An Interruption to the Regularly Scheduled Posts...

Hey y'all! I know I've been kind of MIA lately but I haven't forgotten about blogging. I just need to get over whatever it is that is going around b/c I still feel pretty slow. But, one of the things on the internet that has been regularly cheering me up is this little fellow:

มันเวิคจริงๆเมื่อเอากะบะทรายมาทำอ่าง ฟินไหมสังเกตุหาง / ปิดหูกันน้ำเข้า/ enjoy ชีวิตเหมือนมีโซกันนะครับ 
Posted by สำนักงานแก๊งค์เหมียว on Thursday, February 25, 2016

Hope he brightens your day too. 

To Boldly Go...

The last few months saw a couple of big changes in my life that have really challenged my personal sense of security. The biggest one was when I decided to quit my corporate-y job in June. I used to really enjoy what I was doing, who I was working with/for and what sorts of change I was making. But somewhere, that stopped and I started resenting my job and who it was making me become and I forgot why I was doing the things I was and where I was going. I couldn't see myself continue on the path I was on yet feared to make the most drastic change. I thought things might just get better if I stuck it out long enough but that isn't always the case and I needed to know when to cut my losses.

I have become the painter

The decision to leave my job was not taken lightly because I was really concerned about what my family would think and react. I have spent my life living in my younger brother's overachieving shadow and always trying to catch up with what everyone else wanted me to do (often unsuccessfully) so I often have not been too sure of myself. To my surprise, everyone was really supportive and this gave me the chance to explore what sorts of things actually bring a smile to my face and get me excited to get up for work in the dark and cold winters. I concluded a few things ranging from my penchant for efficient processes, desire to continue learning and love of animals and nature.

Make it so!

I have since landed myself in a small animal veterinary practice doing many things ranging from animal care/handling, to client consultation and clinic maintenance. I wasn't sure how things would go since I haven't done any of this work for many years and the business component was something I learned mostly by experience running a community dragon boat club and from my tenure in the corporate world; but none of it was due to schooling or formal training. It could have been an absolute failure but it's been the some of the most fulfilling experiences to date and I am actually excited about going and dealing with the less shining moments and individuals.

As +ADW points out to me, a career is a journey of phases that aim to get you closer to your goal. The goal might not be a specific position (or it could be), and the journey might have some dark and unappealing sections but one just need to keep that goal in mind and take each day as another step forward. The job is just the first step in my phase to moving forward and I am really excited about the upcoming phases that will bring me back to my academic life and seeing where things will take me in the next few years!

Clicker Games

Those of you who've been following along for a longer time know that I clicker trained my big cat Buckingham. My rational for training him was to ensure that I could get him back to me if there was an instance where he dashes out the door. This cat is the cat that has been the recipient for all my new fangled dedication (or obsession... call it as you will :P) with doing better than the last.

Some background... my family had two cats (you'll see them in the "In Memory" section on the right hand column) that we lost too early due to what I would consider, avoidable illnesses. The elder, we put down because of her advanced state of cardiomyopathy--something we were expecting at some point but were still happy she managed to tough it out for as long as she did; she was the one who got me hooked on the feline species. Then there was my parents' favourite and my rival sibling whom I spent his life at some sort of odds until the end where we did make peace before he left us too.

Even reflecting about it now, I still get really sad and there is not a day that I don't think about them. When Buck unexpectedly appeared in my backyard after a long mourning period and wondering if I could ever let another cat back into my heart, I knew that (it sounds a bit nutty) he was brought to me to try again.

For a year, Bucky became my project cat and I worked really diligently at learning to communicate with him and understanding what his needs are. My mom would tell you that the two of us are probably inseparable and the best of friends. Without much further ado, I post the game we play in the back yard where he disappears into the bush and I would call him back out.

Eating for Charity

I try to live by the famous quote from Ben Parker of "with great power, comes great responsibility". Humans have such great capacity to do amazing things (or horrible horrible things) that it makes sense to be responsible. All of our choices even on a mundane granular level such as where to go for lunch will impact the greater picture.

During the day, I work for a large, for profit organization but in my off time, the things I enjoy doing usually surround the not-for-profit sector or those that are not nearly as lucrative. Why? Because I believe that there are causes out there that warrant attention and devotion. I'd say I'm like most people where what I do during the day is something that pays the bills--we all gotta eat. The causes I provide my time and money to are those which are (not surprisingly) in aid of animals. Perhaps I've met just one too many poor examples of human beings to care about a cause specific to people's well-being, but I have yet to meet an animal that I perceive that way. The reality is that people can do something about their situation and change it--animals, not so much. As well, much of the poor animal situations are caused by poor choices of people.

