Positivity Shift

Now that the weather shifts in trend towards the warmer side of things, I have been truly loving just finding a pool of sunshine and parking myself in it with my book of the moment. I am lucky enough to have western facing windows in my bedroom. The afternoon sun comes in and creates nice warm rays across my bed. I will often find Erza lounging on my bed, soaking up the warmth.

Vitamin D has been proven to help lift your mood. Sunshine helps your body with the processing of vitamin D, so that means that laying in the sun, within reason, can have some pretty nice perks. With the warmer weather, that means more chances to get outside for your daily dose of sun.

I have been getting curious about what activities people are doing outside while we are still warming up. Here in Wisconsin, the water is certainly still way too cold for any fun to be had, so that means we need to find things to do on dry land. My family has already started the spring cleaning of our yard. Sunday afternoon was spent picking up sticks, raking the grass to lift the dead vegetation off, and cleaning up a winter’s worth of dog poop. The gardens have been left alone for now, to allow the new life a chance to get a solid start.

Green has become the color of the moment due to the sprouts that are peeking out from under the leftovers from last year’s garden occupants. My favorites are the daffodils, mostly because they pop up so early compared to the other flowers. Certainly doesn’t hurt that they are my favorite color, yellow. There is a small patch of them in one of our backyard gardens that I go out and cheer on every year. The one year that I forgot to get out there early, we only got one actual bloom from the bunch. So ever since I have been informing the daffodils that I believe in them and celebrate each bud that turns into a beautiful flower.

This time of year, as things begin anew, I try my best to embrace the positivity in the air. Time to renew a little bit of faith, and spend some time just soaking up the sunshine.

Year 29

I recently celebrated my 29th birthday. This year also happened to be my golden birthday. Turned 29 on March 29th. To mark the occasion my family went out to eat for dinner. There ended up being 18 of us around the table. I felt incredibly loved and special to have so many people who traveled to celebrate with me.

Now, I recently was reminded that when we celebrate a birthday, the age we are turning actually marks the completion of that many years. So having said that, I have been thinking on what I have come to learn in those 29 years.

I know that it doesn’t take much effort to be kind. People go out of their way to be mean and rude to each other these days and it boggles my mind, and hurts my soul. If you just take a breath, and think a moment, being kind to your fellow person makes the whole day much brighter. Spreading just a little positivity can lift spirits and it might come back around to you in ways you never expected.

Laughter has become some of my favorite sounds. I treasure the memories of chatting with my siblings or my friends and everything we said would just make us laugh even more. My parents were never afraid to laugh and have fun with us while growing up. They would sing along with us in the car, be incredibly silly with us, and show us that it doesn’t take much to have a wonderful time. Those moments will forever be something I will hold close to my heart.

Finding small moments of joy or positivity can lift your spirit. When I have those days where it felt like everything was working against me, making a small list, just three things long, of the little happy moments, would change my perspective and show me that it wasn’t as dark or bleak as I had thought. Once in a while I reach for one of my notebooks and find that looking back at the happy moments from previous days helped me see that times where I feel like I can’t get any headway, are really not as horrible as I have been thinking.

I have been learning and growing for 29 years, and I will continue to grow and change as I age. So I am grateful for moments like birthdays that remind us to pause and reflect on how far we truly have come.

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes and the love sent my way. Here is to year 30 and all the incredible moments that are to become wonderful memories.

True Companions

Lately I have been reflecting on the relationships that are shared between people and their pets. Our fur babies have major personalities, which is quite evident to anyone who spends any length of time with them. I have always been confused by people who say things along the lines of animals all being the same as each other and that there is no real personality.

Differences make up our personalities as humans, and the same can be said for our pets. Maggie gets excited over a game of fetch anytime of the day, while River will catch a ball if you throw it his way, and Cooper couldn’t care less about a ball thrown for him, and lacks the skill to really catch anything, even a treat. With the cats, Erza enjoys puzzle toys, especially if there are treats involved. Gobi is food motivated but has issues when it is any harder to get to than placed right in front of him. Pho doesn’t appreciate anyone messing with her food, and is particular about the kinds of treats she will eat.

Qualities that we have in common create connections between us and other people. Animals create bonds the same way. As I am writing this, my Mom is entertaining all three dogs by bouncing between their stuffed bears. Each one has a specific colored bear, and they can often be found playing with each other’s. With the cats, they all obviously enjoy a good snooze, usually on their person’s bed. While the toy in question may differ slightly, they all will play in similar fashion, throwing the toys around and giving chase like the little hunters that they are.

The connections that we form with these animals are just as real as with other people. They are parts of our families. They enrich our lives every day, and provide us with plenty of laughter. I will forever be thankful to have grown up in a family that values these little souls in the way that they do.

A Day For All Kinds Of Love

As we approach the Hallmark created holiday of Valentine’s Day, I have been thinking. I am single again this year, like always, so I may not have a romantic valentine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have lots of love to celebrate. In my opinion Valentine’s Day has always been about showing those we love how much we care for them, and we have just lost sight and narrowed that view point down to just romantic love.

