cats – Appreciation Magic

Please let me sleep!

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

I have two cats: Zelda and Linguini. Linguini is the youngest one and very vocal as well as playful. Both cats are very loving, but Linguini has a habit of waking me up very early every morning by meowing at my door and scratching it until I open it. Zelda, on the other hand, is content to sleep in my room until I get up.

I’ve tried to see if both cats would be calm during the night by keeping my bedroom door open, but Linguini always decides he wants to play, bringing toys onto the bed, and pouncing around. So I close the door when I go to bed.

He has no problem sleeping around the house at different times of the day and night! If I could make him understand that I’d love to sleep in a little longer, it would be fantastic and I’d get more rest.

I Love Cats

What is your favorite animal?

I really like cats. I had my first cat around the age of 8, and had others growing up. I would say they are my favorite animal. This isn’t to say I don’t like other animals: I do! But I am most comfortable and experienced with living with cats, more than any other animal.

Each has their own personality yet each exhibits the same cat-like behaviors: sleeping a ton, pouncing on toys, jumping up on things and purring! I love the sound of purring. It is so soothing. The photo below are of my two cats I have now: Zelda (left) and Linguini (right).

They provide me with loads of love and entertainment everyday!

One of my daughters asked me recently which cat was my favorite. I couldn’t come to a conclusion, as they have all been special to me in some way.

What Can You Celebrate Today? I’ve Got 10 Things Right Here

Appreciating what’s going right is really like a celebration. If you want to amp up your vibe and mood everyday, look for things to celebrate. No matter how small, celebrations are good for you! Don’t spend too much time looking at what’s going wrong or you’ll get stuck there, leaving you in a negative mood or even depressed.

This week, I’ve seen some things worth celebrating that I’ll share with you here.

1. More than 150 labs are working worldwide to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. While still far from a solution, 23 of them are using human trials, including the news from Moderna involving a small human trial. I appreciate all these researchers working on a solution for this worldwide pandemic and the people who are participating in the human trials for the greater good of mankind!

2. I appreciate hearing about Phase 3 of a study on a new drug called REGN-COV2 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. This new drug blocks the COVID-19 virus from infecting a person’s cells, which can slow the disease and protect its severity. I appreciate all these researchers around the world working on various solutions to lessen the effect of this public health crisis and the volunteers who are testing everything! They’re heroes in my book!

3. Ruth Bader Ginsberg was released from the hospital. She’s a strong, resilient and inspiring woman and I’m so happy she’s out of the hospital. My country needs her!

4. The Trump administration dropped its restriction for international students and online learning, allowing them to take online courses for the fall, and saving them from having to leave the country or transfer to someplace where there’ll be face-to-face learning. I so appreciate MIT and Harvard for bringing the lawsuit forward and the international education community who expressed outrage to the proposed new policy, as well as various states and cities who joined in. The backlash forced the administration to drop the policy altogether! International students bring so much enrichment to US campuses and I appreciate that they can stay.

5. Some people have been fortunate enough to see Comet NEOWISE across the skies. I personally haven’t seen it but I’ve always loved looking at the sky and seeing the marvels of space. There’s so much beauty up there!

6. Walmart, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Apple, Costco, Starbucks and others require customers to wear masks in their stores. The number of businesses growing with this trend is good for everyone. While I’d prefer to see people voluntarily wear masks in public and more leadership to require it, I applaud the businesses who are trying to help make our society healthier.

7. Speaking of wearing masks, did you see this display of 300 drones in South Korea to thank frontline workers and remind people of the importance of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing? What a beautiful display!

8. I bought my cats a new toy yesterday and it is providing hours of entertainment. This one is an interactive one, so I play with them. I appreciate it when I can get something they like and actually use (unlike the several “beds” I’ve bought that they don’t use. They prefer boxes!) Ha!

9. I saw this morning a report that Rice University will conduct some classes outside, using tents and social distancing with students bringing their own chairs. I do appreciate the creativity that’s coming forth from these times and wish them all the best. Let’s hope it doesn’t storm much!