In addition to the fictional Ben Parker's sentiment, another personal value that strongly resonates with me is "participation is appreciation". I got this one from an unlikely source when I worked with a dragon boat coach whom I could not stand, on a good day. His difficult personality and our regular clashing (and occasional bouts of my murderous rage induced by his entire being) taught me a lot about patience, tolerance and devotion. It was a life changing lesson for me, to understand and realize what it means to volunteer your time for something: those who participate and take advantage of your time will generally have no idea the amount of work and effort that goes in, for mere seconds or minutes of "fun".

Over the weekend of the 23rd, I wanted to show my support of one of the girls at the stable, of her work with the cat rescue that we adopted little Stanley C. Panther from. She helped organize a charity all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner. These types of grass roots fund raising events always brings a good feeling for me because you see how sincerely dedicated people are, to the event and cause... before all the commercialism and lame stuff starts to take over. One of the grandmas made all the meatballs (amaze-balls!) and the cooking was done by the actual volunteers and they had cat grass centre pieces. The various dessert items were also donated by volunteers' families or themselves!

Meow!

In case anyone is curious (or looking to help out or even adopting), the rescue we were supporting is the NCWL Cat Rescue (of the west GTA area).

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone their family and furry friends!

Stanley hanging out in my new (horsey) grooming tote

Stay tuned for my post about a year in review :)

Models: Stanley C. Panther
Wardrobe Consultant: me!
Photographer: +ADW 
Finished on Pixlr Express

Merry Christmas!

Models: Buckingham, Stanley C. Panther
Wardrobe Consultant: me!
Photographer: me again!!
Meme Consultant: +ADW
Finished on Pixlr Express

Best Wishes to Everyone!

Possibly my favourite online feline duo to date, Simon's cat and kitten.

From Stanley, Bucky, +ADW and me!

Happy Meow-lloween!

With everything going on lately, this is coming to everyone a bit late but check out Bucky's new Halloween costume this year!

Roar! I am the cat-igator!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!
Model: Buckingham 
Wardrobe Consultant: ADW
Photographer: me
Finished on Pixlr Express

Stanley See, Stanley Do

I'm almost caught up with my lesson posts before this Thursday's lesson. Phew, it sure has been challenging. Some of the reasons are just plan out of my control (and stupid) but some have been awesome. I've been really busy with work and there are days I get home and all I want to do is lie around and watch tv or worse... do nothing. Add to that, that +ADW and I bought a house and adopted a kitten who happened to get very sick and I was getting incremental decreases in sleep because I spent a lot of time caring for him. But, now, he's up and about and even having a good time with his big brother Buckingham.

Hi, I'm Stanley C. Panther and that big guy over there is my awesome big brother Buckingham.

The introductions went well and they do play with one another when Stanley comes out of his room during supervised evening visits. But since Bucky's a full adult with an obsession of the backyard, he doesn't have a lot of time to tolerate Stanley's shenanigans. Every now and again, Stanley gets a smack down that lets him know he's gone too far. But, he still thinks Bucky is the bee's knees and cat's pajamas.

As One Door Closes... Another Opens

A couple weeks ago, my instructor lost her beloved (dressage) horse. You might think he was just another horse but they had a true bond. It doesn't happen with every horse and rider but there are couples that just click (kind of like people!) and the bond is literally unshakable.

I hate when people lose their animals companions because the loss is very palatable for me; I've lost 2 cats in 2 years and I know it's a heart ache only animal people understand. I haven't found my "heart horse" but I would imagine that the bond with a rider and their beast to be beyond that of a companion... after all, they are your teammate where the level of trust and confidence in the other must be unshakable in order to do some of the things that these duos do. If you don't ride, think about it this way... a horse is 900lbs+ and could easily injure or kill you, yet it doesn't but lets you get on its back and tell IT what to do.

Generally, I"m not sure what to say... other then "I'm so sorry". But, when you're the one dealing with the loss, those words are never truly enough. I started the "Posting Diagonal Jar Tally" to try and train out a bad habit of me ignoring my diagonals. I wasn't too sure what I would end up doing with the money but I knew I would send the money to a cause that supported horses (or cats). But, I've been inspired to donate the money to Equine Guelph to the research and equid welfare groups in memory of her horse.

