However, I have yet to able to get a reply from AFMU. They never notified their customers in any way. They only have an online ticketing system that also went down with the hacking issue. When it came back online only one of my hosts was available and again after numerous attempts to contact them, I still haven’t received any reply. I’m not even sure they’re really in business anymore.

Before they went down completely, I had been able to get some of my domains transferred and pointed to my new hosting provider. However, I still had three stuck in limbo.

Here’s where the testimonial comes in. I contacted my other registrar, Simple Online Solutions and asked for help. They were able to work with the powers that be who control domain registry at some higher level and get my last three domains transferred. This was no small feat. Many emails and verification of identity were needed. SimpleURL really came through and kept me in the loop the entire time. If you need to find an affordable and customer oriented domain registrar, I can’t recommend them enough. The contrast between AFMU and SimpleURL couldn’t be more stark. I’m glad what started out as customer service nightmare with one company ended up with a customer service delight with another.

Update: January 25, 2012

I finally heard from AFMU in the form of a form letter. They thanked me for my continued patience but didn’t explain what happened other than “recent issues”. They also mentioned that they are trying to merge with another hosting company. I was finally able to login to cancel all my accounts. I’m happily doing business elsewhere. (Thanks Hostgator!)

If you had told me that I one day I would actually want to drink up blended vegetables and fruit, I would have scoffed. Odd color aside, green smoothies rock! The fruit masks any bitterness of the greens. (Removing the stems from kale also helps.)

I took a short trip after Christmas to visit friends. I found that one of the first things I did when we got home was fire up the Vita-mix and blend up a bunch of kale, oranges, banana, carrots, strawberries and almond milk. If you get the right mix of fruit and vegetables, it tastes like a delicious juice and you feel energized for hours. It’s such a kick that you can get so much nutrition in one glass.

Who knew healthy could taste so good?

All contact for technical support is done online through a system they took down for two weeks. Not that it mattered as they haven’t responded to trouble tickets or emails at all.

While their system was up I was able to go in and get the keys to the domain and unlock some of them. I wasn’t quick enough however and they still have a handful of domains held hostage.

When they finally got their client area back online, I wasn’t able to login with my old username and password. Password reset worked after 3 attempts, but I was sad (not surprised) to see that only one of my domains and sites is now listed. My guess is that they are restoring the database ( I hope). I wasn’t able to unlock this domain, however.

So now, I have a few small sites that are in limbo. I’m glad they’re just hobby sites and nothing too important. However, I did learn two valuable lessons; keep things backed up and keep your domain host and registrar separate. That way you can start over with someone new and just point the DNS to the new host.

I’m trying out a new host provider and so far so good. They have an 800 number and live-chat help. I’ve used both and have been really happy with the service.

Moving my sites and the domain names over was a bit of work. I’m almost done and have learned a bit on the way.

This is also a good opportunity to prune the site and simplify things. Moving isn’t easy, but getting rid of things you don’t need in the process, makes is all worthwhile.

It can be a bit of a challenge if Sunday rolls around and you haven’t started on your drawing yet. Someone commented that it seemed like a lot of pressure. In a way, it is, but without that pressure it is too easy to not pick up that pencil or stylus and give it a go. I for one am glad that I have this nudge to keep drawing. My latest drawing is my favorite so far.

Cat Beds

I made a cat bed last year that Wayne and Liv had been stealing from one another. When one would arise, the other would sneak in and steal the coveted spot. There were other beds, but they seemed to prefer this fluff ball. It is very large and meant for a dog or a dog-sized cat like Wayne.

I decided to make a few smaller ones for Liv and Lucian not knowing if they’d use them. Cats are ornery that way. They turn their cute little noses up at what is offered and choose your favorite sweater instead.

Luckily, the beds were a big hit. They wouldn’t stay in them at first, but when I wasn’t looking they decided to give them a try. It has to be their idea, after all.

One cat bed has a semi-permanent home on the sofa and the other is on our bed, so Lucian can sleep in between us each night.

The weather has been cold for California this winter, so the cats are keeping warm in their new beds. As an added bonus, their fur remains concentrated in one area making clean up more easy.

Cat Toys

Dave suggested I use the leftover fleece to make toys for the cats. We have an old fleece fish that we bought years ago at Trader Joe’s. It used to be one of Lucian’s favorite toys. I used that as inspiration and made a few prototypes before coming up with a fleece fish, stuffed with fiberfill and a generous amount of organic catnip.

Did my cats like them? Sort of. They are really spoiled, so they liked them but soon went on to other distractions. However, I did make a few since they are so easy and gave them away to cat-loving friends.

Other cats loved them which made me very happy.

Here are a few comments:

Thank you so much for the catnip toy!! All three kitties are having a blast!

Thank you so much for the catnip kitty toy   My girls loved it. I can’t remember the last time I saw Zoe get so into her toys that she’d give it a prey-shake. Bubbles got high in two minutes flat and alternately loved on it and then tried to gut it with her back feet. Really, as much as they liked it, the entertainment value for me was immeasurable

Squeeky *loves* the catnip fish! Peanut too!
I’m afraid they are going to chew through it, but so far lots of licking and rolling on it and some biting. Squeeky carries it around. Bluto hasn’t noticed it yet. Thanks on behalf of the kitties.

Since they are so much fun to make and such a hit, I’m thinking of making more and selling them on Etsy with proceeds donated to a local animal shelter. Liv and Lucian were adopted from the Seal Beach Animal Care Center. They are fund-raising to build a new cattery, so that seems ideal.

As an answer to this, we decided to create a challenge for ourselves for 2011. We are starting a drawing blog and will have assignments each week. Using 642 Things To Draw as our inspiration and our source book, we will select a subject at random and it will be used as the subject of that week’s drawing.

So, Dave, Jill and I will be drawing at least once per week. We have invited others to join in, but no invitation is necessary. If you want to join us, simply go to our blog at 52in2011.wordpress.com and sign up. Use the “Join Us” form to send me an email and I’ll send you an invitation. The more the merrier.

If you are shy about drawing, please don’t be. We all drew as children and loved it. It doesn’t matter how well you do it, as long as you are having fun. You can even choose a pseudonym so you can post anonymously.

“Undone in Sorrow” by Crooked Still

When I die, I want fiddle players serenading me to the next world.