Tag Archives: Seattle

Mindful Monday Type of Day

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It is just another day in Seattle except it was a day I was able to see a friend I haven’t seen since the last day of school our freshman year of high school. She is here on a business trip and it was great to see this friend after nearly 25 years of not seeing her. The best part of seeing this friend was seeing her reaction the weather in Seattle today. Today’s Seattle report goes like this: Sun, Rain, More Sun, Snow, More Sun, Drizzle, More Sun which isn’t surprising to those of us who have lived here for quite some time. My friend asked me if this was “normal weather,” and my answer was “what you see is what you get” and then we both laughed. My friend said she wouldn’t be able to get use to weather like today and I said good we don’t need anymore people and we laughed again. It was nice seeing this friend and will be seeing her again tomorrow evening.

Now that I am home for the evening, I am missing my beloved cat immensely. There isn’t a day where I don’t think about my cat, Lil Gertie. I will be getting another kitty, eventually. My therapist wrote a letter as well as filled out the proper paperwork for me to turn into my landlord to be able to get approved for a reasonable accommodation for an emotional support animal (ESA). My new therapist concurs with my previous therapist that having an animal around for me would be helpful for my recovery. I have to agree that having a cat is quite helpful for my mental health recovery. So, once I get an emotional support animal approved by my landlord I will be getting another kitty.

Having an emotional support animal is just one of many ways to help me with my recovery. Another way to help me with my recovery is to listen to some mindfulness meditation twice daily. This has helped me with my anxiety as well being able to be more focused on what I need to do in the moment and for the day.  Now on something else that is a type of meditation for me.

That is watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. There is something meditative about Bob Ross and his paintings. I am able to be mindful watching the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I will be attempting to paint what he does but I am sure it won’t look like

Friday Night Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday, World!!! Well, it is still Friday in my corner of the world. Fridays are the days I stay up all night so I can sleep all day on Saturdays. I sleep all day on Saturdays because I work a twelve and a half hour shift on Saturday nights. Overall, I enjoy my job even though I am going to start actively look for a new job. The reason why I am actively looking for a new job is because my current position at work is a night shift and the day shift positions at my current employer are ones that I most likely wouldn’t enjoy.

On another note the snow is now gone in Seattle. Well, mostly gone depending on where in the city you are in. I am grateful it is gone. I am not the biggest fan of the snow or the cold. The snow even had both PAWS in Lynnwood and PAWS Cat City close on Tuesday with limited staff and volunteers so my shift as well as the later shift didn’t need to go in due the early snow closer I was sad about it.

Despite being sad about not being to volunteer for my regular shift on Tuesday, I was able to pick up a shift on Thursday. I was able to shadow a couple of experience volunteers with the adoption process which made me happy to see cats get adopted. In fact four cats got adopted and was happy to be able to see it from the other side as I remember being the adopter when I was adopting Lil Gertie. So experiencing as a volunteer was awesome. Granted I was only observing due to the fact I am new and still learning the ropes. The two shift I have done at PAWS Cat City have been awesome and am beyond grateful for the opportunity to volunteer.

I do not have much more to say. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Friday as well as an awesome weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Snow, Snow Go Away

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It is snowing here in Seattle and I want the snow to go away. I personally don’t like the snow as it means it is way too cold outside for me. I am originally from Southern California and have never been a fan of snow. I have gotten use to the dreary weather here in Seattle but I don’t think I can ever get use to snow and colder weather.

The only thing I had to do today was go get my meds. Thankfully, I all I needed to get to the pharmacy was use my own two feet as my pharmacy is within walking distance for me. I wish I didn’t have to pick up my meds twice a week and completely understand why I have to. I am hoping my psychiatric nurse practitioner will change back to weeklies. I would prefer monthly but will be okay with weekly.

Even though I didn’t have to volunteer today, I did so as I was asked to come in as they were short handed due to the snow and I live in walking distance of PAWS Cat City so it was easy for me to get there. There is only one cat a Cat City at the moment so I basically cleaned and spent time with the only kitty. The cat is a senior kitty and is sweet as sweet can be. My regular shift is tomorrow and am looking forward to it.

