Changes

For the past eight years I was frustrated, angry and so fearful of that presidential administration that at times it felt as though it was going to engulf me and my life. Since January 20 of this year so much has changed. Sure there are still political things that bother me, but that’s just it, they bother me. I trust now more than I have in a long time.

This president may not be perfect, but damn I feel I can trust him not to purposely plan and scheme to destroy all about our country that we hold sacred. He will stumble along the way because, well, he’s human. But I gotta tell you with all the financial mess that’s going on, I still feel more sane and happy than I have in a very long time. I’ll let the pundits and Washington figure stuff out, I’m going to enjoy my life and my home.

Oh sure, I will laugh at the right wing goof balls as much as ever. Why? Because I love to laugh and they can always be relied upon to provide plenty of humorous material.

Guns, Vapors, Fretting and Why?

We know that the guns used in the gang wars in Mexico come from the US. We also know that the drugs from Mexico are in demand in the US. So how can anyone get a case of the vapors when Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, says the US bears some responsibility for what is occurring on our Mexico/US border?

Now the gun lovers are fretting that if the ban on assault weapons is reinstituted, that will be the first step toward banning all guns. As much as I wouldn’t mind if most guns were banned, that’s just not gonna happen. Just out of curiosity though, who the hell needs an assault weapon anyway and why?

Ribbon Watch?

Pop wanted me to tell you guys that Martini’s “ribbon watch” is over. She said to tell you she still doesn’t know where the ribbon went, but she knows now, after a couple of weeks, where it didn’t “end up”

I have no idea what she is talking about but she said you guys would know. I mean is that some secret code that only dogs and people understand? Maybe we felines should have our own code for things. I suggest a code to represent people who take their dogs out to poop and then look carefully at the poop when the dog is finished. We could call that insane, if you ask me.

Have a great weekend and let’s all celebrate the ending of “ribbon watch” whatever the hell that means. Who cares, any reason to celebrate is good by me.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys)

Too Much Exposure for “Reporters” and Too Little Journalism

By now you have seen and maybe even discussed some of the lame questions asked of President Obama during his press conference Tuesday night. Did you also notice that the reporters asking some of the lamest questions were reporters you see very frequently on TV?

Here’s my take on this. These “reporters” are given too much access to appear in front of TV cameras these days and as a result their egos have overtaken their desire to be good intrepid journalists. It’s not about the story and facts that they are able to ferret out, these days the “reporters” want to be the story. It’s not all about the news, it’s all about them.

I don’t know how good journalist are made, but we can all see how “reporters” can destroy themselves.

A Good Read and A Good Escape

I refuse to allow all this financial negativity to sink it’s talons into me. I am having the time of my life with my new little dog. I am reading more than listening to the talking heads. Does this mean that the current economic mess isn’t bothering me? Hell no, but fretting over it, listening to talking heads on TV telling me what to think about it and wasting time wringing my hands doesn’t do any good either.

Remember the book I mentioned I purchased this past weekend? It was titled “Dog On It”, by Spencer Quinn. I finished it yesterday morning. It was just plain fun to read. It’s about a private investigator and his partner, his dog. The dog is telling the story from his prospective and it’s about a mystery they solved, Everything comes from a dog’s point of view and this dog has a sense of humor. The author is able to unite the comedy of the dog’s thinking and at the same time intrigue the reader with a mystery. It’s light reading and great for escaping the infamous wonders of our world today. If you have ever shared your life with a dog, you will especially enjoy this little treasure and yes, you sure will laugh. In my opinion this book gets extra credit because the dog is telling the story which means he isn’t going to die or be killed, as is the case in so many other stories about dogs.

You Can’t Make any Republicans Happy any of the Time

I am so thoroughly fed up with the Republicans along with the talking heads! I don’t know if they are just envious of President Obama or if they are angry or what. No matter what the man does or says, they get their little panties all twisted.

Rush or whoever is the head of the Republicans must have sent the word out yesterday morning for everyone to criticize how much the President laughed during his 60 Minutes interview. So like hungry guppies they grabbed their talking point tossed to them and chewed on in all morning long. Forget the content of the interview, just focus on a man’s laughter.

I swear, if they could find out what color underwear the man wears, they would criticize that too. People wonder how we got in this financial mess, just look at the scope of the Republicans interest. They are just incapable of seeing the big picture with their little narrow minds.

Garden Inspiration

Michelle Obama inspired us this weekend to stimulate the economy. If the white house can grow arugula, so can we. Sunday morning we set off on a mission. Our mission was to bring our backyard back to life and bring life back to our backyard. We bought several arugula plants and we tossed in a few pots of basil as well, along with some banana pepper plants. Oh yeah, and we brought home all sorts of plants whose flowers will attract butterflies. We bought a new humming bird feeder since a search of the garage convinced us we must have tossed our old one. Of course we bought a couple, okay three, new toys for Martini, plus a big bag of wild birdseed and a new birdfeeder. We stimulated the economy plus we also stimulated our lives, souls and senses. Damn, spring is fun!

