SEVEN YEARS....

Wow! That just flew by!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE!

(He's the BEST thing that has ever happened to me.)

Being SICK and a Business IDEA!

 I've been sick.

Physically. Achy, tired, dizzy with a sore throat type of thing.
and
Mentally. Because I've seen ugliness.
The last few months have opened my eyes to what is really inside of some people.
Sometimes it was just a difference of opinion and we might have said things that we shouldn't have but we listened to each others point of view, and then agreed to disagree, still be friends and move on.

I find that there are times when you don't always LIKE someone but it doesn't mean you don't still LOVE them .

But when things are said or written that creates a crack and lets you glimpse inside and you are able to see the awful truth, the hate and the ugliness that lives inside their heart.
When that happens it's best to step away before the evilness leaks out and contaminates you.
If it's rotten to the core, that's a waste of time and time is too short to waste energy trying to help and heal.

Maybe I'm a Pollyanna but it still shocks me that people can be so unkind and uncaring and hate-filled.

I'm not just talking politics, although that has definitely shined the light on some people lately.

I'm not just talking about heartless disregard of dogs and cats.
It's just that lately I've encountered so many mean self-centered people who can't figure out why they are so unhappy.

I realize that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
I know that I can be sarcastic and stubborn. Sometimes I'm lazy and whiny. I 'm indecisive on everything and then procrastinate when I do decide on something. I'm outgoing but secretively antisocial ...
a borderline-hermit. I'm judgmental and I have no time or use for anyone that doesn't care about animals and I harbor horrible thoughts about people who abuse them.
But I do believe that I am aware of my bad behavior and try to work on it.
(except for the animal part, that's in my DNA)
So, I'm trying to rid myself of these poison people in my life.
Sometimes it's easy and you're able to just "UN-friend" them.
Other times it's harder and you have to hide in the kitchen until they quit knocking and let the calls go to voice-mail.

Some are impossibly difficult because they are related to someone you care about.
Or worse yet, you work with them and you just nod, walk away and go hold a cat close.

Holding a cat close...

that gave me any idea.
I recently read about "Cat Cafes" in Tokyo.

I thought I could open one here. A place for people to come in for coffee or tea and sit and play with cats.

Maybe it would soften their souls.
Maybe they wouldn't take life so seriously and relax and just be.
I was thinking, what could be better than a a warm kitty purring against your heart?

and if it couldn't change some peoples mindsets, maybe it could be a refuge for others from those people.
But then I started having doubts.
What if the business failed? Where would the cats go?
I would need a bigger house.
My head hurts.
I think I will go not finish something.

AN EXTRA HOUR...

Wow, I needed that!

MELTDOWN

I had a bit of a meltdown last night.

I've had a long week at work and I came home to relax.
I got on Facebook and checked to see what was going on.
Initially I didn't like Facebook but then I discovered friends who Followed artists and I started following them too.
So now I have more friends that I've never met.
I also follow a deaf dog group and it really wasn't a surprise to find that there are many artists actively working with rescues groups.
Although sometimes the frequent postings of sad animal faces get to me.
I don't really know how to get around that one.
I sometimes pass it on when I think I know someone is that vicinity and might be inclined to go rescue them but I hate when they post dreadful things that I have no control over.
I really don't want that image burned into my brain.
Sigh...
I had a bit of headache. I don't usually suffer from those but maybe it was sign. Like when people say their joints ache when it's going to rain.
My dogs had been outside for their nightly run around and were back in.
Some were playing but most napping. I've been taking Blue, Nora and Jimmy with me to work everyday so Blue and Nora were resting from their day outing.
and Jimmy?

I thought he was chewing on his empty plastic 2 liter bottle.
There's a confession for ya. I still drink Diet Pop....and I have empty bottle laying around the house that the dogs chew on (until they are destroyed and then get tossed into the recycle bin).
Cheap toys.
and Jimmy Chew likes to live up to his name.
So I'm on Facebook and he is laying on his bed next to me chomping away when I look down.
Have you ever been so upset that you thought your head would explode?

In my effort to live in a more streamline minimal decor, I had been going through drawers and things, throwing away and donating STUFF. I had read somewhere not to hide away things you love but have them out where you can see them and look at them daily and appreciate them.
I'm not huge on knick knacky things...my cats cured me of that long ago, but the artwork on my walls and the things I have set around the house are treasures that I have found at estate sales or are a few prints off of Etsy or eBay but mostly they are gifts from friends and family...and those things are priceless.
So I had my beautiful not replaceable piece of art way up on a cabinet for me to see and smile at everyday. I loved it so much, not just because of the sheer beauty of it but because of the thought and friendship behind it.
and there was Jimmy, laying on his bed. chewing pieces of it.
I was shaking with fury.
Sobbing.
My house is littered with little rope toys and a big collection of stuffed toys carefully picked out from yard sales.
(baby toys with sewn eyes and noses. no plastic bits and pieces for my furry kids!)
and he had apparently jumped up on the kitchen chair and gotten to the cabinet and dragged down my treasured gift.
My head was about to split open and I grabbed his collar and dragged him to the laundry room and put him in a dog crate.

I did it for his own safety, from me.
I went back and sat down crying.
I was still on Facebook and typed out words.
My oldest niece was on-line and immediately text me and asked what it was.
(which I will never divulge because I don't ever want my friend to know)
I told her, and she said that was what she feared. She knew how I felt about a couple of things especially.
I must say that I immediately got some supportive comments and while I didn't really feel better, they were nice to read.
Of course, some people sided with Jimmy and pleaded for me to let him out of the crate.

People who don't really know me because by the time I got those comments he was already out, had his dinner and was happily tormenting Griffin, my senile old dog.
I did get a text from my sister, whom my niece had obviously contacted.
She sent her sympathies.
I tried to read my fav blogs but my head hurt so bad...from the headache and the crying, that I decided to just go to bed.
So....
what to do.
I guess put things even higher.
Or back in a drawer.
and embrace the minimalist modern style of decor.
and.... maybe Facebook isn't so bad.

TRICK or TREAT

Every year my sister and I "treat" each other.
Or maybe a "trick".
Last year I left CLOWNS in her flowers and on her front steps.

She left me a scary armless baby, standing at my door in the dark.

This year I received a very cool framed picture of a black cat laying on a ledge with the moon in the background, watching a mouse on a wire.

My niece left a book about PYEWACKET in my mailbox.
So I left my sister a gift in the front seat of her car

a black cat that I made, holding flowers.

I hope she likes it.
She works third shift at the hospital tonight.
I feel bad for her, having to leave on Halloween night and driving all that way by herself.
So I decided to give her some company.
I left these guys in the backseat of her car.

Little 88 cent baby dolls from Goodwill. (I repainted their faces.)
I wish I could see her face when she looks in the rearview mirror.

A Halloween Reminder...

TO ALL OF THOSE IN THE PATH OF FRANKENSTORM

KEEP WARM and DRY and PLEASE BE SAFE.

 You are in my THOUGHTS and PRAYERS.