Upgrading the Home Office

Valentines' Day isn't far away, so don't forget to buy something nice for your loved ones!

It's been a busy January, as I have been busy doing spring cleaning (a little early). The computer is updated, and my home office is more organized How good it feels to have thrown out all the old stuff from old work (non-art related) and concentrate much more on my studio, which takes full-time guidance and care. It's been a big job redoing websites I own, making them updated and more attractive. It's not work to me, though, but artistic routine.

I got a DVD player, my first one, to go on top of the VCR I have. Finally, my tv is going to be updated too, whenever I get the darned thing figured out enough to hook up. I enjoy electronic things but hooking them up is no talent of mine. Far from it. This unit is very stylish and will be great to play my movies on. It feels good being a bit more technologically up to date, now, even if there are more fancier movie players on the market being invented all the time.

Anyways, it feels so glorious not to be tied down with day jobs anymore. Right now I can afford to live comfortably with my art and writing assignments. Freedom feels so glorious. When I'm not stressed, ideas, creativity and artwork flow like a fountain. When burdened by stress, I feel like a slow-moving slug. I prefer freedom, from selling magazines, doing phone work for others and just having time to do what I do best, draw, from morning to late night.

Working hard helps me to forget that my family is far away and always too preoccupied with things to visit. I visited them a few times but they never visit me, they just keep on with their lives and take my phone calls if nothing good is on tv. Most of the times when I call, mom is preoccupied with whatever show she's watching and doesn't say much. She'd never do that with any of her friends, just me.

I get sick of being treated like I don't matter, but call anyhow, since they are the only family I've got. They never call, either. If I'd have had kids, I'd have made a pest of myself, caring too much. My folks care, but only when it is convenient for them to, it's always been that way, and always will be. I am strong and stay positive the best I can, despite it all. It just hurts, seeing loving families who take time for and truly respect one another.

It's cool down here in Florida, which is great. I get out my Ohio clothes and get to enjoy wearing them again, when most of the year they are packed away. It feels good wearing fleece once in awhile. When the cats feel too cold, they pile on my legs as I work. Beau was born and raised in the south, so he does get cold at times, even if his fur is somewhat long. Fluffy and Beau are happy because I gave them some cardboard boxes to sleep in, their favorite. They alternate between the boxes and being with me (on my feet, desk, keyboard, etc). They are the masters of relaxation, and I respect them for that :)

Happy New Year, Everyone

I don't know this dog but sure thought this picture I found on the net was really cute. Kind of like me in work mode, but with a tail :)



This has been a quiet new year for me, since I've been busy working on a project for a favorite client, doing a bunch of animal drawings and paintings. It's been fun, and I am living at the drafting table right now (my favorite place to be most of the time). The weather here in Florida is cool and dramatic, which is great because being from Ohio originally, cool weather makes me feel more at home. I pried myself away from work long enough to go grocery shopping, and now all is right with the world. Chores done, I can get back to work.



Fluffy was sick but is doing much better now. He loves the case of cat food I bought him at the vet's, the vet tech likened it to "cat pizza" because it's rich and appetite stimulating. Fluffy wasn't eating, and was in a funk over losing his best buddy, Blackie. Now, though, he is gaining weight and his eyes are bright again. Every time I walk close to the kitchen, he makes sure I know that he'd love it if I opened up yet another can of the stuff. Beau, of course, can't be left out and is more than happy to put his two cents in. These guys have the life, eat, sleep and get lots of love. That's the way it should be. I love spoiling them rotten.



Training for the day job is almost complete, and this week I am back on the phones, processing loans and other financial things for a famous, worldwide company with very high standards. It will be interesting, and I only work for them part time, so I can put the majority of my focus into my studio work. It always helps to have a steady check as backup, when you're a freelancer. It is a new year and a new home agent job (MUCH better than the other previous home agent job due to the higher quality employer). And, I can sleep in, no more getting up at the crack of dawn to do a day job I hate. This alone makes the new year a happy one for me.



Though I miss my Blackie terribly, I've settled in to life without him. It just hurts whenever the pizza delivery guy comes to my door. There's no cat there to greet him, meowing, excited because he knows it's pizza time. Blackie was one of a kind. He had no conceivable idea that he was actually a cat, and not human.



