Hello and how are the best fans in the world?

NO time for small talk. We've got BIG cat news this month (some of it good, and some of it not so good)!

A big shout out to our MASSACHUSETTS FANS for welcoming us back for our fourth tour in 12 months. On October 17, we had a full house of 350 fabulous fans at the Clark Art Institute, kicking off Williamstown's month long celebration, Words Are Wonderful.They clearly agreed that Reading Rocks!

On Saturday, October 18, we were LIVE on The Playground on WERS, 88.9 FM Boston.It was a BLAST! Thank you to our host, Raggedy Andy, who seemd to have as much fun as we did! If you're in the greater Boston area, tune into this wonderful family show every Saturday and Sunday from 5:00 - 8:00 pm.

On Sunday, October 19, we were back at The Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA. We saw old friends and made new ones and everybody danced in the aisles.

Coming soon: lots of fun photos from our tour on our Cat Pix Page.

GOOD CAT NEWS!

Saturday, November 15, we're at the Voorhees Town Center welcoming Santa at Santa's Slumber Party. What will make this night extra special is YOU! This is going to be our last performance for three months (read below: not so good cat news) so come on out and sing along. Please bring a pair of new pajamas to be donated to a child in need through PajamaProgram.org.

Here's the schedule:

Tree lighting and Santa welcome outside at 6:30
Santa Parade with a marching band 7:15
Strolling holiday characters, photos, entertainment until 9:00
The Cat's Pajamas at 7:30 and 8:30

2120 Voorhees Town Center
Voorhees, NJ 08043
for more information call 856.772.1950

MORE GOOD CAT NEWS!

Our website is really up and flying. There are still some more surprises to come (and some outdated material to be removed) but it's working, it's fun, the radio plays, the movie starts, the Cat Store actually works effortlessly (and you can finally buy ears, tails and t's on line) and the PHOTO PAGES packed with pictures of YOU are up with more to come and best of all, on every page, the little red cats sun glasses go up and down. See if it isn't addictive - I just can't stop! Our fans at Reach Out and Read, who held a wonderful fundraiser this past Sunday, liked it so much they made a poster for us!

Check out the photos and see if you and your kids are there. What? You aren't? Then bring your camera to the next show, take a photo and email it to me along with the name of the venue where you saw us. Guess who'll be up on the website next? AND go through the photos and see if you can find the one that INSPIRED our wonderful web designer to create the little red cats. (clue: I love to wear big black sunglasses that make me feel like a movie star!) A BIG round of Cat's Pajamas' applause to Ann Dixon and her company, BolderWomen.

THE NOT SO GOOD CAT NEWS in kid-friendly language.

You probably didn't know because I have so much fun on stage, but I have a very very bad back. In the last three months, it's gotten impossible to do anything without it hurting all the time. What fun is that? No fun. So I went to see a special doctor called a "neuro-surgeon" and on Tuesday, November 18, they're going to do an operation called a Three Level Spinal Fusion (wow). The surgeon is going to actually open up my back, take out the three "discs" (they're the padding between the bumps in your back called "vertebrae"). They are "herniated" which means they look like the jelly squishing out of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that somebody sat on and they are pressing on my "spinal cord", making everything hurt. Then he's going to put my spine back together with wires, pins, screws, plates and pieces of my own bones so all the vertebrae will eventually grow back together or "fuse". That's why it's called Spinal Fusion. I will have "titanium" in my back and be a BIONIC CAT! And I will have a big long scar like Madeline, only hers was on her tummy. (Do you remember what her operation was called? She had an "appendectomy".) The "anesthesiologist" is the doctor who will put me to sleep and wake me up when it's over so I won't feel anything during the operation. Phew! Did you ever break your arm and have to wear a "cast"? Well, I will have to wear a cast that will go all around my back and my front for 12 weeks so that my back will heal the right way. That feels like a long time but we hope that when it heals, I'll be able to have fun again. And if you look up everything in "quotation marks" in the dictionary with you mom or dad, you will have learned a LOT of new words today!

SO, Moms and Dads, The Cat's Pajamas are sadly going to be out of commission from November 18 through mid-February. Some of our shows had to be cancelled, some of them will be rescheduled, and I'll keep in touch and let you know what's what. Our performances at Milk and Cookies on Sunday, November 23 and our big show at World Cafe Live's Peanut Butter and Jam on December 6 have sadly gotten the ax! But we'll be back at Milk and Cookies on April 19 and as soon as World Cafe reschedules our show, I'll let you know and I'll hope that you will ALL come out to welcome us back!

Thank you for all the get well wishes I've already received from many of you. All your thoughts and prayers will truly help me get back on my feet.