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.

TOPICS

I've talked about changing around my blog.
I want to zero in on some specific topics.
Things that are on my mind most of the time.
So... what would that be?
What do I think about first?
Food.
I wake up and as I lay there I think,
"What am I going to have for breakfast?"
I LOVE breakfast food.

There was a time in my life when I didn't even eat breakfast.
I was thin then.
I've heard the research on the News and such.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
If you eat breakfast, you tend to be thinner.
It's like filling your tank with gas and gets you going.
You can't function on an empty tummy.
Blah, blah, blah.
I'm so sick of surveys and being told what works best.
I grew up with the food pyramid that turned out to be a big lie.
I now believe nothing.
I used to have a cup of hot tea and I was good to go.
I could go until lunchtime before I was hungry
and now I'm hungry a couple of hours after breakfast.
So... I'm gonna talk about THAT.
Not healthy recipes or anything like that.
That would be crazy! To think I might start "cooking".
But yep, I'm gonna share thoughts about quick and easy,
not expensive but maybe not healthy...
Anyway, yeah. I will talk about food from time to time.

So after I sit up I think about my pets.

(my toy poodle Ping Pong)

I think of them because I have to get them outside to potty.
I think about them as I clean up after them
and as I get them fed and ready for their day while I'm gone at work.
Or if I have the day off, I have them around me
playing and cuddling and being adorable.

(my cats Ghost, Harry and Charlie)

So, as ALWAYS I will be talking about MY pets,
Other peoples pets, rescues and such.
Pets all the time!

Which segues into my home.

and talking about my house and making it pet friendly
and keeping it clean
and the struggle.

Which rolls into my actual house
my location,
my sometimes desires to move
and my desire to stay put
and all that it entails.

And working on the house I have.
(ok, THIS is NOT my house but it kinda reminds me of it, or the feeling about it...)

(source)

Not the typical blog type of stuff with amazing makeovers.
Nope, this will be about fixing stuff myself.
No handy man or husband involved
No big dollars spent.
I think it's wonderful if someone has someone else to cut a board for them
or lug an appliance and I'm not jealous but I am envious.

I'll talk about my job, my work that gives me a paycheck
and my safety-net and what enables me to care for my pets properly.

I'll talk about my Art

and what I want to create and what I AM creating.
I'll share ideas and what inspires me.
I'll talk about the struggle of creating what you think might sell
versus just creating what you want to create and the struggles of that
and how, for me anyway, it leads to procrastination and sucks the joy out it.
and
I'll talk about artists that I love.

I'll also talk about how to save money on some things.
What works for me anyway.
How bargains aren't always bargains.
I'll also write about things I've found that I love and think they deserve a great review.

I'll talk about NOT minimalism
Which I thought I wanted to achieve and now realize it will never be for me
but rather, I just want the "EXTRA" stuff gone.
No excessive clutter but not spare and sparse.

I'll talk about getting older.

The shock that only your body is old but it has nothing to do with your soul.
Yeah, I'll talk about not thinking "young",
because I was really clueless when I was young
but rather I'll talk about thinking positive
and being happy and not thinking OLD.

And I'll talk about retirement.

Not how to invest or anything like that.
Lord knows I know nothing about THAT.
There are a lot of books out there about investing and etc.
No, I'll talk about different ideas,
things I will probably NEVER do but might sound great to someone else.
Just doing whatever makes YOU happy!

I'm probably forgetting some important topic
but that's what I've got for now!

Yep, and with all this talk about TOPICS,
I hope people feel free to jump in and leave comments
and share their thoughts and ideas too!

LAST NIGHT -

This morning -

(My apple tree)

The back yard dog area -

Blue clearing a path for Ping -

And then Blue hurried back to the door, leaving Ping by herself!

But Ping didn't dilly dally.

She was quickly behind him, running to get back inside.

None of us are too happy about this latest development.

Sunday photo

Another post from my phone!

Still at work, it's a full house here.

I got the radio turned up and the fans on high to block out the fireworks that are going off all weekend. 

Seems to have worked as everyone appears calm and relaxed.

(Except for the ones that are always hyper.)

If I have to work this weekend, at least I'm with dogs!

I'll leave you with a photo of Gracie the Golden Retriever that I took out in the play yard.

Hope you are all enjoying the 4th of July weekend!

Xoxo

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN?!

I was so looking forward to this extra hour.

Daylight Savings Time, Wahoo!

How could I have forgotten that last year it took the dogs a few WEEKS to get into the time change groove.

At 4:30 AM this morning I could hear Blue pacing.

His nails clicking on the wood floor.

