The Groupon Box

"What greater gift than the love of a cat?"

~Charles Dickens

Joey, is napping in a very beloved place, the sacred Groupon Box that my Birkin knockoff purse arrived in last October. Since then, Dylan and Joey have taken turns sleeping in the little brown and green box, and they have come to be friends as they worked out their own feline sharing negotiations. There was a day when I thought Dylan would never share that box with either of his brothers, but I was wrong, Dylan and Joey have actually bonded over the sharing of that chewed up box. And it is probably the least important thing we are taking with us to the new home, unless you consider that it would mean the world to those two wonderful cats to have that box. Dylan worked constantly over weeks to scallop the edges, and form it perfectly to his body, and Joey helped in his own way, and now it's as important to them as a catnip mouse, or Dylan's brush or Joey's Zsu Zsu pet Scoodles. But I couldn't help but wonder, why did they bond over a Groupon box, and why do they love all boxes so much?

Turns out, there is a reason...

And BIG cats love boxes also!

Yay! Boxes!

 

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

My Friend Gladys

"Every year, back comes spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off

 and the ground all mucked up with plants."

~Dorothy Parker

I flew into a fit of nostalgia yesterday, and went downtown for lunch and then a drive around Berkeley. One of my favorite spots to visit is my friend Gladys. She's the lady in the photo above. Gladys and her friends sit inside a special little garden, behind a pretty unique house on Ashby avenue. Gladys always makes me smile, and reminds me about how it's the unusual in life that makes living in this world whimsical and bearable. Gladys has her affairs in order. She knows who she is. She always makes you feel welcome. And when you leave, it's a huge comfort knowing that no matter how busy, or crazy life gets, Gladys will always be a constant in an ever changing world of birds yapping their nasty little heads off.

I don't think her real name is Gladys, but that's who she will always be to me. I am going to miss a lot of things about Berkeley, and Gladys is definitely one of them!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Almighty Dollar

"It's not easy to steal where the landlord is a thief"

Irish Saying

My landlord is a criminal. Period. He knowingly rented an apartment to me, well after he found out that my unit was illegal. That is against the law, so I sought legal help, and we have reached a monetary settlement, rather than I visit the District Attorney and press charges against him. The amount we settled on will help us, but it has placed our family in peril. We thought we were close to closing on our own home this weekend, but it all fell through on Wednesday. Now we are not sure what we will do, except try our best to find a new home that is ready to be purchased as soon as possible. We have the money for the down payment. We have the money for all the fees and closing costs. We have everything packed and pretty much ready to go. What we don't have is a place to go to. 

Having money doesn't make the world go round. With only 60 days to figure things out, rather than the year or more he could have given us, we are backed against the wall. Today I will get up, and get at it again, I will try to find us something... anything that we can maybe purchase and call home. Fortunately, we may have a solid line on someone willing to foster care the boys for a while, if we still haven't found a place by late next month. What a mess. Money doesn't buy happiness. And it doesn't buy love. It also can't buy a soul. My landlord sold his long ago, I can only imagine the look on his face, and the pain in his heart, when he finds out he won't be able to buy it back!

 For The Love Of Money

Mood: Sad

~Me

Condiments

"Failure is the condiment that gives success it's flavor."

~Truman Capote

That's kinda deep!

Mood: Okay... No Really... Okay Just Freaked Out.

~Me :)

Imagine The Possibilities

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.

 If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.

 On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

~Mahatma Gandhi

A pumpkin made entirely out of New England Cheddar cheese! Can you just imagine that? I know, I know, it's not really a pumpkin made of cheese... it's New England Cheddar cheese made entirely out of a pumpkin! Yeah, I know, I know... it's not that either. But just for a moment, imagine the possibilities!

Cheese Meets Pumpkins.

What A Concept!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

My Favorite Tree

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."

~William Blake

This is my favorite tree. I love coming by and looking in it's... eye? Yeah, I know, it's not really an eye, but somehow imagining it to be a tree, with one wise eye, makes me feel better about things. Oh my goodness, the conversations that lovely Liquid Amber tree and I have had! We have discussed the beauty of autumn, the folly of war. We have discussed my crazy sentimentality, and how much we miss certain people. We talk about weather and big life changing decisions. We have enjoyed many lunches together, and the occasional smoothie break. Put it all together and it just life. The tree's and mine. And it goes on for both of us, through the chill and the heat, and the seasons, but autumn is our favorite. We agree that everything seems more reasonable in the autumn.

My Favorite Tree In Autumn

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The Point

"The truth is, I can choose to view tough times as growing times, I can choose to see aging as seasoning and I can choose to focus on whatever good there is to be found in living. 

I choose. After all, it's my point of view."

~Steve Goodier

I have passed this sign in San Francisco, which sits at the entrance to Fort Point, at the Golden Gate Bridge, and I never noticed how kinda silly it is. FORT POINT... has a little sign with a little arrow that... POINTS to FORT POINT.

Get my point?

Crissy Field

San Francisco, California

April 11th 2015

Mood: Happy

Me :)