For me, no Sunday mission is complete without a quick stop at Barnes & Noble. I wasn’t in the mood for a serious book, just some fun reading for a change. I think I found it in a book titled, “Dog On It” by Spencer Quinn. If all the pages are as fun to read as the first several are, this is book has great potential.

Again, I am so excited about the garden at the white house and the fact that it’s organic is like the icing on the cake. Thank you, Ms Obama, for inspiring our weekend mission. I can’t recall a first lady in a long time who inspired me to do anything.

What really counts

All humans are worried about their finances and that’s certainly understandable all things considered. But sometimes an event will occur that snaps you back to reality and how precious every minute should be. Such an event happened here in the Pop’s world Wednesday.

Mr. Pop was driving to a meeting. As he was driving across a cross road and out of no where there was a car turning right in front of him. He swerved to try to avoid hitting the car but did hit it on the rear passenger side. No one was even slightly injured but Mr. Pop’s work truck will most like be deemed a total loss. The other car had only minor damage and the owner was able to drive it home.

He didn’t tell Pop about this until he came home from the lab that night. You would have to know Pop to know how this freaked her out. Hell, it freaked us all out. Of course the first concern was that no one was injured, but the possibilities of what could have been are just too horrible and frightening to even think about. That moment in time could have changed a lot of lives.

So the reason I, Fred the Cat, am sharing this with you is just to remind you about the old saying, Make every minute count. Don’t take anything for granted. Hug your honeys.

Martini and I hope that Pop gets control of her anxiety pretty soon because she’s driving us crazy with all these extra hugs and petting. Funny though, Mr. Pop doesn’t seem to mind all the extra attention she’s giving him.

Have a great weekend and share the love

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat that loves you guys!)

Who really deserves the wrath?

I had better hide behind the wall here after I say this because I have a feeling some rotten tomatoes are about to come flying my way.

I watched a lot of the AIG hearing yesterday and I have to be honest, I felt some pity for Liddy. The guy has been working since around the first of the year for basically no pay in order to try to get that company back in shape. Then yesterday he had to take the wrath of those representatives for something that was done way before he arrived on the scene.

I have to wonder how much of the wrath coming at him was sincere and how much was simply dramatics on the part of the questioners? I just have to wonder. Where are the culprits who were running the show during the time it was going down the drain? Why aren’t they called there to take the wrath?

Oh, and if you are wondering how things got so bad on Wall Street, you might want to read or reread this from January of this year. The FBI saw what was going on back in 2002, but the white house told them to turn their attention to searching for “terrorists”.

Man Oh Man

You know you’re getting old when St. Patrick’s Day night rolls around and you have no desire at all to go out and party your brains out.

What happened to all that spunk and desire I used to have on March 17th to feel like hell on the morning on March 18th?

Still on Ribbon Watch

Martini is acting normal as can be, so again, so far so good.

Yes, I have been keeping up with the financial news but to tell you the truth so much of it is over my head. I sure do understand how it effects lives like yours and mine, but when it gets into the crimes of Wall Street, my eyes just glaze over. I hope to hell a whole lot of people way smarter than I, have a plan because this is one area where I don’t even understand the terms they use let alone how they work.

A Frightening Moment with Martini

Saturday morning we took Martini to the vet to be chipped. He didn’t make a peep when they inserted the chip but when he got home, he acted like he didn’t feel well. Not sick or anything, just sort of tired.

Later in the day I was picking up some of his toys that seem to scatter themselves all over the house. There is this big stuffed toy that looks like a gingerbread man. It was one of Murphy’s Christmas toys given to him past the time when he played with toys. It’s rather large and Martini would drag it around by the ribbon that was sewn on its neck. When I picked up the gingerbread man toy, I noticed the ribbon was gone as was the little fluffy ball that was attached to the ribbon. I ran to ask if Mr. Pop had found the ribbon and he said he hadn’t seen it and noticed it was missing Friday night.

Well, you can imagine how frantic we were searching all over the house for that ribbon. It was just gone. Our fear was and still is that Martini may have eaten the ribbon, approx. two feet of ribbon about a quarter inch wide. As I said, Martini was already acting a little under the weather. I called the emergency vet clinic and told the vet our suspicions. She confirmed one of my fears, an x-ray would not show material such as the ribbon or the fluffy ball. She said to watch him and if he began to vomit or have diarrhea, bring him in immediately. So far he has shown no signs of either. He is eating just as he normally does and “everything else” is normal too.

We have two hopes, one is that we find the ribbon and the other is that Martini continues to feel and act okay. As of this morning, he continues to appear to be fine. So far, so good.

