Empower Yourself with a Women's Retreat to Reset Refocus and Recharge

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 be the same. I've lost friendships, found a better me, and am enjoying my life a lot more!

One of my good friends, Barbara, told me about a one-day women's retreat that she had gone to and asked if I would be interested in going to the next one. Absolutely! I seldom pass up something where I can meet new people and have the added benefit of seeing a friend and get to work on myself.

What exactly did this one-day retreat entail? First, there's a breakfast and lunch included, which is always great. What are some potential things that we would go over? Stress, relationships, the "negative voice" in our heads, gratitude, goals, vulnerability, and empathy & how each of those things impacts us, how to manage them, and how to lift ourselves and others up! By the end of the day, we walk away with new connections, relaxed, feeling positive, and ready to tackle whatever thing is weighing on our shoulders currently.

One of the great things about this one-day seminar is that it's a judgment-free and safe zone. Believe it or not, most people don't have that kind of space in their lives. Listening to other people talk about situations or crossroads they are at, we all connect because we have been, currently are, or will be in a situation similar to what someone else is going through. It raises your morale and self-esteem to hear and be with people who are supportive, understanding, and non-judgmental.

If you are interested in seeing what it's all about, join us at the next women's retreat! Each one is different, and let's face it, we are never done working on ourselves. Register for the next retreat at www.liftingyourvoice.com.

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

#liftingyourvoice #lovecatsandeverything #womensretreat #selfcare #mindfulness #loveyourself #blogger

Embracing Spontaneity: The Joy of Vacations with No Set Plans

Mel & Babs flying a kit on a windy day.

You read that title right - the queen of plans went on vacation with no set plans for each day. Shocker - I survived and am tempted to have another vacation go the same way. For someone who likes to know what I am doing each day right down to the time, a vacation with no set plans had me on edge. Full disclosure - Gene and I spent about an hour 2 weeks before vacation looking up things we might want to do. It included most of the usual touristy things, addresses, hours, and costs. Did we even use that? Nope!

We left earlier than initially planned to start the drive (but also later than I originally wanted). For no other reason than I wanted to take advantage of the empty highway and avoid some traffic on Saturday. We had a mostly pleasant drive, talking about politics and other topics I consider to be taboo to talk about in public. Stopping around 1 a.m., we checked into a hotel, with just over 3 hours left to drive the next morning. Day one of vacation with no set alarm - how nice!

We meander the rest of the way, stopping for groceries and alcohol as we get into town where our rental is located. Day 1, we have sun and it's hot - perfect beach weather. We get settled in the house, walk to the pier and beach, and just enjoy a lazy night.

Red Flags most of the week!

As the week kicks off, our weather turns to less than ideal—windy (gale force!), rainy, cloudy, and cool. As the person who runs hot all the time, I was thrilled with this! Everyone else—not so much. Babs was there solely for the sun, Steve wanted to get some good fishing in, and let's face it—sun always makes vacation better!

Walking the beach each day was something I was determined to do—and I managed to do it despite the wacky weather. The ocean was pretty angry most days—no swimming, as the red flags were out most of the week. That didn't stop me from getting my feet wet, and maybe up to my hips! The water was still warm—I couldn't resist. Some days the water was up to the lifeguard's chair (pretty close to the dunes!).

Making the best of the weather, we did some shopping and talked with shop owners. Wheeling and dealing discounts wherever possible—70% off sounds good to our wallets! We chatted with one shop worker, Beatrice, who told us her love story and got Babs crying. She will find her love one day—you're never too old for true love!

Twilight at the pier

We attempted to climb two lighthouses, but that darn wacky weather stopped those plans. At the first lighthouse, as soon as we went to climb up, it started lightning—no climbing until that stopped. The second lighthouse we wanted to see, I figured, would be better—it is a low one that's only like two stories high, sitting closer to the water. We should be able to at least get in the main house. Just kidding! I forgot about the hurricane that wreaked havoc in NC a few weeks before. The road to the lighthouse was covered with a few feet of sand—no way we were getting to that lighthouse. Instead, we took video of the crazy wind blowing sand off the dunes before heading back to the house.

On the news that night, a truck moving a mobile home closed the bridge down. The wind blew the mobile home off the truck. The bridge is a few miles long, going directly over the ocean—no land to the left or right. We are lucky that didn't happen when we were out driving!

Angry ocean at night

We visited the Wright Brothers National Park, climbed around on a metal plane, and just enjoyed another windy, cloudy day. (That was on our list of potential things to do!) The craziest thing we did this vacation was buy a YETI bucket. What in the world possessed us to do that? Vacation brain, and it's the prettiest blue! We used that to go crabbing. Gene used to vacation in NC with his family as a kid, so he had a spot they used to go to. We tried there, although we didn't have much luck catching keepers. I did manage to throw my chicken leg line completely into the water twice. The first time I made Gene fish it out with our newly purchased net. The second time I tossed it too far to get it back. I'm definitely not a great crabber!

Somehow, at the end of the week, I caught the sunset and a sunrise—pretty hard since we didn't have a full week of them! Even though sunsets and sunrises were scarce, I got lots of shells! We even managed to scope out some hot surfers when the sun started to peek out!

sunrise on the last day of vacation

While we had no set plans, and I figured that would give me anxiety all week, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get crazy anxious. Instead, I finished a book, painted my nails, finished a craft project, started another one, wrote some blog posts, and just relaxed!

10/10 would do another no-plans vacation. However, it won't be for another 5+ years if Gene has his way. What's your perfect way to vacation? Do you have a favorite vacation spot? Let me know in the comments!

