Adventures as the Mommy of a Fur Baby

I want to tell you a story.

Once upon a time (this morning), there was a beautiful, young, talented Queen who was all sweetness and light. Her subjects (the fur babies) loved her very much, but were naive, so sometimes they made decisions that weren't the wisest.

One morning, the beautiful Queen awoke to the sweet songs of the morning birds (my annoying alarm clock). It was very early still, so the sun wasn't quite up, and the Queen's bedchamber was still dim. When the Queen looked at the floor of her bedchamber, she noticed something unusual on the marble (carpet). It looks splotchy, she told herself. But she wasn't sure what was wrong. In the dimness of the room, it looked like the carpet had been splattered with water, but the Queen realized it would have had to be a lot of water because of all the discolorations.

As the Queen struggled to adjust her eyes to the light, she saw the source of the splotchiness. There on the floor was an empty treasure chest (catnip bag with one large hole and hundreds of tiny holes [shaped suspiciously like fur baby teeth]).

After giving the subjects a treat the night before, the King simply sealed the bag and "hid" it on top of his desk, assuming it was put away. During the course of the night, the subjects discovered the treasure chest and decided to break it open and dance in the bedchamber with the treasure, scattering the entire contents across the floor.

The Queen, after properly reprimanding the King for his mistake, cleaned up the contents of the treasure chest, and the subjects lived happily ever after (were drugged out all day).

The end.

And that's the story of why the Queen's bedchamber smelled like a weird Italian kitchen all day.

We break from our regular programming to bring you...

Kitteh Slide Treadmill

And now back to our regular programming.

Kitty Games, TLC in the afternoons, and other such nonsense

My writing plate hasn't been as full lately as it has been in the past, so I frequently find myself in the middle of the afternoon with little or nothing to do except watch A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby on TLC.

And while it's very fun for me to watch baby shows every afternoon and get all teary when they hand Baby to Mama, during the commercials I find myself thinking, "Crap. I should be writing something."  Then I feel guilty at having wasted the afternoon watching TV instead of writing or reading or anything productive.  And playing games with our crazy cat Azshara who likes to chase movement under the covers doesn't count as productive, I suppose.

So I've decided to tighten up my schedule just a bit, particularly since, this time next year, I'll have an adorable, cherubic, perfectly mellow ::snort:: Baby NP on my hip who may need attention when my Muse taps on my shoulder.  This will also be helpful in case I need to venture outside of the house for a bit of traditional income-seeking and won't have the flexible writing schedule I currently boast.  (Just how is call center work, heart sister?)  More on that some other time, though.

In the many books about freelance writing I have, every single one of them talks about having a schedule and sticking to it in order to stay productive.  I'm afraid I've let myself get a little lax in that area, and I'm suffering the consequences (often referred to as procrastination and/or laziness).  So I'm reworking my daily schedule to accomodate my new dedication to productivity, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I stick to the schedule I create.

And until I finalize said schedule, I'm going to spend as much time playing with the kitters as possible.

Don't judge me.

I could be writing a story about cats.  You don't know.

When the Leaves Change: Summer 2008 in Review

This has been an eventful summer for me. I left my teaching position, started a business, became an auntie, and adopted two new kitties (Azshara and a boy kitty whose name is to be determined). I've read (though not as much as I would have liked), written (more than I expected I would), and made a breakthrough in the writing of my book. Overall, it's been a good summer. Sure, there are things I wish had happened differently, but I don't regret anything. I did what I thought was best at the time.

On Starting a Business
When I quit teaching to become a full time freelance writer, I expected to spend the bulk of the summer seeking clients, building relationships, and doing almost anything to build a portfolio. Shortly after "opening," a kind fellow freelancer passed my name to a client who needed projects done on a tight deadline (too tight for her), and I picked up some projects for a few months. I was a paid writer!

A month or so later, I applied to a writer's assistant position working for another freelancer who had too many projects and needed help 15 or so hours a week. It was a little shaky, but I got the position, and it has been the best thing for my career so far! The woman with whom I work is a wonderfully sweet woman, and we have a lot in common. We work well together, and write well together. It's been a wonderful experience already, and my portfolio has gotten so big I had to start a couple of extra file folder to contain the hard copies!

I'm not making very much money yet, but I already consider myself a successful freelance writer. There is quite a bit more I would like to do (and expect to do) in my writing career, and this summer has been a wonderful start to it. I'm already doing better than I thought I would, and if this summer was any indication of how things will be in the future, I may have to start posting less frequently!

On Becoming an Auntie
I'm so excited my little sister is a mama! Ashlie Elizabeth is a beautiful, beautiful baby girl, and she is going to be spoiled with love for the rest of her life. It's a bit strange. I always assumed I would have children before her, so I thought that, by the time Sis had kids, I'd be able to sit back and chuckle at her stories, empathize with her pains, and share (unsolicited) advice about everything. Instead I'm an auntie and I get to spoil Ashlie and give her candy (when she's old enough, obviously) before sending her home to Mommy and Daddy wired and unable to sleep.

I'm not going to lie: I'm a little jealous. I love babies, and I'm looking forward to when Hubby and I are able to have children of our own. Until then, though, I'm going to enjoy peppering my personal blog with pictures and bits of information about my darling niece.

On a House of Fur Babies
I've always loved cats, and when Hubby and I adopted Jaina back in October 2007, I couldn't imagine a home without animals. This past June, Hubby suggested we get another kitten as a playmate for Jaina and though I was unsure, we found Azshara and fell in love with her energy and friendliness. So we brought her home. Jaina wasn't so sure about having another kitty around, but after a few days they became best friends.

Just prior to Tropical Storm Fay hitting Orlando, a stray cat started hanging around my in-laws' house. Since Mom-in-law is allergic, we agreed to take care of the stray at least through the storm so he wouldn't be out in the weather. When we brought him home (and cleaned him up) we thought Azshara would take to him immediately but that Jaina would be a bit standoffish as she was with Azshara. We were surprised that, instead, Jaina started mothering him right away, and for several days, Azshara hissed and growled anytime he went near her. Everyone is friends now, though.

When we first brought the stray home (we originally called him Thrall, but we settled on Warrington after the Cheshire Cat in Fforde's Thursday Next series), I couldn't believe we had three cats at our house. Three! That seemed so many! But each of them has such different personalities, now I don't know how we could have less than three cats in our home!

I love all our fur babies, and I'm thankful we took Warrington in to rescue him from the storm.

On Expectations for Autumn 2008
As eventful as the summer has been, I know the fall is going to be even more eventful. In addition to freelancing, I plan to finish the first draft of my coffee house book (hopefully prior to the insanity that will be NaNoWriMo 2008), read more, and achieve some of the goals I've set for my personal life.

I'm optimistic about the rest of the year. There are things I'm greatly looking forward to in the near future (including visiting my family for Christmas this year), and it will be a good way to close 2008 before starting a great 2009.

I think things are looking better.