You read that right! I have added one more job to my list of jobs. Don't ask how I'm fitting this into my already over filled schedule - because I haven't figured that out yet. This one is one I'm truly excited for (I love all my other jobs still!). It's part of a new venture with a friend that I never thought would happen in my lifetime. This solidifies that if you want it and put in the work, it's absolutely possible. What is this job? Teaching craft classes - something I h

To say our house is full is a drastic understatement—but it's absolutely true. We are filled to the max with cats. We have no more room for cat beds, toys, towers, litter boxes, and feeding spaces. Cats, despite being so small, take up a decent amount of room. Well, maybe it's just my cats that do. From preferred litter box locations to needing a certain spot for water/food and the right amount of space to snooze and play. Our house is big enough—and would be even bigger minu

RBF - but loving life to the fullest The hardest thing I will ever write about is losing a pet. Nothing in the world makes losing a pet easier. Knowing their days are limited, old age taking its toll, medical issues, medical mysteries—it never gets easier. In fact, it seems to get harder. At least for me, it seems to get harder. We were recently in the tough position of making decisions with limited available information and no input from the life that it was affecting. Befor

Once, when I was struggling to find something to write about, Gene suggested that I do book reviews, which honestly, I kind of hate doing. Personally, I feel like how much I like a book or dislike it can have a lot to do with my current life, where I am mentally, how I'm feeling—am I in a good mood, bad mood, etc. I love to read—granted, I don't read as much as I'd like. I usually only read at bedtime, or if I'm sick and lying around. Occasionally, I'll listen to audiobooks—b

He unzipped the front and let himself out - after trying to bite the vet tech. As you previously read, Mr. Roughy had two vet appointments back to back just about this month, all for a lingering kitty cold/infection. Yes, you read that right—two appointments for a kitty cold. Why? Because Roughy is blessed to be an orange cat, one that has all the spice that orange cats are known for. If you've met him and spent more than a minute with him, you know that spice comes out with

So here goes—something that I can't believe I'm going to write about and toss onto the internet. But it's something that has been bothering me and has happened twice in the last few months. I deal with the public 5-6 days a week most weeks for work. While I love it (almost every day), there are days when I'm left questioning people, when things changed, and how people figure it's okay to say things to people they don't know. I'm a short person; it's a daily struggle—reaching

I've talked before about the expense of cats. You've probably heard that cats are cheaper than kids. Most times I'd agree with that, but with 21 cats, I feel like they are not cheaper. A ballpark figure: one child costs $21,600 annually, whereas a cat costs $1,000 - $2,000. That's a pretty big difference. Expenses for humans are high: food, clothing, schooling, insurance, extracurricular activities, etc. Meanwhile, the cats just need food and one visit to the vet annually (fo

I've been slacking on writing again. Why? I'm just too damn busy. For a hot minute, I thought I had a few weeks of blogs written and scheduled, so I was good. Reality - I didn't have a few weeks scheduled out. At this point in my life, one would assume I would have figured out a better time management system - they would be absolutely wrong. My time management system goes like this: I have all these things to do, wait, this is , I need to handle that - everything else gets bu

Cats, much like humans, have strong personalities—and they certainly aren't afraid to show their personality, displeasure, or even pleasure. Having 21 cats and 2 humans is a LOT of personality to deal with day in and day out. Let's be real—just 2 humans living together can be a lot of personality. I know there are days when I get under Gene's skin just being me and vice versa. Add in the cats to that mix, and it's a perfect storm where nobody truly knows who is coming or goin

What is dedication? It is: self-sacrificing, wholehearted devotion or commitment to a specific cause, person, or task. In this instance, I'm talking about loyalty to a thing or person. I knew after my last post I needed to do a little shout-out to a few people. Clearly, their dedication to me - and more specifically my blog posts, hit me hard in a good way. We are all busy - life, work, friends, home, etc. So when someone takes the few minutes it takes to actually read my blo

Having a house full of cats (or any pets), as we know, can have its ups and downs. We always cherish the ups of being a pet owner. The unconditional love we get from our pets at the end of a rough day is all we need to feel like all is right. Clara was exceptional in that department. The love she had for us and how she showed it was enough to annoy Gene, enough for me to cuddle her more! She loved to give "facials" - they may have been rough, but they also managed to erase so

For the last few years—I'm not putting an exact number to it, because it's been a while—I've been working on myself. Lots of therapy, journaling, assessing my life & re-assessing, seeing a therapist, and most recently attending a one-day women's retreat. The people closest to me have noticed the work, have been affected by the work I've done, and helped me to get where I am today. The journey has not been all easy—if it was—everyone would be doing it, and the results wouldn't

Stray Momma and kittens continued! Not much of a cliffhanger - unless you are wondering how many kittens momma had in her litter. Read on...

We have the pleasure of living in a very rural area, which we love most of the time. Gene's least favorite thing is the smell of the...

I missed quite a few blog post Mondays in the last few months. Was there a good reason? Sort of—I’ll call it life happens. Jasper...

Here we are, a week after we have said our final goodbye to Jasper. He has crossed the rainbow bridge and joined his girlfriend Pita and...