Ah, Spring will soon be here

For me, as a feline, that means I will be shedding this beautiful fluffy coat I have been wearing all winter. There will enough hair to make three coats for Martini.

For Mr. Pop that will mean mowing the lawn more often and planting all sorts of plants.

For Pop that will mean she will be putting little bowls of gardenias all over the house.

I don’t know what it will mean for Martini as this is his first Spring with us. He probably won’t even notice the change of seasons as all he does is chase his toy ball and squeak those damn squeaky toys Pop buys for him.

Spring is such a great time. New life begins all around. Baby birds, flowers and warmer air every day. To steal a line from a song, “Who could ask for anything more?”

Have a great weekend and if you like, tell me what Spring means to you.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

Broken Heart, Boiling Blood

You have probably seen the news coverage of the tent cities that are springing up around our country, due to people like you and me losing their job, their home, and just about anything else they thought was theirs to keep. It rips my heart all to pieces to see these pitiful little communities and to think how close so many people are to being the next occupants. This truly is one of those things that we thought could never happen here, again.

Then I think about Bernie Madoff sitting up there in his fancy penthouse apartment after stealing so damned much money and my blood begins to boil. I never knew a broken heart could produce boiling blood.

Do you Smoogle?

The word is “smoogle” and it rhymes with Google.

Martini and I smoogle all the time. It’s a combination of smooch and snuggle. Nothing in the world like waking up in the morning to a furry wiggly little dog who wants to begin his day with a series of smoogle moments. Goodness, I have missed mornings like these.

I don’t need them

I know things are bad these days for a lot of people and down right desperate for some. I worry about the same things many people are worried about today, but damn it I do not need air filled talking heads on TV telling me what I should worry about and why.

I don’t need the “gang” on Morning Joe (MSNBC) yelling and screaming about what a failure President Obama has been or what he needs to do. I don’t need CNBC yelling and screaming about the horrible state of Wall Street, because, if I recall correctly, they were cheerleaders for what was happening these last few years. I sure as hell don’t need to hear Glenn Beck (FOX) spelling out his horrid worse case scenarios of doom and gloom. As for Hannity, Rush and Bill O’Reilly, who the hell listens to them to begin with?

Nope, I’m no dummy. I can see and hear for myself what’s going on in our country and around the world. And since I can do that for myself, instead of wasting time listening to the messengers of doom, I have more time to enjoy my simple life with my husband, my cat, my dog, my backyard and the beauties of the changing seasons. As long as I still have those things, life isn’t as bad as some say it should be. I would rather listen to the songs of the birds than the drones of doom and gloom.

A Moment with Martini

I might have had just a little too much fun last night. Oh, and please don’t tell me it’s Monday already.

On the Road Again?

Seems that some humans think President Obama is going too far toward the middle of the road. I would think after the last eight years of the country being stuck in a ditch, all you humans would be grateful for just being back somewhere on the road again, middle or otherwise. But I’m only a feline so what the hell do I know?

Have a great weekend and don’t party too much. Remember, Saturday night to spring your clocks ahead one hour

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (The cat who loves you guys!)

What if?

As I watch more and more locally owned stores go out of business along with some chain stores, I have this eerie thought. What if there comes a time when the only place left to shop in small towns is Wal-Mart ? I have sworn to never set foot in on of those stores, but what if it is the only one left?

I hope I’m being overly pessimistic.

Hot Air and A Steaming Pile

You gotta love it. All these Republicans kissing up to hot air producer, Rush Limbaugh. Even when they are smart enough to call him out, they end up bowing before him and begging his forgiveness.

It must be embarrassing as hell to be a sane Republican these days. Hell, if I were a Republican today, I sure would not publicly admit it. When the so-called head of your party is nothing but a radio talk show host, you have a steaming pile of problems.

Life the old way

You can’t turn on TV these days without hearing how totally “ducking” crazy the republicans are or how awful the financial mess is in our country. So I have pretty much opted out of listening to much of this. Instead I am reconnecting with the simple pleasures of life.

I’m not worried about what I do or don’t have because right now , that doesn’t matter very much. Instead I am remembering what truly makes me happy, not what the world tells me should make me happy. I like my way so much better. There is never enough time to waste on what could have been or what should have been. We only have now.

Saturday nights have become my favorite night of the week. We decide Saturday morning what we will have for dinner that night and do our shopping accordingly. Saturday night Mr. Pop fixes my favorite cocktail for me and he cooks whatever we earlier decided to have. We just talk, have cocktails, play with Martini and totally cocoon for the evening. What a delicious evening in so many different ways.

I don’t know about you, but I can do with a little less “stuff” because that was never really the source of happiness anyway. Life with less worry and clutter works well for me.

A Moment with Martini

Fired up?
Ready to go?
Always!