As a transition from both counting diagonals (and in a sense, a new chapter for my instructor too), I'm closing the Posting Diagonal Jar Tally and looking for something new to focus on...

Feline Pageantry

Happy belated Easter, everyone! I'm so excited to tell you about something I've been preparing for months... Bucky's cat show! I've been told it sounds a little "crazy cat lady" and I suppose most outsiders might look in and think that but it was such a great experience and a lot of fun! The casual on-looker might think this is a bunch of crock full of childless single cat-obsessed ladies but this couldn't be further from the truth; handlers/owners were animal lovers who treated these felines like family.

My mom, +ADW and I accompanied Bucky to the All About Pets show in Toronto for a single day participation. This was going to be a challenge because naturally, cats are homebodies and are most content with what's familiar to them and rarely will place themselves out in the open making them vulnerable to attack or otherwise. This show was to be challenging with the birds, reptiles, dog and other cats.

My main objective was to expose him to travel and adapting to new situations. I started months ago, by getting him on a harness and walking him around outside. He doesn't walk like a dog... and usually gets me into knots while weaving in and out of bushes or the porch. But, he started out terrified of going outside and walking about on his own; he'd almost immediately crawl back into my lap while cautiously eying everything around him. He was skittish to noises and strange people walking by. It was a regular effort and the winter didn't really help... though I still took him out when there was snow:

Yep! Those are skulls on his winter vest

It required a lot of reassurance, exposure and patience to encourage him to build his confidence to do things on his own... considering at home, he's what Jackson Galaxy would label a "Mojito Cat". As he became braver, I moved to exposure in the car since he had an accident previously. I'll still need to get to the vet regularly for weightings (and exposure) since he had a lot of trips to the vet (a story for another day!) at the start of our time together.

I didn't know how a cat show worked, previously: in a single day, there are 4 judging rings that an entrant cat would participate in. Each ring gives the cat the opportunity to win top 5 or 10 (depending on the number competing). Each cat gets a giant blank rosette ribbon and each placing meant that they would receive a plaque to stick on their ribbon. When it was your cat's turn, you'd take him to the ring and then place him (naked--without collars or the like) into cage and each cat would be removed and judged by the judge. For cat shows, there's no training or any real skill that judges are looking for. For Bucky's section of Household Pet, most of his points were placed upon temperament/disposition. For cats in strange situations, this is tough because they're so tense with all the stimulation around them. The judge would place the cats and be awarded points; points were added up for the weekend, and then further, there are top 3 places given to the top of each category.

Waiting to be judged (aka, crapping his pants--if he was wearing any)

All the diligent work paid off. We got him to the International Centre without a single peep--he was actually just laying in his cage calmly. And he made it through the 8 hour day without having a complete meltdown. There were a few moments where I wasn't sure if I needed to rescue him and return him home but he placed 5th on one of the rings and we had another milestone of progress forward on his training! It's too bad it wasn't a competition for tricks though... because I've been clicker training Bucky and he's getting really good at the tricks he does know ;)

Proud!

A Review: Reaching the Animal Mind

I picked up this book with the intention to better understand the positive reinforcement branch of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning was coined by the behaviourist B.F. Skinner. Skinner believed that internal thoughts and motivations could not be used to explain behaviour; basically his theory explained how we acquire the range of learned behaviours we exhibit daily. It's insightful to see these theories applied to creatures big and small.

Karen Pryor's ethological expertise gives her an edge to train animals, that is traditionally out of reach from the "old school" trainers. She understands basic biology and behaviour of the animal and is able to leverage that information when training. It's interesting to read her experiences with dolphins of varying species, fish, octopi, dogs, ponies (presumably horses too), cats and even humans. The chapters are made up of mini stories and exhibit examples of what she is trying to convey in both detail and a particularly honest tone; she lays out her thinking process as well as her outcomes--successful or not. She gains a reader's attention and trust quickly... as if she's telling you the story directly!

Her subject is, as the title outlines, reaching (deep into) the animal mind; humans included. Her initial foray into the training is kind of accidental and developed based purely on her innate scientific mind, if you will. She doesn't have a formal graduate degree in animal behaviour or the such but she's keen and observant and thinks critically of what she perceives. The concept of her training is derived through the animal's natural behaviours and then positively reinforced, to encourage those favourable behaviours. Her story telling method builds through small blocks (much like clicker training!) and aids the reader to understand. To further enhance the stories and observations, she has a website that lists references and resources about the chapter topics as well as videos of exactly what happened.