Growing up, my parents always gave each of us kids something on Valentine’s Day. Some of my favorites are my teddy bear that says you are my sunshine on it. My mom calls me Sunshine because she used to sing the song to me when I was little. I have always loved the song, so the nickname stuck. My mom and dad reminded us every year that love doesn’t just mean romantic partners. Love is a connection between people that truly care for each other.

Ever since one of my best friends has had her kids, I have started giving them valentines as well. This year I gave them little stuffed animals. A got a kitty, due to her love for them, and W got a dino that he has dubbed Sparkles due to the gold spikes on the back. I have gotten lots of pictures ever since I dropped the stuffies off with the kids, of them hugging them and playing. W has become pretty attached to his dino, and I am pretty thrilled that I could provide him with something he holds so dear.

When I gave the stuffies to the kids, I reminded them that Valentine’s Day is meant to celebrate all kinds of love. Family love, sibling love, friendship love, as well as romantic love, to name a few. As we approach and begin to celebrate the day of love, it is not only important to remind ourselves that it is about all kinds of love, but we should also show those we care about how much they matter to us more than just once a year.

Here’s to showing those we love how much they mean to us.

A Super Duper Kanine

Cooper was a year and a half years old when we adopted him from the local humane society. He is a blue tick coon hound mix. That means he is black and white. The coon hound part of him becomes very apparent whenever he decides to use his voice. Baying instead of the normal barking that I have grown used to having grown up with plenty of dogs around.

Coop had a bit of a rough start to life. When we rescued him, you could see all his bones. The humane society had put twenty pounds on him already and he was still so thin. We got right to work making sure he knew he never had to fight for his next meal or worry about when he would be fed again. His story from before coming home is a bit of an unknown thing. We know he came from Texas, and was so skinny, but other than that, there is just a big question mark. So I can’t say that anyone ever meant him harm, and I would like to think that he had a loving home that just couldn’t care for him and his brother. His brother was adopted out to a wonderful family around two weeks before Cooper joined our family.

River has become like a brother to him. That relationship was pretty quickly formed. I am guessing because Cooper was used to that dynamic. River is pretty much the same size as Cooper and they love to run around the backyard at top speed. There are patches of dirt that will never grow grass again due to the boys using those sections as racetrack. Cooper looks so graceful when he is running across the yard. He stretches out and can gain momentum with ease. It is a stark contrast to the goofy run he does when one of us humans call his name and he is happy to see us. If you remember the sort of run that Jack Sparrow did in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, then you have a pretty good idea.

It took about three days before he felt confident enough to use his voice. I was actually kind of startled when he first barked at River during a play session. Little steps along the way have shown his comfort level and confidence rising. His silly run, being so proud of himself when he knows what to do for a command, and giving lots of kisses, have been some of my favorite milestones that have come with nurturing Cooper. He really has come out of his shell, and shown us just how goofy and loving he really is.

These days, I am lucky enough to be one of his favorite people. Whenever I am playing games in the living room, he will hop up on my lap and demand hugs. This has lovingly become referred to as a Cooper Break. I must pause my game and snuggle with the boy for a bit. He will eventually get down from my lap and I may resume my game. Being reminded to take time to pause and enjoy the little things like hugs from a giant baby like Cooper, is one of the reasons that I am forever grateful to have him.

I saw on Facebook once, a picture of a dog looking out the window while laying on the window’s bench seat. They were mostly in shadow, because the sun was setting outside. The words on the picture read, “Sometimes I like to look over at my dog, and watch them enjoy the life I have given them.” I couldn’t help but think of Cooper and how much his life has changed since coming home. He is probably chewing on a toy while laying in the giant bean bag chair in our living room right now. He will never have any more worries in life. Just love.

Feline Smarts

In the past I am sure I have mentioned Erza’s intelligence. She has shown me her ability to think through problems and figure things out since the moment I met her at five months old. Her first display of intellect was through her pole vaulting over the baby gate that was meant to keep the kittens in their room. She wanted to explore, and seized the opportunity.

Her latest escapades are what has me writing today though. This whole situation requires a bit of background knowledge. Maggie, the buff colored cocker spaniel who has claimed my mom, has a tendency to be possessive over her toys and her food bowl. This happens less so with the other dogs, because she has to share some of those toys, but her balls are only for her to play with and she likes it that way. When the cats get to close she will grump and growl at them to make sure they are aware that she is watching them and that she will not tolerate them trying to take what she has claimed as hers.

Erza has found a way to negate this perfect storm kind of situation. I have noticed that when Maggie is hanging out in the living room, which she is one of her most likely nap spaces, Erza will start to communicate with Maggie as soon as she enters the same room. Erza has started to use her voice, and will meow at Maggie, as if to let her know what her intentions are for entering the room. It really looks/feels like Erza is letting Maggie know that she “comes in peace”.

