My love for animals has been an intense love since I was a small child. I dreamed of being a veterinarian for as long as I can remember. I never did become one, but in my former life (before husband and child) I was a veterinary technician for 9 years. I sometimes miss that job terribly and so to fill my “needs” in the pet department, our home is a bit of a zoo sometimes.

Back in August of last year we (I) adopted three kittens. They were very little babies that had to be bottle fed for a good long while. I immediately fell in love with them. One of them, a little black and white male,  found a very loving home. I was sad to see him go, but even I thought three was a bit much.

We ended up keeping the other two. An orange tabby male I named “Mr. Biscuit”. I will not tell a lie, he quickly became my favorite and he and I are pretty inseparable. We also kept a grey calico who I named “CC” which is short for Crazy Cat. She is indeed crazy! She took immediately to Brandon and she is “his” cat and there is no denying that!

Here you can see some of CC’s handiwork in the guest bathroom! She certainly keeps me on my toes!

With our new additions, I had the realization that with cats, I had to have a litter box. We had not had cats in many years. I DETEST a litter box. I absolutely cannot stand them. I do not like the smell or the litter everywhere. We also have two dogs. If you have ever had cats and dogs in the same household then you know why I had to find a way to keep the dogs out of the litter box.  So, I set about to see what could be done to make this easier. I needed  - The BEST Cat Litter Box Solution Ever! In my searching I found a post on Pinterest about making a litter box from a plastic storage container. I found it very interesting and so I set my mind that this is what I would do.

It is pretty simple really. I saw the post about getting a plastic storage container, cutting a hole in the top and making it a litter box. Seemed a little too simple to be “true”.

Off I went to the Dollar General. I bought my storage container and my litter. I went home and took a knife to the top of the litter box and cut a sizable hole. I filled the container with litter. The cats were immediately enthralled and I think it took them all of about 3 minutes to make use of it.

Brandon thought I was bonkers. He can sometimes get a little exasperated (but in good humor) with my “crazy” ideas. The cats and I decided pretty quickly that this was  - The BEST Cat Litter Box Solution Ever!

In the past I have owned and/or used about every kind of litter box on this planet. I even at one time, back in the day, had one of those fancy $200.00 electronic ones. I have to say, this litter box solution is by far the BEST one I have ever seen or used. Oh, and did I mention it only cost me about $8.00 to make!

Although the cats do manage to still get some of the litter out onto the floor, for the most part all the litter stays IN the box. AND…the dogs cannot get it in it! I have also decided that although it does not completely control all the odor, it does seriously keep it “down”. So, all in all, it is a hit at our house.

The other little thing that I do is that when I scoop or change the litter I add some of those fabric softener pellet things. I use the Purex ones and it does seem to make a good difference. I just mix a bit of those pellets in with the litter.

Although spring is here and the now “not so little” kittens can go outside. I will still keep the box inside for them when they come in at night. They really have brought great joy to our home. I am not really sure what we ever did without them!

If you try this one, let me know what your thoughts are on it! If you have any additional pointers please share them as well!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! It’s my birthday! I’ll let you guess what the other 51% of me is…

I got a camera for my birthday! Guess Clint got tired of my whining! LOL I’m pretty sure my middle name was meant to be “Cheap”, but every now and then he can talk me into letting go of a little more money than I normally would! And why not? It’s my birthday!!!

Clint took me out driving in the snow yesterday! We were looking for eagles, but we didn’t see any. Above is a picture of an old barn just sitting out in the middle of nowhere. There were actually cattle there, but I love this picture best! I know I should be cooking and snapping away, but you’ll just have to wait and see how well this camera takes pictures of food! Today my Sweetheart is taking me to an eagle habitat to try again!

Love, live and cook “muy caliente”!

I’m not sure where this falls category-wise, so I’m putting it in the basement. It’s probably a dirty, little secret that belongs down there anyway. I think I have a brain malfunction. Not one that can be cured by a physician, but one that stems from psychosomatic origins.

