How do you fast forward this thing?

Ever see a federal tax exemption application? It's 25 pages long. Ugh. As Not Without My Pet has recently gotten a new treasurer and things are a little up in the air right now, it's fallen to me and Raquel to fill out the application from hell. Progress is being made, but it's slow going.

The good news is, a CPA has volunteered to do our tax return. YAY! One pretty major thing off the to do list.

In the interest of not scattering my energies amongst 5,000 projects like I normally do, I've temporarily suspended my Etsy shop, Luminosities. I need to narrow my focus for the moment. Luminosities will be back, for sure, but first things first.

Understand that I'm not really complaining, unless it's about the day job. lol These things that I'm doing, I'm doing because I want to and because they are meaningful and important to me.

Oh, and I have mentioned that I am finally, finally going to see Green Day?? YES! Floor tickets, bay-beeee! Just try to keep me away from the stage.

And next month? Social D again. Everybody needs a little recreation, right? ;)

Not Without My Pet in Oprah's Magazine!

Not Without My Pet is in the March issue of O, Oprah's magazine! We are on page 32, under the picture of the dog's face.

We are so excited to be in O! Oprah, as you may know, is a big time dog lover.

Our deepest thanks go out of everyone at O for giving us this fantastic exposure. By putting us in the magazine, they are helping us to help domestic violence victims and their pets. Yay, O!

So...I made a life list

Life List

1. Stay in a house on the beach by myself for a week
2. Create my own Tarot deck
3. Ride in a 1958 Edsel
4. Make love in a graveyard (without getting arrested)
5. Learn to play the drums
6. Ride in a boat on the ocean (done)
7. Ride in a helicopter (done)
8. Adopt three dogs
9. Build and live in my dream house
10. Meet Keanu Reeves
11. Take a motorcycle riding class
12. Go to a shooting range
13. Finally watch Jason’s Bad Religion DVD (done)
14. Write my autobiography
15. Get more tattoos
a. Fall Child
b. Bast(done)
c. Scarab
16. See a wolf in the wild
17. Kick fibromyalgia’s ass
18. Meet Angelina Jolie
19. Work full time for Not Without My Pet (at a higher level of prosperity than ever before)
20. Get my nose pierced (done)
21. Donate books to the library
22. Quit smoking
23. Take a train all the way from one coast to the other in the U.S.
24. Finish Certified Humane Education Specialist program
25. Finish curriculum for Hecate’s Torch
26. Take an acting class or otherwise find out if I can act
27. Learn to sing
28. Read The Inferno
29. Read Nicholas Nickleby
30. Read The Waste Land
31. Read Moby Dick
32. Read Turn of the Screw
33. Read The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
34. Read As I Lay Dying
35. Read Mrs. Dalloway
36. Read Candide
37. Read Gulliver’s Travels
38. Read Ethan Frome
39. Read House of Spirits
40. Read Jude the Obscure
41. Read Lolita
42. Re-read Lord of the Flies
43. Re-read To Kill a Mockingbird
44. Read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
45. Read Madame Bovary
46. See Bad Religion live
47. See Green Day live
48. Win $10 million in the lottery, or some other contest thingie
49. Ride a horse bareback on the beach
50. Tour New Orleans – French Quarter tour, Garden District Tour, Graveyard Tour, Ghost Tour.
51. Visit the Louvre, Notre Dame and Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
52. Visit the Pantheon and the Colosseum in Rome
53. Visit Tara and Newgrange in Ireland
54. See the architecture of Antoní Gaudi in Barcelona, the Alhambra in Granada and the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain
55. Stay here for a week: http://www.mayatulum.com/ (Mexico)
56. Go on a polar bear watching tour and see the Northern Lights in Manitoba, Canada
57. See the Sydney Opera House, explore ancient rock art and cave paintings at Kimberly, Australia
58. Visit the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Valley of Kings in Egypt
59. Visit the Acropolis, Delphi, the Dionysos Theatre and Eleusis, Greece
60. Visit Butterfly Creek, Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World, Howick Historical Village, the Whitford Bird Garden and Rotorua's arts centre in New Zealand
61. Visit Glastonbury Tor, Stonehenge, Lincoln Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Wells Cathedral, York Minster, Westminster Abbey, Durham Cathedral, Windsor Castle, Warwick Castle and The Globe Theatre, England
62. Visit Chartres Cathedral and the Palace of Versailles, France
63. Visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and butterfly garden and ride the Rain Forest Aerial Tram in Costa Rica
64. Visit all 50 states
a. Alabama
b. Alaska
c. Arizona (done)
d. Arkansas
e. California (done)
f. Colorado (done)
g. Connecticut (done)
h. Delaware
i. Florida
j. Georgia
k. Hawaii (done)
l. Idaho
m. Illinois
n. Indiana
o. Iowa
p. Kansas
q. Kentucky
r. Louisiana (done)
s. Maine
t. Maryland
u. Massachusetts (done)
v. Michigan
w. Minnesota
x. Mississippi
y. Missouri
z. Montana
aa. Nebraska
bb. Nevada (done)
cc. New Hampshire
dd. New Jersey
ee. New Mexico
ff. New York (done)
gg. North Carolina
hh. North Dakota
ii. Ohio
jj. Oklahoma
kk. Oregon (done)
ll. Pennsylvania
mm. Rhode Island (done)
nn. South Carolina
oo. South Dakota
pp. Tennessee
qq. Texas
rr. Utah
ss. Vermont
tt. Virginia
uu. Washington (done)
vv. West Virginia
ww. Wisconsin
xx. Wyoming
65. Take horseback riding lessons to become a better rider
66. See dolphins in the wild (done)
67. Volunteer at Best Friends for a few days, while staying on site
68. Be on Oprah to promote Not Without My Pet
69. Develop a nation wide network of foster caregivers for domestic violence pets
70. Get paid for public speaking
71. Help build 50 on-site pet facilities at domestic violence shelters
72. Pay off credit cards and my school loans
73. Stay in a 5 star hotel
74. Get my Italian poster for The Crow framed
75. Scan my old photos