Now Erza has certainly never had a problem with using her voice in the past. She will meow at me almost hourly, to communicate her needs, which usually involve food. Erza has also been known to meow at my family members, like she is just having a chat. The moments that will always make me smile are when she meows good night to my parents. She likes to snuggle with my mom for a bit before bed. So I will go and collect my gremlin, the nickname she has gained for her evening antics, and take her back up to my room so my parents can close their bedroom door and sleep in peace. As I leave their room, Erza will often meow at them to say good night.

What has made me a proud cat mom most in this situation is that Erza thought through the problem and found a solution that plays to her strengths. She uses her voice to make Maggie aware of her intentions. The best part though, is that it actually works. Maggie has stopped grumping at her when Erza meows and communicates. I have seen it happen several times now and I was pretty shocked the first time, but now, every time I see it, I feel like a proud cat mom.

My parents have dubbed Erza the MENSA cat. MENSA is a society of geniuses. When I see these examples of her thinking through a problem and finding a solution that works for her, I certainly agree with the nickname. Now, if only I was as proud when she uses those smarts when she is bored. Let’s just say, I will have to start cat proofing multiple things around the house if she keeps up her antics.

Strange Strategies

I have a genuine question for everyone. Have you noticed that recent commercials are just plain strange the majority of the time? Brands like Red Bull, Native, and Doritos are just the first ones to come to mind that I have seen in the past few days.

The whole goal of these adds is to get the consumer to buy their products, I am aware of that. However, I have been watching tv with my parents and one of those strange commercials comes on, and we are just left confused and speechless sometimes. If we want to argue that they have gone the route of strange because they are trying to get their product to be remembered, then I would say that they have achieved that goal. But at what cost?

If I am completely honest, I am less likely to try a new brand of something just because they had a very strange add. I find it off putting, and it gives me a negative impression of the brand as a whole for going with the add to begin with. This reaction may not be considered fair, but it is how I have found myself feeling.

Last night a commercial for a toilet paper brand played while my parents and I were watching a show. I can’t recall the specific name of the brand, but I know it was meant to show their “new” rolls that feature 1000 sheets, or at least something to that effect. The add featured a man who was unrolling one of these new rolls on to the floor and it proceeded to roll away onto the street. While this was happening, that man held the oo vowel sound of the word long the entire time it was rolling. So due to the idea that these are extra long rolls, it was a significant time for this sound to be playing. All this managed to do is straight up annoy me, and consider muting the tv the next time it played. I highly doubt a very effective marketing strategy is to annoy the consumer. It gave me a pretty negative reaction to the product and the brand.

Overall, I am just plain confused as to the new-ish trend of commercials that just don’t make real sense. It doesn’t feel like these companies are trying to put their best foot forward with their products. Not everything in life has to be played up for this grand spectacle that the entertainment world has become these days. I am starting to sound like a cranky old man, telling little kids about how things were back in my day, but that doesn’t make the point any less important.

I appreciate the companies that try to do right by their consumers and their employees. We need a little more of that in the world these days.

An Extrovert and An Introvert

You might have heard of the idea that the way an introvert makes friends is to be adopted by an extrovert and then become friends with their group of people. I certainly have had moments where I felt like I was along for the ride. As an introvert, I must spend time by myself, or even with a few close people, to recharge my “Extrovert Battery”. Otherwise, I am not very pleasant to be around in a social environment.

Some may not be aware that our furry companions also share these tendencies. My brother’s cat, Gobi, is very shy and it takes some time for him to warm up to company and make his way down the stairs to socialize. I would classify him as an introvert without any hesitation. Erza on the other hand, is an extrovert through and through. She wants to say hello to everyone, give them affection, and then receive some in return.

On Christmas Eve, when my Mom’s side of the family gathered at my home to celebrate, Erza started to make her rounds. She set up camp on a dinning room chair and said hello to everyone as they passed by. Once we started to move the furniture to make the table big enough for the whole family to sit around, Erza took that opportunity to try her best to steal a seat at the dinner table. As people started to find their chair, Erza was shuffled around until she ended up sitting next to me. My cousin, the last one to sit down, pulled out his chair and found Erza staring up at him as if to inform him that that seat was already taken. I couldn’t help but giggle a little at her antics as I picked her up and placed her on the couch to allow room for my cousin to join the rest of the humans at the table.

Due to her very obvious social nature, I have been having moments of laughter. This introvert adopted an extrovert. Since I am her link to the outside world, I will have to try and be more social, just to satisfy her social needs. Maintaining her social calendar is just one more duty to add to the list of things I must do as a Cat Mom.

Back To School Memories

The lead up to back to school was always one of those times of year when Mom broke out the important To Do list. Things like clothes shopping, new shoes, and yearly appointments like the eye doctor and getting our vaccines were always included. Supply shopping had its own list that needed to be checked off. There were also those odds and ends that needed to be picked up that weren’t included on the general list for each student. I always had to get a new water bottle because I would find a way to break mine between school years. (One memorial school year required several water bottles because I couldn’t seem to control my klutzy tendencies whenever my water bottle was around.)