My family is happy and healthy up in Ohio. Dad turned 75 yesterday, a very young 75. He has taken great care of himself and has the health to show for it. I hope the year ahead is good for all of us. Mom and dad fuss over their Maine Coon cat, Cinnamon, who has them trained quite nicely, to do whatever he wants :D He likes to go over to a low hanging wind chime they have and jingle it with his tail whenever he wants to be fed! I have heard him do it while on the phone with my folks. If that doesn't work, he goes for Plan B (the staredown) or if impatience sets in, Plan C (yowling at the top of his lungs and making a nuisance out of his furry self). He is one smart, and big, cat.

Here's a drawing I did of Cinny two years ago:

Back to the drawing board (literally), I have much work to do. I just made some coffee and it's time to draw. Happy 2008 to All.

The week of Christmas is a busy one.

I'm busy doing my artwork for a client, many drawings of animals in full color, and training for a home agent position as a finance consultant for a large corporation. If I'm not drawing, I'm studying or taking one of many, many tests. I go off training for the job in less than a week, which is both exciting and a little intimidating. I get a bit spooked by all the computer programs I had to learn for this, but all is fine, it just takes a lot of practise. Thank goodness for Starbucks coffee, cable tv and delivery Chinese. Though my family is far away and I can't get away to see them, we talk on the phone a lot, and I'm celebrating the holiday here with my friends. Life is good, busy but good.

The last day of training for a new home agent job

My hometown, Cleveland, Ohio from a popular section called the Flats.


I'm here in Florida, missing my parents back in the burbs of Cleveland, and working like crazy, studying for a test. Changing day jobs during the holidays is a bit of a challenge but worth the work. The great thing about being a home agent and artist, is that I can work from home doing both, and save time/gas by eliminating rush hour and other commuting nightmares. Ok, I miss out on things like company parties and get togethers or every day camaraderie with co-workers, but it's helped to keep me focused. I have people in the art world that I do business with, and work, well, it is all by phone and internet. Other people rely heavily on their cars for work, I rely on my computer. If it gave up on me, I'd freak, so it is maintained within an inch of it's electronic life, as well as backed up by two others.

Having switched home agent jobs for a better and mroe prestigious offer, I am now in training for my new job, after taking a bunch of clearance, drug and other tests. Now, it's on to the book phase, which I enjoy. We must take many company paid courses, and to me it's all great education. This is the last day of my first round of training, all done through the phone, IM and their website. It's very comprehensive, and today is the final test. I'm surrounded by banking policies and security measures, along with a long list of other other heavy duty topics that we must know upside down and backwards since we'll be handling people's money for a living. It's a job of responsibility and a lot better than my old day job of three years, that is going down in flames in a spectacular fashion. Good companies grow, the bad ones just die off from poor management.

During all of this, I am deep in production, doing a bunch of drawings for a valued illustration client. It's so fun to be able to do two drastically different jobs, from both sides of the brain. It keeps life interesting and me motivated. Life is good, and it'll be better (I hope) once this exam is done. Then, it's on to another course and a bunch of new tests...

The Holiday Season Begins

'Tis the Season to go Shopping..and Shopping, and More Shopping..

http://www.cafepress.com/twopurringcats


Yesterday was Thanksgiving but for me, it was a peaceful day of doing very little. I was home, here with the cats, enjoying solitude and relaxation of doing nothing. For the last three days before, I began training for my upcoming day job, working as an agent from home, for the banking division of a famous company. It's a job that gives me the freedom to work from my home office, and still do my artwork as normal. Training for this job is complex, and will take six months to complete but it's interesting and challenging. During these hard financial times, a second income is going to help me out with a steady paycheck. Such is the life of a freelancer, going with the flow.





Today is Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, right after Thanksgiving. I'm staying in, working on illustrations for a customer. I have a bunch of them to do, and it's fun to kick back and draw them, one by one, here at my drafting table and computer. I work all the time, and practically sleep in the big, cushy recliner that is my work chair. Working this much means I must keep myself as comfortable as possible, for the sake of my back. Those office chairs never did much for me, so I bought a really good recliner with top of the line back support. It works perfectly and keeps me from having a reoccurrence of the herniated disk and sciatica that made me immobile for months, earlier this year. That experience taught me not to rely on office chairs. After buying all kinds of so-called great ones, I gave up on them altogether. Ever since, my back has healed and all is ok.





Outside is dark, overcast and pleasantly warm. I don't miss the cold weather of up north, but do miss my parents. It's always hard when we cannot be together on the holidays. I call and talk to them every day, so at least we have phone time together. Losing my cousin, George, and my beloved Blackie last month really left me feeling no holiday spirit whatsoever. I'm calm and OK but just too busy with work to deal with celebrating anything. Blackie's ashes are in their urn here on my desk. He's out of pain now, no more hyperthyroidism to deal with. I hope he's up in cat heaven feeling young and being the big kitten he was in life, only with more freedom to play and enjoy himself. My sweet baby, I miss him and his constant presence here. He was always with me as I worked. Here he is, observing as I work on the computer for my old home agent job. He was the best co-worker ever, quiet and caring always.

