Tag Archives: Volunteering

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Get off work
  • Take a nap
  • Spend time with my cat, Billie Dean
  • Walk to and through Cowen and Ravenna Parks
  • Start working on a workbook or two again

Monday

  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Work on a workbook or two
  • Do some form of artwork.

Tuesday

  • Clean my apartment
  • Work on workbook or two
  • Do some form of artwork.
  • Go walking to and through Cowen and Ravenna Parks

Wednesday

  • Have a therapy session via phone call or zoom with my therapist. (I am hope a zoom call as I am not to fond of phone sessions.)
  • Work on workbook or two
  • Do some form of artwork

Thursday

  • Walk through Cowen and Raven Parks
  • Do some form of artwork
  • Work on a workbook or two

Friday

  • Do some form of artwork
  • Go grocery shopping
  • Clean my apartment
  • Work on a workbook or two

Saturday

  • Enjoy a much needed day off from work. (I only work on Saturday night for a twelve plus hour night shift.)
  • Enjoy the first day of summer
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Celebrate the summer Solstice.
  • Work on a workbook or two

The Communities I Call Family

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! As I sit here at work, I cannot help but think of how certain people become like family to you. I’ll use work as an example. When you work with people everyday, you become like family. For instance, the Saturday night shelter crew has each other’s backs when needed. We build one another up. I guess I say my colleagues are like family because we check up on each other even when we are off work.

My work colleagues aren’t the only family I have. Another family I have happens to be the community I have created while volunteering at PAWS. Specifically, PAWS Cat City and folks on my volunteer shift. That includes both employees and other volunteers. I guess my love for cats and other animals have helped me find more people to call family.

Besides my work and volunteer family, I will have to say my neighbors are family. As dysfunctional as we are in my apartment building we are a type of family. We may not always get along but when something happens we are there for each other; like families should be.

Then last but not least, my cat is family. Lil Gertie, the cat that crossed the rainbow bridge on Thanksgiving Day of last year (2019) was and still is considered my family. She was there when people let me down. Hell, she is still with me. She is my guardian angel. I truly believe that Lil Gertie played a major role in the adoption of my current cat, Billie Dean. I say this because Lil Gertie had two crinkly ears and Billie has one crinkly ear. I also believe that both Lil Gertie and Billie chose me to be their family. Being chosen by an animal to be their furrever family is an honor. I am beyond grateful that I was Lil Gertie’s family for the last year and a half of her life. She will always have special place in my heart. I am also beyond grateful that Billie is my family. I am grateful to call my cat family.

As I end this particular blog post, I hope you all ponder about who or what you call family in this life. For me family is a melting pot of people (and animals) that come into my life in various ways like I mentioned in this post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you chose to read my blog even if this is the only post you ever read of my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has an awesome Sunday ahead of them. Peace Out, World!!!

Depression & Awesome News

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Despite it being sunny in Seattle, I am experiencing a great deal of sadness. Actually lets call the sadness what it is which is depression. Depression sucks no matter the timing of the year but for me it seems to suck more when it is nice outside. I really wish I didn’t have depression but it is a reality I deal with.

Yes, having depression is a reality for me but so is the sunny weather here in Seattle at the moment. Sunny weather which many people who live in the area for awhile appreciate a great deal. I love the sunny weather and it is suppose to get to eighty degrees, Fahrenheit. I love it when it is eighty degrees outside. Sadly, many people who are native to Seattle start melting when it hit seventy-five degrees outside.

Enough of the small talk of the beautiful weather here in Seattle and talk about something beyond awesome. Something that will bring back a sense of normalcy back into my life during Covid-19. I will be volunteering once again at PAWS Cat City. PAWS is opening Cat City back up for adoption and am so grateful for this. PAWS temporally closed Cat City for adoption due to Covide-19 and did all there cat adoptions at their main location in Lynnwood. In fact PAWS temporally halted volunteers going in to volunteer and am grateful that they did that. So, that mean PAWS had their employees do many of the task the volunteers do. PAWS is limiting the number of volunteers being able to volunteer on a shift. So, basically at PAWS Cat City there will only be one volunteer per shift and Cat City will reopen with limited hours. I am so grateful for the opportunity to volunteer once again even if it is not on my normal shift. Going back to volunteering is bringing back some normalcy back to my life. Grateful that I will be going back to semi-normal activities in my life. I think volunteering again will help with my depression.

I do not have much more to say especially since I feel like I have been repeating myself in this post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, than you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Friday. I also hope everyone has a great weekend ahead. Peace Out, World!!!

A Random Post About…..

