FOCUS on What's IMPORTANT

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted.
It's the New Year and almost a month is gone.
I've been struggling with some things.
I really think I'm one of those people who needs sunshine in order to remain positive.
I've been trying to remember to put it out there into THE UNIVERSE
and while it seems so easy to do, it's not always for me.
I forget.
So, I'm writing this to remind myself and others that our thoughts
can really have an effect on our lives.

I HAVE been thinking POSITIVE about my Blue.
He's been calm and so far, so good.
That's my focus... on him doing good each day.

Then there's Katy.
Her previous mom calls weekly.
I kinda wish she'd stop but I don't have the heart to tell her to do so.
In our last conversation, I was sick and tired, seems like I'm always sick and tired lately BUT
I told her that while Katy WAS using the potty pads as I had told her before,
she was also using a spot under the kitchen table and close to the hutch.
AND another spot in the living room by the bookcase.
Since Katy is teeny tiny,  it's just a small little circle.
Still, it's PEE and I told her previous mom that she was now wearing a doggie diaper.
(and I left out the part where I had bought some special cleaner for dog urine.)

Her "previous mom" instantly told me how she had been so surprised when I had told her how Katy used the potty pads and didn't pee in the house because Katy had peed in HER house!...............
.........................................................

yeah.

Then she offered to take her back.
She said that she missed her
and that it wasn't that she WANTED her back but
she felt bad about her peeing in my house.
I told her to let me think about it, that I'd let her know.
She said for me to not feel bad if I wanted to give her back
and the cash she had gifted to me, that I could keep that, not to worry.
I was again caught off guard and said I'd think about it and let her know.

So I thought about it and I cleaned the areas and then I had an idea.
I have a lot of doggy beds and I put a small one on each of the "spots".
I watched Katy walk up to them and look at them and then she'd crawl into them and go to sleep.
So far, that's worked.
But to be honest, her favorite spot is Blue's bed and then this happened -

Yeah, I can't give her back.

I posted this photo on Instagram.
I'm on Instagram a lot.
I highly recommend it.
Many of my Blogger friends who have quit blogging, post over there now.
I also posted ALL my dog/cat photos that I'm working on.
If you aren't familiar with Instagram, people will "LIKE" your photos.
AND of ALL my photos the one of Blue and Katy has gotten the most likes!
LOL!

So anyway, that's some of the things going on.
There's been some work things too.
Things I thought had been resolved but I'm still working on.
Let's just say, good help is hard to find.

And other annoying little crap that is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things
but has the capacity to drive a person insane.
House stuff.
Things wearing out and needing repairs and me trying to figure out how to do them.
I know everyone deals with this kind of stuff but it gets exhausting dealing with it on my own.
Whine, whine, whine.
But I'm grateful that I have a home and that I have access to the Internet and YouTube.
I swear there's a video about EVERYTHING on Youtube.
Still, when you have to go to the Hardware Store for the same damn issue 3 times,
it gets tiring.
Yep, I need some cheese for all this whining!

OK, so...
Art related...
The place where I had my Art before and now will take my stuff on a commissioned basis,
is excited about my new stuff.
(I sent her a message and a link to my Instagram.)
I'm also doing the same ones for the clinic and I actually got my business cards made.
I'm currently working on larger prints with quotes.
So I'll do those up and put them at the clinic and then... forget about them.
Just replenish as needed.

Soon I will start on my dog/cat/horse stuffed animals
and I'll work on my house that seems to have decided to fall apart all at once.
AND in my lunacy, I'm going to work on packaging my Catmint that I have.
I'm thinking I can sell that at the clinic.

And maybe put it in an Etsy shop along with other cat related stuff.... maybe.

A Blogger friend sent me an email a while back about my passion, my purpose in life.
She didn't think my Art was my REAL passion but rather my taking in needy animals.
Rescuing.
She said something along the lines of how THAT was my purpose and
how everything else is extra.
I've thought about this for a long time.
How all my Art is animal related.
How the stuffed animals I want to make, how they will be made to look like little rescues.
How the books I want to write, about Kanga, and Jimmy and of course Blue,
are all about animals that someone at some point didn't want and how they are PERFECT.

Yep. I've been thinking a lot about just enjoying life
and not to stress so much and to stop being sick all the time.
(I'm sick again as I write this!)
Yep. Lots of thoughts.
Just trying to get my head on straight and keep it that way
and just dealing with life.

So... How has your first month gone?
How are YOU doing?
I know we need to have faith and focus on the GOOD and focus it into being.
I'm trying to do that with my small little life.
Focus on the things I can control and not let what I can't control overwhelm me.

and I'll just keep trying to be true to Myself and do what I feel I need to do.
Even if others don't understand.