So, now, Fluffy and Beau are here, watching me work here and there. They are more independent than Black was, and prefer to sit in the windows and watch the birds out on the lake, or the squirrel in the tree out front. I throw myself into work as always. Left brain, right brain, it's all being used to the hilt. Doing the art is my priority, but the side job keeps me living comfortably. It's good to challenge myself with financial work, having spent my younger years supplementing my income with banking and accounting work, now it affords me to do it from home instead of the daily commute. It's fun to have two very opposite sides to myself - the logical banking side and the carefree artist side. It feels good being grounded like that. For a class in college a few years ago, I was given a test to see what side of my brain is dominant, the creative or logical side. The test showed I am balanced, exactly in the middle. That was really cool. Who knew? I sure didn't.

Time to work some more. Maybe later, I'll go to the store, but for now, it's time to create. Coffee is brewing, and the creativity is flowing. Life is good. Oh, and Happy Holidays, too.

A Fond Goodbye to my Blackie, the Best Cat Ever

YBlackie Y

My furry little soulmate, Blackie died yesterday, peacefully in his sleep. He was here at home with me at his side. Wondering where the heck their buddy went are his two cat buddies, Fluffy (longhaired black) and Beau (longhaired white). My feline family is grieving the loss of a larger-than-life cat, who travelled with me to foreign countries, across the United States and was a seasoned food connoisseur. He was the light of my life, and saw me through boyfriends and a husband. His loyalty continued throughout it all.

During his rapid health decline, I did everything in my power to make him as comfortable and at peace. His little body just closed down as he slept next to me. I am sick with grief but am comforted with the fact that he's no longer dealing with the hyperthyroidism that eventually killed him. He'd lived well with it for a long time, but within a ten hour period, his health suddenly declined and he died. He loved everyone, and everyone loved him. This cat knew how to live, love and to eat..and eat. Rest in peace, my sweet Black.

Here is an article about my beautiful Blackie, detailing his life further:

http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/The-Adventures-of-Blackie-The-Traveling-Cat.45813

Preparing for Upcoming Holiday Shopping

Proud Arabian Horse print, framed
$39.99

Parrots of the World Calendar 2008
$8.99

I'm readying my website, Two Purring Cats Design Studio, for the upcoming holiday shopping season. It's a big job, but a fun escape from talking on the phones for my day job. I'm adding products to my inventory, and the site has doubled since last year. The opening page for my site is at:

http://www.cafepress.com/twopurringcats



See more cards here:

All Occasion
http://www.cafepress.com/twopurringcats/1635247

Holiday
http://www.cafepress.com/twopurringcats/1635236

Life is Precious, so Don't Take it for Granted

A few days ago, my cousin George died of a brain aneurysm. He was watching TV with his wife, Karen, and felt nauseous. As she drove him to the nearby hospital, he died. One minute he was there; one minute later, he was gone. He was only 51 years old, leaving two grown kids (Alexis and Mike) and his precious grandchildren along with the rest of us family. Like his father, John, who died fairly young himself; George was hard-working, salt-of-the-earth and always smiling.

It hit me hard because in recent times, George emailed me frequently to tell me about how happy he was, with his wife and kids, how his siblings were doing and chat about life in general. He was telling me how his family would celebrate Thanksgiving, and was very optimistic-as usual-about his life. My aunt/his mother, Evelyn had died earlier in the year, and the family had already had their fair share of tragedy. And now, the loss of the oldest of seven siblings. The rock, the guy that everyone knew and liked. It truly leaves me speechless.

Though I don't know the details of his diagnosis, I knew someone else in my past who also died young of an aneurysm. She was a doctor, and her parents were both doctors of a local baseball team in my hometown. She just died suddenly, leaving a husband and children behind. Even a medical professional had no forewarning, so that blew my mind how hard to predict these fatal conditions are.

This horrible experience has truly opened my eyes about life, and how fragile it is. Even big, strong guys like George can pass on at a young age. He was so full of life, of optimism and love for his family. Life isn't fair, but it's the only one we have (well, as far as I know, anyways). Every day I talk to people on the phone, who have severe illness, disability or other problems. It has shown me how daily inconviences like burning dinner, a flat tire or breaking a high-heel isn't important in the grand scheme of things. Instead of grumbling about these things, focusing in the positive improves our outlook on life. We have lungs that work, hearts that beat, and people that love us. It's our responsibility to make our lives as full and pleasant as possible, since it can all be gone in an instant.