When my siblings and I joined sports the list got even longer. We had to add in sports physicals with the doctor. Then equipment for the sport was added to the supplies list. I enjoyed basketball in elementary school, up until I didn’t hit a growth spurt and was the second shortest kid in my grade. Middle school was filled with volleyball practice and games. Sadly it also consisted of many doctor appointments for sore knees. When high school came around, I did a year of color guard. During the last week of the season is when my left knee subluxed and effectively stopped my foray into athletics.

I joined choir, which meant that some fees would pop up during the year, but at least I didn’t have to rent an instrument. (Tried to play the trumpet for a year, that didn’t work out.) My sister was in orchestra, as a violin player. There were supplies she would need for upkeep.

All of those things sound a bit tedious writing them out like this. But I have very fond memories of the moments leading up to the start of each year. I love new stationary and I was very happy to have an excuse to indulge my obsession. New pens and notebooks were treasured items for me. As I got older, I would figure out what to look for as features in the items that I chose for my supplies. Back packs had to have a certain amount of pockets, and the side ones needed to be able to fit my water bottle, and in my high school years, my morning bottle of pepsi.

This year I found myself missing the steps that would lead up to the start of a new grade. Thankfully as a writer I have reasons to still buy some of my favorite school supplies. Maybe one day I will have kids and they might end up changing my mind on how I fondly look back on the days just before the first day of school, but for now, I will hold on to those moments.

Puppy Play Time

This last weekend my grandparent went out of town overnight. They spent two nights away, and that meant that someone would need to be with their dog, a lovely springer spaniel named Ruby, for those two days. Since we always help family, I volunteered to be the Ruby minder.

Ruby absolutely adores coming over to my house to play with our dogs. River and Cooper are about the same size as her, with only Maggie, who is the smallest of the three that live with me and my family, occasionally getting lost in the shuffle. Not to worry though, Maggie loves her size and has used it to her advantage plenty of times.

Ruby has always been a solo dog, unless she is over for what we have dubbed Puppy Play Dates. Not too long ago, when my grandparents were over for dinner, we let the dogs out into our fenced in back yard, and started to hear a commotion. We moved from the patio by our back door, into the yard more, to get a better look at what was going on with the dogs. They ran past us and continued to wrestle. Tails were wagging for all four. My Grandpa, better known as Papa to us grandkids, couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

To add a little more information, Ruby is a bit older than my dogs. She was a bit of a grouch to begin with in their relationship between the dogs. The fact that she was out in the yard, playing with the other dogs was a very happy sight, but also a bit of a surprise.

This last weekend, Ruby spent most of the time at my house, playing like that with her puppy pals. She would be beyond tired, despite the naps that she also took during the day, and would be very ready for dinner by the time it rolled around. I would pack her up in the car, and with my over night bag, drive back to my grandparents’ house for the night. Ruby certainly appreciated being in her own home for bedtime.

I missed my own bed, but I knew that Ruby would feel much better being home overnight. Then in the mornings, I packed up my things, and Miss Ruby-doo, a much loved nickname for a much loved dog, and would head back to my house so she could have more puppy play time. This was mostly to distract her from missing my grandparents. Ruby loves them beyond words, and when she is home and they are away she misses them terribly.

A few signs I caught just this weekend were things like her staring out the window at the places they would normally park their car and whining. She also would hop up into my Grandma’s recliner and pout. I would have to comfort her and tell her that they would be home soon just to get her back in a better mood. (To those who think I am giving her more personality than she has, trust me, you must have never owned a furry pet. They have much more in those little minds than you may think.)

You could truly see the love from Ruby when my grandparents pulled up in my drive way to pick her up and take her home. She was out the door like a shot the moment I opened it. Her tail was wagging so fast it was a blur. She couldn’t contain her excitement, and was practically vibrating with happiness when she was finally able to see her people again.

Never worry Papa and Grandma! Ruby-Doo is always welcome for a puppy play date here.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Growing up with a unique name was certainly an adventure. It used to annoy me when people would mispronounce or misspell my name. My name is spelt phonetically, and because of that fact, I didn’t understand why so many people have such an issue with pronouncing or spelling my name. Now I realize that because people are not used to my name, they over think it and that is why they have such an issue. While I now understand why people struggle with my name, it still boggles my mind when people look at my name and call me names like Kassidy. There is no A or D in my name, so why try and add letters?

The story behind my name is that my Mom was college roommates with a wonderful woman named Kesinee. My Mom fell in love with the name, and when she had me, her first daughter, she gave me the name. The original Kesinee is now my God Mother as well.

I always get a good giggle out of visiting my God Mother at her day care that she runs out of her home. When I introduce myself to the kids, they always laugh and say that I can’t be named Kesinee. I have to get my God Mother to confirm for them that I share her name. It probably is because they are either not used to two people with the same name, or they are really not used to two people sharing such a unique name.