Other than getting my meds and happily volunteering unexpectedly, I read. I started reading a book that I started reading a while ago but never finished. So, I started from the beginning and am hoping to finish it by the time Emerald City Comic-con happens as the author is going to be there. I love reading and comic-cons and how the can be combined.

I don’t have much more to say. I just want to thank everyone for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone in the Seattle area stays safe during this snow. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! This is my weekly check in and I really didn’t do as much as I had planned on doing. The main thing I did was hang out with friends. Mostly hanging out with friends throughout the week is what helped me the most. It appeared that hanging out with friends including eating food and lots of it. So, I had great company and awesome food.

Another thing that I did this week was volunteer at PAWS Cat City. It was mostly learning the day to day operations. Some of which I already knew as I experienced it as an adopter of a cat at PAWS Cat City. I also got a lot of kitty time. Specifically with one cat in particular and I am hope she got adopted. I am really happy that I am volunteering there as it is going to be a great healing process for me in regards to Lil Gertie and I feel like this is a way I am honoring her memory.

I didn’t attend any of my groups this week. I didn’t attend the D&D group due to a migraine and really want to attend it. Now as far as my DBT group it was cancelled “due to snow” at 8:30ish in the morning when I know for a fact there was no snow in the city of Seattle and informed the clinician of it. He then stated “oh it is cancelled due to the potential of snow.” When I asked why he didn’t wait till later in the morning to make sure if the weather would actually have it snow the clinician didn’t have an answer so I said bye and hung up. It didn’t snow in Seattle on Thursday and was quite upset I was lied to.

Now I am on way to work. Thankfully, no snow yet. I hope we don’t get snow as I am not a big fan of the white stuff. I do not like the cold that comes with it as well. Snow is a big deal here in Seattle and pretty much closes down the city. Anyone who has lived in Seattle during snow already knows this. I think I should finish getting ready for work. I hope work goes well tonight.

I do not have much more to say. I want to thank you for reading my blog as it is greatly appreciated from end of things. Have a great weekend everyone. Peace Out, World!!!!

Grief is a Sign that You Have Loved and Loved Greatly

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! Right now I am crying over my cat, Lil Gertie. I am missing her a great deal at this very moment in time. Grieving her has been one of the most difficult things I have done in my life. But grieving is a sign that you have loved and loved greatly. I loved my cat, Lil Gertie so much. She gave me peace when she was alive and I think if I do some form of are that it will give me a sense of peace. I think I will watch the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross as he is peaceful. Maybe I can find some inspiration from Bob Ross from what he paints so I can get some idea about painting Lil Gertie.

I guess I am going to watch The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I hope it will help with the grief. I love Lil Gertie so much. I think I am trying to add something from Seattle in it as well but won’t be anything like Bob Ross’s paintings. Anyway, I hope I get inspired.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I do no have much more to say. Lets just hope there is no snow in Seattle. Have an awesome weekend everyone. Peace Out, World!!

Feeling Good About Volunteering

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! So, my last blog post was in regards to my anxiety regards to my new volunteer job at an animal shelter. It is the same animal shelter where I adopted my beloved cat, Lil Gertie. The staff and most of the volunteers where I adopted Lil Gertie, remembers her and have given me their condolences.

In fact, I already feel like I am apart of the the “family” where I volunteer at. They are so accepting and caring. When I arrived for my first shift there was a “welcome to the family” card signed by staff and volunteers.

Anyway to get on to my first day, I volunteer at a local animal shelter that is known well to the Seattle area. I volunteer at PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society) satellite cat adoption center; PAWS Cat City. PAWS main location is in Lynnwood where they have a wildlife center as well as an adoption center where they adopt both cats and dogs. Like I said I volunteer at PAWS Cat City which is in the city of Seattle and is a satellite center where they adopt cats only.

