Daily Prompt; What Gives You Direction in Life?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
What gives you direction in life?
View all responses

Many people and things give me direction in life. In fact my family gives me inspiration even though they are quite dysfunctional some of the time. Well the majority of the time my family is dysfunctional. My friends also give me direction in my life. Friends and family have helped a great deal with giving me direction in my life.

Another thing that helps give me direction in my life is my meditation practice as well my new faith in Buddhism or at least what I am learning about Buddhism. I am grateful for learning about Buddhism.

Of course my recovery and my cat help me give direction in my life.

Daily Prompt; How Do You Plan Your Goals?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
How do you plan your goals?
View all responses

For me planning my goals is something I continuously evaluate and reevaluate as sometimes your goals need to change. Also, goals can be accomplished and for me when this happens, I tend to add another goal or two. I also use SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-based. So for me goals are forever changing as well as being accomplished if done correctly.

Daily Prompt; What’s Your Favorite Month Of The Year? Why?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?
View all responses

If I have to pick a favorite month of the year, I would say it would be January. The reason, I say January is because it is a reminder for me and many others that you can start over. I know you don’t have to start over in January but it is a good reminder on what you want to focus on for your life. I reevaluate multiple times a year on how I want my life to be. Sometimes I completely change my goals while other times I barely tweak my goals.

Goodbye 2024 & Hello 2025

Posted on by Gertie

Happy New Year, World!!! I am so happy to say goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025. We are just over an hour and a half into the New Year here in Seattle and so far 2025 has been a good year. Granted it only has been an hour and half and I can only hope this year continues to be a good year.

I watched the firework and drone show that was put on at the Seattle Space Needle here at home in my pajamas with my cat, Billie in my lap snoring as he slept. I loved the drone and firework show that was done at the Space Needle and I am extremely impressed by it.

I am extremely hopeful for this year and what it has to bring. I am hoping that I will be able to get a job this year as I had quit my last job in early January of last year (2024). I had to quit for various reasons and the main reason was due to the fact that my mental health was starting to decline and I needed to focus on my mental health. For me I need to practice what I preach when I work as a peer specialist which means if I need to not work to focus on my mental health then that is what I need to do as my recovery is one of the most important things in my life.

One of the things I am looking forward to is that I will be starting the process with being a volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium. I will be doing an online orientation then an interview. I signed up to be a volunteer summer of last year (2024) but sadly the three volunteer positions I applied for were full. Now I will be doing orientation for two of the positions as well as an interview for two of them. Sadly, the third volunteer position is full and I am on the wait-list but I am okay with that.

Also this year marks five years since I started volunteering at PAWS Cat City. In fact my five year anniversary of my first shift at Cat City is Tuesday, January 7th. I really enjoy volunteering at Cat City and I am happy that I started the process when my last cat, Lil Gertie got a cancer diagnosis and continued the process when she crossed the rainbow bridge due to a mini stroke on Thanksgiving Day of 2019 along with the cancer. It was and still is one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

I do not have anything else to write about in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Happy New Year and Peace Out, World!!!

New Years Eve 2024

Posted on by Gertie

Happy New Years Eve, World!!! It is New Years Eve 2024 here in Seattle and I really hope 2025 will be better for me. It may still be 2024 here in Seattle but in places like Australia it is already 2025 and I hope they had fun bringing the New Year. As far as Seattle goes, the Seattle Space Needle will have fireworks as well as having a drone show. The drone show will be every thirty minutes starting at 10:00pm and the firework show will start about a minute before midnight to countdown to the New Year and last until 12:09am. The drone show is new this year. I have gone to the Space Needle in the past years but not in the last few years.

In fact, I will be bringing in the New Year at home with my cat, Billie as we watch the firework show from the Space Needle on television. Sometimes spending New Years at home with your pets at home in your pajamas is the best way to bring in the New Year. Or at least it is for me. There is nothing like spending quality time with my cat, Billie especially on special days like bringing in the New Year.

I don’t have much more to write about in this particular blog post. I want to thank you the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader reading my blog, I would not continue to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Happy New Years, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer a double shift at PAWS Cat City
  • Read
  • Art (diamond art/painting)

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails
  • Read
  • Art (diamond art/painting)

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Read
  • Art
  • Christmas Eve service with friends
  • Christmas Eve dinner with friends
  • Watch Christmas movies

Wednesday

  • Christmas Midnight Mass
  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Christmas breakfast by myself
  • Go watch the movie Mufasa; The Lion King
  • Christmas Dinner by myself
  • Read
  • Watch Christmas movies

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Read
  • Art (diamond art/painting)

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails
  • Read
  • Art (diamond art/painting)

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Go to the U-District farmers market
  • Read
  • Art (diamond art/painting)
  • Watch movies

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It is Saturday evening and time to do my weekly check-in. Or at least I am starting my weekly check-in back up with you the reader. Before I do my check-in I want to say Blessed Yule and Happy Solstice. Today is the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. I am looking forward to tomorrow as it starts being lighter longer. Granted only by a minute or two but I am so looking forward to more light.

