Reading a book with Rolz tucked on my lap…pure heaven to me.

There are vision boards using images, photos, text and more, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and the power of attraction to attain goals. In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner speaks the famously recognized phase, “If you build it, he will come.” Using that theory, I’m sharing some of my favorite pictures of me doing what I like to do best, reading, writing, crocheting, or just chillin’ on the couch with a cat or two by my side as I enjoy the peace and inner Zen it brings me. Read more

I was putting away the Christmas china the other day – those mistletoe decorated plates, cups and saucers reserved for the Christmas dinner I host every year for family and friends. It hit me with a wave of nostalgia just how much life had changed as I carefully wrapped each piece in the same newspaper I’d been using as protective padding for years – newspaper dated December 31, 1994 – a quarter-century old. Read more

I was blessed with a wonderful Christmas – lots of family, good food, good conversation, and love. But the days leading up to it, and the days to follow were extremely hectic and stressful, trying to fit it all in-between my day job. To say I’m worn out and behind in everything in my personal life of a cat writer would be an understatement. Hundreds of unanswered emails, articles to write, bookkeeping to attend to and a Cat Writers’ Association conference to get back on track for 2020. Amidst it all, I was graced with a precious and much needed moment yesterday – a rainy day for some catch-up and the delightful company of my sweet Zoey who decided to grace me with her presence, curled up my lap to enjoy the peacefulness of the day.

Zoey looking up at me with her gorgeous golden-green eyes, waiting for me to take her picture.

Luckily my iPhone was close by so I could capture the moment in time – a purr-fect image for Sunday Selfie and a much-needed reminder to slow down and appreciate what’s in front of me, and not a race of what I need to get done.

Happy Sunday everyone – I hope you have some peaceful moments to enjoy, too!

Back in the fall of 2015, I was laid off. I’d been laid off before, so I was experienced with the “it’s not you, you’re great, but we’re just going in a different direction,” scenario. Regardless of how they sugarcoat the blow, it’s demoralizing, and it hurts, especially considering I was living from paycheck to paycheck, so any negative change in income was bad news. Like grief, one tends to process the pain in various stages, and for me, one of the ways that helped get me through the days as I struggled to look for new employment was taking early morning walks around the neighborhood to clear my head and start each day with a positive outlook. Read more

Sleep in? Not on my watch, you won’t!

I’m a very early riser. Some due to the fact I have a day job, requiring I get up to make it to work by 8:30 a.m., and some due to seven restless cats with persistent paws to my face and demanding meows to my ear who insist a minute past 5:30 a.m. is bordering on abuse, because how dare I not have fed them breakfast yet? A lot of it is also simple mathematics – I have too much to do nowadays and getting up early gives me an extra hour or so to get personal things done (i.e., things involving my cat writing world) before I head to work. Read more