Richardson contributor Nikki Williams with Feral Friends just sent me a noteworthy e-mail including a "Thank you" and a call to action.

Here is what she said:

"Could you run a blurb about Feral Friends' adoptions again?  It worked so well last weekend, we thought we might be able to do another 20+ adoptions this weekend. The ad was the main contributer to our success. Thank you again for all you do to help us!"

This makes me feel great! Knowing that something as small as editing a blurb and publishing it in our edition can result in 20+ pet adoptions! That's wonderful. E-mails like Nikki's make me love my job even more.

As it is too late to run her news about the next Feral Friends adoption in this Friday's issue, I will give you the details below.

Feral Friends Community Cat Alliance has several kittens and cats ready for new loving homes. They have all  been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and given a full bill of health before entering the adoption program. Please stop by PetSmart at Coit & Campbell to visit them. 

Additional adoption days are scheduled in July or you can visit www.feralfriends.org. 

July Adoption Schedule:

Saturday, July 18th  11am - 4pm

Sunday, July 19th  12pm - 5pm

Saturday, July 25th  11am - 4pm

So, go, adopt, and love your new kitty!

Colby - our new puppy - arrived in this world on April 19, 2009, which just so happens to be our first wedding anniversary. On June 13 (our 6 years together anniversary), we drove to Austin to pick her up; we were so excited and thought we were so prepared for what was to come next.

Colby initially was shy and quiet, soaking us and the unfamiliar sights along I-35 North in as we drove back to Dallas. She slept for the majority of the car ride, probably shocked and scared, she decided to sleep off the confusion.

When we got her home, she slept more and acted as if she was already trained, but we soon learned otherwise.

As first-time puppy owners – my husband and I were in for a surprise. Raising a puppy is hard.

No one told me I would lose sleep, she’d get sick within the first four days, or that as new parents we would go overboard with the puppy purchases. Sigh. Now we know.

Nonetheless, Colby is the light of my life. She is so sweet and special. Her whine for attention is an “I love you” to my ears – not a nuisance like I assumed it would be. I can’t wait to see her everyday and take care of her – knowing she is at home alone makes me feel so guilty – I think I have figured out how new and working mothers feel. Except that has got to be 100 percent harder. This thought scares me. The puppy was supposed to be a test run at kids and I can barely handle this emotionally or physically.

Sleep-deprived and all – she is my baby and I am proud to share photos of her here on my blog.

What fun we had today at the Starbucks on Eldorado and U.S. 75.

I met a lot of great people from McKinney - new and veteran contributors who spread the good word to their community each week via our newspaper. 

It was great meeting you all and I hope to see you again - and more - at the next McKinney coffee break on April 10.

This week’s “Know Your Neighbor” is Allen resident Tim Carroll. Tim, 52, is the BIGGEST Eagles football fan that I've met. And, any time neighborsgo editor Marcus Murphree or I need anything football related, Tim is always ready to fire off stories and donate a CD filled with game photos. I can only imagine how rowdy he gets at games, but it’s not a stretch of the imagination if you’ve heard him discuss the playoffs, the players or the fans’ enthusiasm. This man has Eagles mania – as he should.

FIND THE FULL STORY HERE.

During the days before my niece was born, our family anxiously awaited her arrival with calls, texts, e-mail updates and bated breath.

Finally, at 8:10 a.m. Jan. 15, my stepbrother Chris Mannes and his wife Ciaira welcomed their daughter Harley Jade into the world – 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

Dr. Heather Sloan, who was on call when it came time for Harley to come out via C-section early Thursday morning, safely delivered my niece to her exhausted (still exquisite) mother and proud, wide-eyed father.

Ciaira had attempted to give birth naturally, but after repeated attempts to induce labor through various methods, her doctor gave them the choice to go home and wait or to do a C-section.

“I was not going home,” Ciaira exclaimed. They opted for the C-section.

