Senior dogs for the Win!

3 weeks in, I can't believe my blog site is live! Of course traffic to the blog is light. It'll take time and patience to get a good amount of followers. Patience...the one thing I don't have. In life I was given the short stick on a few things - two big ones patience and height!

I come in at just under 5 feet. I spend lots of time standing on my tip toes, climbing on the counters and standing on anything I can find to give me the extra height needed to reach whatever I'm looking for!

Patience - don't know where I was when that was being handed out, but my fuse is extremely short. The one place you don't want to be is on the wrong end of a fuse that's started to burn. On the outside I might seem cool & calm, but the next thing you know, I'm throwing a bag of ice cause you asked "a stupid" question and I just plain didn't like you at the time. (Sorry Jim, but I laugh about the ice throwing now!)

In the time since the blog went live I've been busy house sitting a crew of 3 dogs. Whom I lovingly call the Geriatric Crew. They are 3 senior dogs who are low key, but come with the standard old age issues.

First, Marley - he is blind in both eyes and a diabetic. On my meet and greet last year, he couldn't get close enough to me - he was already sitting on my lap on the floor and he wanted to be CLOSER still. He once "disappeared" on my first overnight visit. I searched all over the house and the yard, video called the owners, had a panic attack - just to find him chilling in the farthest corner of the yard under a tree in the shade (complete with legs crossed and nose to the wind). After getting him inside, I was able to calm down and he crawled right up on the couch, on top of me for a nap. As if to say, sorry....just had to make sure you could handle me. I thought for sure they would fire me from that. How could I possibly lose a blind dog?!?

Next up is Max - he's just a senior dog that has non cancerous tumors and a thyroid issue. Loveable, but likes to act like he's the one in charge. He's a chill dog who has a huge appetite so I'm always watchful of him at meal times. He tends to get a little barky with his blind siblings if they get in his personal space. Seriously, he can see, they can't - but yet he makes no effort to stay out of the main walkways. I sound like a crazy person yelling at him no barking, growling or being mean cause you're laying in the walkway!

Last but surely not least is Lucas - small but mighty! He is also blind, has a urinary incontinence issue - so he wears a diaper with suspenders -and is absolutely adorable in them! When it's time to go out, there's a mere few seconds of taking the diaper off and him starting to pee - a few close calls with my feet and I've learned to take the diaper off only when I'm completely ready to walk out the door with him in hand! When I house sit he curls up on the couch right next to me. All three of these boys definitely had a love at first meeting with me!

Since these adorable senior pups don't do the stairs, if I'm not staying more than a single night - I sleep on the couch, we watch tv most of the night, and act like we are all kids again!

Till Our Tails Cross Again,

Mel

Fresh Start!

It's a new year, January is winding down - and I'm just getting around to making this blog live...but first I want to get a few blogs written so I can stay on schedule with a hopefully bi-weekly post! Deciding what to write about - there's so many things I want to write about. Picking where to start is hard!

I'm afraid of failure - which is why I keep dragging my feet to kick this off. I'm afraid that I will have missed something on the back end to make the website work how I want, that I'll miss posting a blog - cause life happens. People are judgey and cruel all the time. By doing this bog I'm opening myself up to all of the judgey, cruel, mean people...is my skin thick enough to handle it? I'd like to think it is. So 2024 is the year - a late start, but it's the year I make this happen for real!

What's been simmering on the back burner the last few months?

Building up my Etsy site (https://lovecatseverything.etsy.com) Which takes a considerable amount of time. I've partnered up with someone to sell some of her crafted items. I have the time consuming job of taking the pictures, pricing and listing them. Additionally I am working on my own crafts to list and sell. My schedule doesn't allow for as much craft time as I'd like so that's a little slow going.

In addition to Etsy - I have an online bookstore at Pango: (https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/melanie-c). Another great little side gig - I sell my books once I have read them. When I'm looking for a new book I can support other bookworms by buying here as well. Pango replaced half.com for me which technically no longer exists. I much prefer Pango for selling my books. When someone buys a book, I don't even have to leave my house to send it out! Pango sends the pre-paid shipping label to my email so I can print and mail in my PJ's!

Meanwhile, I'm running two meet up groups the first a Child Free Couples Group https://www.meetup.com/childfree-couples/, the second a Crafters Group https://meetup.com/annville-artists. I truly love meeting new people so these groups allow me to do that! They are still small groups, but that's alright. Coming up with ideas/places to meet/crafts/activities can be challenging. In addition to the meetup I run a facebook book club, and do weekly live readings! I'm not sure who enjoys the live readings more - me, the cats or the people who join the live reading. I do it on video so everyone gets to see the cats.

On a personal level I have once again decided to read more this year, be more active and spend 1000 hours outside. All of which was my goal for last year and I failed on all but the reading challenge (just barely made that!) I only spent about 350 hours outside last year. So shocking cause I feel like I spent a decent amount of time outside. This year I've spent less than 10 hours - so I gotta step it up if I'm going to surpass last years hours!

Till Our Tails Cross Again

Mel

Unveiling the Pawsome Path Ahead: My Cat-Filled Journey and Exciting Adventures to Come

Here I am, only 4 years later starting the blog I said I wanted to do! Who knows if I'll be successful, only time will tell. In my mind I'm gonna have a million followers - but honestly, I'm a crazy cat lady and there's only so many times people want to hear about my cats right?!

A little about me: Currently I have 12 cats, one husband, one room-mate, and a dog that loves me, even though he's not mine. Happily married for 1 year and 3 months (at the time of me writing this) - that was 20 years in the making. I'm a super social person, always looking for an adventure, trying to bring in more pets, and toeing the line of boundaries. I'll be writing more about the wedding, the husband, how we ended up with a room mate, where the 12 cats came from and everything in between.

I have my own business doing bookkeeping for small companies, plus a side hustle working at a dress shop, and a second side hustle pet sitting. Really - I'm just a Jill of all trades. I love being busy, hate the corporate work life so I made the decision to just do me and do what I feel like. While I'm making way less than I was 15 years ago - I'm living a happier, fulfilling life. Which is worth the pay cut (most days)!

Writing this blog, is gonna be a huge learning experience for me. I hope you'll stick with me till I get it figured out! Just getting it started, I had to enlist my husband to help. He's the super techy guy, I'm the super non-techy girl. He wants me to do this on my own, figure it out and learn - but I get frustrated when things don't work the way I think they should. I'm thankful he took some of his vacation time to sit with me and get me set up. Theoretically it should be clear sailing from here....

Till Our Tails Cross Again,

Mel