I felt, rather than saw him come to the side of the bed and stare at my face.

I couldn't open my eyes, if I did that, game over.

If he knew I was awake he'd gallop for the door and wake them all up.

So kept my eyes closed and tried to will both myself and him back to sleep 

but then he hit the door a couple of times with his paw.

Maybe he's got an upset tummy, I thought. 

Last night he vomited up his dinner but he seemed fine later..but maybe he was sick again.

Great Dane vomit. or worse yet, Great Dane poop would not be something I'd want to be cleaning up.

Especially at 4:30 in the morning.

So I sat up and everyone started barking in excitement.

Downstairs they ran and I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to bed.

Once I'm up, I'm up and besides it was actually 5:30 if not for the time change.

After everyone had pottied, they ran around the living room knocking down pillows and being rowdy.

I made some coffee and sat down to the computer.

A little bit later I look over and there they were....

Lazy bones!

I made some breakfast and answered early morning texts from other people who know I'd be up

and I cruised around on some new blogs.

The sun is coming in now and Charlie wants out on the porch that is crammed full of all the garden things that I dragged in from the yard.

That's my project for today.

To clear out the porch and to rearrange my furniture again.

I have so many plants that I've brought in from the cold and I need a place to put them until Spring.

When this chore is done I'm usually happy because my tiny space looks like a greenhouse

but placement is crucial so that the cats don't feast on them

or the dogs try to dig in the dirt.

Yep, that's how I'm spending this day.

And I have some wicked satisfaction of sweet revenge because Charlie keeps hitting the doorknob

in his effort to get out to the porch.

The sound of it is like someone trying to get inside

and it wakes the dogs!

Ha!

MINIMALISM and ALL that STUFF and HAPPINESS

...thinking a lot.

cleaning, sorting and rediscovering "treasures".
I've been reading a lot about happiness
and how clearing the clutter, minimalism, simplicity....
can make you happy.
I've decided that while it could indeed make some people happy, it's not for me.
I had an Ah-Ha moment.
It's a very cool rainy October day today and while going through some boxes of things and also thinking about all that I've read, it dawned on me that I used to live a totally minimal life.

Very simple. One room, with a Murphy bed that pulled down out of the wall, a tiny 2 burner stove and a mini fridge.

(I've written about this place before, in fact I think it's one of my most favorite posts.
http://oldblackcatboo.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-lived-in-this-house-and-halloween.html
anyway...)
at the time, even though I didn't count my clothing, I know I had LESS than 33 items at the time.
So much for the 333 project.
and I was very SAD and miserable.

Now, some people might have been in paradise, knowing that they could pack up all their STUFF in a bag within minutes and be on their way to adventure.
But I didn't feel like that. I feel alone and ungrounded.
Just twisting in the wind.
Of course back then, there was no Internet.
No links to all the great ideas and images.
No way to type out and share my thoughts and feelings without leaving my room.
and of course. I wasn't allowed to have a dog.
Actually I wasn't allowed any pets at all but I smuggled in a cat.
Just me and my cat...

and now today as I find things that I forgotten I had, I feel happy and motivated.
I have new ideas about things to create.
Which is probably why I accumulated these things in the first place.
Now, I'm not saying that I haven't held up some items and turned it over and over and thought "WTH?"
and then tossed it.
I've have cleaned out my china hutch in the kitchen, next to the table that I paint at and filled it with bins of paint and jars of paintbrushes. On top of the hutch are my decorative shoes boxes filled with papers. pens. pencils, shiny things.
Above my white kitchen cabinets, I have white shoe boxes with others supplies. (dog brushes, heart-worm pills, etc.)
All very neat and tidy...
Yep.
I'm keeping what I need and really want. I just probably have more STUFF that I NEED than most people.
Kinda like my pets.
Yes, I have more than most people but THEY make me happy.
To some people, they would seem like a lot of work but they give me a purpose.
Some people like to manicure theirs nails while watching TV, I trim dog/cat nails.
While some people like to go window shopping, I'm home bathing my dogs.
Some people go to sports events, I throw a ball or Frisbee.
I know there are people who feel like just ONE dog is overwhelming.
I know that TOO well because that IS why I have some of my dogs.
So, I'm organizing and cleaning
and vacuuming up pet hair but basically I'm a lot Happier and I NEED to remember this day,
even if it means that I sometimes I feel like an indentured servant to the clinic I work at.
and Yes, I do have a BIG vet bill that seems to almost get paid and then something happens to pump it back up.
But at least I have that safety net.
Lots of reflection today.
But in a good way,

to realize, that I AM happy.