ALMOST THE TRUTH.

I have this thing about lying.
I hate it and I'm not very good at it.
But... I guess I'm admitting that I do lie!
Sort of.
LOL!

But my lies are usually half-truths.
Things like when the cashier is checking out my items
and I have cat related things and she asks -
"Oh! How many cats do you have?"
and I reply - "Two".
Now that's true.
I mean I do have two cats.
She didn't ask me "How many cats do you have in total?"

Or I don't share information
and that feels like a lie.
If I acquire a dog or cat and don't tell me sister
or blog about it.... it feels like a lie to me.

But I don't HAVE to share EVERYTHING right?!?!?
and I usually fess-up at some point.
I'll write a blog post about whoever and hope that no one notices that
they suddenly popped up in my home.
And my sister,
she's pretty used to it.
She'll come over and as the little ones walk around she might look down and say
"Who's THAT?"
and THEN I tell her.
She knows it's useless to make any critical remarks to me.
I get very defensive and sometimes I'll start listing off all the animals I've said NO to.
Here are two just in the last few weeks!
I just said no to this big guy but happily the owner is going to keep him -

I found a home for this little one year old terrier that was brought in,
she was really hard to resist too
because she reminded me of my Jimmy Chew
but now she's in a home with a little girl -

Or... I'll get angry and hurt and sometimes I will point out who all that I've lost.
But lately my sister has no room to talk.
When her own dog had puppies, they ended up keeping TWO
and both she and her hubs has each rescued a cat.
(I'm going to write a post about one of those cats soon!)

Anyway there's a definite stigma to people with numerous pets.
It conjures up images of hoarding situations I guess and
that's rather insulting to those of us who strive to make it as nice as possible for them.
In my line of work, most the people I work have many.
One of them has a raccoon and her home is spotless! (There's another post! LOL!)

My employee that I've written about, the one that I call a Mini-Me
is forever rescuing some ancient dog or calling me to help.
(and THAT'S ANOTHER POST.)
But we talk about how we pride ourselves in making our homes as pet friendly and yet stylish as possible. (THERE"S another post!)
How almost every purchase we make, has them in mind, whether it's a new sofa or flooring.
We both hardly ever buy anything for ourselves but think nothing of getting something for our pets.
And we talk about how we can never quit our jobs because we get discounts on pet care.

So the other day we were talking on Facebook about dogs
during the Thanksgiving Dog Show on TV.
We were talking about the different breeds and she got on the topic of how she has these little dogs that people have given her but the ONE dog she really really wanted she couldn't have.
It was a little dog who had boarded with us and she fell in love with him on the spot.
It was a little Border Terrier.
She said they would never want to give up that little dog but she was madly in love with him.

I told her to visualize it and it mostly likely would happen!
I told her I was VERY careful about thinking about any pet and then saying it out loud.
I said both my Poppy and my Ping were boarding dogs.
Both had owners that would bring in lots of supplies and fancy beds and special food
and have them groomed on a regular schedule and appeared to adore them.
People who I never ever would think that they'd give up their pets.
Both are perfect little dogs so why would anyone give them up?
And to be honest, both of them were always my favorites.
Then one day Poppy's owners called me out of the blue and asked me if I'd take her.

And then a year later, I had Ping's owners return from vacation and asked me if I would just keep her!
I was in total shock but I did!
So I told my worker, Mini-Me to just think about that little dog and maybe it would happen.

So I went to work the next day, Friday
and it was very busy.
The kennel was packed because of the holiday.
Among my boarders was a little 14 year old Chihuahua that I've taken care of for years.
She used to have a "brother", a little Yorkie that boarded with her,
but that little dog had passed last year.
Her owner is a wonderful older woman whom I'm very fond of.
She shared a lot of things with me when we first met years ago.
She went through a bad divorce and had to move away and had finally came back to the area
and that's when I started taking care of her dogs.
I took care of them all the time.

Then she remarried a couple of years ago and they moved an hour away.
She had called me to ask if I would be mad if they found a vet in their new town.
I encouraged her to!
I said she needed someone close in case of an emergency.
She said they would still drive in to board her little dogs with me.

So she brought in her little Chihuahua Katy and told me how happy she was to see me.
It had been a while.
She said she'd call and check on her little one while she was gone.
She was afraid of how Katy would adjust to boarding without the other dog
as she was always the timid one.

So we put her little carrier in the run, so that she could sleep in there
and have a safe place.
My workers said that she was timid coming out
and one of them had to take the top of the carrier to get her out.

