?  The thing is, all the blogs I'm nominating, I'm nominating for the very same reason.  I've chosen seven blogs that I simply adore visitin' because doing so always brings a smile to my face.  There's always something new to learn or some fun to be had on these wonderful blogs.  I can always count on 'em for that.  So, instead of repeating that over and over again, I'll just put it all in one place, right here.  Sure do hope no one minds.

So without any further ado.  Drum roll please...  My nominees for the Field of Flowers Award are....

- The Kitties Blue at The Cat on My Head

- Austin at CATachresis

- Timmy at Tomcat Commentary by Tim

- Spitty at Spitty Speaks

- Sushi at Sushi's Diary

- Cocco & Katie at My Mini Pet Pig

- Brian at Brian's Home

Some of you may already have this award and I certainly understand if you don't want to pass it on again but I figure...  I figure one can never have too many flowers.

Now who would like some snacks?  I'm always in the mood for snacks and no, I do not have worms.  I just like my snacks.  Let's all go on picnic!

I was honoured by both Nellie from The Cat from Hell and Katie from Katie Isabella when they each gave me the Sunshine Picnic Award and invited me to their picnics.  Now I'm gonna have one of my own.  Yoo-hoo!  YOO-HOO!

The rules for the Sunshine Picnic Award are super simple. You just thank the blogger who invited you to their picnic and then invite them to yours as the guest of honour along with ten other guests, askin' each of 'em to bring along something for the celebration.

Let's see...  who shall I invite...

The latest winners of the Sunshine Picnic Award and guests at my picnic are...
- Nellie at The Cat from Hell
  No need to bring anything, Nellie.  You are a guest of
  honour.
- Katie at Katie Isabella
  No need to bring anything, Katie.  You are a guest of honour.
- Sammy at onespoiledcat
  Could you please bring some bacon?  Surely you have some on paw.
- Speedy from Speedy the Cheeky House Bunny
  Can you bring some lettuce and carrots?  Gotta have some salad stuff.
- Texas at Texas, a Cat in New York
  Pizza!  Please bring some New York style pizza.
- Patchy at Catnip Corner
  Cheese, please.  Some nice tasty stuff if you can get your paws on it.
- Mister Minoune at Mister Minoune's Blog
  Bagels, please.  I have heard there are excellent bagels available in Montreal
- Autstin at CATachresis
  Bangers and mash.  Can you find some of that?
- Herman at It's a Wonderpurr Life
  Seafood.  They have great seafood where you live, right?
- Loupi & Zorro at The Swiss Cats
  Chocolate.  Swiss chocolate would be excellent.
- Silver from DashKitten
  I know that your mum is kind of busy at the mo so you just bring yourself, okay?
- Savvy from Savannah's Paw Tracks
  Can you please bring some flowers for the table?  Oohhh...  are there any plumeria about?

Finally, we have this wonderful award/badge called I Survived the Polar Vortex.  The gang over at The Cat on My Head created this badge to celebrate the fact that we all survived this horribly, bitterly cold winter.  It's a lovely award, don't you agree?  Thanks so much, Kitties Blue, for doing this for all of us.  Thank you very much, indeed.

Anywho...  Rules are super simple.  The I Survived the Polar Vortex Award/Badge is for anyone to accept. Anyone and everyone.  All you need do is post it on your blog and when doing so, mention that it originated over on the blog, The Cat on My Head.  Easy peasy as they say.  Easy peasy.

So, another round of awards has been done.  Whew!  There were a lot of links in this post.  Peep #1 helped me with 'em so if there are any mistakes, they're hers.  I don't think she did make any mistakes but just in case, you'll know who to blame.  Hehehe...

CONGRATULATIONS to all the recipients!  You all write amazin' blogs and that is a fact, for sure.

And thank you all for thinkin' of me when handin' out awards.  I do love the bling.  That, too, is a fact, for sure.

Oohhh...  Just have to mention - you know, to make everything all legal and whatnot - that I received NOTHIN' from that Toronto Corporate Lawyer in return for my mentioning his name.  I just wanted to thank him for all the time and effort he put in when organising the Canadian Blog Awards.  I really thought that somethin' needed to be said 'bout that 'cause I know it took up a lot of his time.  May the purrs be with him, always.  Purrs.