Sure…my luggage might have a few love scratches and frays from my cats, but as long as the contents are less than 50 pounds, I don’t care!

Hey everyone! I had wanted to do a recap of my experience attending the 24th annual Cat Writers’ Conference and Awards Banquet last June 7 – 9 in Houston, TX. From start to finish it was a perfect alignment of the sun, moon, and stars. I remembered to pack my razor and phone charger. I had pre-TSA check-in at the airport. My luggage was less than 50 pounds and my hair was uncharacteristically cooperative during my stay. Read more

I’ll be heading out at o’dark hundred this coming Thursday morning en route to Houston for our annual Cat Writers’ Association Conference that will be held June 7 -9. I’m not a fan of packing at the last minute, so I took my time doing it this weekend. Right off the bat, something was different from my normal routine – a copious absence of leopard attire. Before you get all up in arms, don’t panic. I still brought my trademark leopard cat ears and I will be wearing a leopard-themed outfit here and there, but this year I decided to show off my new line of custom-designed cat T-shirts instead. Read more

I’m a pacifist at heart.  I don’t comprehend killing and violence as a means to an end but I also understand the realities of the world we live in. The deep-rooted history of battle dates back thousands of years with mankind and while I pray for a day where civility can move mountains and keep us safe, not guns, bombs, missiles and the like, I know this is but a pipe dream at the moment. That said, I am, and I’ve always been deeply humbled and grateful for those men, women, and animals in the armed services who sacrifice their own lives to ensure the bounties and freedoms of our way of life.

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on these people and animals who gave so selflessly for us. In the case of animals, they were innocent casualties of war, certainly not understanding the implications of their role and my heart goes out to them all.

I also think it’s a time to reflect and give thanks to those individuals who stood behind the fallen because they are heroes as well. People are generally not an island when they become part of the armed services – they are someone’s father, or son, or granddaughter, or friend, or partner, or co-worker, or mother, and so on. Sacrifices are made on so many levels and I feel it’s important we acknowledge that as well.

Men, women, bats, cats, dogs, dolphins, sea lions, horses, pigeons, pigs, rats and more – these are but some of those that served on our behalf and I offer blessings to you all. And to all those in my family that served over the years, blessings to you. None of you were killed in the line of duty and you are long gone, but I still appreciate and respect your memories and your commitment to protecting life as we know it.

It’s also ironic; I never set out for a military life, far from it. But I’ve had a military career. Since 1995 in one capacity or another, I’ve worked for companies that protect our troops and law enforcement officials. It started when I began working for a body armor manufacturing company to today, where I work for a company that manufacturers critical items to keep military vehicles out of harm’s way. 

It’s amazing how much trouble one little red dot can cause…

Last Friday at 3:54 p.m. while I was at work, I got a text from Dan informing me we had no internet, as someone had accidentally cut the cable wires in our neighborhood. He was told by AT&T, our provider, it would be fixed by 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Rather than get upset over something out of our control, I just took it with a grain of salt and resigned myself to a night of cable TV, as AT&T is our streaming provider and continuing to binge watch our new series of choice, Justified, would not be an option. Read more

As the Project Manager for the military department, I dig in – whether stepping in to help production on the floor – or managing tedious contracts and paperwork in my office to ensure all our orders get out on time.

I work for a manufacturing company, managing the shipment of products for our military department. It’s both a physically and mentally challenging job, with lots of critical deadlines that have to be met, and when I leave for the day I’m already exhausted. My drive home is stressful – the traffic crawls and the roads are not equipped for the heavy flow of drivers, meaning sometimes you have to wait for several light cycles to turn green before you can even move forward from one intersection to the next. My point being, I’m completely drained by the time I walk in the door and all I want to do is grab a glass of wine and put on my comfy sweatpants. Read more