The community where PAWS Cat City  is located is awesome. Many of the the volunteers at Cat City are college students and they are protective of Cat City as they should be. But the thing I find heartwarming is that the homeless community is just as protective as the college student community and it is something both of these completely different communities can agree on. In fact the homeless community makes sure that the block Cat City is on as well as the alley is kept clean and makes sure it doesn’t get tagged up. In fact the homeless community have even helped with preventing any crimes against PAWS Cat City. I find this heartwarming because my paid job is working with the homeless community so I feel like I am where I am suppose to be with volunteering at Cat City.

I hope to be able to take some pictures of available cats to post them here but I am not sure what the policy is. So that means, I am waiting on a response to an email to see if it would be okay. If it turns out to be okay then I will post pictures. I most likely would post pictures of cats that have been at Cat City the longest as I want good homes for them.

I do not have much more to say as I do not want to become repetitive. I want to thank each one of you for reading blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Friday. Mostly importantly I hope everyone has an awesome weekend. For those who live in the Seattle area, I would like to remind you all to be safe if it starts snowing. Peace Out, World!!!

Sleepless in Seattle

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It is 3:33 in morning in my corner of the world. That means I am Sleepless in Seattle once again. I am not a big fan of insomnia and it is just anxiety provoking which makes that much more challenging to get to sleep. Anxiety is my friend at the moment because I am anxious about starting my new volunteer job at an animal shelter that I adopted my Lil Gertie from but at least I will feel the love I received from her as I think this is what she would want me to do. I love my Lil Gertie so much and wish she didn’t have to cross the rainbow bridge but am grateful that she was in my life.

Since I haven’t been able to sleep I have been reading up on cats and their behavior since I will be volunteering with cats. I also have been reading up on cats in general. I have been learning a great deal about cats by reading and hope this will help me with my volunteer job and when I eventually do get another cat.

When I haven’t been reading about cat’s I have been listening to music as I did some art work. Actually, the type of art I have been doing is coloring. I am coloring a picture with both cats and dogs in it. The music and art work by coloring is quite helpful for me especially when I am unable to sleep.

I do know have much more to say as I will just repeating the same thing over and over which is something I don’t want to do. So, I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday and the week ahead of you. Peace Out, World!!!

First Day of Autumn

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Happy first day of autumn. Today, totally feels like an autumn day here in Seattle. Hell, it has been feeling like autumn for most of the month of September here in Seattle. In fact it is going to be one of those days I will stay home and cuddle with my cat especially since I have already done what I needed to do both work wise and errand wise.

Before I continue on what I am going to do for the rest of the day, I want to tell you about my one on one, supervision with my supervisor went. My supervisor and I had a supervision today. We discussed things going on at work. The best part of it was that he is “happy” with my notes and is “impressed” that I asked ways that I could communicate better with the young adults better. My supervisor informed me of various ways and he thinks I do a “pretty good job” with communicating overall.

Now on to what I am going to do on this very fall like weather on the first day of autumn. First and fore most I will be be spending some time with my cat, Lil Gertie. Lil Gertie is my pride on joy and am happy that I adopted her. In fact when I went to adopt a cat, Lil Gertie chose me and when she did, she rescued me. I didn’t really rescue her because I think she does more for me than I do for her. I love my cat, Lil Gertie so very much and it’s hard to think how my life would be different if I didn’t have my cat.

Since the day is a yucky autumn day I am going to stay inside for the reminder of the day. Besides spending it with my cat, I will be reading. I am reading How to Be an Antiracist. Yes, I am still reading because I put it down for about a week so I could focus on finishing up another book for a book club I am a part of. I love to read and am grateful that it is one of my go to things to do for relaxing as well as a DBT skill.

Another thing I will be doing today is art work. Specifically, I will be coloring. I am working on multiple coloring projects. I love to color. Coloring is another thing that is relaxing for me as well as DBT skill I go to a great deal. I hope to share with you with what I am coloring so you can see the progress. Coloring is also a mindfulness exercise for me.

I do not have much more to say. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great week ahead. Also, enjoy you first day of autumn. Peace Out, World!!!