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! Governor Inslee decided to extend the stay at home order till May 31st. I have mixed emotions regarding the extended stay at home order but ultimately I am grateful that Governor Inslee is looking out for the most vulnerable people here are our lovely state of Washington.  Washington has be home for me since the mid 90’s and that doesn’t count whenever I visited my mom and brother every summer and holiday whiled on vacation from school. Looks like I have digressed some. Washington in my home and am grateful that Governor Inslee extended the stay at home order.

I can bitch and complain about the stay at home order all I want but it won’t do anything because it’s keeping it helps people like my dad who doesn’t have a great immune system. It even helps my extremely healthy 89 year old grandpa with staying at home. I am not able to see my family and most of my friend in person due to the fact that I am an essential worker. As much as I miss visiting friends and family, I am grateful for my essential worker status as it means I have a job I can work at.

A job that feels like family and am making some pretty good friends who are taking on the parent role but I am okay with that. At least I am okay with it for the time being. We are in the middle of a pandemic and somethings are worth the fight or at least at the moment. It is nice to have a work family who understands whats going on.

Since were are on the topic of family and friends, I miss the ones I volunteer with at PAWS Cat City. I miss going in helping find cat their furrever home but sadly Cat City is temporarily closed till this all over. Yes, the cats at Cat City went to the PAWS in Lynnwood and are being adopted out there along with dogs. I really miss volunteering at Cat City consider the people I volunteer with like family to me just like my colleagues do when I am at my paid work.

Speaking of cats my cat Billie Dean also fondly called Billie the Kat, is wanting be have help with writing this blog. I have some pictures of painting of wood that is protecting window of closed businesses here in Seattle. I hope to post those soon. By soon I mean Sunday night or Monday morning.

I was planning on writing more about how people are dealing with all this in regards to their mental health and recovery but right now my cat wants attention so I will write about that on Saturday night at work if I have time to do so.  I love my cat so much.

Sorry, I ending this post sooner that I had planned but thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Stay home and save lives by doing so. Peace Out, World!!!!

Long Time No Blog

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! It has been a quite a while since I last blogged and it looks like I am falling behind on my New Years goal of blogging on average of three times a week. I figured that now that this Covid-19 shit is going to keep me home at least another month that now is a good time to start blogging on the regular basis.

First and fore most lets talk about work. I am grateful that my work is considered an “essential job” according to the Washington Governor and am happy about that. Sadly and gratefully I only work one night a week as a shelter counselor at a homeless shelter for young adults ages 18 to 25. I love my job but worried about my health. I am grateful that upper management is making we employees are being taken care of.

As far as my volunteer job at PAWS Cat City, that has been put on hold because PAWS wants to look out for their volunteers and has suspended all volunteer activities. PAWS even temporally closed Cat City for the time being and all there cat adoptions are being done at their Lynnwood location. So, I really miss volunteering with the cats and seeing them get adopted. All adoptions are being done by appointment only for the time being. On the plus note, PAWS came up with a way volunteers can be of help from home if they so desire to do so. That is to call donors to thank them and I of course am going to be doing it. Calling people isn’t exactly my cup of tea but if it helps an organization I love then I am all for helping this way. It’s only twice a month for three months and hopefully by the end of three months, volunteers can be helping with adoptions again.

Being home with really nowhere to go except work I have been spending a lot of time with my cat Billie Dean. I love him so much. I am so grateful for him. I have also go a little stir crazy and needing some in person connection and since there is a stay at home order here in Washington, I have been attending various types of meetings on Zoom and am beyond grateful for this. Yes, it isn’t exactly the best way to connect but is sure is better than being completely cut of from any form of connection since I live alone.

Thank you for listening (or reading). I do not have much more to say. I hope to be blogging more since Covid-19 is having everyone stay at home. I really appreciated the fact that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope everyone has a good rest of their day as well as their week. Peace Out, World!!!

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 Plans

Posted on by Gertie

SUNDAY

  • Take nap when I get home from work. (Yes, I am still at work)
  • Do some art
  • Have dinner with friends
  • Work on workbooks

MONDAY

  • Go to DSHS to sort out the food stamp situation. (That’s if it doesn’t snow)
  • Do some art
  • Lunch with a friend who lives in my building
  • Get meds
  • Work on workbooks

TUESDAY

  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City. (Looking forward to having some kitty time.)
  • Attend work meeting in the evening. (Hoping for snow so I can use it as an excuse to not attend.)
  • Work on workbooks

WEDNESDAY

  • Sleep in
  • Lunch with my grandpa. (I love spending time with my grandpa.)
  • Do some artwork.
  • Work on workbooks
  • Clean apartment

Thursday

  • See therapist
  • Attend DBT Group. (Hopefully it doesn’t get cancelled for any reason.)
  • Work on workbooks
  • Do some art work.

FRIDAY

  • Do some art work
  • Work on Workbooks
  • Clean apartment
  • Visit with my grandpa

SATURDAY

  • Sleep all day
  • Work all night

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!!!!

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!!!