meandmyprojects

[meandmyprojects]

The last time I pulled this card, it turned out to be very very true. Doesn’t count though in a daily tarot practice?

#tarot #daily tarot #the tower

[meandmyprojects]

I could always use some strength, but also maybe some discretion, and some clarity. I do like that lion, and I feel like I could be friends with him, too. 

#tarot #daily tarot #strength

[meandmyprojects]

I’m stubbornly not interested in this offer, or in the other cups at my feet. Maybe I’m sad, or frustrated. Does this have to do with me wanting to do things a certain way and fighting anything else, particularly any outside help?

#tarot #daily tarot #four of cups

[meandmyprojects]

#fostercat

[meandmyprojects]

I’m being ferried away from something, and this is making me sad. I supposed I could be traveling towards something better, but maybe still am feeling a loss. Or, I am the ferrrywoman, taking someone away. None of these options resonate tonight, but at least I am learning and thinking. 

#tarot #daily tarot

[meandmyprojects]

On a pentacle streak. I’m in a bad place, but help is available? Should I be looking for outside help? This card feels comforting, although I don’t know that it’s meant to feel that way. There’s something calming about a lit up church on a snowy evening, although I do really dislike Christmas. 

#daily tarot #tarot #five of pentacles

[meandmyprojects]

Day 2:

I’ve started pulling a tarot card every night as a way to calm myself down and make my mind feel more connected to my body. I didn’t write about day 1, but shuffle and shuffles later, on day 2 I get the very same card: Eight of pentacles. Keep chiseling away? I guess so. 

#tarot #daily tarot #tarot cards #eight of pentacles

[meandmyprojects]

[meandmyprojects]

Litter box support group

I started one, on Facebook. 

#litterbox #litter box #cat #badcat #badkitty #litterboxlife #cattraining #litterboxtraining

[meandmyprojects]

My cat website! 

#cat #litter box #litterboxlife #litter box problems #litterboxavoidance #fostercat #badkitty #badcat #justuseyourbox

[meandmyprojects]

Litter box retraining, for cats

My cat stopped using her litter box in June of 2016, and didn’t use it again until October of 2017. It was a very, very long 16 months. 

During that time, I did *tons* of research, and tried so many things to get my cat back in the box. I found that it was extremely difficult to find information on how to get cats with advanced litter box aversion back in their box, so I put together a website to help people help their cats. I really think it’s a good, easy to read website (but please let me know if you have any suggestions!) but I’m still not sure how to get it out in the world and to start helping cats. 

#litterbox #litterbox avoidance #litter box #litter box retraining #cat training #bad cat #bad kitty #justuseyourbox

[meandmyprojects]

Slowly learning Tarot

#tarot #modernwitchtarotdeck #tenofpentacles #learntarot

[meandmyprojects]

Raven’s words

Raven is our 7 year old anxiety ridden bully breed mix. After seeing how dogs are learning how to communicate with their owners via buttons programmed to say words, (aka whataboutbunny.com and hunger4words.com) I purchased a set of 4 Learning Resources buttons. Raven barks when she hears noises outside, so can I get her to, instead of barking, tap the buttons for “Neighbor” and “Outside?” Can me just trying to communicate with her more about what is going on in our neighborhood help alleviate some of her anxiety (and her barking?) I’m not sure yet. We don’t have an ideal learning environment (chaotic animal & kid filled household) and Raven’s anxiety gets in the way of her focus. The buttons arrived a month ago, and admittedly haven’t been working with her as much as we need to if we want to see her tapping a button. Now that we are 11 guinea pigs lighter, maybe we will have the time and the energy to devote to helping her learn. 

#talkingdog #bullybreed #doganxiety #dogtraining #positivereinforcement #pitbull #whataboutbunny #hunger4words

[meandmyprojects]

Me and my writing project

I started it in 2009, and I was SOOO excited about it. It was going to be the book that I worked on during my whole MFA program at UC Riverside Palm Desert, and I thought it was the most original idea ever. A novel about a machine that records dreams! What else do you need to know in order to understand that this is going to be a REALLY GREAT BOOK!

I’m not sure where my confidence bordering on delusion came from. This isn’t a prevailing facet of my character, but does surface from time to time. I was 28 when I came up with the idea, and my goal was to publish it by the time I turned 30. I thought that simply writing it and working with my famous writing professors and being extremely determined was enough to make this happen. 

I did have a few agents interested, so I don’t know. I must have been doing something right. I don’t remember the plot of that first iteration. An interested agent had me work with a developmental editor, and $3000 later, she had me turning it into a medical thriller complete with detectives. I tried to contact the interested agents again once the revision turned overhaul was complete, but they weren’t interested, and, unsurprisingly, neither was I. I broke up with writing for a year or so, trying to get myself to see it as a bad habit that made me sad a disconnected from the world. 

But then, I started writing again. I started new books. I wrote some memoir pieces. One got published and nominated for an award, so I tried to write a book length memoir based on that essay. It’s completed, on some backup disk shoved in the bottom of my green Ikea desk, behind all the paperwork I’ve saved: parenting handouts from my daughter’s co-op preschool, my pets’ (and there are many) medical records, a copy of “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” and notes to myself about how my feelings of self doubt may someday manifest as ailments in my uterus.

All of the new books I was writing though slowly started to turn into my old book. Clearly, my subconscious saw this as an unfinished project. I needed to finish it, again. 

And again. And again. And again. The latest draft on my computer is titled 38. This may be the 38th time I’ve written it. I should have kept count. 

This time, it’s going to be different. (Isn’t this what all delusional people say?) I’ve sent it off to writing friends, and received their comments. One person wrote to me twice, emphasizing how much she liked it! I nearly cried. “Someone liked my book,” I said to everyone I came in contact that day. My husband, who prides himself on his brutal honesty read it as well. I’m 11 years older and hopefully less delusional. Still confused about my place in the world as a writer. And my place in the world, period. 

#writing #writingabook #novelwriting #writinganovel #scifi #scifiwriting #scifimystery #mystery #fiction writing #fictions #fiction #MFA #revision #uterus

[meandmyprojects]

Nom nom

#fosterguineapigs #fosteranimal #guineapigs #cavie #cavies #nomnom

[meandmyprojects]

Wheeking during ex-pen time!

#fosteranimal #fosterpet #fostering #fosterguineapigs #guineapigs #wheek wheek #wheek #muddle

[meandmyprojects]

Guinea pigs Aunt Carol, Maude, Elvis, Ira and Bouncing Chair

#foster #fosteranimal #fosterguineapigs #guineapigs #muddle