Turning Over a New Leaf

All I ever wanted really, and continue to want out of life, is to give 100 percent to whatever I'm doing and to be committed to whatever I'm doing and then let the results speak for themselves. Also to never take myself or people for granted and always be thankful and grateful to the people who helped me.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Hello world!!

  So it's been several, I mean several months since my last post and I decided recently I was going to try really hard to write more regularly about things that are going on in my life.  Things that make me smile on a daily basis, things that make me say hmmm, or just things that I enjoy and want to remember.

  My goal is to write almost every day - every day is just unrealistic for me ha ha!  With each post I will include a quote to go with the theme for whatever the post is about, and I will try to have a picture or two as often as possible.

  So thank you for stopping by to read tonight.  Tonight, I need to celebrate something in my life that makes me smile every day.  My kitties.  While I know many people thing this is silly, but I don't know what I would do without the fur balls in my life.  Every day when I get home from work they are so happy to see me - yes probably because they just want to eat - but hey I will take the love wherever I can get it.
  I got Lily almost 8 years ago basically as a birthday present.  We'd recently bought our house in college and I wanted a cat so badly.  Dad did not want to give in for weeks, but the weekend of my birthday I found an ad for a calico kitten in the Lawrence paper.  He FINALLY said yes, and I couldn't wait to go get her even though the lady told me the "short-haired" kitten didn't have any personality and I probably didn't want her.  That just made me want her even more - and I have never felt so badly for an animal when the lady shoved her into my arms at 2.5lbs by the scruff of her neck than I did when she handed me Lily.  I chose Lily because of how green her eyes were - she is named after Harry Potter's mom, because in the books it described her as having incredible green eyes.  She shook in my arms the whole way home and immediately fell asleep when I got back to the house and she's been my 15lb. buddy ever since.
  Lily isn't the most friendly cat - she doesn't want to love on everyone that comes in the door, but she loves me.  She likes to be with me and snuggle with me and not always on my lap but that's okay.  She's still my first kitty and will always have a very special place in my heart.
 Riley has been part of our little family for a little over 2 years.  I had been talking about getting a second cat for awhile.  I had a couple of requirements though - I really wanted another calico and I really didn't want a newborn kitten because I wasn't really sure how Lily would react since she'd been an only cat in the house for 6 years.  Well fate must have been screaming at me because a friend of my mom's found this roughly 1 year old kitten on the side of the road that had been hit by a car.  She was cute as a button, tiny as could be, and perfectly okay from the accident minus a few scatches and a couple of broken teeth.  My mom's friend couldn't keep her because several of them were allergic to cats, and she was trying to give her away when my mom texted me.  I decided to give it a trial and see how Lily did and then would go from there...well I wasn't going to keep her because Lily was just not tolerating it, but when I heard she might have to go to the pound she instantly became part of our family - nameless but part of the family.  I probably had her about 6 weeks before she became something other than tiny kitty.  (She only weighed about 4lbs)  But finally because she was just a little "off" after being run over, yet she was still pretty smart - I named her Riley after the character in National Treasure who is too smart for his own good, but says some really stupid things sometimes.  And after a few ups and downs, here we are 2.5 years later.
  They entertain me on a regular basis.  I never know what crazy thing they are going to decide is a good idea for the day.  For instance last night - Riley decided that climbing in and out of an empty box was fun and she did this for over 2 hours....just like a human kid.
  Lily does tricks - she can sit on command and she says "please" for treats.  
  They are cats - yes I understand that, but for now they are my friends, my pets, my kids, and I love them.  They don't always get along, but we are working on that regularly.  We can now all 3 be on the bed, and on the same end of the bed, as long as I am in the middle without too much growling.  They always know when to crawl onto my lap to make me feel better, or rub against my legs when I am busy to remind me it's okay to take a break.  So because they are both sitting here staring at me wanting to play...

Happy 8th Birthday to Lily and Happy "3rd" Birthday to Riley (I have to guess when hers is based on the fact when I first got her in February the vet thought she was about 6 months old 2.5 years ago)