Flashback Friday: Cats

            **I forgot to pre-schedule my Flashback Friday post! But, it's alright because it is still Friday where I am. Since it is a bit late, I thought I would include something new at the end as a bonus. Flashback Friday occurs the last Friday of the month. Participants repost an old post that needed more attention, that you're very proud of, that you think is still relevant, etc. It was hosted by Michael G D'Agostino, but he has opted out. You can still find a list of previous and current participants on his blog.**

Just a Quick Word (With Cats!) - Previously published July 24, 2015

 

            Just for fun, I thought I would introduce everyone to my cats.  They have made some appearances in post pictures before, and I thought they deserved a proper introduction!

 

Here they are:

 

 

They're pretty lazy

 

 

 

This is Kitty:

 

 

We wanted to come up with a great name for her when she was a kitten, so we waited for her personality to develop.  But the next thing you know, we just couldn't come up with anything more fitting than Kitty or just The Cat since she was our only indoor cat for a while.

 

 

This is Sawyer:

 

 

He's my lap baby and a great comforter after a long day at work.  He also likes to sleep in a lot of strange positions, so he ends up in more pictures than the other two.

 

 

This is Sophie:

 



 

She is the bratty, "little sister" of this clowder.  She sometimes ninja-strikes all, whether cat, dog, or human, who cross her path.

 

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And now (3/31/17), here is a little bonus picture. Can you spot the new cat?:

 

 

This is Arwen. While Kitty, Sawyer, and Sophie rule the indoors, Arwen is an outside cat who chose my family. She is a bit camera shy and she doesn't always come around, but I managed to capture her in a rare moment of getting cozy in the little house we got for her.

Not This Time

            I must sadly say that I will not be participating in the A to Z Challenge this year.  :(
I put a lot of thought into this decision and I even started working on some posts, but I realized that I do not have the time for it this year. Any of my regular followers would know that I have been struggling with keeping things balanced the last few months, and since I’m still trying to manage my schedule, I know that I will not have the energy to keep up with daily blog visits and comments during the challenge.

Speaking of time and balance, my presence has not been felt in the blogging force very often lately and for this I apologize. There have been some things that have come up in the foreground of my life, both good and bad, that have taken precedence over blogging. Most of February and on into March, sicknesses have plagued my local area. The pharmacy has been bustling with endless cold and flu patients, schools canceled classes in February due to the flu, my church has had some low attendance days, and both of my parents have suffered from some congestion issues. I blame the weather. It has constantly gone up and down in temperature. On more than one occasion, yesterday's low was tomorrow's high. This instability has plagued my sinuses and I'm sure it has caused these adverse effects in others as well. Come to think of it, maybe the weather is part of the reason for my fatigue and exhaustion these past couple months. Although, I think the strain of extra patients at work has been the primary reason. I have been drained of mental reasoning and motivational energy most days. In fact, I fell asleep at 10:30 a high number of nights for this night owl, and when you get home from work around 7:30 some days, that doesn't leave much room for anything else besides dinner, de-stressing, and getting ready for bed. 

But it hasn't been all illness, fatigue, and canceled challenge plans. I am in the process of finally finishing up some courses and tutorials over a new writing-related project I decided to try out months ago. I still have some kinks to work out, but once I get it going I will be happy to share it with you. For now, it shall remain a secret! I also hope to work on getting more blog posts written in advance since I’ll have more time than I initially expected next month. Sometime this week, I will make some visits to see what themes my blogging friends are doing, and I still plan to follow some during the challenge.

Are you participating in A to Z this year? If so, I might go visit your theme reveal and I hope you have fun!

IWSG: One Step at a Time

 

            Time for another posting with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, where writers can share their insecurities and encourage one another. IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and we share our posts the first Wednesday of the month. Congratulations to the IWSG for making it on the 100 Best Websites for Writers list!

            I thought about being discouraged and talking about my typical lack of time and motivation, and how it is already March and what I have I done with my writing so far this year? But, you know, things are not always as bad as they seem. Change will come, but sometimes it only comes in small baby steps. Have I met my goal of writing every day? Not yet, but I do find myself making notes of ideas more often and I have written quite a bit in my journals. Journaling may not always feel like writing because it is not usually for others to see, but I think there is power in unleashing those inner thoughts and it taps into your source of creativity. Beyond journaling, I have made some decisions and plans for my writing this last month. The most immediate is that I decided I will attend the monthly writer’s group meeting at my local library tomorrow. From the way the librarian described the group, it sounds like a critique group, and I thought I would just sit in this time to see how it goes. I’m a little bit nervous, but I think it is a good step forward for my future writing pursuits. I will reveal my other plans and steps as I reach them. One step at a time.

Pixabay.com

March’s question is: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out? I did not think I had much of an answer to this, because most of my fictional writing is from the last couple years, besides a few from high school and college. Of course, there is my ongoing “quiet book” that I started collecting notes for about 10 years ago, but it has not entered the drafting phase yet. Today, I was looking through my high school (and beyond) diary, and I was actually thinking about how some of those early entries would make a pretty comical preteen book. I’m thinking something along the lines of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but I’ll have to wait to see if that will work out or not. I have a long list of other projects to work on ahead of it. One step at a time. :)