My Final Message

Be the miracle in a lonely, abandoned, frightened cat’s life…bring that kitty into your home the way the Guardians did with Otis. Give him all the love that he longed for when he was fending for himself out there in the cruel world. Any pet that you rescue will repay you with unconditional love for the rest of his life.
Do what you can with what you have. Share your life with a furry friend. You’ll never regret it.
This is Otis’s good-bye and call to action for all who have followed his journey…a journey that ended much too soon, but that provided him with the miracle of love.

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The Blog of Otis

My Disciples,

If you are reading this, I have departed. Let us first just acknowledge the weight of that. Our journey together was not nearly as long as I hoped it would be, but please know that it has been an honor to have met so many wonderful people, furred and non-furred, and to have shared the trials and triumphs of My life with you.

I know that during My long convalescence many of you were hoping and praying for a miracle to happen that would save My life, and it may seem like that miracle didn’t happen. But I need you to understand something. That miracle did happen. It did happen, and it did save My life, but it happened at the beginning, not the end.

The miracle that saved My life happened seven years ago when two humans looked out into their yard and saw a desperate, starving…

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It’s a Spooky Halloween

Happy Halloween, everyone.  That’s from all of us here at the zoo…you know, me, Spook, and Scout (or, as she’s affectionately known, the Baby Goat).

Spooky Halloween

 

Spook has a Halloween costume.  She hates it.  And looking at this, you can probably understand why.  Poor kitty forced to wear something so undignified.

 

I’ve never managed to put Scout in any kind of a costume.  She’s much bigger and stronger than Spook and doesn’t hesitate to use her strength to avoid doing anything she doesn’t want to do.  Wearing a costume would be high on that list.  However…

 

part vampire?

 

…like Dracula, she has fangs and isn’t afraid to use them.

Happy Halloween from my little monsters…happy haunting, y’all!

 

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27 Hours and 52 minutes until NaNo time

Nanowrimo logo (Photo credit: wyn ♥ lok)

Of course, that countdown will change often.  With every passing minute.  I haven’t been writing much at all this month.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I’ve been conserving my finger strength.  Or my brain power.  Or maybe I’ve just been lazy and am trying to spin it so I don’t actually look lazy to all of you.  Whatever the reason, I’m excited to get this version of NaNo underway.  The characters are warming up, ready to approach the starting gate and charge out running full-tilt.

For those of you who will be joining me, let’s make sure we get off to a fast start.  It’s so difficult to play catch-up as the month of November winds down.  If you haven’t already become my buddy, don’t hesitate to do so.  I nag extremely well (just ask anyone I work with, they’ll agree).  Anyhow, just drop by and buddy up.

http://nanowrimo.org/participants/pasuki/buddies

November is also my busy time at work…yea for retail!  But I’ve got a plan.  I’m going to get up 30-60 minutes earlier on the days I have to work so I can get some writing in before I head out to my paying gig.  Then I’ll do another round in the evening after I come home.  Clara may not be happy with me, our visits may be a little shorter, but I’ve got some goodies to bribe her with.  She’ll like that.  And I’ve printed out some work sheets to keep her busy.  Tonight we were practicing math skills using M & M’s…if you have four green M & M’s and you eat one, how many do you have left?  Not sure if she likes the learning or the candy.  I’ll have to make time for her, but probably not quite as much as I’ve had lately.  Do you think she’d understand it if I told her I was writing a book?  Probably not…

It’s almost time…ready, set…we’ll get going at midnight November 1st!  Let’s do it!

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In the mood to brood

Depression (Photo credit: GEEKSTATS)

I’ve been feeling, oh I don’t know, not so perky and bright of late.  I’ve been feeling moody, like I’m trying to fight off depression.  I’ve been down that road and I’d just as soon not take it again, thank you very much.  I know battling physical pain every day doesn’t help.  Then add not being able to get enough sleep to the mix and you have a not-so-appealing recipe for broodiness.

