Of course I’m fine… why do you ask?

Some of you may, or may not have noticed, but I have not been able to blog for a while. I continue to burn both ends of the candle, but relief should be in sight soon. After 5 years of employment, I left my day job to join efforts with someone I had worked with about 10 years ago. While my previous day job had more than its share of stress and issues, including the grueling hour long drive each way, my employers were like family to me and I did not want to be disrespectful by leaving them in a lurch.

That is why I have been burning both ends of the candle – I needed to give them a proper two-week notice to wrap things up for them, but my new job needed me immediately due to an emergency that had unexpectedly cropped up – to compromise, I worked both jobs as best as I could juggle them for the two weeks and as a consequence my personal life that includes my cat stuff, literally took a standstill and I was emotionally, mentally, and physically frazzled at the end of each night.

These are the stares I get in the pitch black morning when I leave for work from the cats. Why is she leaving us again they seem to be saying and when will she come home?

I had hundreds and hundreds of unattended emails and Facebook notifications that fell to the wayside (but, in case you’re wondering, life does go on and the world truly can function without you being bound to your computers and iPhones). I had seven cats who wondered why their human was a walking zombie and I barely knew what day it was anymore. But, that is all over now. Starting Monday, I will have one job again – one that is much closer to home with better hours and a much needed financial boost. My kitties will have their human back in some sort of normal semblance and I also can get back to doing more of what I enjoy – writing about cats.

I also will be getting a much needed break – Thursday I will be leaving for the BarkWorld/MeowWorld (Cat Writers’ Association) Conference and I can’t wait to see all my animal loving friends! It will be bittersweet, however, as we mourn the loss of Lorie Huston, the President of the Cat Writers’ Association but I know she would want us to celebrate her life and the conference, and so that is what I hope we will do.

What do you mean Mom is leaving us? I’ll just wait here by the window for her…

Jazmine has yet to be part of a conference – she does not know what it means when a suitcase comes out of the closet and I have never left her for more than a night. She also doesn’t know what it means for her human to come back from a conference, as in me bringing home lots of kitty swag! As you will recall, all she knows of conferences is that SHE was the actual kitty swag, not toys and treats, when Dan and I adopted her while attending the Global Pet Expo in March. Anyhow, I will be sure to take pictures (albeit awful one’s as Dan will not be with me to take the stunning photos you are all accustomed to) and I will do a write-up to share all the details when I get back.

This was Chris and I back in 2011… we seem normal, right?

On some other completely unrelated news, while most of us will be giving out candy on Halloween, my family members will be doing something else… Watching Wheel of Fortune. Why? Well, because my oldest son, Chris, just so happened to try out for the show months ago and he was actually chosen to be a contestant! His airing is on Halloween night, so you’ll just have to tune in to see how it goes! Unfortunately I will have to watched a taped version when I get back home, but since the show is not live, it really doesn’t matter and I already know the results but have been sworn to secrecy.

Okay… so maybe the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree… I like to wear cat ears, Chris likes to wear Cheez-It’s and it’s not even for Halloween! At least he has good taste… they are SO MUCH BETTER than Cheese Nips!

I am just so happy that he made the show – it has always been a dream of his to be on Wheel of Fortune and now he can check that off his bucket list. He was also selected as Cheez-It Fan of the Month a couple of years ago – another dream of his (could I be more proud?) and the only dream still pending on his bucket list is to be on the show, Big Brother. If anyone can do it, it’s him and I am just so proud of him for pursuing his dreams!

Okay… so I never made it on Wheel of Fortune, but I do have a claim to fame. I won a walk on appearance on the CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful, back in 1989. While there, I got to snoop around the studio and saw the Price is Right wheel in a storage lot! Great hair, huh…

So, that’s just a little catch up in my life, oh, other than the weirdest thing ever that I never thought I would ever be saying. I was feeding the cats a couple of nights ago and my phone rang – despite that it was a chaotic frenzy of hungry cats screaming in the background, I picked up the phone. It was the late Audrey Hepburn’s son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Doesn’t everyone get a call from Sean Hepburn Ferrer while feeding their cats?

LOL… anyhow, the reason he was calling is because I am doing an article for Cat Fancy Magazine for their 50 year anniversary commemorative issue that will hit newsstands at the end of January, 2015. Basically, they want to highlight a handful of famous people who have been cat lovers over the past 50 years (past and present) and Audrey was iconic for her role she shared with a cat in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” I just wanted to confirm a few things with him so I could include her in the issue and he was kind enough to call me.

The best part about the call – he could hear the cats in the background and told me the kitties took priority and that he would call me back in a few minutes after they were fed! What a sweet and gracious man!

Lesson learned… feeding seven hungry cats ALWAYS takes precedence over everything else!

That’s it – have a peaceful Sunday everyone and a safe and fun Halloween! Oh, and please feel free to share stories in the comments – have any of you or your family been on TV or won weird awards or anything like that?