Join Us on Facebook and MySpace

Not Without My Pet is now on Facebook and MySpace!

Add us as a friend on MySpace: Not Without My Pet

Join the Not Without My Pet cause on Facebook.

We Did It!

Not Without My Pet's first fundraiser was a success! We exceeded our goal by almost $200. After a long, hard day of hawking donated items to shoppers, we packed up what remained and donated it to Goodwill, who was kind enough to come and pick it all up.

NWOMP wishes to express it's gratitude and appreciation to all those who made our event possible. Linda of Linda's Claws and Paws allowed us to use her parking lot for the sale. Thanks, Linda! The bar next door, The Benchwarmer, allowed us to use their, um, facilities. Thanks, Benchwarmer! Heather, an Arbonne representative, brought her wonderful skin care items and held a raffle. Thanks, Heather!

The delightful ladies of the Blue Thong Sisters helped in so many ways. They donated items, they helped us set up, they stayed for the sale and provided assistance, companionship and occasional comic relief. Thanks so much, BTS!!


Here we are in front of Linda's Claws and Paws. Look at all that stuff!



Heather with her products and her charming family.


The Blue Thong Sisters!!! Gail Cullins, Deane Reed, Sharon Reed, Nina Rubin, Marlayne Bellenson and Shari Markwith. Additional help from, (not pictured), Rosemary Wilde, Sue Crespo, Dusty Miller, Gaby Flores, and Denise Viau


Sue Crespo flagging down passersby, with the Benchwarmer in the background.



Are we having fun, or what?


Marlayne considers leather; Shari apparently disagrees. hehehe


Shari, Deanne and Sharon...shopping?

Not Without My Pet Weekend Update

I just created an event on MySpace and invited 40 of my "friends" to next Sunday's fundraiser, including the following famous people:

Don-Henrie (the vampire)
Social Distortion
Exene Cervenka
Caitlin Kiernan (author)
Christopher Penczak (author)
Adeline Records (Billie Joe and Adrienne Armstrong’s label)
Aaron Leitch (author)
Ellen Dugan (author)
Konstantinos (author)
Panpipes (store in HW)
Green Day

Wouldn't it be a hoot if some of them came?? hehe

My fabulous chiropractor, Dr. John Craviotto donated $100 to our cause on Friday!

This weekend, I put up flyers advertising our fundraiser around town, including in all the major grocery stores. Everyone goes to the grocery store, right? I spoke to random strangers about our event and gave them flyers (who am I and what have I done with the real Nicole?)

