Happy new year! Although Hans and I don’t stay up late to celebrate, we still find ourselves regarding the new year as an opportunity to set and achieve some goals. 

My son, Zachary is the king of goalsetting. He makes graphs and charts and checks off many daily activities that he feels are important to contribute to his larger goals. I think this is a good idea as most of us merely “mouth” our resolutions. More often than not, the goals, like getting in better shape, are not ones that are attainable in just one day. Breaking our goals down into achievable smaller pieces might just be the key to actually reaching them. 

What are my particular goals? I continue to feel better so it might be time to start building some muscle. I also want to get this journal onto WordPress to make it more accessible. 

Had I written in my journal yesterday, I would have told you about my distress over the new behavior that mama cat had been displaying.

When I brought her home with the three kittens, she confined herself to the third floor of the Catio, occasionally hissing, or showing her teeth at me. She showed no predilection to come down when I was feeding or changing the litter box or petting the kittens. Two days ago, that changed. When she heard me coming, she would jump down as fast as she could, and charge at me, hissing and making a low rumbling growl . This growl continued the entire time that I was in the room.  Last night, I spent considerable time mulling over the situation and decided I might need to use a squirt bottle so I could access the kittens. I was also planning to have Sue come help me get her in a crate so I could return her to the shelter, and she would undoubtably be returned to a cat colony after spaying her.  I haven’t even named her because of her behavior.

Well, the new year brought new surprises! This morning, I came down to the cat area and mama cat rubbed against the wire mesh of the enclosure, indicating that she wanted me to pet her. Hesitantly, I opened the catio and sat on the floor outside the enclosure. Momma  came up to me, purring, wanting to be petted. What brought on this transformation? I do not know, but I am extremely happy that it happened. I have since been down to pet her again and experienced the same acceptance … time to name her and her brood.  I have chosen Trixie for Mama and borrowing from the Huckleberry Hound Show, the kittens will be Dixie and pixie and Mr. Jinks .

The new year continues to heap on the surprises. My brother has reached out with updates on his wife’s bypass surgery and inquiried about my health and was very interested inrDelilah (we are both huge dog lovers). After my dad’s memorial, which he did not attend and the dinner which he did not attend, I had not anticipated maintaining a relationship with him, but I will welcome it. Life is too short to live in the past..