Looking For A Little Blog Post Direction

Hi blog readers! The ones of you who are still popping in from time to time. I was just checking my stats and there have been quite a few page views, surprisingly, since I haven't posted in a couple of weeks.

While I haven't been here, I have actually been thinking about and planning the future for my blog posts, where to take this blog from here, blog post ideas, etc. Since I began writing this blog two years ago, I've sort of let it go wherever it wants to go with no real planning, just whatever comes to mind and is a part of my day or life.

That's probably what will continue to take place, but at least I have good intentions on direction now or at least I'm trying to obtain some direction.  Anyway, here's kind of what I have in mind for future blog posts:

1. For all you Asperger/autism parents that follow my blog, you have probably all left by now  because I have been writing very little about autism or adventures with my Aspie son. Since he's away at college and I am several hundred miles away from him right now there is very little to write about lately that I feel wouldn't violate his privacy. You may remember the bed bug incident (Here) that happens to be the most popular post of all time I think because of those computer robot things. Go figure! When new issues arise, however, you may find a blog post here about it. Surviving bed bugs is important!
2. Triathlon training and races will continue to be a part of this blog since it's a huge part of my life. Fitness is actually going to be an even bigger part of my life because we just purchased a gym franchise and will open two gyms in the St. Petersburg area within the next 6 months that I will run. This should keep me pretty darn busy in the days ahead. Don't be surprised to see some blog posts on this. Hopefully, not stressed out, pulling out my hair kind of blog posts.
3. Fashion, especially shoes, will always be a small part of this blog. I love clothes, but hate shopping. If I loved shopping, there would be many more fashion posts, but one very unhappy husband. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, my photographer got another job and quit on me (Read about it Here) and I'm terrible at selfies so this limits the fashion posts too.
4. What I eat, places I frequent, travel, etc. will always be a part of this blog. I have so many places already that I need to share but haven't had the time. We just moved to a new city that has much to offer and I like to share my discoveries here. Expect to see more of this soon. Doesn't everybody like pictures of food? Aren't you all just dying to see what I'm eating?
5. Cats. That's a given. Whether you like those posts or not, my cats are the coolest, most talented supreme cats ever so expect lots of blog posts about their awesomeness. You're welcome!
6. The Murph, my husband, who continually cracks me up and gives me lots of fodder to steal from. He hates it when I pick up on his little, sort of obnoxious sayings and idioms and overuse them. Why? Because they ARE obnoxious and funny to strange people like me who have a dry sense of humor and are full of sarcasm in general. Expect to see lots of it here and any other things he does that amuses me.

Well, I think that takes care of just about everything I write or plan to write about here. I promise to get back to regular postings. You've probably enjoyed the break from my crazy randomness, but then again, you keep coming back for more.

It must be the cat pictures. I hate to disappoint so here you go... One more Cadence, the photo bombing freak cat, picture. 

You're welcome!

Some Serious Purring

Today I feel compelled to do a post on my sick kitty, Phantom. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that the majority of my posts involved kitties until Phantom decided to start his own blog (Here).

Phantom was diagnosed with liver cancer last June and heart disease last March. It has been a year since he first started showing signs of his illness and it has been a long, hard journey.  He has been to at least 4 local vets as we have moved from Birmingham, Alabama, to Pensacola Beach, Florida and finally to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

 He has also been to two different oncologist starting with Auburn University small animal clinic and finally Bluepearl in Tampa and Clearwater. All have been excellent and very supportive and I appreciate every one of them for taking care of Phantom even when there was very little hope and his prognosis was poor.

We've tried two different chemotherapy drugs as well as some holistic herbal things. These have prolonged his life and given him a great quality of life for several months. He was very, very sick last June, but until this past week he has been doing really good. Eating, playing, bullying the other cats, catching dragonflies, monitoring the food situation - just being normal Phantom.

He has been very brave throughout the journey with all the vet visits, blood work, medications, but now we may be nearing the end of the journey.

I still have hope, but the vets say there is nothing left to do. His liver is failing, if not already not working. He has had to have subcutaneous fluids given almost daily since Friday and I'm having to syringe feed him.

He is still being very brave, but his poor little body is so weak.

This blog post is for him. I am so very thankful he has been a part of our lives these past 9 years. He has been the best kitty for my son and me.  Phantom has missed the boy since he went away to college three years ago. Maybe this is his way of saying, "I've done my job for the boy, now I have to go."

Cadence will miss him too. He and Phantom have been together since they were both kittens. Cadence and our other cat, Ed seem to know that something is wrong. They haven't been eating much the past three days either.

I am still hoping and praying for a miracle, but now I don't think it's going to happen so I have to be prepared too.

We are just going to love Phantom and keep him comfortable until it's time for him to go.

He's beautiful and the best cat ever!

Letting Go Of Fear

This morning one of my favorite autism mom bloggers, Inner Aspie, wrote a blog post that hit home with me. It was about letting go of your fears. I have started going to a Christian counselor to help me deal with my anxieties and the stress of moving and major life changes, including dealing with a family pet who is dying of cancer.

Inner Aspie has a friend, Heather, who developed lung cancer -mesothelioma. Eight years ago she had the lung removed and has been cancer free ever since.  On the anniversary of her lung removal, she and her family celebrate Lung Leaving Day by writing their biggest fears on plates and smashing them in the fire. This process helps her deal with her fears of the cancer coming back and some other fears she has by writing them down and letting them go.

Just last Friday as I was at my counseling appointment, we were discussing letting go. Letting go of my fears and all the other things I try to hold on to too tightly and control. This goes back a long way with me. One of the many examples was I held on to tight to my son, who has Aspergers Syndrome and tried to control too much. I didn't have enough faith that he would be all right if I stepped back and gave him some breathing room. He struggled though school I was overwhelmed with the idea that it was up to me to get him through school and to graduation. I felt it was my responsibility and if I didn't then I was a failure.


Now that my son is in college he is doing so much better. I "let go" when he was a freshman and hired a tutor to help him. This allowed me to back off a little and it forced him to take responsibility for his own journey and he's doing just fine. Believe me, I needed this for my own mental health as well! Letting other people help took so much of the burden off of me.

Right now I've discovered I'm doing the same thing with my sick cat. Holding on too tight. My fear of losing this cat, who is my son's cat, has kept me hanging on too much. I realized I have to "let go and let God". When we hang on too tight to something then God can't do his work. Nothing in this world belongs to us. Everything belongs to him including my son, my cat, my husband, the clothes on my back. I have nothing so why hang on that tight?

My counselor told me when I have fear, I can't have faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. It is so great when we can let go of our fears and have faith that God will take care of everything. It takes so much of the burden off. I wish I had realized this when my son was younger and struggling. Then I could have helped him much better without those feeling of failure and fear that I had back then.

I went to Heather's web site today and wrote down my biggest fear on a paper plate and threw it in the fire. You can do the same by clicking on Heather's site here.