10. Today is “Iowa Day” on the Big Ten Network. That’s always something I celebrate! Go Hawkeyes!

I Love My Cat – Day 3

After Hurricane Sandy, I rescued a cat from a shelter. You might also say that she rescued me! Of course, we chose each other. Her previous owners had named her Lindsay, but after two days of thinking I’d call her Daisy, my youngest daughter came up with the name Zelda, and the name stuck. This photo is the one from the shelter website, before we met in person, but I knew when I saw her online that she’d be mine. I love my cat, Zelda!

A 3 year old and tiny, she is obsessed with this little cardboard box that was within a much larger package. It has become one of her favorite places to hang out!

She makes me laugh because she would only go into the comfy cat bed I got for her when the cardboard was there! lol

Animals bring such joy to one’s life and Zelda is no exception. I love how she is so gentle, loving and talkative! She talks a lot, albeit quietly, and I love all the sounds she makes. She comes when called upon, never scratches (even when she wants to be let go from a human’s arms), and loves to play.

While she’s a little one, she has a big heart. She’d make an excellent therapy cat, as she immediately senses when humans are sad or distressed and talks while jumping on a lap. She soothes the soul. Her gentle, loving spirit has been such a blessing to me these past 7 months.

She is beautiful, inside and out! Patient- extremely patient- she often tests the human who is playing with her, in a game of who can have the most patience! You’ll often find the human waiting and waiting to see when she’ll jump and catch one of her toys. (The only exceptions are her Da Bird toy, which she is really crazy about and a cute purple fuzzy thing that I got her on the first day home.)

She won the praise at the vet clinic for being the best behaved animal of the day! She really is patient and calm, even in circumstances that aren’t that much fun (like a shot at the vet’s office, and having people poke around her body and in her ears).

She sometimes watches TV. This photo is one I took when she was on my lap (one of her favorite places) and was looking toward the TV. The reflection in her eyes made them appear blue.

I love how she loves to look at herself in the mirror, too! After all, she is a beauty!

Zelda has brightened up my life since she came into my family. Even family members who are not known to be cat lovers remark about how great of a cat she is. I love my Zelda and am so appreciative that she’s now a part of my family.

She likes one of my silk pillows from China as a bed these days – so fitting for Princess Zelda!

P.S. Oh, and in case you didn’t notice: Zelda is a Hawkeye, too! 🙂

“Meow” – In Appreciation of Cats and Kitties

“Meow.” What’s that? I said, “I’m a cat lover!” How about you? I’m also a dog lover (but I’ll save elaborating on that for another post). I grew up with cats and had both dogs and cats in some of my adult life. At this moment in time, I have neither a cat nor a dog, but I have been thinking about getting a pet again for over a year now. With my busy travel schedule, I haven’t felt that the time was right or that I could give my pet the care that she or he deserves. (I also need to check with my landlords that it’s ok!)

Since I’ve been thinking so much about cats, they’ve been hanging out near my place a lot this past year. There’s been several, but I particularly have seen this black cat with white spots a lot. On one of the recent days when I was home sick, as I was washing dishes in the kitchen, I caught something moving out of the corner of my left eye. So I went to the window and much to my surprise, I saw the cat whose been hanging out around my home, her partner and adorable little kitties! So I pulled out my iPod and recorded a bit through my very dirty window.

I think we can all agree to look past the dirty window and marvel at the playfulness of little kitties! I’ve since cleaned the window up so I can get better views of what they’re doing. It’s clear they’ve made my back yard their home and I’m having fun enjoying all these cats while I can. It was especially enjoyable when I was home sick as they brought a big smile to my face and joy to my heart.

So if you like cats, (or even if you don’t), you’ve got to admit they are cute to watch, don’t you think? EnJOY!

And please excuse that dirty window – “Meow!”

Can You Fit Inside That Box?

My good friends at Good Vibe University recently reminded me of the videos of a Japanese cat named Maru. I’d seen them before, but it’s been awhile since I tuned in. Now I’m glad I did. Maru is such a cute cat and the videos are really fun! I appreciate all the people and the cats who make entertaining videos like this one. So here’s one of Maru, who absolutely loves boxes: no matter what their size! I’d say Maru is a perfect example of “out of box” type thinking! Enjoy!