Monthly Round-Up: Rose & Thorns – July 2020

Rose: We added a new member to our family this month! My roommate has been wanting a cat for quite some time. I agreed on one condition, “I don’t want to smell the litter box, ever.” In preparation for his arrival, a flood of amazon boxes arrived one after another. I realized it became a game for the delivery drivers when I opened my front door to a wall of boxes. “This must be what it’s like you start nesting for a baby,” I thought. This cat has the best of everything: a litter robot, the most adorable cactus scratching post, multiple cat houses, a water fountain, and an automatic feeder with a camera. 

On the day of his arrival, he was quarantined in his room for protection from the house monsters, Scout and Cash. We realized something wasn’t quite right when he wasn’t using the bathroom, and when he was, it was diarrhea. After this went on for two weeks I began to think, “this cat is going to be a thorn for the month.” Multiple changes to his diet, a trip to the vet, and a round of antibiotics later, he’s acting like the spunky kitten we anticipated. 

I would like to officially introduce Snow, the Rescue Cat (aka Sir Poopy Paws). You can follow his adventures on Instagram @snowtherescuecat. Snow was adopted from a local rescue ran by my friend @danithecatlady. She is passionate about animals and recently started her dream of running an animal rescue. If you would like to adopt or have the ability to donate please consider checking out Dani’s rescue, The Runaways Animal Rescue.  

Rose: My eyes have been opened to the world of famous cats on Instagram. As Snow has been building his following on Instagram, other related Instacats have shown up on my suggested feed. Having cute fuzzy cat faces in my feed has brought a smile to my face. If you too need a momentary escape into cute cat heaven, here are some of the Instafamous cats I’ve started to follow. 

Benson has more style than I ever will.

Zappa is always runway ready.

Toasted Elvis looks like it popped out of a cartoon.

Thorn: This month has been mentally challenging. I’ve allowed my inner saboteur to get in my head and make me feel like I’m not enough; both professionally and on my blog. I’m always pushing forward to improve and make things better. The bar is always rising and I beat myself up when I don’t meet the expectations I set. Enter Rebeka (the saboteur), to play a loop of the things I haven’t accomplished. “Remember you wanted to post once a week and didn’t.” “Your photos aren’t as good as the other bloggers,” she’ll whisper. She’s mean and we have a mutual hate for one another. Wrestling with her is not new. Don’t we all have that voice (or tiny devil on our shoulder) whispering in our ear? Mine was just a little louder this month than normal. 

Rose: Having lived in two houses and three Airbnb over the past three years with my roommate, one item has always made the move was her record player. I thought it was decorative; maybe she likes the look of having dusty records and a record player in the house. After all, it adds to the eclectic hipster vibe we’ve come to love. Three years in, and much to my surprise, I discovered it works! She inherited the record collection from her grandma, who had excellent taste in music. All month long the house has been filled with the voices of Elvis, The Supremes, Marven Gaye, and Simon & Garfunkel. The dogs (and now, cat) seem to enjoy the music as well. Their daily routine of hovering over me and barking at the mailman has become lounging in the living room, entranced by the music. Music has also helped lift my mood. When Rebeka is talking trash and I want to cry, I close my computer and have a dance party with the dogs. Singing “Baby Love” at the top of your lungs and pretending you are the fourth member of The Supremes performing on the Ed Sullivan Show will really boost your mood.  

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Tell me how your month was! What exciting things happened?