So, rest in peace, cousin George. Your short life was a complete and total success because you made it that way, and now we mourn your tragic loss. I'll miss your emailed updates on your family, and the email jokes we sent back and forth. I'm sure you're up in heaven, with your mom and dad. You may be physically gone, but none of us will ever forget you. Your love and kindness carries on with your children and grandchildren. Knowing you was a true honor for us all.

Looking for Free Ways to Supplement my Income

http://www.cafepress.com/twopurringcats

The day job is nearly history by now. I am relying more and more on my art business and article writing to pay everyday bills. So far, so good. Some business like to toy with their kill before they eat it, and that is what my employer seems to be doing. They are downsizing and finding fault with everyone, while making job standards harder, to weed us out and get us to quit. This way, they don't have to pay Unemployment. Well, I fight it all the way but see the writing on the wall, so I just do my artwork, promote my business and check the internet for other ways to supplement my income without having to buy anything. It's amazing how many scams are out there, but I'm savvy about it. It is hard to find good, paying sites but they are out there.

Ad Sense

AdSense by Google is another one that gives you a few cents here and there automatically into your Paypal account every month, if anyone clicks on the Google ads you put on your webpage. Google walks you through it, and Blogger makes it easier by making it an option here. Check it out, there's ways to make more money using it, but I haven't figured it all out yet. If you take the time to know it well, let me know and explain it to me. For now, I make a few dollars a month using it.

Helium.com

http://www.helium.com/

This site will publish your articles and pay you royalties, the amount depends on how good your articles are. The more popular ones make more money, in other words. It's worth trying, and you make a little cash along the way. It's kind of fun, actually. I've had a few articles I've written pay me, so it's worth submitting. And, you can take those articles and submit them to other sites too, they don't limit usage of it, and you own the rights.

These are just a few that I've found so far, and the more good ones I encounter, the more cash that gets deposited into my account automatically without me dealing with it further. I want to create a passive income on the side, so I can focus fully on my real work, which is art (illustration).

Taking a Break from the Day Job Madness

I'm focusing more on my art career and less on my day job, taking calls for a large company. I'm busy, doing double duty, between my websites, working on illustrations for a large commission I'm working on, and, working this day job that is slowly dying off. I don't like working in-house elsewhere, so I'm going to work it until I find a few more big commissions or get laid off, whichever comes first. Business is drying up for the day job. My co-workers IM me and tell me how stressed they are, because they don't make enough money to pay their bills. We used to make a lot of money on a regular basis.

Slowly the company squeezes us home agents out of our commissions and ups our quotas. It's a shame, because I like the place, just not the financial situation or the pay scale, which changes constantly. Every month, we get a revision to our pay plan, so complex and overly detailed that even attorneys would have a difficult time deciphering it. Asking management, always by monitored phone calls, is useless because they just block and divert our concerns, since answering directly is out of the question. Ears are everywhere, big brother is always listening. My poor supervisor, he is a nice guy, and has to deliver the bad news given by higher ups, as well as take all the home agent employees' flak for it. The politics of corporate life. Even when we work from home.

I'm just a simple and fairly introverted artist who prefers being behind my drafting table to engaging in corporate politics. I keep my head down and keep working the job. And equally hard, I work doing my art and managing my sites when I finish with answering calls. There isn't enough time in a day for anything else. Listening to my Harry Potter Deathly Hallows book on tape is relaxing, and how I end each day.

On top of everything, Google put my website lower down on the search engine list. Not again. This happens from time to time. So, I have to figure out how to get its rankings back up. I like fiddling with the computer, but I still have a lot to learn about optimizing my sites. My other art sites rank just fine, go figure. I will figure this out, eventually.

Through it all, doing my art is my refuge from all the troubles and stresses of life. I look from my drafting table out at my lake and watch the big, white egrets fly around happily. They sure have the life. No monthly expenses or stress, just hang out in the sun and eat fish (or whatever else they come in contact with that'll fit into their mouths). Looking at animals soothes me. My life isn't bad at all, no big mortgages to pay off, no dependents, and a paid off car. Still, things aren't complete until I optimize my site so it makes me better money. If I can do that, then bye, bye stressy day job / hello peace and quiet, devoting my precious time to doing what I do best..art, full time once again.