Tag Archives: dogs

Meet Nala, Ze Jorge and Luke

29 Monday Sep 2025

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Finding Me

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A year ago, a lady moved to a house next to mom’s house.  Her 3 cats immediately became mom’s guest.  My mom started feeding them, so they rarely went to their home.

Last week the lady moved away and the 3 cats stayed behind.  Instead, she took 3 other cats that she had acquired from another neighbor after she had moved in.

Nala is sickly, needs special food and constant vet trips.  Luke is all black, and thinks he owns the house.  He wants to lay on the bed or couch next to us.  Ze Jorge used to be a fighter, rarely home, until another cat got the best of him.  So now that he lost the sight in one eye he is the most docile and homebody.

Now that they are officially ours, we got them new beds and I am trying to have them stay in the little house on the back.  It doesn’t always work, but this time they were picture perfect.

A couple of years ago I had floated the idea of my parents getting a cat, since they love animals.  But Mom said they are too old to take care of a pet.  Now we have 3!

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Friends, Food, Fun and a Dog!

11 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message

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On Saturday evening, my sister and I went to dinner at a friend’s house. She is married and has 2 kids.  The boy is 16 years old and the girl 14 years old. I remember when the boy was a toddler.  He was a little terror.  I  thought he would grow up the same way.

How wrong I was! These two are the best kids ever.  The whole time we were there not once I saw either kid with a cell phone.  They were talking to us, helping with dinner, playing with the dog. Such a pleasure!  We don’t see them often but every time we do, it is the same way.

The least well-behaved person was the husband.  I am kidding, but he is so stubborn and can be a bit of a know-it-all. It is often hard to have a conversation. At times I would just agree with whatever he was saying because it was just easier this way.  I blame it on him being an Aries.  I am an Aries, so I know I can be that way sometimes.  Still, he was and has always been a very nice host.

“Drink because you are happy, but never because you are miserable.”
― G.K. Chesterton

To drink we had sparkling wine.  The sushi looked great, as you can see by the picture below, but since I don’t eat sushi I had tacos and all the trimmings.  For dessert we brought over a delicious strawberry shortcake from a French bakery I like.  My friend also served cherry pie. All was delicious.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

It was our first time seeing their dog.  Her name is Nela and she is only 6 months.  Since she is just a child, she is a just a big bundle of energy. I wish I lived in a house with a yard, I would definitely have my own Nela.

 “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” ― Josh Billings

It was an awesome night. We always promise to see more of each other but for some reason, we don’t. It seems it is always an once a year thing.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” ― C.S. Lewis

Two dates and a dog

20 Tuesday Sep 2022

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Dating, Finding Me

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On Sunday I had two dates.

I normally wouldn’t drive out of my way to go on a coffee date, but the meeting place was Barnes & Noble in White Plains, NY.  I love book stores.  This guy and I had been exchanging hellos for awhile and I wanted to see if there was anything there.

We agreed to meet at 10am.  I went earlier to browse the shelves, but they only open at 10am :-(.  Even though there was a Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble we decided to walk across the street to Hastings Tea & Coffee and sit outside.

He is a 65 year old doctor. He still works. He has some kind of rotation that has him working for 24 hours once every two weeks. I would love that schedule.

He looked, dressed and acted younger than his age.  I enjoyed meeting him and we talking about a lot different things, including spiritual stuff.  Time flew by.  I realized it was already almost noon and I quickly got up to leave. He was surprised I was leaving.

I am not sure if there will be a second date.  Even though the conversation was great, I am not sure if there is enough there to meet up again.  We shall see.

***

After that date I was supposed to go with a friend to brunch but she canceled last minute. I had brunch at home with my sister and did stuff around the apartment. 

The cute dog above is Mr. W.  I don’t want to disclose his name, but he has an imposing name that starts with W., so use your imagination.

I met my date and Mr. W. at 5:30pm at The Broken Bow Brewery in Tuckahoe, NY.  They were were sitting at a table outside in the back.  Mr W. is the nicest, quietest dog you could ever meet.  My date had a flight of beers, I had nothing.  I didn’t want to drink or eat anything before dinner.

At 6:30pm we left and went to Burrata Restaurant in Eastchester, NY, just a few blocks away. We had a couple of appetizers of eggplant and meatball and we shared a couple of pizza pies, a margherita and a prosciutto.  I had a Cappelletti spritz cocktail, he had red wine. Everything was delicious.

I didn’t have dessert.  A win!  But don’t be so proud, I have been overindulging in sugar at all other times.

Similar to the first date, we had a great time.  It feels like we are old friends. We talk and laugh a lot.  We talk a lot about cool restaurants, vacations, works, etc.  I like picking his brain on technology topics.  

At the end of dinner, I stopped by his car to say bye to Mr. W.  He had stayed in the car while  we were at the restaurant.  The car has dog mode, which I had never heard of before meeting him.  It means that it is climate controlled, and there is the huge sign on the dashboard alerting passersby:

We awkwardly hugged goodbye. As we quickly hugged I think that I subconsciously avoided his lips, so there was this quick brush on the side of my lips.  There was not an ounce of romance vibe during dinner, so I didn’t expect anything.  I am not sure if he is just shy or doesn’t have much interest.  So, I am not even sure if he was trying to kiss me.  

We will see if there is a third date…

***

I have 2 dates this week with 2 new characters 🙂  I decided not to wait for life to slow down to live it up.

“A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it.”
― D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover