Member Spotlight for 5/14/2006...ANNE!!!

We have a special treat this week! I PM'd Anne to see if she would have time to be the spotlight member this week, and she agreed! For the newbies who may be unfamiliar, Anne is the Site Owner, and the founder of TCS. She is responsible for the existence of this site. Have a great time this week Anne, it's a lot of fun!

I'm going to kick it off with some questions:

1. What was your impetus for starting TCS?

2. What has been the biggest frustration with managing this site?

3. What has been the biggest reward?

4. Have you ever been tempted to shut the whole thing down so you don't have to deal with us?

5. How often do you visit TCS?

6. Is there any past member with whom you've lost touch, who you'd like to see back here?

7. When you started this site, did you imagine that it would be this big?

8. I think I remember reading a post somewhere that you manage many sites. How many? How do you keep up?

9. What advice would you give someone who is looking to start a web site?

10. Do you have another job outside of managing these sites? If so, what is it?

11. I can't imagine that you have any spare time, but if you do, what do you like to do?

12. Tell us about your family.

13. Tell us about your fur family.

14. I think I also remember that you live in Israel. Have you always lived there? If not, what prompted you to move there? What could you tell us about living there that you think would surprise us?

15. Do you think Ryan is going to ask you any shocking questions regarding your bodily functions?

16. How many times do you think you'll be asked if you've had any broken bones?

Have a great week Anne, and I look forward to learning more about you!

Can't think of a better person Kelly! Congrats Anne!! We never see enough of you on here!

Ok, here's mine!!

1. How old are you?
2. How did you and your hubby meet?
3. Where were you born?
4. How old are your boys now?
5. What is your favorite food?
6. Do you watch much TV?
7. Do you still have your grandparents, and if so, what were/are they like?
8. I remember your parents were coming to the states? Did they come and where did they go?
9. Do you have anything from your childhood still?
10. If Ryan askes you any funky questions, are you going to give him the ?

That's it for now!

Thanks for bestowing this great honor upon me! I guess it comes with the cost of having to reveal all of my deepest darkest secrets, eh? I guess, much like everyone else, I love talking about myself, so get ready! This is actually a great chance for me to actually get in touch with you guys, something I just don't get to do enough.

ok, let me start right away... looks like I'll be spending a lot on TCS this week lol, better start right away, just let me get my music going first.

Originally Posted by clixpix

1. What was your impetus for starting TCS?

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Well, this goes way back, to about six years ago. Hmmm, actually, make that thirtysomething years ago lol, when I got my first kitten. I have always been an animal lover and have always had cats. Since the age of 12 I had two beloved cats, Lucky and Blanche that were my companions during my teenage years. Blanche was gone when I was about 22, and I had Lucky with me, still living with my mom. Then I met the guy who was about to become my life partner and he refused to have cats living with us. Since Lucky was 12 by now, I didn't want to make her go through changing locations anyway, so I moved in with him and left her under the good care of my mom.
To make a long story short (or relatively short...), my guy comes to me one day and informs me that he found 5 abandoned kittens. He wasn't sure what to do with them, so he brought them home. They were tiny little things, 4 weeks old, and we looked after them and tried to find them good homes. A few weeks later, we had found good homes for all but two of them. I called the shelters, but the only one that would take them, said they have a home for one, but the other one could get put down. The woman from the shelter came over to our place and had the kittens in the carrier when she told me that... so, there goes one kitten out of the carrier and stays with us. That was Mishmish.

In a way, Mishmish started it all. That little rescue kitty turned out to be quite the torbie.... and a challenge to raise in a small apartment. We needed advice for so many things, and we had that new toy back then, called the Internet. We went online and found some good advice in English, but none in Hebrew (our native language). And so, I decided to start my first website - a cat care website in Hebrew. It was a total success. I really put my energies into it, bought dozens of books, read everything I could and educated myself about cats. Then began writing articles. The site had about 80 guides and articles and was a huge success. It was reviewed in all the national newspapers and mentioned on TV and radio shows. People loved it.

At some point, I noticed that there was actually no similar resource in English. My Hebrew site had outgrown any similar sites in English. So, I figured I might as well do the same in English. And I did. Hence TCS was born. I spend months translating and editing the articles, then learned how to set up forums and launched the site in September 2000.

Originally Posted by clixpix

2. What has been the biggest frustration with managing this site?

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Oh my.... so many down the road. Hackers were huge, troll attacks too... problems with gruntled or hurt members in the forums... and of course technical problems with coding and stuff.

Originally Posted by clixpix

3. What has been the biggest reward?

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I would have to mention two things as my biggest rewards. One would be the help actually delivered to cats. Reading in the forums, or getting an email from someone whose cat got spayed, or avoided being declawed thanks to things they had read on TCS, that sort of thing. The other thing would be the people I have met through this site. I am not as active on the boards anymore, but back then I used to, and I carry some friendships still. This would be a good time to mention Mary Anne (aka hissy) and Deb (aka Deb25) whom I consider to be my friends. Mary Anne especially had become a close friend and partner for several years, and while we have parted ways in some aspects of running TCS, I still consider her a close friend.

Originally Posted by clixpix

4. Have you ever been tempted to shut the whole thing down so you don't have to deal with us?

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lol more often than you might think... Actually, that's in reference to the forums mostly, not the site itself. The site itself is relatively easy to manage and brings in most of the revenue. The forums are very difficult to manage, require a lot of server resources (and I mean a lot!) and bring in little revenue (relative to the amount of work that goes into them.) So, yes, there have been time, following board dramas and stuff, that I have been tempted to just shut off the forums and be done with it. What made me go on? one thing - the wonderful team running this site. Formerly headed by hissy and now by Deb25, the great moderators of this site are really the ones who keep it going. Blame them lol.

Originally Posted by clixpix

5. How often do you visit TCS?

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Not enough... I actually login daily, regularly. I always check the mods forum, browse quickly to see that everything is ok, and then move on to my other tasks of the day. When I can, I try to go over threads in the professional forums that don't have answers and help people. I'm afraid that doesn't happen often enough though

Originally Posted by clixpix

6. Is there any past member with whom you've lost touch, who you'd like to see back here?

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Wow, so many... I could throw 20 names like that, but would probably end up forgetting a few, so I won't. There really are many people that used to post here 4-5 years ago that I would have liked to have kept in touch with.

Originally Posted by clixpix

7. When you started this site, did you imagine that it would be this big?

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Hmmmm actually, yes I did. Again, not talking about the forums, but about the huge sections of articles that we have here (and which keep growing all the time). The forums really took off, I never thought they would make up for 90% of the traffic, but they do!

Originally Posted by clixpix

8. I think I remember reading a post somewhere that you manage many sites. How many? How do you keep up?

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Hmmm I lost track of the number, for real. I have over 200 domain names, and probably about 70-80 sites (the rest of the domains are intended for future development). Most of the sites are small sites that don't get updated.

Originally Posted by clixpix

9. What advice would you give someone who is looking to start a web site?

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Well, there are so many kinds of websites... depending on what they're looking for really, a personal website, a blog, a business site, an informational hub... The one general advice I would give is get your own domain name. Don't go for free hosting with some long URL, get a domain name, it's under $10 a year and means you are the real owners of the site.

Originally Posted by clixpix

10. Do you have another job outside of managing these sites? If so, what is it?

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Well, raising 3 cats, two kids and a hubby - does that count? nothing else, I'm afraid

Originally Posted by clixpix

11. I can't imagine that you have any spare time, but if you do, what do you like to do?

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You can say that again. Practically any spare time goes back to working on the computer. And I am talking working, not browsing for fun much ...

Originally Posted by clixpix

12. Tell us about your family.

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I have one wonderful man here, he's 36 and curently in the military (an LTC). Also have two sweet boys. Ron is 4 and a half and Dan is two and a half. They are beyond sweet (of course!)

This is Ron -


And here's Dan -

Originally Posted by clixpix

13. Tell us about your fur family.

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Three cats and stable for a long time. Not too many strays where I live, strangely enough.

Mishmish - a beatiful longhair torbie female, the tiger of the house and one to warn guests from -


Gezer - a shy and nervous cream tabby male, very very sweet, but doesn't like strangers -


Romeo - A handsome friendly tux who adopted us here when we moved in 6 years ago (Gezer and Mishmish came over with us) -

Originally Posted by clixpix

14. I think I also remember that you live in Isreal. Have you always lived there? If not, what prompted you to move there? What could you tell us about living there that you think would surprise us?

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I was born here in Israel and lived here all my life. My first langauge is Hebrew.

Originally Posted by clixpix

15. Do you think Ryan is going to ask you any shocking questions regarding your bodily functions?

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I am frankly not that easy to shock, so give it your best try Ryan

Originally Posted by clixpix

16. How many times do you think you'll be asked if you've had any broken bones?

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hmmmm 3?

To answer kittylover4ever's questions -

1. How old are you?
Will turn 34 in July.

2. How did you and your hubby meet?
We served in the same unit in the military. I was a young lieutenant, he came as the new dashing Captain. We became friends, liked each other a lot and at some point I asked him on a date lol. A week later we were talking about how many kids we want to have together.

3. Where were you born?
Here in Israel, in a hospital not far from where I live today.

4. How old are your boys now?
Ron turned 4 in February, Dan turned 2 in Novermber.

5. What is your favorite food?
Oh my, lots of those... pastry basically and pasta - I'm a carb person!

6. Do you watch much TV?
None whatsoever, believe it or not. Any free time I have I go to the computer. We actually said goodbye to the cable company last month because we simply weren't using it except for the kids and the kiddie channels. They watch DVD's now

7. Do you still have your grandparents, and if so, what were/are they like?
I lost both my grandmothers, but I still have both of my grandfathers. From my father's side, my grandad is a lovely 94 year old gentleman who lives a sedentary life at home with a caregiver living with him at home. From my mother's side, my grandad is a wild at heart, though somehow physically limited now, 78 years old. He lives by himself. I loved both my grandmothers and was very close to them. I lost one when I was 14 and the other 2 years ago. The one thing I regret is that she didn't get to see Dan, who was born 3 weeks before she died unexpectedly.

8. I remember your parents were coming to the states? Did they come and where did they go?
Those were my parents in law, who are practically like parents to me, living next-door. Wonderful people! They are in the US right now, in New Orleans today. They started in NY, then Washington DC, then Tennessee, now NO and next is Texas and a flight to Arizona. From there, driving up to Utah and Reno, Nevada and then probably San Fran and Santa Cruize. They are having a fablous time, mainly due to the fact that they are meeting wonderful people along the way. We arranged people through a hospitality club where I'm a memebr and it's working out superbly well!

9. Do you have anything from your childhood still?
I don't really hang on to things, so would have to say no to that, in as much as it refers to material objects.

10. If Ryan askes you any funky questions, are you going to give him the ?
Ok Ryan, give me your best now, man! I need to see what those funky questions are

Congratulations on the spotlight, Anne! Enjoy your week!

1. What would the first paragraph of your autobiography be?

2. Describe yourself in just three words.

3. If you could travel to anywhere in the world (today) where would it be and why?

4. What is the most amazing sight you have ever seen?

5. Have you had other companion pets - other than your kitties?

That's all for now, but I'm sure I'll be back with some more for you!

First of all thank you for such a great site!

1) How long have you been married?
2) There are quite a few members getting married this summer (including me! ) do you have any advice for us?
3) Has owning this site made you a more patient person (or impatient )? Is it similar to being a mother?
4) Whats Israel like (I am of Palestinian origin and would love to visit one day!)?
5) Have you been anywhere else in the Middle East?

Thank you for your time and for such a great site!
ETA your boys are lovely!

To Sar's questions -

1. What would the first paragraph of your autobiography be?
At 34, I feel that is soooooooo far away lol...

2. Describe yourself in just three words.
Mother, woman, Human being.

3. If you could travel to anywhere in the world (today) where would it be and why?
There are so many places I want to see... practically everywhere! I've never been to the US and I have made some great friends there online, so I think an American tour might be in order. My favorite place so far though is London. I really like it there.

4. What is the most amazing sight you have ever seen?
Well, seeing my babies for the first time after giving back, but other than that I would have to go back to London, where about 9 years ago I was taking a walk along the Thames at night time with hubby and had a great view of the comet that was in the sky back then.

5. Have you had other companion pets - other than your kitties?
Not at the moment, no. Would love to have a dog too someday, but don't have the time and energy for one at the moment.

To answer Sims2fan's quesions -

1) How long have you been married?
Well, as it happens we never got married officially lol. We are living in sin, if you like We have been together for 10 years now. No plans of an official wedding in the future, we don't see the need for one really.

2) There are quite a few members getting married this summer (including me!

) do you have any advice for us?
Well, no advice about weddings as for living together, I would have to say our relationship is very successful and that's probably because we're best friends and respect each other immensely. So, keep it friendly, make sure you nurture and develop things that interest you together and try not to be nasty to one another - ever.
Congratulations on your up and coming wedding!

3) Has owning this site made you a more patient person (or impatient

)? Is it similar
to being a mother?
Hmmmm it's nothing like being a mother. I don't think it has made me more or less patient really. It's work essentially, and doing something I love as well, so that's nice. I am a genreally patient and tolerant person, so I don't take to heart when there are problems. Most times anyway

4) Whats Israel like (I am of Palestinian origin and would love to visit one day!)?
Israel is a very Western country in general. Has wonderful places to see and things to do. It's real cool that you are from here! Do you know where in Palestine? When did your family leave the country? You definitely should come and visit someday! Let me know when you do, maybe we can meet

5) Have you been anywhere else in the Middle East?
Nope. I went close to the borders lol, but that's about it. I don't visit the West Bank and Gaza even. Hubby visited Jordan and Egypt though.

Originally Posted by Anne

4) Whats Israel like (I am of Palestinian origin and would love to visit one day!)?
Israel is a very Western country in general. Has wonderful places to see and things to do. It's real cool that you are from here! Do you know where in Palestine? When did your family leave the country? You definitely should come and visit someday! Let me know when you do, maybe we can meet

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My family came from Tarsheeha (anyone interested can google it). My maternal grandmothers family left when she was 12 and my paternal grandparents had already moved to Lebanon as my grandfather was a professor in the American University of Beirut. My parents were both born and raised in Lebanon. I still have a Lebanese passport so I would not be able to come for a few years still, but when I do I would love to meet you!

Originally Posted by Sims2fan

My family came from Tarsheeha (anyone interested can google it). My maternal grandmothers family left when she was 12 and my paternal grandparents had already moved to Lebanon as my grandfather was a professor in the American University of Beirut. My parents were both born and raised in Lebanon. I still have a Lebanese passport so I would not be able to come for a few years still, but when I do I would love to meet you!

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Tarsheeha is a village in the upper Galilee, I think? If you come here, we can go and check it out

Originally Posted by Anne

Tarsheeha is a village in the upper Galilee, I think? If you come here, we can go and check it out

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Wow that would be awesome! One day

Wow Anne, it's been really interesting to read about you. I can't think of any good questions right now, but I just wanted to say that I love this site and kudos to you for creating it!!!

Thank you so much, I couldn't go a day without visiting!

Thank you all for making this site what it is - it really is the members and team

Anne, I have also enjoyed reading your answers to the serious questions asked so far, but now it is time for silly questions!

What was the last thing you ate?
Favorite type of cake?
What song, when you hear it, makes you stop everything, turn it up and dance and sing along?
If you had to live somewhere other than Israel, where would it be?
Where did you go on the last vacation you took?
What is the oldest thing in your refrigerator? How old is it?
Best gift you ever received?
Worst gift you ever received?
favorite flower?
what is your favorite piece of jewelry?
What color is your bedspread?
what color shirt do you have on right now?
socks?
Favorite candy?
What is your best personality trait?
Your worst?
Do you play a musical instrument?
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
What is one thing you spoil yourself with?
What would you do if you saw a unicorn?
Are you easily offended?
What do you usually drink with dinner?
Are you ears pierced? Anything else pierced?
Do you usually drive:

a. under the speed limit(by how much)
b. the speed limit(why?)
c. over the speed limit(by how much)

Favorite fruit?
Favorite vegetable?
What's one thing you have always wanted to do, but never have?