In school, I could always tell when the teacher would get to my name on the roster or during roll call. Because it was alphabetical by last name, I was always at the end of the list. There would be a giant pause, and the teacher would usually make some sort of face that showed how unsure they were about the pronunciation of the name they were reading. Most would try and take a stab at it, and the majority who tried would get close. A few would read off my last name and ask me how to say my first name. One that made me smile was when they said that they were not going to even attempt to say my name because they knew they would get it wrong and just said my last name. At least they tried?

While I may complain about my name because of the issues so many have with the pronunciation and spelling, I would never change it. I never had to deal with multiple people in my classroom with the same name, or with getting confused when someone would call out my name. I always knew that they meant to be talking to me. (Obviously this changes slightly when I am around my God Mother.)

My name is special to me. I will always be thankful that I was blessed with a unique name. But if I had a nickel for every time someone mispronounced or misspelled my name, I would have been able to pay for college.

Momentous Moments

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday. Like most years I spent it with a large group of my family and lots of good food. My family certainly knows how to cook. Side dishes included green bean casserole, home made baked beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and fresh home made buns, to name a few. We certainly don’t go hungry on holidays.

In the spirit of the holiday, I started to really think about what I have to be thankful for this year. I am incredibly grateful for my loving family and friends. I am always thankful for the good food and laughter that fills the day. And it may make me a crazy cat lady, but I will always treasure the fact that I have Erza.

This year one of the main family members was absent due to the fact that she was in early labor. My cousin welcomed a beautiful baby boy over the weekend and we couldn’t be more thrilled as a family. The new addition is the first of his generation, the first of the great grand kids for my Mom’s parents. (Another thing to be thankful for: my grandparents are still around to love on the new baby.)

With new beginnings come reflections, and I have been looking at my own life. I am certainly not were I thought I would be at 27 years old. Ten year old me thought I would be this incredible published author by now and that I would be married with maybe a kid or two. None of those things have happened yet, but I refuse to talk down about it. Just like choosing to be thankful for the good in your life, instead of focusing on the bad, I am choosing to use positive self talk.

When I finished college, a couple of my female family members continued to remind me to choose the words I use carefully. I earned my degree, instead of I have a degree. In this light, I am choosing to say when I am published, and when I find the right person to share life with, I am sure I will look back at today as the simpler times.

Overall, I am thinking about the moments that become so important to us and those we love that we hold them close to our hearts and protect them. I certainly count hearing about the new baby as one of those moments. Holidays with my family will always be high in the ranking of memories that I treasure.

Here’s to many more magical moments that turn into treasured memories!

Cursive: A Right of Passage

In case you didn’t know, I teach my cousin as an English touter. (Turns out to be a perk of having a degree in writing that I didn’t know about.) ;) Recently I was chatting with my younger cousin and found out that due to when he was going through school, he only had one lesson on writing in cursive. According to him, they barely taught him how to write his name and then never talked about it again.

This idea kind of boggled my mind. When I was in 3rd grade I spent countless hours learning how to make each letter stroke for stroke. Writing my name became an art project. I was amazed at how fancy my name looked. Then afterwards, I saw changes in my printing penmanship as well. Letters that used to be nothing but sticks changes and morphed into these round curly shapes. Thankfully it made my hand writing easier to read, and I think that it has maintained a decent pretty quality to this day.

What really made me sad about the phasing out of cursive in school, is that another of my cousins couldn’t read the hand written well wishes written to her and her fiancé on cards at their baby shower. These beautiful messages had to be translated for them as if they were written in a different language.

I am grateful that I learned and can read cursive. That means I get to keep the notes from my elders and reread them whenever I feel the need. I love that I have a box with cards that mark special moments in my life, and that I get to hold those moments closer because of this skill.

Thankfully I am able to teach my cousins enough that they should be able to learn to read those heartfelt messages and be able to treasurer them as well.

Halloween Memories

Yesterday was Halloween. I absolutely adore Halloween, but have noticed a change as I have gotten older. Traditions and routines have changed with the passing years and I can’t decide how I feel about it.

Some of the favorite memories were the family time. Trick or treating involved all the grand kids getting ready in their costumes, then posing for a picture out on the front step with the pumpkins we had carved for the year. We would set off into the neighborhood and knock on door after door. Somehow the miles we ended up walking didn’t even phase our young bodies, we just kept moving if it meant more candy to add to our bags.

Obviously pumpkin carving is a Halloween staple. One that my family honored every year, including this one. Yesterday I spent two hours elbow deep in pumpkin guts trying to clean out the large cavern inside to allow me to be able to cut a super cute face on one side. I went for a traditional Jacko lantern face this year, with the one tooth on each side of the mouth. In the past I have attempted many of the fancy designs, and several even turned out great. There is something about the traditional face that keeps brining me back to it though.

I no longer get super dressed up, or go out to a party like I did as a kid. But I refuse to let go of a few traditions. I will try my best each year to carve a pumpkin, and get at least a few sweet treats to eat. And who knows, maybe if I have kids, they will get to enjoy all the traditions that I loved as a kid. A full circle moment would really make my heart happy.