I took a load of stuff for the sale over to Linda’s and put it in her storage space. There’s plenty of room in there!

Raquel got a canopy and a cash box for us. She is also working on NWOMP thank you cards we can send to donors! Raquel has a list of facts she’s used to create a handout for our event, too.

Debra is working on putting up a simple splash page for us at our domain, nwomp.org. Just something to have up there now so people can see we’re legit. When she’s finished, the page will be more comprehensive, but we needed something up there in the meantime.

Raegan is working on getting us a bank account. I dropped off a letter for the bank and a check last Friday, so we’re making progress!

Tina has agreed to hand out flyers to the other water polo moms and whoever else she comes across in her travels. She already has one on her office door at work.

Julie has a flyer on her office door too. She’s also invited me to speak to her marketing classes this week, so I’ll be giving out flyers to them as well. I’ve already spoken to my Psych class about us and our instructor is allowing me to give out flyers to that class, too.

I learned something important this weekend. Kinko’s may not be the best place to make copies on a budget! They came out really nice, but they were pricey.

Speaking of pricey, ads for our event have been put on craigslist, in the PennySaver, Ojai Valley News and the Ventura Star. (the SB Independent won’t do it because we are not in SB.)

Next Sunday is the big day!

Fundraiser for Not Without My Pet

Our very first official fundraiser!! Come visit us and shop great deals!

If you are interested in donating items or volunteering to work the sale, e-mail me at ngilbert@nwomp.org

Not Without My Pet has a Logo!

Our Director of Development, Raquel Griffiths, has designed a logo for Not Without My Pet! It's lovely! Thanks and kudos to Raquel!

Big Doings at Not Without My Pet!

Last week, I met with the members of the local chapter of the Blue Thong Society, who have adopted Not Without My Pet as their charity. What a fun evening that was! We met at Black Angus here in town. Over dinner, drinks and appetizers, we discussed what they'd like to do to help NWOMP.

The first event we are doing together is a tag (rummage) sale in the parking lot of Linda's Claws and Paws. Linda's Claws and Paws has been voted Best Pet Store in the local area 4 Years Running! Linda has generously offered her parking lot as a place to hold our sale. We are in the process of raising the $500 we need to file for tax exemption.

In the course of my evening with the women of the BTS, they had a thing they call "Lucky Buck." This involves everyone pitching in a buck or two and a drawing to see who wins the pot. The winner then splits the pot with the charity. I drew the winning name and the winner, Sharon Reed, co-director of the local chapter, gave her half to us as well! Lucky buck, indeed! And there's more...they had some other sort of challenge while I was away from the table and presented me with even more money when I returned!! All in all, they donated $65 to NWOMP! Yay, BTS!!

Added to the $100 Raquel Griffiths, NWOMP's Director of Development, has raised, we are now on our way to being able to file!

Yesterday, the board of directors met at my house. The board is comprised of me, Nicole Gilbert, President; Raquel Griffiths, Director of Development; Julie Brown, Secretary; Tina Kistler, Treasurer and Debra Fondren, board member, grant writer and webmistress! Tina couldn't be present physically, but she called in and joined our meeting via speaker phone.

At the meeting, we ratified our bylaws, confirmed our officers, chose our logo and picked a date for our tag sale.

All that discussion was hungry business, so after the meeting was adjourned, we feasted!


Debra, Julie and Raquel.


Debra and Julie.

We're in the Local Newspaper!

Nina Rubin, of the local chapter of the Blue Thong Society, did a write up for the Ventura Star about her chapter. She mentioned Not Without My Pet as the charity they've adopted!

Check it out:

It's Official, We are Incoporated!!

I got the articles of incorporation for our nonprofit back from the Secretary of State! I used Attorneys Corporation Service to file. It cost me more, but their turn around time was only a few days, compared to two to four weeks or longer if I'd mailed it in myself. I used their FaxIt Corporation Filing Service. It's not that expensive and it's quick and easy.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...drum roll, please...the name of our nonprofit corporation is....Not Without My Pet.

We have a registered domain name, nwomp.org, but no actual website just yet. I do have a new e-mail address, though, for e-mail relating to Not Without My Pet - ngilbert@nwomp.org.