Carnival of the Cats #362

Reepicheep: I love Sundays. Sundays are always good for napping.

Reepicheep: In fact, I think right now is a perfect time for a snooze.

Reepicheep: But sometimes, you just can't get comfortable and you've got to try a new position.

Reepicheep: This one seems pretty comfy. Why don't you enjoy the carnvial while I catch a few zzz's?

Who needs a guard dog when you have a perfectly good kitty guard? Hakuna guards the family room over at Lost in the Cheese Aisle.

Poor Rosie can't find anything (or any cat) because of the painting going on at My Cats and Funny Stories.

Cokie the Cat is asking for a #Pawcircle and #PawPrayers for his friend LaddieCat, who is not feeling so well. Be sure to check out Cokie's blog for updates!

Luna's lovely black fur and posing provides a perfect opportunity to capture her silhouette over at CatSynth for Weekend Cat Blogging and a Photo Hunt.

Big news over at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat...Elvira's celebrating her 1st birthday, and the Meowers of Death are so happy to see her grow into a lovely young lady surrounded by her loving family. Congrats Elvira!

Elvira's starts off her 2nd year with a bang with "The Elvira Factor" and her feelings on the word "puss" and it's political correctness.

Also, Elvira takes on even more with some commentary on the OC Weekly Website and their coverage of the sexiest females in Orange County...and she gets some honors for it. Great job on your coverage!

Maddie shows off her lovely eyes (and patience for the camera) over at StrangeRanger. We kitties are always long-suffering due to our humans' need to take pictures.

After chastisting Mog, Meowza graces us with his precense for Caturday by having some fun outside in the sun. It's good to see you again, Meowza!

Speaking of Meowza, he posts his annual purrfurmance review at iMeowza, and it's not looking so good for Mog. Maybe next year's will be better!

Thanks for letting us host! The next carnival will be hosted at Mind of Mog.

3 Things

So I mention I'll be posting more in 2011, and it's already February, and I know the two people reading this blog are probably throwing up their hands and going "huh?".

The thought of posting has crossed my mind every single day. What I have to say was holding me back. I'm trying not to let it anymore.

So, to not air my full drama to the Internet, I will try to condense this as much as I can:

1) For those of you that love the kitties, I have to sadly report that Izumi passed on Christmas Day 2010. She was suddenly sick and not improving. Further testing showed she had Leukemia (not Feline though) and the prognosis was very poor even with chemo. I didn't want her to suffer anymore and made the choice to help her be at peace. She was a sweet cat, and I miss her. Unfortunately, other life changes really prevented me from being able to mourn her loss or give you an update.

2) I have been in counseling for the past 2 years. Most of you already knew that. What you didn't know is that while I started going for other reasons, it ultimately became focused on childhood abuse. That has impacted every choice I've made in life. Because of it, I've always felt emotionally fragile and not good enough for anyone. I spent 2 years having to face it, and now I am a stronger person for it. My family knows about it now, so I'm OK with sharing it here. Anyone who has been through this, know that it does impact your life even if you live in denial that it does. Please find some counseling or other type of support...it's scary and it's hard, but you are worth more than you think you are and you can do it.

3) I am currently going through (another) divorce. All I'm going to say is this is not what I wanted, but was his choice. Through therapy, I grew up from that scared little girl and now am able to stand on my own two feet. I'm not a "fragile flower" anymore. Sadly, he has not grown up and has decided he wants something different in life. After going through a month of this, I've realized I deserve better than this and I agree it is time for him to go. It's sad, it hurts, and it's hard, but I know now it's necessary for me. I have hope and I know I will heal. And that's all I really have to say about it.

There is a lot more to both points, but for the sake of people involved and who may be reading this blog, I will refrain from providing any "dirty details." One thing I've learned is that it's OK to talk about stuff, but you've got to have some tact when you do it.

But I've posted both of these because I feel like I need to, that's it's just another step in the process of healing. I also know that there are people struggling with issue #2 and terrified to say anything because of the guilt & shame involved in having that happen to you (actually, that could apply to #3 as well). I want you to know you are not alone, and that you CAN start to heal from it.

I would like to talk more about both points, but I'm not quite sure how I plan to do that yet. Password-protected entries, perhaps, or another blog entirely. Rest assured, however, that the kittehs and this site won't go anywhere.

And hopefully, after letting this out, I can really start the ball rolling with posts, cat-related and otherwise.

Rest in peace, sweet Izumi

2011

While I can say 2010 has royally sucked, I'm going to look forward to 2011. Life will get better and the only person who can make me happy is me. Time to break through all of the stress and worry and start enjoying life.

Little cryptic, I know, but it's the best I can do.

You should be seeing more of me in 2011.

Carnival of the Cats #353

While it is usually a little cold outside during the holidays, it doesn't get really cold around her until January. But these past few weeks, it's been SUPER cold! We even had some snow! So now we're trying to keep warm, even if it means snuggling in odd places.

Maggie: Um, move along! Nothing to see here! No, Quixote and I AREN'T snuggling...um, this window just has a good view. That's it!

Oreo: I don't care how cold it gets, you won't see me snuggling with any other kitties!

Tiger: For once, we agree on something, Oreo. For that, I won't gripe at you tonight when you get close to me...but ONLY tonight.

Bagheera: Momma just doesn't understand us...I may be the bully of the house and Felix may be the most laid-back, but we're still cool with each other!

Sidonia: Clean or dirty...this laundry is still a good spot to stay warm!

Enough complaining about the cold, kitties. Let's roll on with the carnival!

We kick off the carnival with quirky Belle over at Watermark, where her owner tells us how Belle chose her family instead of the other way around. It really is always that way, you humans just don't realize it.

