Chuckles and Chortles

Happy Monday, everyone! What is going on with you? Not much to share from our end. We had a relatively quiet weekend. Saturday night we watched the movie "First They Killed My Father", an adaptation of the memoir by Loung Ung, which recounts the author's horrifying childhood experiences under the ruthless Khmer Rouge regime in her native Cambodia. You witness atrocities through the eyes of a five year old during this genocide and it leaves you shaken. It is not an easy film to watch but then it shouldn't be. Have you seen it? What did you think?

On a happier note, we may have fi-na-lly settled on a name for our new kitty. We're giving it a few days to see if it sticks, and if it does, I'll share it with all of you.

Now let's get to the funny stuff, which is what you're really here for!

Have a great day!

This Week

It’s been a very peaceful week. This is what happens when you stay away from negative news. I’ve been focusing on being mindful of the present moment and staying positive. I’d rather be watching funny cat videos than ones about people, particularly politicians, behaving badly. And some of them behave very badly. Aren’t they supposed to be working for the people instead of their own self interests? When did that become the norm? Such arrogance. Such greed. Bleh...I’m tired of it all.

You know what else I’m tired of? Winter. Bleh to that, too. Snow and cold. That’s what January has been all about. And the past few days have also included ice. Earlier this week the temperature rose and some snow melted leaving puddles of water everywhere. And then BAM it got really cold and those puddles froze making it hard to drive and even harder to walk. The sidewalks are an icy mess. Spriiiiiing...hurry up and get here!

Speaking of cats, today we head over to the local humane society to officially adopt the kitten that has been bouncing around our house. Yup, she hasn’t been entirely ours all this time; we’ve actually been fostering her. This was not our decision but the shelter’s. Without going into a lengthy and boring explanation, let’s just say that the shelter wanted to remain responsible for the kitten, particularly medically, for a couple of weeks after she got spayed. Kitten (we still haven’t named her!) is doing great and very soon she'll be a permanent member of our household.

This little miss is very comfortable around here.

I’m drawing less than I’d like to but that can’t be helped. There are other things taking up my time right now and that’s okay. It’ll all balance out eventually. But here are some (old and new) attempts:

Have you ever had a conversation with someone that begins to speak immediately after you’ve stopped or someone who keeps interrupting? That can be quite frustrating. When someone does this they haven’t heard a word you’ve said, they’ve been too busy thinking about what they want to say instead. It’s not easy to refrain from jumping in, especially when emotions get the best of us, but communication is so much better when we make an effort to remain silent and just listen.

That’s the lesson for the day. You’re welcome!

And make sure to have a wonderful weekend.

Question Of The Day

I'd be off to Saturn, the "Jewel of the Solar System" with its beautiful rings. It is such a cool planet.

How about you?

Chuckles and Chortles

So here we are again, blogging pals, with a new week ahead of us. How was your weekend? Did you do anything special? Go anywhere? Have fun? Read anything interesting? Relax? Share below in the comments. I'd love to hear all about it!

We had a quiet weekend. Well, that's not exactly true. A young cat in the house adds a certain level of energy. And craziness. But that's okay. We can take it. Other than feline insanity, it was peaceful. We got out a little bit but mostly stayed indoors. Sometimes you just don't feel like going anywhere or doing anything.

Shall we get to the funny stuff. Let's do it.

A super day to all!

This Week

This week has been defined by change and new beginnings. A new, young cat in the house has added energy and joy into our lives. She was spayed before we picked her up, so we don’t have to worry about that, and she is healing beautifully from her surgery. Last night we even removed her cone of shame and she’s been bouncing around the house ever since. The local humane society does not adopt out animals until they are fixed; they take care of it themselves. This eliminates the problem of people shunning this responsibility, and then dumping neglected abused and unwanted puppies and kittens at an already overwhelmed animal shelter.

As for our other cat, Mocha, who is gentle, shy, passive and hates drama and confrontations, she has handled this intrusion as we expected. The first day she hid behind our bed to assess the level of danger. On the second day and every day after that, she’s been more and more curious, and more and more confident. She has growled and hissed a few times, but that’s about it. The kitten has handled herself remarkably well; she’s been confident and calm and fearless, and at the same time shown respect to the older cat. She seems socially intelligent and remarkably intuitive. This does not surprise us knowing her history. She was surrendered from a home full of cats and we’re guessing she learned from day one how to maneuver around a minefield of feline personalities and carve out a safe space for herself. So things have gone extremely well from the start.

With everything that’s gone on lately, it’s been very hard to concentrate or find time for the things I enjoy, like drawing. I’ve squeezed in some easy and quick sketches, and I hope to pick up the pace at some point. Here are a few attempts:

2018 started off roughly but I won’t let that define the entire year. And although I don’t make resolutions, I do think about what I’d like to concentrate on for the next few months. Fun, exploration, reconnection to the earth, and emotional, mental and spiritual wellness are some of the things I will focus on. I’ve been keeping a journal, meditating on the messages from my oracle cards and concentrating on mindfulness and gratefulness. It’s not always easy to be balanced when you’re constantly bombarded by negativity around you from many different sources but I’m making a daily effort. Life is much too short. Why not spend it being happy?