Besides the normal monthly emotional low most of us women face, I have what I’ve been calling “mommy brain” for about 20 years. I swear that before that I was the smartest, most organized, independent human on earth. Now, I’m just mush most of the time.

I’ve lost all of my math skills. I got straight A’s in high school and college but I can’t even count anymore. Add and subtract? My checkbook would answer, “fuhgeddaboudit”.

Everything in its place? Wouldn’t one have to know where its place was? My house is starting to look like an episode of Hoarders. I’ve run out of floor space and things are starting to stack up. Before “mommy brain” I had a couch and a coffee table in my living room, now I’m not so sure what’s in there, but I trip over it a lot!

I’m supposed to be where, when? I used to have a full-time, 40 hour-a-week job, took college classes, had a study group on Saturday mornings, and was raising a toddler on my own. Now, I have 40 calendars (paper and digital), can’t concentrate long enough to read a book, and have the last of five kids at home taking care of me.

My home is cluttered, my car is cluttered, my purse is cluttered, my back yard is cluttered, my brain is cluttered and I can’t find a thing in there. Especially if I need it in a hurry! Not even a noun… yes, I have noun deficiency syndrome on top of everything else!

Now, all of this is normal, I’m sure. I think most people get stressed in life today. The real problem is not that I’m stressed and overwhelmed, it’s that I tend to just completely shut down when I get there. You know, those people in wheel chairs with a blank look on their faces and drool on their shirt fronts? Well, that’s been me for about two weeks now. I’ve been working to change this strange behavior of mine for over 10 years, but it remains to plague me about three times a year. In fact, the harder I try to organize and count and clean and cook and dispatch and go grocery shopping, the farther into a coma I slip.

And that, Dear Reader, is where you come in. I really just needed to clear out this bit of cobwebs that’s been keeping me from blogging, so thank you for getting this far with me. Normal programming should resume shortly.

I just read an awesome newsletter, Abundantly Alive Now!, that challenges you “to imagine what you would do with 50 million dollars”. The challenge is coming up with something other than buying things. Clint and I have discussed this topic many times. I’m always talking about giving it away to this charity or that. He has always agreed to an extent. He would set up investment accounts where the interest earned would go to the charity. Instead of giving a one-time lump sum, the charity would receive a lifetime of payments. He’s so smart!

Many years ago, when I was a single mom, I received WIC for my daughter. I’m sure it was mostly me, but I could sometimes feel the attitude of the cashier that I was just getting something for nothing. That if she had a job, so could I and then I wouldn’t need public assistance. Some years later, circumstances led me to apply for food stamps and the “attitudes” were even more pronounced. Again, I had a job, I just hadn’t worked long enough to catch up and needed a little extra help. It was then that I decided a grocery store was needed where ONLY those paying with WIC vouchers and food stamps would be allowed to shop. Not only that, but ONLY those who had at one time been on public assistance could even work there.

So, that’s what I would do if I had $50 million! I’d build those grocery stores all across the nation!

Well, as luck would have it, I didn’t have to work Thanksgiving day after all. I had to work all week before and after, but I managed to get that one day off. I was hoping to get the house fairly cleaned up and ready to get the Christmas decorations out, etc., etc. But no. I spent the first half of the day laying in bed, watching TV. The second half we went out to dinner with family. One down, two to go.

I used to love the holidays. I don’t know what happened, but the magic has left. I’m not depressed about the holidays so much as just disgusted. Five of the six kids in the house are teenagers, so for them, it’s no big deal. But Nick is only 7, and I wish I could keep the magic alive for his sake. What I’d really, really love to do is to take them all to Disney World for the holidays. That would be magic!!

What I’ll end up doing is spending a couple of weeks complaining about the house being a wreck, another week moaning about finding the decorations, another week howling about how expensive Christmas is, and another week wishing I drank so at least the New Year would be a success. Then I’ll spend the whole of the next year kicking myself for not being organized enough to have a happy holiday season.

So, for those of you who don’t want to be like me, check out these interesting websites:

Organized Christmas

Christmas Organizing

And my personal favorite for all year: FlyLady.