The best part about it? You can take something away, after completing the book and start your own clicker training. And if you don't, you have a renewed insight into the mind as well as animals as thinking, reacting and feeling creatures. The training success is incredible; animals learn at an astonishing rate. I have enlisted Buckingham on my clicker training trek and we are working on a few novel tricks and "good behaviours". Yes, Buckingham is a cat; and he's completely trainable. Most cats already have many desirable behaviours but when you want to have some fun with the little guy, clicker training is by far the best way to teach a cat. After all, when has punishment ever worked on a cat? Good luck to ya.

Clicker training goes beyond just telling an animal to do something because you said so... you develop a teacher and student relationship where you are asking him to think about what it is that you want of it and then associating a cue with that behaviour. He is happy to do it b/c he successfully learned it on his own and received something from it--he's basically playing! And what creature doesn't enjoy playing and then getting treats from it?

Karen doesn't just stop at how to accomplish this technique through plenty of examples but she looks into the science/biology behind it. She seeks out members of the academic arena to better understand the way the clicker training works and you have proof that this isn't just some whacky hippie science based on anecdotal observations. In my opinion, the only way to be sure that you're not just imagining things.

A Review: Cat Sense

Have you ever thought about what your cat is thinking about, when he's looking at you? Or what he does all day when you're not home? I am curious about what goes on, inside my kitty's brain and why he'll go and do one thing while it doesn't seem to logically make sense to me. I read the Cat Whisperer last month and learned a great deal about why cats do what they do and how to address some of the less desirable consequences of not meeting their basic requirements.

John Bradshaw is the writer of Cat Sense and his book takes a slightly varied approach to Mieshelle's book. In Cat Sense, it's more about the cat as a species, its history of coming to be and includes many factual studies done, to discuss the details of what he is talking about. The breakdown of the book is well thought out and flows well, too. We start about the history of cat and move to cats of the future and go through everything else in between. Bradshaw is thorough in his details and it is clear a lot of research has been done on his part. I like that he includes a few illustration scattered throughout the book where helpful and the various "extras" that he includes in boxes throughout the book. His writing style is clear and easy enough to read for the average reader and the prose he chooses is simple enough for even the non-science types.

I felt like every sentence was teaching me something new. He isn't about dumping a bunch of facts for you to read... no, this is not a text book but rather a critical collection of feline history and behaviour compiled through a logical and thoughtful concept and a logical hypothesis made. A lot of his musings are just that... thoughts and questions based on both what he andecdotaly observes combined with scientific research that he pulls in. He provides a good deal of food for thought about some of the current practices that humans employ, to control unwanted cat breeding and reflects both sides of the debate. I found myself critically questioning things I believe and support right now. It gives a different perspectives and either further reaffirms what I think, or encourages me to reflect about some of the perspectives I hold.

The best piece of information I learned was that our cats view us as a type of surrogate mom and giant non-hostile cat. This all makes sense because mother cats and their kittens are very close and I've seen daughters stay with their mothers for the long term but I rarely see males of the family stick around. I wonder if Buckingham tells his friends that he's got two mommys.

If you have a cat or just have a wonder of what makes animals tick, you'll find this read informative and enlightening. I'd highly recommend all cat owners to pick this book up so they can learn about their fuzzy feline friend!

I couldn't resist!
This is both hilarious and common of what people
think of cats.

And a Merry Christmas to all!

Business Bucky wishes you a Merry Christmas!

Model: Buckingham
Wardrobe Consultant: me!
Photographer: me
Finished on Pixlr Express

A Review: The Cat Whisperer

We've been out of internet at home for almost a full week now. I spend all day at work in front of a computer and have full internet access for over 8 hours a day; which is what I suspect, explains why I'm not clawing at the walls yet. I spent the weekend finishing my unexpected read: The Cat Whisperer by Mieshelle Nagelschneider.

You may or may not remember that I have a new fur baby and I'm relearning how to effectively care for your cat. Some of this new found knowledge is attributed to the fact that I volunteer with The Annex Cat Rescue for the past 2 or 3 years. And, it's very true that you can take the wildcat out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the domestic cat. Buckingham is a well-mannered gentlecat just like his tuxedo outfit would suggest. But, he's still got those feline urges that make him unruly and silly, every now and again. I've picked-up a lot of practical knowledge about cats, but have yet to master some of the finer nuances of feline behaviour.