And that’s it for this week. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Here Kitty, Kitty...

The most amazing man in the world suggested a few days ago that we drop into the local humane society and check out what's going on there. Just to look. Nothing more. Just look. And...maybe...if a connection was made...we'd consider...possibly...adopting. Or not. No pressure.

With wounds still somewhat raw from putting our beloved cat Nacho down recently, it was a tough thing to so. But we had room in our home and - most importantly - room in our hearts to rescue another cat and offer it the love and care it deserves. So we went.

And then this happened:

This little lady, this adorable calico, stole our hearts. Playful, sociable, affectionate, vocal...how could we resist? She chose us and there was no turning back. We couldn't take her home right away because she wasn't spayed yet. She was sent for surgery the next day and we were able to go get her the day after that.

We have not named this 6-month-old sweetie yet. We're working on it. And we're also working on teaching her the rules of the house and keeping up with her. It's been a long time since we had a young cat in the house and we've forgotten just how energetic, mischievous and rambunctious they can be. But we are loving every minute of it!

If you have any name suggestions, please share them below.

Question Of The Day

I'd choose Angelina Jolie. I find her fascinating. And if she wasn't available, I wouldn't mind spending the day with Tom Hanks. He's probably a lot of fun to be around.

How about you?

Look What We Found

More info later this week...

(Cone of shame included.)

Chuckles and Chortles

Happy Monday blogging pals. How was your weekend? Need any snow? Cold? We've got plenty of both. Just send me your address and I'd be happy to ship some of each out to you. What's your weather like these days? Ours is awful. And except for a quick walk over to a local coffee shop yesterday evening because you start to lose your mind being indoors for too long, we spent the weekend hiding in our home. Saturday we had a snowstorm and yesterday it was frostbite weather. Spring won't come too soon for me. What about you?

While you think about that, I'll share these funny images to make you smile.

Have a good one!

This Week

It’s been quite a rollercoaster of emotions this week. Thankfully, the painful ones we experienced shortly after Nacho’s death have begun to soften. Yesterday we smiled as we shared memories of when we first brought her home at the age of four months and laughed out loud at some of her funny antics over the years. We will always miss her, of course, but at least we’ve stopped being blubbering messes throughout the day. And stopped going through box after box of Kleenex.

You know what we finally did? We joined Netflix at the beginning of the month. I think we are the only ones from almost everyone I know who took this long to sign up. Now I wonder why we hesitated. So. Many. Options. And so much catching up to do. I’m especially loving being able to select a movie at the click of a button. We recently watched “Hidden Figures”. Such a great film. Such incredible women. Have you seen the film? What did you think about it? All that racism and sexism was really frustrating.

I am enjoying my spiritual journey. I’m reading and learning about tarot cards, so I haven’t used my new deck yet since I’m not quite ready. There is no need to rush. But the oracle cards have been a daily meditation that has not only been inspiring but also very helpful. I’ve picked up two sets and there are a few others I’d like to get. YouTube videos have been especially helpful in getting a glimpse at cards to help with the decision. They’re also the reason my Amazon wish list keeps growing. Do you use oracle or tarot cards? Do you have any favourites? Oh, and another thing I want to treat myself to in the near future is a chakra bracelet. They are really beautiful.

Drawings. I have some to share. None of them were done this week but that doesn’t really matter, does it? Of course not. Here they are:

And my first attempt at Simon’s cat:

This week also included a few days off the internet, which was a great contributor to the healing process. You know what else was great about being off the internet? Being totally disconnected. Not having a single clue about what was going on in the world, and especially not being constantly bombarded by news about the same annoying people (I won’t name names or point fingers no matter how tempting) and all the ridiculous things they say, was wonderful.

And that’s it for this week. It’s been a tough one, for sure, but things are getting better. One day at a time.

A happy weekend to all!

Back Online

So.

We lost our internet connection on Saturday and it didn’t get repaired until yesterday around noon. I thought I’d be annoyed that I couldn’t get online but I was actually relieved. Being disconnected for a few days was exactly what I didn’t know I needed. I took that time to focus on the grief I was experiencing over the death of our black cat and so did the most amazing man in the world. Neither he nor I had ever put a pet to sleep before our sweet Nacho and it was a horrible experience. I always knew it would be difficult but I underestimated just how much. I don’t imagine it ever gets easier.

The grief was bad enough but the guilt and doubt that followed was agonizing. Did we do the right thing? Did we make the best decision for this little soul that trusted us to take good care of her? What would she have wanted? These questions and more plagued us. By Monday I was angry. Nacho was only 8 and it was completely unfair. I spent the day cleaning and packing up books, clothes and other items for donation to keep from thinking. By evening I was exhausted and some of the negative energy had dissipated.