I had to go to work today.  I typically like my job, but things are more than a little rough these days.  It seems like there’s a lot of inter-departmental fighting about who isn’t doing what correctly, who is slacking, who is making things difficult for others, etc.  You know, we all go through those periods at any job.  I was off yesterday so when I walked in to the office this morning, I just stood there looking at the mess, asking myself how anyone could possibly work in a pit like this and why I invariably have to clean up after the other managers (all of whom are men, by the way).  Feeling a little put upon, you think?

I already had a lot to do without adding more to my list.  Then I started working on the deposit for the previous day’s sales…oh great!  The office specialist didn’t get enough fives for the holiday weekend after I specifically told her the banks would be closed Monday because of Columbus Day.  As the only manager working, I couldn’t even leave the store to go to the bank.  So I guess we’ll just have to try to make due.

Oh, and then the call-ins started.  That’s my favorite part about working on the weekends, so many people call in.  Of course, you can’t get anyone else to come in and cover on the weekend.  Most of the time, they don’t even answer their phones.  Goody!  Now I’m in a bad mood and running the store short-handed, which seems to be how we operate every single weekend.

As I was looking through the ad signs (we set our ads early Sunday morning), I noticed there were only about half of the signs I needed.  None at all for two entire departments.  Sheesh…seriously?  I got as many printed and ready to put out as I could, but I’m not even close to having them all ready to post.  What do you think that says about how tomorrow will start?

Anyhow, I know dwelling on these kinds of feelings just makes it worse.  I did manage to thank one of the girls who came in (the first opening cashier to show up on my weekend in probably three weekends) despite not feeling well.  And one of my framers told me she could work a little extra since my closing framer called in.  I truly appreciate both of them going the extra mile to help their co-workers.  I also spent some time joking around with the closing manager about work and how it’s making us feel a little (?) down lately.  See, it’s not just me.  But I am attempting the whole attitude of gratitude thing…you just couldn’t tell it by my earlier rantings.

 

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Another cool NaNo perk

Pen and Paper (Photo credit: qisur)

Are you sick of hearing about NaNoWriMo yet?  Well, hold on.  I’ve got something interesting here that might make you perk up your ears.  I was perusing the NaNo site this evening (I know, I lead the most exciting life of anyone you know, right?)  and came across the list of things winners (meaning you complete your 50,000 words in 30 days.  Well, complete it and have it verified.) can walk away with.  Of course, the number one thing all winners receive is immense satisfaction in setting and achieving a goal.  And that’s nice…more than nice.  There’s tremendous satisfaction in a job well done.

But what caught my eye tonight was that all winners can have two copies of their completed book published by CreateSpace…free, just pay shipping.  It used to be five copies, but I’d imagine that becomes a tad expensive for the company giving them away, so two copies it is this year.  I still think that’s a pretty nifty reward.  Being able to hold a copy of your published book in your hands would be quite the thrill, don’t you think?

While reading the forums, I came across a question that does make me think I would want to do some research prior to going that route.  Would having your book printed by CreateSpace have any bearing on having it picked up by a publishing house in the future (whew, sounds like I’ve got big plans for this book, doesn’t it?).  Like I said, I would want to look into all of that before choosing to do it that way.  Luckily, they give you until June, 2014 to redeem your offer.  I would think that would be plenty of time for me to find the answers to any questions I have…oh yeah, and maybe do a little editing…that might come in handy too.

So what do you think?  Anybody have any advice for me about the publishing aspect?  Anybody want me to shut up about NaNo?  If you answered “yes” to that last question, my question to you would be, “Do you really know me?  Do you believe it would be possible for me to remain quiet about something I’m so excited about?”  Maybe you’ll just have to ignore me until the end of November.  I won’t hold it against you, I promise.  Or you could join in the fun and frenzy of NaNoWriMo!  Come on!  You know you want to.