Middle of the Night Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is the middle of the night here in the Seattle area. Our weather has been interesting the last week. Last Saturday we had a pretty major thunderstorm for our area which I really found pretty cool. In fact we been having some thunderstorms go through the Seattle area again tonight. Not as major or as long as last Saturday but still pretty cool. I think we have had three or four relatively small thunderstorms tonight. I enjoy thunderstorms most of the time. As far as tonight goes, I am enjoying them.

As soothing as thunderstorms are and I am wanting to discuss more soothing things, lets start on something slightly more difficult so we can end on a positive note. I was suppose to have Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Group and sadly it was cancelled. I was disappointed as I was looking forward to it. I was looking forward to it because I was wanting to share a couple of successes I had.

Thankfully, I was able to share my successes with my therapist as I had a therapy session. My therapist is pretty cool and understanding or that is my personal opinion. We also discussed some things that were somewhat difficult to discuss. Another thing we talked about personal goals. I had some difficulty with this because I feel like some of my goals have been put on the back burner and the blame is a hundred percent my fault on that. We talked about how some goals are put on the back burner to be able to focus on other things. It doesn’t been they won’t be put on the front burner again, it just means I needed to adjust some things in my life at the moment. Another thing we discussed was self care and what I have been doing to do good self care. I told him I am back to doing my two daily walks again or at least the ones I schedule. I informed him that I walk once in the morning and then again in the evening. We also discussed other forms of self care that are also inline to my goals which I found quite productive.

As far as self care goes, my cat, Lil Gertie, is a major part of it. Having Lil Gertie around to love as well as to take care of her is a major part of my daily self care. Her unconditional love reminds me to do good self care and is helping me to learn to love myself.

Learning to love myself is just one form of self care that I have made an effort to do along side of other things. Other things such as burning incense. In fact as I am writing this blog I have incense burning. For some reason it helps me calm down and it reduces my anxiety.

In fact my anxiety was really high earlier and one of the things I turned to was to watch a television show on Netflix. A show that helped me a great deal when I was a child and teenager. The show is The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. For some reason I find his show extremely soothing. Add his show with some incense and a thunderstorm is good self care for me. Of course the universe helped with the thunderstorm but Bob Ross and incense was my way of self care tonight.

In fact I think I am going to end this post so I back to watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my perspective. Again, thank you for reading my blog. I hope you have a good Friday the 13th. Peace Out, World!!!

A Sleepless in Seattle Type of Night

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I still haven’t been back to bed since the fire alarm went of because someone burnt food. I am tired as hell and most likely will attempt to go back to sleep. My anxiety and PTSD symptoms have been acting up quite severely since the fire alarm went off. They are acting up so badly that it is affecting my ability to calm down enough to be able to sleep. The insomnia isn’t help much either.

The thing that is helping me at the moment is my cat, Lil Gertie. She has a calming effect on me and that is extremely helpful. My cat has been by my side most of the morning after the fire alarm went off. I am grateful she has been near by as it has been quite helpful for me to be able to calm down.

One of the things I have been doing since I was so rudely woke up is coloring. I have been coloring my coloring pages. One of which I have shared with you here on my blog. I am hoping that with my coloring pages that I am currently doing that they will be done by the holidays as I want to be able to give them as gifts to people.

When I started off coloring, I listened to music. I listened to Nirvana, MxPX and Tori Amos. For some reason listening to the above mentioned musicians was and is quite helpful to me. I find their music relaxing.

After listening to music and still coloring I decided to listen to a podcast about philosophy. Coloring while listening to a podcast about philosophy not only helps me focus on the topic but to retain the subject. I of course find the subject of philosophy quite interesting and am grateful to be able to listen to a podcast about it as I color.

I don’t have much else to say in this blog post. Thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope to be able to get some sleep today as well as go see my dad in the hospital. I did talk to him this morning already and seemed to be doing okay. I hope everyone has a great day ahead as well as a relaxing day ahead. Peace Out, World!!!