If you have a cat (or want to get one) and are keen to better understand the way they think, and make your life a feline heaven, you'll want to pick up this book to read. I remember when I was that kid when I could do nothing more than beg ask for that family pet and Mieshelle recounts her own experiences with cats (and other animals) to help others who are having trouble in their feline paradise. Mieshelle is a thorough writer about her subject of expertise; she has a life-time of experiences with cats and the way they are and her knowledge is based on experience and intense observation. The thing that many city humans miss out on (and modern humans in general) is that we have lost touch with working with animals. I see dogs dragging their humans down the street choking on their collar or humans who inhumanely declaw their cats, thinking only about what suits them or people who think their meat didn't deserve to be treated well before ending up on their dinner tables. But all the while, these people think this is normal or that this is the way it should be. Like the horse that has helped humans build history, cats and dogs played a significiant role to getting us where we are. But now, we're generally so far removed from them that we've all but forgotten how to listen to them and read them and build a real relationship with them.

The book is broken into sections that a reader who is desperate for relief from their inappropriate urinating/defecating cat or the multicat household which has become a battle zone, can immediately zip directly to that section and read the subject in its entirety. She addresses common problems that cat owners have dealt with or are dealing with. And, if you decide to read the book from cover to cover, the flow in which she's laid out is logical and builds on the previous one and is appropriately chapter referenced where applicable. The writing style is casual and easy to follow. She uses plenty of examples yet inserts many detailed scenarios that might come to mind while the reader is reading. She also has plenty of papers and references footnoted throughout the book for those who wish to do further reading/research. Her primary objective is to help us humans better understand our feline friends and adjust the environment appropriately so that our cat can do what we want in a humane and practical manner without resorting to drugs. Many of the procedures are lengthy, repetitive and require a great deal of patience but that's exactly what modern humans are missing... real patience and let's face it: animals are great teachers for this.

But, there are few things that are perfect in this world and I found that as detailed as she often is, it felt like sometimes I was being told that I wasn't doing things the way they should be done. Things that in my personal practice, have not caused me any problems currently or in the past. I felt invisibly attacked--yes, a little sensitive on my part. She also had a lot of shameless self promotions peppered throughout the book about checking out her product page or her personal consultation page, to which I've just added to... hahaha. But, upon reviewing these sites, I think they are worth looking into because she has some very solid products which I'd seriously consider purchasing and her consultation practice is one which I'd also seriously consider if I was having unresolvable issues of my own. Most pet stores don't come close to providing any real substantial items like these and products are often cheaply made or poorly designed. Perhaps I'll do another review in the future when I purchase something (like that timed feeder!).

My opinion? The book is written simply and substantially complete with relevant content that the average cat owner could easily put into practice. Any new-to-cat-ownership humans should definitely pick it up for a read so that they can better understand their new feline friends. Simply put, get her book as a reference piece in your home if you have a cat because she's quite thorough and basic cat behaviour will probably not be changing significantly in this lifetime so unlikely any need for an updated edition. Otherwise, check it out at your local library and take it for a reading test-drive before you make a conclusive decision to purchase it.

My Pet Mummy

No need for many words. This year, I have a lot of fun stuff that's made things really great. To help me celebrate, ADW and Bucky have put together a little something for everyone...

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Model: Buckingham
Wardrobe Consultant: ADW
Photographer: me
Finished on Pixlr Express

Everything's Come Up Milhouse!

For the last week or so, I've had a very welcome string of good luck. It started on the Saturday during Mother's Day weekend when I wanted to go for spa day at Greyden. Instead, I found my little furry friend! A series of other unusual good luck incidents occurred... in addition to winning 3 numbers on two separate Lotto Max tickets I bought for the same week.

Literally, everything's been 'coming up Milhouse' since then but on Monday morning, I got a call about my new furry friend... One that put my stomach in knots. The lady who lost my furry friend was calling to claim him back. I was devastated. I called ADW to tell him that I was going to meet this lady to talk with her about my furry friend and that I would do the right thing and return him if that's what was meant to be.

After talking to my neighbour, she told me that she found the little guy as a stray and that he wasn't getting along with her own cats so didn't have a problem giving him up. I was both relieved and ecstatic! My little furry friend is now going to join me furever.

I decided that I needed to name him appropriately... a name that was both cute and fun as well as refined and proper: Buckingham; Bucky for short! It works out perfectly because he's got these two little white marks on his upper lip that mimic false front teeth and he's quite proper when it comes to his manners.