When I would come in to work though, she would get up and tiptoe out her carrier
and her little tail would wag.
So Friday I came in and she tottled out and sat the front of her run.
I picked her up and took her out to the play yard.
The other dogs had already been out and it was just me and her.
I held her tiny body against my chest and looked down at her little face.
I told her "You are such a brave girl! Yes you are! You are SO brave!"
Then I set her down in the yard and she found her "spot" to  potty and looked at me.
"Good job Katy!" I said to her
and her little bottom wiggled and she hurried back to me.
I picked her up and held her to my cheek and I said,
"Oh ! I could just take you home!"
Yep, I said it out loud.
I know I was tempting fate. that it was wrong of me to let The Universe hear me
but I know her mom and how much she loves her.

So I took her inside and fluffed her bed
and kissed the top of her head and put her back in her run.
She was the last one that needed to be let out
so I walked to my office area.

The phone was ringing and I picked it up.
It was Katy's mom.
I flopped down in my chair and was smiling as she asked about her little one.
I laughed and told her I had just been outside with her!
I told her how I told Katy how brave she was! and her mom was surprised to hear how she came and sat at the front of the kennel run.
I gushed how good and sweet she was and I told her that I hoped she didn't mind but I told Katy that I could just take her home, that she was THAT good!
I told her not to worry, that she was doing really well.
I said she was eating and didn't seem stressed.
That's when she started crying.

She was crying really hard and at first I couldn't completely make out all her words
but then she was telling me that she wasn't well.
She was saying she had heart problems.
Problems like what Florence Henderson had just died from.
She was sobbing and was saying lots of things
and she said that every single day she worried about if something happened to her,
what would happen to Katy?
She said her husband was a nice man but not a dog person
and that if something were to happen to her, she feared that he'd just take Katy to a shelter
or.....
She was crying and saying things that had me cry too.
I grabbed my kleenex box and wiped my face as she went on
and then she said "Would you take Katy?"
I answered that of course I would, that if she needed a home that I would definitely take her.
Not to worry about it anymore, that she could have a home with me.

She suddenly was overjoyed and told me how much peace that brought her, knowing that.
She said she knew how much I had always cared for Katy.
Then she said she preferred not to see her again.
I stammered a bit, I think and said, "You mean Now?"
"Yes!"  she was adamant. Yes, she wanted me to take her NOW and
that she just felt it would be easier not to see her again.
I was really crying then and
I asked if she maybe wanted to think about it but she said she was sure and
they'd be in the next day to pay the bill and bring me her things.

So.................
Katy's owner came in on Saturday.
Her husband went up and paid the bill and then carried in all of Katy's belongings.
While he was doing that, Katy's mom handed me an envelope.
It had her phone number on it and some cash in it.
That's a first for me!
No one has ever given me money when giving me their dog!
I started to  decline it but she interrupted and said not to be rude but she knew I worked hard
and... They had money.
So I said ok and after they left, I made a payment to my bill at work.
LOL!

I took Katy home and everyone smelled her.
I held her as Blue smelled her butt and then he walked away.
She just walked around the house with everyone following.
She tried a bark with a jump at Charlie my cat but he just looked at her

and if a cat could roll his eyes, he did.

It's weird but she's not scared at all.
She follows me around everywhere and no one cares except Ping.
Ping wants to be with me all the time and always on my lap
and I made her take turns with Katy.

Katy's walked close to Blue many times and I hold my breath but
he just looks at her and then goes back to sleep.
It's all very weird.
It's like she just clicked into place.

Last night I woke up to go to the bathroom and Katy stirred from her little kennel
so I took her out and let her sleep with us.

She went right to sleep and didn't wake up and want out until the morning.
I have dog beds scattered about the house and she likes sleeping in the kitchen as I'm at the computer.

Later I looked over and cranky fussy Button was snuggled in the bed with her.
Button hates everyone.

I don't really know what's going on here but when her mom called this morning and
I filled her in on how she was doing, she couldn't have been happier.
But I kinda lied when she asked how many dogs I had
and what breeds.
I told her about Ping and Poppy and the cats
and left it at that.
I don't think she'd have understood and she sounded so relieved on the phone,
I didn't want to ruin that for her.
She said a huge weight had been lifted off of her.

So, Katy is here to stay I guess.
She's 14 and will be 15 in March but appears to be in good health.
Yep.... so there ya go,
I hesitated writing about this but then I read Tammy's comment on Kim's blog
HERE
and that made me want to share.
Seemed like I should or I'd be in some way lying........

Stay tuned for more "not lies".