A Reciprocal Connection

I have been thinking lately about how my family’s animals picked us just as much as we picked them. I have written in a previous post about Erza picking me, but the other animals in my life followed that same pattern pretty closely.

Maggie was still needing to be with her mom when I first got to meet her. My parents took my sister and I to meet her when she was around six weeks old. We were supposed to have gotten a puppy from a previous litter, but the mother had sadly miscarried. Maggie was a part of the next litter to be born, so we had first pick.

When we went to meet Maggie, we sat down in the puppy play pen, and were obviously surrounded by Maggie and her litter mates. Every time one of her siblings tried to get our attention, if Maggie wasn’t being held by one of us, she would push them out of the way. “This is my family, so back off,” was probably what she was thinking. She wanted to love all of us, and not share.

River was a rescue puppy. I saw a listing on the local humane society’s Facebook page about a litter of puppies, and River wasn’t even one of those listed. Another family had already shown interest. Fortunately for us, that family changed their minds, and we ended up with him.

Originally his name was Galileo. What a mouthful of a name, especially for a puppy. So when we got him home, we decided to change his name. My sister offered up the name River because of the strip of white fur on his nose, it looks like a river.

These connections were meant to be if you ask me. I think that we receive the pet we need when the time is right. They choose to love us just as much as we choose them.

Connections Spanning Species

Lately I have been thinking about how animals pick their person. (As I type this Erza is making herself comfy laying against my side, even across my right arm a bit.)

Erza picked me as her person, her favorite. I am very honored that she chose me and that feeling has never wavered. The moment I met her and picked her up for the first time, at five months old, she instantly started purring and didn’t want to be put down. She knew something then. She must have had a feeling about me and knew that I would take care of her. I could be trusted to look after her and give her the life she deserves.

Last night I made the joke that I didn’t think Erza would be my cat if I wasn’t the one who fed her every meal. My mom rolled her eyes at this notion and pointed out several signs that I failed to see, signs that Erza really thinks of me as her person.

Every time I close my bedroom door, I have to be prepared for the possibility of Erza pawing/clawing at the other side of the door trying to get in and be with me. She is one smart cat. (My parents have taken to referring to her as the Mensa cat.) Over time she has watched and learned that the shiny thing attached to the wood, if turned, opened the door and allowed access to the other side. So Erza has taken to reaching up to her full height and putting one paw on either side of the door knob and trying her hardest to turn it herself. I am convinced that if I had a lever handle on my door, she would be constantly opening it.

Another sign that my Mom pointed out, was that Erza likes to take naps with me. If I fall asleep during the day and don’t want a furry heater with me, I have to kick her out of my room and close the door. Otherwise Erza will curl up between my legs and fall asleep with me. She softly purrs while falling asleep. If I shift in my sleep, I have woken to find her position moved as well, just enough so that she is still touching some part of me in her sleep, like it comforts her. (She has currently progressed to sleeping, and purring, while laying on my arm. Thankfully I have use of my hand still. :D)

I think my favorite connection sign though has to be when she plays with me. Her top two toys and springs and those craft pom poms. Again, because she is so smart, she learned that if she brings me the toy, I will throw it for her and we can play together. I melt when she brings me one of her toys and places it beside me. Then she will wait for me to throw it for her and chances are pretty high she will start to play fetch with me. She has only ever really played like this with me.

Last but not least, is that she gives me high fives on command. I wanted to try out the idea that cats can learn tricks like dogs, so I got a clicker and started working with Erza. I taught her the command “Give me paw” and she will tap my hand with her paw when asked, especially if there are treats involved. I am the only one she will give high fives to. Several other have tried the command, at my request because I wanted to show off, and she refused until I asked.

Love is a connection between two souls. Erza is a light to me on some of my harder days. I will forever be honored to be the one she picked to be her person. If you own a pet, or have spent enough time with animals, you know they pick you just as much as you pick them.

Back to School and the Basics

As we start to send the youngest amongst us back to the classrooms, I have been thinking about my time in the k-12 grades. I grew up during a very interesting time to be in school. Tech was taking off, computers becoming something we could fit in our pockets and use every day.

Going to the computer lab was something that everyone looked forward to when I was in elementary school. We would play games to learn basic skills like typing and math. My favorite though had to be the Oregon Trail games. Not sure if I ever got my little group of people to the end of the trail though. If I remember correctly, I managed to kill off my entire group one way or another every time.

Then there were the days were a teacher would wheel in that giant tv on a cart. We all would get so excited because that meant that we would be watching something, more than likely instead of an actual lesson. The lights would be turned off and the teacher would have us move our chairs to make sure we could all see the screen. Due to the size, we would sometimes have to move the desks out of the way to get closer to the screen. Even if we were given a worksheet to fill out while watching, it was the preferred method of learning compared to the books.

By the time I made it to middle school, most classrooms had projectors that attached to the teacher’s computers. They could play videos or show power points much easier. Books were still relied on though. It was still the easiest way to get the required information into our hands and allowed us to have something to work from at home. Computers at home were still the family computer. I would ask my parents for permission to use their computers to do homework or play games on.