Here's Bucky beating me to bed the other night...

Time for bed!

Fateful Dumb Luck

I woke up this morning really excited to head to Greyden for the horsey spa day. You must think I'm completely crazy. A "spa day" at a stable is typically a day set aside for cleaning up the horses by giving them a bath, cleaning and clipping and grooming. Riders also clean-up leather tack to remove  dirt and other unwanted things. It's beneficial for new riders to learn how to take apart a bridle and saddle completely to clean and reassemble. I was really looking forward to this.

Unfortunately for me, my mom wasn't willing to let me have the car to drive up there today (and tomorrow--I'm taking her up for a Mother's Day ride!) so I was left to mull around in my own grumpiness. I did though, decide that it wasn't worth the waste of time and got promptly onto my "house to do list". One of those things was to replant the seedlings that were lost over my weekend away. I made a spot on the deck to get things ready and potted so there I was, mixing the potting mix, filling random containers with dirt and placing a surviving seedling into it or a new seed.

Something about working with your hands with the earth is incredibly satisfying. I was rocking away to Of Monsters and Men and just being one with nature. It was a perfect day too. Nice and overcast with a moderate temperature and my neighbour's daughter taking slap-shots with her dad as goalie. It was my time. I love my neighbourhood.

As I'm working away, I heard this faint mewing. I paused and thought that I might just be imagining things. It's been a long while but I still really miss my two feline siblings. Each one as different as the other but both as close as family could get. Maybe it was the nostalgia getting the better of me today but I slowly removed my head phones and I clearly heard the audible "mew mew mew". Here's the thing though, our neighbourhood is known to have several outdoor cats and a few strays so I wasn't exactly thinking that anything would come out of me getting up to explore--my legs are sore squatting so this could just be a good break.

I make my way down the steps to the car-port and I continue to hear this little mew mew and when I crouch down to take a look, I see 2 bright yellow-green eyes beaming out at me with what look like 2 little white front teeth? Upon closer inspection, I see that he's mostly black with some unusual white facial markings. And, a harness?? At first I thought it was just a collar and in that case, it would have just been my kitty loving self going in for the mega pats and belly rubs. But, I see that the harness has part of what was a leash attached--it looks like someone's lost!

My mom was out to do the weekly grocery shopping so I couldn't reach her to get some cat food for the little guy so there I was, feeding him the pricey, extremely tasty stewed Berkshire pork my mom made. Wow, he sure was hungry! By now, I figured I had to get him out of there since he belonged to someone and was probably just lost, cold, hungry and very scared. I was on a mission.

After several hours of me periodically coaxing him out with treats that ADW brought over (thanks ADW!), he cautiously crawled out to grab the treat and retreat back to his spot and munch away. That's the thing about working with animals... you have to have a lot of patience. Some days things go great, other times, you're wishing you could channel some Dr. Doolittle. Today, I channeled Dr. Doolittle and the second I saw my opening, I went in and grabbed him to pull him out. He panicked and freaked out as any good cat would but lucky me, I looked up and ADW was standing there looking at us in awe "how did you get him out!?".

He's such a pig!

After ADW helped me get the little dude into the carrier we set-up, I took him upstairs and assembled a basic kitty hideout in my bathroom. And, with some patience and time, the little buddy came out of both his shell and the carrier to thank me for "saving him". When in reality, the thing that saved him was that halter that he was wearing. Tonight, he's  got a warm and safe place to sleep and when I last peeked in on him, he was peacefully snoozing away.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Dance

This week took a lot out of me. All the working and thinking and worrying and forced socializing! I went out with a bunch of wonderful ladies who all happen to be extroverted chatters. Yes, Happy International Women's Day and all that jazz! But, for someone like me, who's way far on the introverted side, this situation was challenging, to say the least! And that's just the least challenging piece! As usual, work has been testing my patience and I have been struggling with not slitting my wrists at my desk when nobody's looking. But, I made it through, my friends and I'm here to share with you something that my good friend Amb posted up a few days ago. You really can't help but smile big and giggle a little when you see this.

It's got nothing to do with the fact that I adore horses and ponies. I mean really, just check it out and tell me you didn't have a smile creep across your face. I dare ya!

And, if you wanted to cheer someone else up, check out http://www.youtube.com/user/three/theponymixer to make your own pony mix for a friend!

Happy Friday everyone! and bon weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been channelling Tardar Sauce since snowmaggedon when I missed my riding lesson.

Un-Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!