Your boys are beautiful by the way

Anne, it's been so awesome to read about you. I guess I don't really know you much. I don't have many questions, but here goes.

Have you ever been sneezed on by one of you cats(Ophelia just sneezed on me )?
Is your family offended that you are "living in sin", or is that not such a big deal for you?
Do you live in a rural area, or a bigger city?
When you walk out the door of your house, what sort of things do you see(livestock, grass, sand, mud holes, giant mosquitos, etc)?
How old are your three kitties?
How did you come up with your kitties names?
How did you come up with your sons names?
How on earth do you raise 3 cat, 2 kids, a hubby, & run all of these sites?
Do you ever sleep?

That's all for now!

Hi Anne!!! Good Afternoon Congâ€RATS†this will be a great week!

Let´s started soo easy for you!!!! ....

How about this??????? today the topic will be around Mexican things!!!

1.- Have you ever to visites MÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]xico? Wich part?
2.- Can you speak spanish?
3.- Have you ever to try Mexican Food?
4.- Do you like to Drink Tequila? .....
5.- Have you ever to sleep in a hammock?
6.- Do you have a CD of spanish music?
7.- Do you know about the Mayan Culture?
8.- Have you ever to watch Mexican Movies?
9.- Do you like the Spanish music????
10.- If you could to visit a place in MÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]xico, wich part would be?

Enought for today!!! Have a nice Great week My friend!!!

PS...(Watch for the Ryan´s questions!!!!...

I warning you!!! ...

...)

Hello, Anne! Congratulations (or should I give you my condolences) on being the selected victim this week! I'm horrible with questions, but I'm enjoying reading your thread ! Your boys and cats are beautiful!

Hi Anne! Thank you SO much for TCS! I'm absolutely addicted to the forums and don't know what I'd do without them. I've learned a lot about cats from the articles and the forums. Here are my questions:

Is there something you'd like to have but can't afford it?
How many TCS members are there?
What is your favorite dessert?
Do you plan on getting any more cats?
What is the best book you've ever read?
Did you grow up bilingual or did you learn English in school?
What are some of your pet peeves?

Congrats Anne!!! I love reading all your answers. We are a lot alike in the SO area, except now after 8 years me and him got married. Though not because we felt we needed to, but for tax reasons!

So on now with my questions for you:

Do you own a pair of yellow socks?
Describe your shower curtain.
What is in the trunk of your car right now? Where did you hide the dead body?
When you give a gift do you take the time and wrap it or do you put it in a gift bag?
Name a product that you would suggest to someone? (for anything)
Do you read Sidney Sheldon or Patricia Cornwell?
How long is your hair?
What is one talent or skill you don't have but always wanted?
How many shot glasses do you own?
Do you own a pasta pot?
Do you shop as second hand stores? (ex. goodwill, salvation army, valueland)
Do you use coupons?
How many glasses of water do you drink a day?
Favorite non-carbonated beverage?
What is the most shameful thing you've ever done?
Do you get silly when you get tired?
Can you post a picture of the view from your front door.
How many sterios do you own? Is one on now?
When did you talk to your mother last?
What is the one thing you'd most like to change about the world?
What is your zodiac sign?
At christmas do you prefer real or fake trees?
What do you like most about yourself?
What do you like least?
What is on your desk right now?
If the statement, 'You are what you eat' was true, I would be a _______.
Do you collect anything?
Describe your favorite outfit.
Do you watch birds outside?
Do any of the kittys steal your seat all the time?
Your best friend's spouse is being unfaithful. Would you tell your friend? If so, how?

Congrats again Anne!