I’m back!

Sorry to have neglected this blog so long.  I was away visiting family out of state and am back home now.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to post before this because I had to recuperate.  (You don’t know my family).  It’s always non-stop action with no schedule, which I love, but such things can wear you out.  I was living out of a suitcase, until my sister suggested I just take things around in a shopping bag when I changed sibling’s houses.  This worked out very well, but she’s a lot smarter about this type of thing, plus she has an endless supply of cute, reusable shopping bags in all sizes.

When I got home I went to bed and slept fifteen hours.  I was exhausted and since then I’m back at work almost every day.

 This is my sweet mother

The object of my visit was to see family and my mother who is now in a nursing home.  She suffers from dementia.  I couldn’t put off my trip any longer.  It had been almost five years and a lot can happen in that span of time.  But I was prepared for the worst of scenarios when my mother saw me.  Of course she didn’t recognize me at first.  I look a lot like one of my sisters who is her caretaker.  But she did remember me after a few minutes.  She had a big smile and gave me a big hug.  Bless her heart.  She didn’t have trouble remembering me the rest of the trip.  It was very hard to kiss her on the cheek and tell her goodbye when I knew I was flying home the next day.

I think I was able to visit almost everyone during that fast two weeks.  I even got to meet my new great niece who was celebrating her first birthday party in style with a good old fashioned Texas barbecue.  No one can make barbecue like Texans.  My brother in law (and the birthday girl’s grandfather) stayed up all night cooking brisket, sausage, pork and chicken on the pit.  Naturally, there were baked beans and country potatoes and lots of other trimmings, not to mention all the homemade desserts.  Somehow I came back from that trip weighing the same amount as when I left, thank goodness.

I’ll write more about some of my visit soon.  I took 455 pictures and we had many adventures.  Of course a lot of talking and laughter happened all the time.  There’s no better medicine than that.

Mysterious and wonderful cats

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as cats are concerned.  I love everything about my furry felines.  I’ve had them all my life and I’m sure if I live to be an old woman I’ll always be surrounded by cats. 

It all started out on the farm where I was raised in south Texas.  We had many cats there that were mousers, but we also had some favorites among the group of forty-two that called our farm home.  We named the favorites.  We lived near the main highway and people going by would drop cats off from time-to-time.  Naturally, they multiplied over the years, even though some wondered off, got run over, or drowned by the torrential rainstorms. 

But there was always something mysterious about the cat that intrigued me.  They’re aloof and independent and definitely live life there way, all the things I aspired to do when I grew up. 

 This is what Max looked like

Well once I was off the farm and in my own house; it wasn’t long before I had a cat to keep me company.  He was a yellow kitten that one of my sisters gave me.  I called him Max.  Max went everywhere I did and was the most traveled cat I’ve had in my adult life.  He lived in four different states and put me through turmoil when he got out of the house while I was living in Alaska.  My grandmother was visiting me at the time and wasn’t used to house cats, so she felt awful about letting him out.  We looked all over for him.  I’m sure he was snickering at us from the bushes nearby.  Max did come home after a few hours.  I imagine he decided he had it pretty good indoors after all. 

Koki

Sukie

Wizard

 

 

Tootie

Comet

 Ceaser

Raven

Since that time back in the 70’s I’ve owned lots of cats, each with their own personalities.  The crazy things they do really make me laugh.  I’ve lived with daredevils and curious little rascals.  Kitten hood can be a disaster when they’re exploring because everything is “new” and a possible toy.  This is a sign to pick up all the breakables and start thinking like a cat.  They manage to jump to incredible heights, get trapped in the weirdest places (and always in the middle of the night) and bring all sorts of things to bed.  One of my cats actually fished the drainer basket out of the kitchen sink one night and I woke up with that thing in the bed the next morning.

This is Raven.  All cats love sinks.

 The four pictures above are Koki when she was younger.  She still does these things though.

They can sound like a heard of elephants running when they're chasing each other upstairs, or perhaps like bowling balls rolling across the floor.  The can scare me to death when they walk the railing on the banister, or make giant leaps to see if they can go someplace off-limits.  And of course a sack, or any other container, is never safe in the house for long.

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t change a thing.  They always love me too and never make a fuss about anything I do.  They’re there to comfort me if I’m sick and very intuitive about things.  I could go on and on, but I think I’ll post a couple more pictures.

Koki napping on my computer

 

Comet in a box.  Boxes and sacks are always the cat's meow.

 

Raven loves to get in the garbage bag when I'm changing the cat litter.

And cats love to cram themselves into spaces.  Raven and Sukie are below. 

Thanks for reading.

 

Do your peers ever inspire you?

Store front

I’m talking about coworkers that do the same job you do and are on the same rung of the ladder as you are in the company you work for. 

About five days ago, I had the pleasure of working across the aisle from a peer I really admire.  We both do food demos so basically share the same responsibilities at work, along with all the other crew that works alongside us.  The only difference between us is that I’ve been on the job about a year longer.

The reason I’m even writing a post about this day is because it’s the most fun I’ve had at work in a long while.  This fellow really loves his job.  Anyone could see that by the way he talked all day to sell his product and hand out samples.  He kept me in stitches laughing all day long.  All the customers had smiles on their faces too.  He was thoroughly entertaining everyone in the course of his work.

Who knows what our crew could do if we all were this enthusiastic every day?  I’ve always liked this guy from the day he was hired.  He fits into the job like the piece missing from a big puzzle.  I love what I’m doing although it can be trying at times, but this coworker made me want to strive to do better, even though I give it my all daily.

Has anyone else out there had an experience like this?  I bet most of you would say you’re there to do the job and go home.  But working is so much more when you’re having fun doing it.  That fun is actually contagious and draws the shoppers in to see what’s so funny on your side of the store.  I went home that day feeling very motivated to try harder and do better.  Now that's always a good thing.