Things like the overhead projector, where the teacher would use these transparent plastic sheets to show on a larger scale what they were talking about, were starting to be phased out. It was easier and more cost effective, to just use the classroom computer to provide visuals. Some teachers would even print out their power point slides to make notes easier for students. All we had to do was annotate the provided information.

High school was a fast paced change. Computer classes, on the basics of their functions and their programs like the Microsoft office set, were required to graduate. They were starting to push for us to be ready to work in the 21st century. I even got to use tech for my art classes. Between reference images, printing my written story drafts for a collage, and a beginner graphic design class, I was exploring how to apply computers to every facet of my learning.

My senior year is when they did the trial of giving laptops/Chromebooks to the freshman class. The following year they expected to provide them to all students in the high school. Since I was a senior, that wasn’t going to happen for me. I still had plenty of access to computers at home, plus my own smart phone, so I certainly wasn’t disconnected from the world and unable to complete my assignments. By that point, I was even starting to turn in some work just online to certain teachers. Most still preferred a paper copy though.

College was a major step forward. It is pretty much a requirement to have a personal laptop/computer these days even outside the classroom. Inside the classroom though, it is very needed. All teachers have online connections to their students. Email has become both helpful and a bother. Students can ask questions outside of office hours, but some might even think that teachers are required to answer them in the space of a few minutes even in the dead of night. (The student is up at three am working on homework for your class. Why aren’t you awake to answer any questions they might have about it right then?)

I carried my own laptop with me too and from classes. When I had the time, I would find a table or comfy chair, possibly just a spot on the floor out of the way, and take out my laptop to work on homework or surf the internet. As a writer, I would even take spare time and work on whatever story had been bouncing around in my head that day. Pretty much wherever you looked on campus, several students would have their laptop out and headphones on. On campus computer labs still saw plenty of use as well because they would have programs that our personal devices didn’t. That way we wouldn’t have to purchase them on our own.

Laptops became one of the go to ways to take notes in classes as well. Many students could type much faster than they could write by hand so they chose to keep word documents that served as their notes from each class. Maybe it says something about me that I preferred to use my notebook and colorful pens, other than loving the fact that I had an excuse to buy the large set of colored pens that held so many colors, but I only ended up using my laptop to really take notes in one class. I chose and Anthropology class as one of my gen eds and made several friends in that class. Together we created a word document on Google Docs, and took notes as a group. That way each of us could ask questions and make sure everything was understood.

Through my years in school, I obviously learned a lot. I do count myself lucky to have grown up with these changes in tech though. Having the changes happen as I went through school, made it easier to learn and adapt to having more and more of the world at my finger tips. I still remember a time were leaving school, or work meant that no one could contact you about it and you received some peace and quiet. Being allowed time to turn off the devices and just be unreachable is healthy for the soul.

Birthday Traditions!

Today my younger sister turns 23 years old. (I kind of love that she was born in the year 2000 because it makes it pretty easy to keep track of how old she is.) This morning, as a family, we woke her up and gave her the presents from us. Being woken up to get gifts from Mom and Dad started when we were kids and we would have to get up for school pretty early anyways so it made the day’s start much brighter. You start the day feeling spoiled already.

Traditions like that make birthdays special. Each family has their own set, and they may even over lap. I may be biased, but I think my family has found just the right balance to make the birthday person feel celebrated and loved, without going overboard.

Obviously we start the actual day of our birthday with the gifts from immediate family. Often our furry family members will also get involved and give us lots of love in the form of snuggles and kisses. Usually this is followed with getting up and ready for the day. My older brother and I have birthday’s during the school year that would require us to be in class that day. I actually enjoyed, for the most part, having school on my birthday because that meant I could see my friends and celebrate with them. (In college my birthday would fall on one of the first few days back from spring break, so that honestly annoyed me a bit.) My sister gets a lazy morning on her birthday because she is a summer baby.

Most of the celebration comes around dinner time. Once we all make it home for the day, dinner is started. The meal is chosen by the birthday person, and so is dessert. Meals that we don’t normally have in the main rotation, things that take some time to make, are usually chosen. For several years in a row, my brother chose lasagna for his meal. Mine changes depending on my mood when I am asked what I would like. If I remember correctly, this last birthday featured pancakes with strawberries on top.

Dinner is even more of a big deal when it comes to the big family meal. The extended family on my mom’s side will gather, usually the weekend before or after the actual birthday, and we will cook a big meal that was again chosen by the birthday person. I have had homemade beef and broccoli stir fry for my family meal for several years now. (Due to an MSG allergy, I am grateful that my family goes the extra mile to make my meal so that I can enjoy it without worry.) If there is one thing my family can do well, it is cook, so these meals are always incredible and hit that craving spot.