Til our tails cross again,

Mel

#purrfectdozen #vacation #beachlife #beach #noplans

Stray Momma & Kittens Part 2

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

Just a brief catch-up on the first litter - Monkey, Buddy, Missy. Missy is still scheduled to be picked up by her new family. However, the family that wanted to adopt Buddy & Monkey has backed out - so they currently are looking for a new forever home. Truth be told - if we don't find one, they will just become part of the purrfectdozen crew. How shocking! Buddy is quite the cuddler - loves to be in your personal space and purrs so loud!

Buddy and Monkey - Best of buds

Buddy & Monkey are still learning the difference between bedtime and all other hours of the day! Bedtime—or rather, any time spent on the bed—is solely for napping or sleeping, calm pets, and that's it! Buddy thinks that it's playtime still—running, jumping, chasing, and anything but lying down for a snooze.

Meanwhile, Mama cat, who is now known as Opal, needed a new name because there's already a Mama Cat, who is more feral (that we fixed a few years ago), living outside. Opal is living her best life as an indoor cat, even though it took her a bit of time to realize it. She freaked out when we first brought her in and kept running into the sunporch windows trying to get outside. She calmed down, ate, realized she was with her first set of kittens, and immediately fell back into the routine of showing her dislike for her firstborns. She stayed on the porch with them for 24 hours. Missy, Buddy, Monkey, and Mr. Grey tried to stay out of her way.

We moved her upstairs to the main bathroom - Jasper's old room. We hadn't taken down the screen door yet, so it could still be used as a quarantine area. At this point, Opal is so pregnant she is waddling, lying down to eat, and just generally not moving much. Stepping

into the litter box with a higher side became an issue - so we swapped her to a low sided litter box. This just created more mess of litter everywhere for me to deal with, a small price to pay so she could use the litter box.

Opal, just a few days before delivering her litter

She went to the vet for a general check-up and to get her rabies shot. Dr. Alex said she would guess she'd deliver any day because her belly was so full there wasn't much room left! We could have gotten an X-ray to see how many babies to expect, but figured that she was so big that we wouldn't be able to tell for sure. Skip the X-ray - let's go for a surprise! We were warned that the stress of going to the vet and getting the rabies shot could push her to have the babies sooner rather than later. Which was perfectly fine by me - we are a week out from leaving for vacation. I would rather be home if there are any complications!

About 24 hours later, we have babies! I came home from work to find she had 4 babies, and she was still cleaning them. I left to avoid disturbing her, planning to return later. A few hours later, she had finished cleaning, and there were 8 tiny babies! We were shocked, expecting only 4 to 6. In the first week, they don't move much. She ensures they eat, cleans them, and keeps them warm. I check on them regularly to ensure they are breathing and eating.

She only has 6 nipples, so she is constantly feeding, and all the kittens are on rotation. This has me stressed—how will I truly know if one of them isn't eating or isn't getting enough food? The vet's office said I could weigh them each day to make sure, but I was hesitant to touch them that much, and they all looked the same that first week. I figured as long as they all had healthy breathing, we were in the clear! Feeding such a big litter means Opal herself needs to eat a decent amount as well, and not just regular adult cat food. She needs high protein, high calorie. So she's on the kitten dry food and kitten wet food. She gets about 10-12 cans of kitten wet food each day. That sounds like a lot, but sometimes I think it's not enough. The kitten wet food cans are pretty small, and she's got to eat enough for her plus the babies now. She's literally eating my entire paycheck each week in food.

only a few hours after she delivers - 8 healthy kittens

The first week flies by as I watch over her, admire the babies, and see how well she's taking care of them. She is overly friendly with all of us when we go into the bathroom, which is great. She trusts us to be around her babies, holding and touching them, and allowing them to be overly friendly with humans. As the week winds down, we have managed to keep all of them fed and alive! Success! Now we start to pack for vacation and hope that all continues to go well. We hired a pet sitter to come by once a day to feed, scoop litter, and make sure all is well. Our housemates will fill in the rest of the feeding times.

Vacation week - it's hard not to be home with the babies as they are growing and hitting milestones - opening their eyes, moving more with a crawl on their own, and colors coming in on their coats. Pictures don't do justice to what we are missing, but they keep us up to date! We get home just in time for them all to have their eyes fully open (although eye colors are still changing). They are getting more steady with walking and exploring their entire room now, following mom for food instead of waiting for her to go to them.

Now at 4 weeks old, they are running, climbing our legs, climbing on the low scratching pads, and walking in mom's food and water bowls. They have started to pee on the floor—not ideal, but they haven't figured out the litter box yet. That's going to happen soon enough. Whenever I go in, I put them in the litter box. The instinct to cover will push them to the "sand"-filled box soon enough. In the meantime, mom still licks their butts, and I'm cleaning up little pee puddles. My legs are covered in scratches from their razor-sharp nails.

The rest of the cats have yet to fully realize there are 8 little babies behind the curtain in the bathroom; soon enough, that time will come. They may have a scenery change from the bathroom to the sunporch—as they get faster and bigger, the bathroom will be too small for 9 of them!

With an entire litter, we are facing the naming process, so toss out your name ideas! Sometimes I want to stick with a theme related to mom's name, Opal, but we always like to have the name relate to their personality. The personalities are still developing in these little babies.

Till our tails cross again,

Melanie

#purrfectdozen #lovecatsandeverything #kittens #newborncats #catlife #rescue