This past week has not been the easiest of weeks for me. My depression and Complex-PTSD (C-PTSD) have been acting up so badly that I have been dissociating and isolating. Neither which are good for me or anyone for that matter. To add to the depression and PTSD, I am dealing with grief of my mom’s death on Tuesday, November 26th which was two days before Thanksgiving. Sadly, Christmas Day of this year is one day before the one month mark of my mom’s death. I miss her so very much.

Since I have been isolating this past week, I have been hanging out at home with my beloved senior kitty, Billie. Billie has been helping me so much with dissociation and not doing it. I am so grateful for my cat as he has a calming affect on me and helps me keep my head on straight.

Despite being in a dissociated state for most of the week, I do remember watching a lot of movies. Specifically, I have been watching a lot of Christmas and holiday related movies. I watch Christmas movies that are nostalgic to me and many other people in the world.

Besides watching Christmas and holiday related movies, I have been reading. I specifically have been reading a Christmas book. In fact, I read a Christmas book every holiday season. It is a holiday tradition for me and I really look forward to it every year.

I do not have anything else to check-in or write about in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Struggling In Seattle – Missing My Mom

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! I am currently struggling with the death of my mom. Tomorrow (Tuesday) makes three weeks since my mom died. It has been a very challenging three weeks as the holiday season is in full force and my mom loved Christmas more than anything. I know this might be the hardest holiday season for me as it is just too close to my mom’s favorite holiday is Christmas. I also wonder if next year’s holiday season will be hard as I would have more time to grief. At this point in time I don’t know if this Christmas will be harder than next year but I will do my best to learn ways to cope with the grief of my mom’s death for next Christmas.

The one way I can cope in this is to cuddle up with my cat, Billie and read. The two books that I am reading are Twelve Days of Christmas Horror Volume 1 by Rick Wood as well as Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith. I have only read a couple of chapters from each book but have not enough figures which one I will like best. Now I should cuddle with my cat and read a holiday book I just told you about.

I do not have much more to write about in this particular post. I do want thank my readers for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated that you readers read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog I would not be continuing to write my blog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Dinner at Red Robin with friends
  • Do artwork (diamond art/painting)
  • Read

Monday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Clean apartment
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails
  • Do artwork (diamond art/paint)
  • Read

Tuesday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Breakfast with partner
  • Appointment with peer specialist
  • Do artwork (diamond art/painting)
  • Read

Wednesday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning phone calls and emails
  • Dinner with friends at Red Robin
  • Do artwork (diamond art/painting)
  • Read

Thursday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Holiday lunch at Emerald House (a mental health club house)
  • Do artwork (diamond art/painting)
  • Read

Friday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning phone calls and emails
  • Dinner with friends at Red Robin
  • Do artwork (diamond art/painting)
  • Read

Saturday

  • Mindful meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Brunch with partner
  • Artwork (diamond art/painting)
  • Read

A Romantic Saturday With My Partner

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I started off the day with my partner showing up to my place to make me a romantic holiday season breakfast. It was the perfect start for a yucky weather day here in Seattle. A type of day that is meant to stay inside all day which my partner, Junior and I have done all day and the weather hasn’t really improved.

After cleaning up after a wonderful holiday season breakfast, my cat Billie joined us for a day of movies. At some point during one of the movies, my cat, Billie decided to go and lay on his cat tree as he looked out the window and Junior and I had some very amazing sex. Junior was gentle as always due to my PTSD and thankfully we didn’t need to stop due to my PTSD.

After Junior and I were done making love we decided to watch some holiday movies that we both love watching. In fact many of the movies we watched were movies we enjoyed watching as children. We reminisced about the movies and how they are nostalgic. Of course, my cat, Billie joined us watching holiday movies once he was done watching the trees blow as it rained outside the window.

As I write this particular blog post, Junior is making the both of some dinner. It smells extremely good and it is making my mouth water. I love Juniors cooking and I wish I could cook as well as he does. I am so grateful to have Junior as my partner. He treats me well and is patient with me which is something that I am extremely appreciative of.

I do not have anything else to write about in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!