“It turns out there was a reason she wasn’t coming out,” Ciaira said. “The umbilical cord was around her neck.”

Neither the baby nor her mother were in any danger throughout the surgery and there was minimal pain…all went well.

“God was looking out for her,” Ciaira assured me as she lay peacefully in her hospital suite surrounded by family. “So were the doctors and nurses.”

At lunch, I headed west to my friend's salon, Elements Salon in Plano, for a trim and the latest gossip. Upon returning to work, I felt more energetic, as I was free from the burdensome weight of my thick mane. Now, my hair is thinner, trimmer and shinier - yipee!

Speaking of freshness - Fresh Picks are now posted for McKinney and Allen.

Find the freshest news stories from Allen here: www.neighborsgo.com/allen_noteworthy

Find McKinney's freshest new here: www.neighborsgo.com/McK_noteworthy

On Dec. 2, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten accompanied Bennett Elementary fifth-grader Shane Wells to school. Witten's visit was a part of the National Football League's Take a Player to School program sponsored by JCPenny. Bennett's library media specialist Beth Roland submitted photos that will be featured in the Dec. 12 issue of Mckinney neighborsgo.

Students at Hackberry Elementary in Little Elm (west of McKinney) also received a visit from Mr. Witten Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, my husband and I, along with his parents, spent the afternoon decorating our condo with Christmas lights, stockings, ornaments, and poinsettias, all the while listening to classic Christmas tunes like "Santa Baby" by Ella Fitzgerald. We also warmed out tootsies by a Dura flame log and sipped a glass of red wine – creating the perfect winters eve filled with Christmas spirit.

During the decorating portion of the afternoon, my mother-in-law became teary eyed as she watched my husband and I place childhood ornaments on our first Christmas tree, in our first home (more like our first itsy bitsy condo), for our first Christmas, during our first year of marriage. I would probably have cried too if it hadn’t been for the fact that my husband and I have actually celebrated Christmas together five times before – making this our sixth Christmas.

Actually, I still might cry. After six years of being a couple, I am running out of gift ideas for him.

This year, now that we are married, we’ve discussed buying ourselves something (like a coffee table set or LCD TV for our bedroom) as a present from us to us, but we are crazy Christmas people and that just won’t be the same.

Thus, we are off to the stores...

I was thinking he might like a KEGerator (a mini keg refrigerator), a Craftsman tool set, a golf bag storage/organizer. Hmmm...?

What do you think? Have any ideas?

Gifts aside, my favorite part of Christmas are the gartherings, parties and events. I've already attended a couple Christmas-themed events and am headed to Allen and McKinney for more this season.

Look for me at local Christmas events this holiday season. I'll be riding in the Richardson Christmas Parade (Dec.6), attending the Holiday Open House hosted by Allen Economic Development (Dec. 4), visiting the Allen Nativity Exhibit (Dec. 5-6), watching the Allen Rotary's Christmas Parade (Dec.7, among many others.

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's final. Barack Obama is our new president. It finally feels official as I watch McCain address saddened supporters and all of America - congratulating Obama and conceeding the election.

The next four years will be very interesting to watch...as a young adult making my own in the United States...I am very invested in what my country becomes.

Things I am anxious about:

What will happen with the war in Iraq?

Will my taxes go up because of the increase in government spending that Obama has promised?

Will America move further from the founding principles that I grew up respecting and proudly call my own?

So many questions are on my mind...none will be answered quickly.

So, for now, I will  wait, watch and pray.

Check it out- I came to work thinking everyone would be festive with painted on  whiskers and devil horns, but nope. 

I stand alone as the only neighborsgo employee in the north zone with a bright orange t-shirt with a jack-o-lantern face. I also did my eye makeup to help me look more like a jack-o-lantern- with the flared eye-liner and copper shadow.

Owell...maybe next year others will come dressed in costume, but today I sit here bright as the sun feeling really silly.

Thank goodness Mark brought Halloween candy so I can eat away the shame.