Yesterday morning I was feeling depleted and slightly agitated. In my journal I asked the question “How do I get rid of the negative energy that is overwhelming me?” and then pulled the card ‘Spirit of Healing’ from ‘The Sharman’s Oracle’. I couldn’t have chosen better. Concentrating on that for a while, I began to feel a little more peaceful. And ever so slightly, I opened the door to the journey of healing.

Even though we got our internet connection back around noon yesterday, I decided to stay offline and work on building positive energy. This morning I woke up much more balanced, and having only one cat instead of two greet me as I got out of bed didn’t hurt as much as the day before.

It is amazing how much space these little fur balls take up in our heart, isn’t it?

Thank you all for your kindness and support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and just how helpful it's been.

This Week

Thank you all for your support yesterday. Never in a million years would we have guessed that we would have needed to make the difficult decision to euthanize Nacho on yesterday morning’s visit to the vet. We could have taken her home for a little while longer but she would have continued to decline and her suffering would have increased. Worse, it’s possible she could have gone into respiratory failure and suffocated. We decided the kinder and more compassionate thing to do was to let her go now. We are completely heartbroken at losing her but knowing that she died peacefully and painlessly is giving us some comfort.

With swollen eyes, a chapped nose and puffy face, I decided to return to the blogging world last night, read your comments and visit some blogs. This normalcy brings me comfort.


As for the rest of the week...

We spent Thursday in Montreal. Our first stop was at a bookstore where I picked up my first ever tarot deck, which was added to the two oracle decks I also picked up this week and to the journal I’ve started where I’m recording daily thoughts, questions and observations. My (second in my life) spiritual journey is in full force. More on that at a later date. And...I almost picked up a spell casting book that the most amazing man in the world pointed out. How can you not love a man who thinks this is a good fit for you?

After the bookstore, we paid a quick visit to my father-in-law followed by a quick visit to my mother in law, although hers was a bit longer and included pizza (for us) and chicken wings, fries and gravy (for her). We ate well and left her with a few days worth of leftovers.

We then headed downtown to watch a Genesis tribute band perform at Place des Arts (a beautiful cultural and artistic complex). My husband’s best friend invited us to join him (a buddy of his is in the band) and his girlfriend, and we thought “ah, what the heck, we’ll go”. I regretted it after the third song, which is about how long it took to remind me just how much I could not stand that type of music (the band re-enacted the 1974 ‘The Black Show’). The performance was two hours long with no intermission and there were periods where I felt like I was LOSING MY MIND. The most amazing man in the world felt the same way. To top it all off, we drove home in a minor snowstorm. I had to eat a couple of pieces of the Belgian chocolate my mother-in-law had given me. It was for therapeutic purposes.

I’m not going to share drawings this week because this post is already too long, and I want to share this instead:

These lovely and fun items arrived this week. Blogging friend, Ellen, ran a contest on her site and yours truly won. I now have my very own Grumpy Cat plush! So cute. The book is hilarious and the cards are adorable. And to top it all off, Ellen sent handmade cat nip toys. How sweet is that? And guess who is thrilled about it? The photo tells all:

Our cat, Mocha, has been on a high for a few days. She LOVES catnip. This happiness boost is exactly what she needs now that Nacho is gone. The two were adopted within a few months of each other and got along beautifully. I am brokenhearted for her just as much as I am for us. With so many precious cats stuck in shelters, we will eventually open our hearts to another furry ball of love and she'll make a new friend.

Anyhow, a big thank you to Ellen for her generosity! (Go visit her blog here.) And a heartfelt thank you to all of you for your comforting words and support.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

A Devastating Day

I was going to share another 'This Week' post but the day took a terrible turn.

We just got back from the vet. We had to put our black cat, Nacho, down. Cancer. The prognosis was very poor. At most she may have had another month, maybe a couple of weeks, and she would have gotten worse and suffered.

She had been struggling with breathing. I'd hoped it was asthma but I had a feeling it was something terrible. We had two choices: 1) take her home and bring her back when she was much worse and end her suffering then or 2) spare her any further suffering and let her transition now. We decided it was best to let her pass peacefully before it got really bad.

I was devastated with the news and traumatized by the sudden loss of her. I think it was even harder because she was only 8. She should've had more time.

My heart is in a million pieces. I'll be by to visit you all when I get my emotions under control. I need time to process this.

Rest in peace, precious soul

Question Of The Day

Last year was defined by change and hard work and tiredness. We spent a good deal of time getting settled and working on making our house a home. It was certainly a productive year but not a very playful one. I have different expectations for 2018. I'd like to build a garden, take road trips, explore our city, volunteer, keep working on my drawing skills and maybe even learn to play the keyboard. I'd also like to meditate on things, explore my spiritual side, release negative energy, connect with the earth, and focus on keeping myself mentally and emotionally healthy. I want this year to include words like calm, balance, connection and exploration. My goals are simple but joyful.

How about you?