I spent about two hours this afternoon responding
to email regarding kitties and cels and kitties
and sketches and kitties and kitties, and I have
come to two conclusions:

First, that there are some very talented
photographers on this forum.  **grins**  I have
seen pictures of many squishy cats today, and not
a few portly pups, some in extremely silly poses,
all so absolutely adorable that they actually made
me laugh.

Second, if the early emails are any indication of
what's in later messages and those from folks who
always wait until the last minute, I believe my
gallery offers should cover the surgery costs AND
associated fees for Steve's recovery, without
needing to plunder the family savings account. 
(*so happy that she could just dance, if it
wouldn't disturb the half-asleep Steve lounging in
her lap at the moment*)

From these two conclusions come two MORE conclusions:

First, that you guys are, bar none, the best damn
people on the Internet, and most likely off it as
well.  For every offer letter I have here, there
are two more saying that they're not hunting any
cels right now, but they wanted to wish the boys
well, or to relate a story about their own pets,
or to make suggestions on what a cat recovering
from surgery needs for convenience, or to send a
cheery photo.  I may never meet 90% of you all in
person, but I count every last one of you as friends.

Second, I can't possibly let two of my best buds
show such generosity to me, when I know that both
of them have things that they should most likely
be spending money on themselves.  My gallery
offers are going well, there are still plenty of
"lesser" cels I can send off to eBay, and I'm
actually starting to hope that I might even make a
little extra on my cel sale to pay the two small
dealer bills I'd rather not have hanging over my
head right now.  I was planning a small sale to
finance them, when Saturday's vet news came
crashing down and drove everything else completely
out of my head.

..............

Heh.  If I sound a little flustered, it's 'cause I
am.  *blushes to her toes*  See, us evil people
have real trouble dealing with overwhelming
kindness... it's a character fault of the
alignment.  Fear us, curse us, threaten to destroy
us utterly... no problem, that's all part of the
job description.  But hand us a warm home-baked
muffin, and we'll hide under a rock in sheer
embarrassment every time.

Can I turn down the muffins and still have my good
friends ix and blue?  *large and hopeful anime eyes*