Dessert is ever changing. My brother and I will opt for cheesecake each year. It works out well because or birthdays are almost to the day six months apart, so once I am really craving it again, it is time for us to have it again. Most of my family will have a traditional birthday cake, with the flavor tailored to them. For my sister, that would be a chocolate cake that happens to be from a family recipe. Due to the rich nature of this cake she will put her slice in a bowl and then pour milk on it. The cake breaks apart and she really savors each bite. On the other end of the spectrum, my Grandma (Mom’s Mom) loves to have lemon cake for her birthday.

Gifts from the extended family are given at the big family meal. Even if money is tight, they try to give at least something small to acknowledge the day and the person we are celebrating. There is never a greedy atmosphere. We try to find ways to celebrate that don’t revolve around gifts and things. The birthday person will feel the love and go to bed happy that night anyway.

Here is to my sister,

Today you turn 23! That is a big accomplishment. I couldn’t be prouder of how you have handled every challenge that life has thrown at you. Each day you try so hard to not let anything stand in the way of getting what you want out of life and I am amazed by your resilience. Each year I think back to being in the hospital and wearing those stickers that the nurses gave to our brother and me. (Horrible things really! They didn’t make sense! In the shape of a award ribbon but upside down?) I couldn’t wait to meet you.

Through the years we have had our fights but we always found a way to come back to each other. I hold the memories of us laughing so hard that we couldn’t breathe, but only making it harder by adding something on that made us laugh even more because it made our tangent even funnier. Moments where we were able to communicate across rooms without even saying a word to each other, just a look. I will forever treasure that connection with you.

Here is to year 23! I hope it is filled with good food, good memories, and certainly good people. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday Mon Chou Chou!

<3 Momo

Yarn Crafting

This past week I learned how to crochet. My mom sat down with me and showed me the basic double stitch and I got started on a scarf. Several mistakes were made, and I have had to start over, and pull stitches out to fix the fact that I missed a loop earlier in the project. Overall though, I have found it to be an interesting challenge.

Growing up my grandma tried to teach me to crochet and it never stuck. I could create several very long chains but never got beyond that skill. Patience is not my strong suit and because of that, I would give up before really giving it a shot. At the time my ADHD was undiagnosed, so I was unaware of the reason why I didn’t have a very long attention span for things that frustrated me. Crocheting was just challenging enough at the time that I just gave up and tried other crafts.

When my mom sat down with me, she showed me one stitch, which happened to be the double stitch, and then let me move at my own pace. I know that I have other options for stiches, but at the time she only gave me the one. (Fun fact: When my mom taught my sister, she showed her the single stitch. When I asked why she showed me the double instead, she just said that it was the one that came to mind when she sat down with me.)

Almost every day I have sat down with my scarf project and completed a row or two. It has been nice to have something to do with my hands while I watch tv or listen to music. The yarn has become a fidget to keep my hands busy that isn’t electronic. Normally I would be scrolling through things on my phone while watching YouTube or streaming a tv show. Learning to at least do a simple stitch of crotchet has given me something else to keep that over active brain of mine busy, so I can simply enjoy being in the moment.

With all the benefits that I have found, I am still not positive that this new hobby will stick. Only time will tell…

Getting My Hands Dirty

Growing up I always loved going to green houses. My maternal Grandmother would tell me the names of the majority of the plants that we crossed by and would usually let me help pick out which bunch from the lot we would take home with us. Yearly trips to our local green houses has become a tradition. One that I still enjoy very much.

As I grew up I started to learn more about each type of plant and what conditions it would need to flourish. Now I have two plants that live in my room. They even have names. Apollo and Hephaestus. Apollo is a pathos plant, while Hephaestus is a small aloe. The names just made sense to me in a silly way. That same silly vibe might also be why I glued large googly eyes to the front of each of their pots. The green plant life that comes out of the pot has become hair for my silly little creatures.

Earlier this summer, when we were setting up our garden for the coming season, my grandma mentioned that our actions would have probably made her father very happy. There was three generations with their hands in the dirt and working with the very thing he had loved, plants. When my grandma was a little girl Grandpa Tom owned a greenhouse. He raised plants to sell and even grew produce for the local stores to sell in the summer time. Some of his time was spent out in the woods as a Naturalist working in the state park near his home. Nature and plants meant a great deal to him.

I never got to meet my Great Grandpa Tom, sadly. Stories that I have heard make me wish sometimes that I had been able to get to know him and learn about plants from him. He sounds like a very gentle soul that loved his girls and the natural world. So when I can get my hands in the dirt and work with plants I feel a connection to him and all that he loved.

Tonight I was watering the plants that my family has in our back yard and I couldn’t help but smile. Something as simple as watering the plants, tending to them, made me feel a profound connection. I would like to think that Grandpa Tom was looking down on me as I tended to the vegetables and feeling a sense of pride that his love for nature and all that it can produce has been handed down through the generations.

Creating natural beauty by working with dirt has always been something that I have enjoyed. I guess it is just an added bonus that it fosters a connection through many generations. Planting seeds and growing new life, bringing beauty to my little section of the world, will always make me smile.