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She’s wearing (gasp) pantyhose?

English: A picture of women’s legs in pantyhose (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 I wrote this post in July of 2011.  It’s the most popular post I’ve ever published, still getting views and  comments more than two years later (must have done something right with the old SEO and I didn’t even know it).  I thought I’d share it again for those of you who weren’t around back then…hey, I understand it’s way too much trouble to scroll back through over 600 posts looking for a gem or two.  Anyhow, I’ve seen other bloggers do this and asked myself, “why not?”.  And if you have time, read through some of the comments…I think some people just didn’t get my wonderfully witty musings…but I’ll take the blame for that, I should have been more straightforward…you know, something like “sarcasm ahead”…I’ll remember that in the future.  So…here’s the original, unaltered post:

Okay, I am most definitely not a fashionista.  I don’t follow the trends.   Very rarely, do I even read about fashion.  I would much rather be comfortable than be some kind of fashion icon (uh, yeah, like there’s a chance that’ll ever happen).  So I was quite shocked to see all the buzz about Kate Middleton (you know, the chick that married her prince) wearing pantyhose.  Apparently, pantyhose had become so last year that people were surprised to see a future princess wearing them.  Really?  So  pantyhose went out of vogue while I had my back turned?  How could I have missed this?

I have to admit, I’m not much of a dress wearer…couldn’t actually tell you the last time I wore a dress.  But if something came up and I was forced to wear a dress (and that would have to be a whole lot of force for that to happen), I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t wear pantyhose.  Have you seen how white my legs are?  (Ha, of course you haven’t.)  That would not be a pretty sight with a dress.  I never liked wearing pantyhose.  They’re a struggle to get on, they’re not especially comfortable, you can ruin them in a split second, and you can spend a lot of money on them if you wear them frequently.  However, pantyhose do make your legs look better (and if you’re one of those girls with naturally tan, toned legs…well, just keep your mouth shut, would you?), and I always thought they kind of added the finishing touch to your dressy dresses.   You might ask how someone who is a self-declared fashion idiot could dare to challenge all of the modern fashion mavens, and you’d be right to do so…what do I know?  But now, there is a future princess taking on the fashion elite, bringing pantyhose back in style.  Wait!  Why should that make me happy?  I hate pantyhose.

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Are landlines obsolete?

old phone (Photo credit: Albert!)

I’ve had a smart phone for a while now.  It’s handy, it’s convenient, it’s fun to be able to check in on what my friends are up to on facebook and twitter.  I’ve even used it to publish posts on my blog.  But I just couldn’t convince myself to cut the cord…the cord to my landline, that is.  I’ve been mulling it over for quite some time.  I’m paying a little over $40 a month for something that I’m using probably less than once a week.  Is it worth it?  As I’m attempting to simplify my life, I’ve found myself questioning how I’m spending my money.  Could I put that $40+ to better use?

I finally made the decision.  I called AT&T today and cancelled my home service.  Very few questions asked.  The representative I spoke with offered a discount of $6 a month, but that didn’t do a lot for me.  We continued the process and my landline will no longer be functional after midnight.  End of story, right?

Well…not quite.  After I hung up, I kept trying to push my feelings aside, trying not to think about what was bothering me.  Then I told myself to just feel whatever emotions are there swirling around and figure out why I’m feeling what I’m feeling.  I’ve never been all that good at experiencing emotions (heck, that’s what I used food for… I didn’t want to have to feel anything.), so I had to force myself to come back to it a few times.  But I did it.  I sat with it and was surprised at what I was feeling.

I was feeling fear.  Fear that I wouldn’t have a way to get help for myself if something happened to me and my cell phone wasn’t working.  Fear that I would be isolated in an emergency.  Considering I live in town in an apartment complex with over 200 apartments and townhouses, I’m not ever going to really be isolated.  And my little friend Clara has forced me to get to know more of my neighbors.  So the fear is a tad irrational.  But…fear often is, isn’t it?

