Friendly Fill-Ins and the Letter A

Hello, friends! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. Are you? We'd love for you to join us.

My co-host, Ellen of 15andmeowing, is understandably still focusing on spending time with her sweet Sammy, who hasn't been well. We're sending Sammy and Ellen lots of purrs and prayers!

In case you missed them yesterday or need a reminder, the fill-in statements are below.


1. Time flies when _________.

2. _________ takes forever.

3. _________ is my earliest memory.

4. Is it weird that I _________?

My answers are below in bold.

1. Time flies when you're a homebody relaxing on your couch.
(I'm sure there are lots of people out there who get bored sitting around at home, but when you're like me and enjoy relaxing at home and are doing just that, time sure speeds right along. When you're at work or waiting to get home, on the other hand, time sure does chug along at a snail's pace.)

2. Waiting for a sick kitty to be done at the vet takes forever.
(I've had to drop Evan off at the vet quite a few times recently as we tried to diagnose his intestinal issues. Even though all tests came back normal and it would just seem that his hind limb paralysis is simply now occasionally affecting his intestines, it was still torture waiting to pick him up. He also goes in for sanitary shaves every 3 weeks or so, since he won't let me do it, and it always feels like he's there for an eternity.)

3. Losing and finding our budgie bird Pippin is my earliest memory.
(Aside from fish, my first pet was Pippin the budgie. He was a friendly little guy, and he once decided he needed to fly out the door when it opened in order to make some new friends. I was about 3 at this time, and I remember being worried to death. My mom walked around with my sister and I looking for him, and knocking on doors to give neighbors our phone number in case they saw him. Before long, a lady down the street called and said our Pippin was hanging out in a tree in her back yard. We hurried over there, grabbed him up, and went home. My mom always laughs about the fact that I also remember what we went home and had for supper that night. It was a creamy garlic pasta, one of my favorite meals as a kid.)

4. Is it weird that I am an adult who enjoys stickers?
(I'll be 33 years old next week, and I have a whole collection of stickers. I really enjoy using them in my planner, where I like to keep my life's plans all pretty and cute. I even have favorite shops from which I buy stickers, most of those shops being ones that sell cute animal stickers. I was obsessed with stickers as a kid as well. Does anyone out there know the name Lisa Frank? Her art and designs were huge for kids growing up in the '90s like myself. I especially loved her stickers, and I never outgrew that.)

Now it's your turn!

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You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below.

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Next up, shall we begin the 2022 April A to Z Challenge?

The gist of this challenge is to share something related to the alphabet every day of April, except Sundays. You start on the first day with the letter A, all the way to the letter Z on the last day. It's as simple and fun as that.

As I mentioned a couple of times, here on my blog, this year's A to Z Challenge will revolve around illustrations, or more like concept art, for the stories I'm writing. As I've also mentioned before, I love to write. I've been writing on and off since the moment I knew how. That said, a couple years ago I started writing a short story that rather quickly turned into an idea for a full novel, and soon enough that then turned into a continuously growing series of novels. I'm still working on writing said books, but the overall characters and storylines are mostly all planned out. And by that, I mean that I have hundreds of pages filled with ideas and outlines and all that jazz, because my mind is a mess. At least publishing books has always been high on my bucket list, because otherwise I'd probably go crazy.

All of the above said, the stories I write are a lot like the doodles and poems I share on this blog. They're weird, wacky, kooky, and probably really darn strange to anyone who isn't me. But, they say to write what you want to read, and so I'm doing just that. My oddball taste in books and writing is probably why I have been really hesitant to even choose this theme for the A to Z Challenge. I admittedly can be rather self-conscious about my writing, and I essentially never share this type of stuff with anyone. But, you all probably know more about my writing life than anyone else, and you've never judged me, so here we are. Oh, and don't worry. Just as with everything else in my life, animals play a huge role in the stories I write. I'm fairly certain every single one the doodles I'll be sharing this month will showcase at least one animal.

Have I rambled on long enough? Yeah? Okay, let me try to wrap this up and get to the actual alphabetical side of things. So, during this month, for each day's letter of the alphabet, I'll be sharing a drawing of a character, setting, or another concept from my stories that fits said letter. Today's letter is A, since that is indeed the first one of the alphabet. And so...

A is for Annabel

Annabel is the little black kitty on the left. The orange tabby keeping her company is her brother, Lee. Does anyone get that reference?

Remember how I said that I already have a number of books in the works for my crazy little series? Truth be told, despite Annabel and Lee starring in the very first doodle for this month's challenge, I have to admit that they're not in the first book. Or even the second. Or even the third. They show up in the fifth book I've been scribbling about in my notes, and I must admit that I quite enjoy their storyline. Don't worry, I already know I'm insane.

Hopefully you enjoyed meeting Annabel and her brother Lee today! Stay tuned to meet a really, truly weird and wacky character tomorrow. The letter B is going to be a wild one.

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We didn't forget that you need your Eddy fix. In a rare turn of events, this girl even sat still for the camera. See?

Perhaps I'm a tad bit biased, but I love the color of Eddy's eyes. I'm not even sure this photo does them justice. She has the most gorgeous aquamarine eyes. Oh, and do you see that snaggletooth? It's adorable, and there is just no denying that fact.

Happy Friday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

April is Heartworm Awareness Month. For the next couple of days, therefore, we're going to repeat some heartworm tips that we have given at least a couple of other times before. So, these tips may sound familiar, but we've decided to share them again for this significant month.

We'll start simple and remind you all that heartworms come from mosquitoes, and a dog or cat can become infected if they are bit by a mosquito carrying larvae. This can occur in either indoor or outdoor furbabies. For indoor animals, you can try to keep all windows and doors closed, in hopes of preventing mosquitoes from entering into the house. However, they can enter through cracks, or simply when you open the door to enter or exit. What's more, especially given weather conditions no matter the season, it is possible for mosquitoes to be out and about year round. For this reason, do your best to ensure that you keep your dogs and cats on year round preventatives that include heartworm coverage.