For COTC and Weekend Cat Blogging, CatSynth presents the lovely cats from the annual SF SPCA Holiday Windows event at Macy's. What a great way to showcase adoptable kitties!

Nikita Cat at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat does excellent detective work! He reports on the influx of scammers and advertisers into the world of Critter Blogging, and provides us some examples that they have seen.

Uh oh! Nikita and Elvira have spotted some star-crossed lovers near their apartment. Nikita tries to explain to a confused Elvira what's going on. While it's always great to see fellow felines in love, we also hope homeless kittens won't be a result of such love.

Elvira is a rare teenager -- she wants to spend time with her Daddy! She helps him with his work and goes after a paper ball that's giving him trouble. How do you ever get any work done without us kitties?

Samantha, Clementine, and Maverick at Life from a Cat's Perspective spend their Sunday showing all of us their favorite things. In our opinion, all are excellent choices!

Even though she's not a kitten anymore, Maddie still has holiday spirit and keeps and eye out for Sandy Paws over at StrangeRanger. We hope he brings you lots of goodies!

Maggie: Momma, you need to turn the heat up. This is just getting ridiculous!

Sigh. April can't come soon enough. From all of the Meowers of Death, happy (warm) holidays to everyone!

Next week's carnival is at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

How a Visit to the Post Office Can Change Your Perspective on Life

Today I swung by the post office during my lunch break. An older gentleman with what looked like an oxygen tank was working his way down the sidewalk.

Normally I would patiently wait behind him, but today I tried to scoot around him & ended up startling the poor man. I apologized and started to head for my car. He said, "Miss?" and I turned around. He said "Do you know what women and days have in common?" then responded "Just like days, some women are more beautiful than others." I couldn't help but smile at that. He said, "It makes every day worth it when you can make someone smile." I smiled again and agreed with him, telling him to have a nice day as I headed for my car.

As I headed to my appointment that I was running late for, I couldn't help but think about that man. About how I have lately been having such a hard time with life and I've been bouncing from one thing to another just trying to survive another day. I've been spending all my time worrying about school, work, money, sleep, and family. And here is this man who is connected to an oxygen tank and probably struggles just to get out to visit the post office because of his health issues. Yet for all his troubles, he goes out of his way to make someone smile.

While my struggles are many not insignificant, this one moment really put things in perspective for me. And I'm sure he'd be happy to know I was sharing this with the Internet.

Carnival of the Cats #349

We begin with the sad news of a loss within our ranks. Pepper suddenly passed on October 29th.

Daddy adopted Pepper a few years before he met Momma. Pepper had been rescued from a home due to neglect, but Daddy helped nurse her back to health. Her and Daddy stuck together through some hard times until they met Momma. She officially became an attack cat in April of 2006.

Pepper was a quiet sweet cat that (usually) didn't get along with the other cats. She was very skittish and would usually come up for pettings and snuggles late at night when it was quiet. She loved to put her paw on Momma's face when snuggling, and was happiest when she was kneading on Momma or Daddy. She'd had a number of health problems develop, including the heart murmur, hypothyroidism, back pain, and a potassium deficiency. She was probably about 8 or 9 years old when she passed due to her heart murmur.

While we miss her greatly, we are thankful she went quickly and peacefully and is finally pain-free. Momma is happy she got to see her and pet her one last time that day before she went to the Bridge. We know we will see her again.

We'd like to dedicate this carnival to her memory:

One of the cat owner rules is that everything must be covered in cat hair. Hakuna from Lost in the Cheese Aisle makes sure her family doesn't break the rules by relaxing (and shedding) onto a sunroom chair.

Over at My Cats and Funny Stories, Arthur grumbles about the rainy weather and the indignity of being dried off by his human.

Cokie the Cat is hosting a purrfect giveaway featuring a gorgeous ornament and refrigerator magnet starring Cokie himself!

Dirty-boy Meowza sneaks in some dirt rolling and dreams of turkey at both Mind of Mog and his own site, iMeowza, just in time for Caturday.

Uh oh! Over at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat, Elvira seems to be so concerned about her figure that she's comparing herself to a Thanksgiving turkey!

Also at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat, Nikita and Elvira are busy helping their Daddy learn how to make fliers...featuring themselves, of course!

Nikita also shows off his bravery by fending off a foot intruder and protecting his family. In our opinion, you definitely deserve a medal!

At Strangeranger, Maddie enjoys some puddles of sunshine and her human gets an opportunity to capture a photo of her lovely green eyes. How beautiful!

Thanks everyone for giving us the opportunity to host and to share. The next carnival will be at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

Carnival of the Cats #344

Hi everyone! Momma is not feeling well this week, and to be honest, I'm not either. I've been down with a case of the "sneezles," and it looks like I'm off to the vet tomorrow.

She knows she should be doing a better job of blogging about us, but she says she's just been so busy with full-time graduate school and her full-time job that she hasn't been able to. We have let her know this is unacceptable long-term.

So this will be a very short and sweet carnival, not only from us, but also due to only a few submissions. The kitties and humans must be busy enjoying the great fall weather.

If the submissions page is acting up, please add your post in the comments and we'll add it asap.

Mr. Mews is nursing some hurt feelings over at Mr. Mews Daily Post. It's a shame...other humans and kitties can't always appreciate observations from such a distinguished cat.

Nikita takes a trip to the vet for some tests and blogs about his adventure over at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat. Sorry to hear about "Ol' Arthur" and we hope that the new meds will help!

At StrangeRanger, Maddie is showing awesome signs of recovery from knee surgery by zipping around her house and exploring places she hasn't been in a while. We're happy to hear you are feeling so much better!

That's it for this week! Thanks for letting us host! Next week's carnival is at Kashim & Othello and Salome's.