After working through all of that, I realized there was more to it than plain fear.  Have you ever noticed that nothing’s ever as simple as we think it should be?  I’ve had a landline since before we called them landlines.  Letting go of it brought up feelings of failure.  Weird, huh?  In my mind, I guess I still don’t fully think of cell phones as being “real” phones, and if I don’t have a “real” phone, well then, for some reason I see that as a failure on my part.  Wow!  There’s a lot there for me to work on.  Once I worked that out, the feelings faded.  After all, we all know that cell phones are so much more than the phones we grew up with (unless you’re a college kid as we speak).  They’re these little bitty computers you can put in your pocket.  Try doing that with Grandma’s old rotary wall phone!

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Falling leaves

We had a rainy (off and on) day today which, of course, has caused the leaves to release their hold on the trees.  The leaves fling themselves into the wind, scurry across the lawn and down into the road, carried away by the streams of water cascading toward the drains.  We haven’t had the royal reds, sunny yellows, and breath-taking oranges that we usually have here in southern Indiana.  The weather isn’t cooperating, much too warm for this late in the season.

But fall is definitely here.  The persimmons are joining the leaves under the trees, if you can only get to them before your dog does you’ll be able to gather enough to process them and put them in the freezer.  Then, when the cold of winter is upon us, you can pull out a container of pulp and whip up a delicious persimmon pudding to help warm the coldness in your bones and fill your home with a spicy sweet scent.  How I remember growing up on the farm and running the persimmons through the processor to freeze container upon container of that deep orange pulp.  Our collie, Lady, raced us for the fallen fruit, gobbling the little globes, trying to beat us in the competition.  Fortunately we lived in an area that had an abundance of wild persimmon trees that blessed us with their bounty yearly.  In fact, the town where I grew up just finished its week-long tribute to the persimmon, the Persimmon Festival.  I wasn’t able to make it back this year, but I’m hoping I’ll join my friends next year.

Some folks don’t like fall because they see that winter is following closely on its heels.  Me?  I love fall.  I love the crisp air, the colors, the foods we associate with the cooler weather, the sound you make when you walk through the fallen leaves, and all of the local festivals.  I don’t even mind the fact that winter is coming.  Talk to me about that in February and I’ll likely be singing a different tune, but for now, I’m simply enjoying what fall brings my way.

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Life is complicated

P writing blue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At least it’s complicated at times, don’t you think?  I haven’t been doing much (anything) with my blog lately.  I’ve been working, then falling into bed when I get home trying to recover from the pain and fatigue.  My house is a wreck, my car needs cleaned, the “garden” is overrun with weeds, and I’ve not devoted much time to writing.  I don’t know what the solution is to everything else, but I’ll be doing plenty of writing next month (yes, next month really is November) when I take part in another NaNoWriMo event.

I really enjoy the NaNo writing frenzy and feel like I accomplish an unbelievable amount of writing during that 30 days.  At the end of November, I’ll likely still be hurting, my house will still be a disaster, my car will still need a trip to the car wash, but at least I’ll have another book well underway.  I’m even upping my word count goal from the 50,000 I’ve done in the past to 65,000 this year.  Am I crazy???

On the health front, I saw the rheumatologist again today.  I feel like we’re not making much progress.  She squeezed my joints (some of them harder than necessary…ouch!) and had me go through some range of motion type movements.  Then wrote out a prescription for a stronger dose of my pain meds…said to call if it gives me any problems.  Then she said she wanted to see me again in February.  It just seems to me this is all stuff my regular doctor could do.  Honestly, I’m starting to feel like I’m getting depressed because I’m not seeing any real improvement, I’m struggling to make it through the days.  I had today off work and was in so much pain that I didn’t do much of anything (why do you think my house is a mess?)

I’m trying to find a positive ray of light in all of this, but it’s pretty dim right now.

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