Friendly Fill-Ins

Hello and happy Friday, friends! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. January is a good month to _________.

2. My favorite kind of pizza is _________.

3. The new year just began and I'm already _________.

4. My typical weekend involves _________.

My answers are below in bold.

1. January is a good month to plan ahead.

(This is obviously a personal decision, but I myself am a big planner. I use a planner and all that jazz to organize as many aspects of my life as I can. All sorts of hiccups and derailings absolutely happen along the way, of course, but I at least try to plan ahead, and January is my favorite time to do that for the year. I even try to brainstorm and plan out doodles and blog posts for upcoming week and months, but sometimes those are the types of things that take the back burner when all those hiccups and derailings happen, and so that's when this blog turns into a hot mess, which you've probably noticed.)

2. My favorite kind of pizza is Monical's thin crust with sausage.

(This is a very specific answer, but it is indeed my favorite pizza ever. Monical's Pizza is a chain here in the Midwest, and it's been my favorite since I was a kid. It shocks even me that my favorite pizza is a thin crust, because I'm a carb freak and enjoy me a deep dish, but Monical's thin crust pizza has always tasted extra flavorful to me. I also generally go for pepperoni pizza at other restaurants, because I find most sausage pizzas quite bland, but Monical's is a different story. I also appreciate that they have thin crust gluten-free crusts, since I'm gluten intolerant. I'll stop rambling about pizza now and move on.)

3. The new year just began and I'm already planning this year's Christmas.
(Remember my answer to #1? This is one of the ways it comes into play. Especially when it comes to Christmas, I plan and shop all year long. I have lists in my planner for ideas on what to get my family members for Christmas, often using things they mention or have an interest in throughout the year, and I keep track of what I've bought and all that jazz. I've already created these pages in my planner, and so Christmas 2023 is already on my mind. I also plan on sketching out this year's Christmas card image and getting that all planned out soon, since I'm still in the spirit for Christmas doodles.)

4. My typical weekend involves chores.
(I can and do get some chores done before and after work during the work week, but sometimes I just don't have the time or bandwidth to get all the chores done around work, which means some chores pile up until the weekend. It's usually a lot of the vacuuming and mopping, as well laundry and that darn bathroom cleaning, that gets left for the weekend. I'm trying to stop doing that by planning my typical chores more efficiently during the week, though, because sometimes I just crave a weekend where I don't have to do much.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

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

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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Today is Three Kings Day, or the Epiphany. In short, in Christianity, this celebrates when the three kings, also known as the the three wise men or the Magi, traveled to find baby Jesus and gift him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In some cultures and regions of the world, gifts are also swapped amongst family and friends on this day, in honor of the gifts the three kings men gave to Jesus. I give a couple of extra little gifts to my family, both human and furry, just to keep the Christmas spirit alive as long as possible.

All that said, Eddy of course has some festive shots to share with you all yet again today. This time around, she wanted to show you all why this here human has to rebuild her Christmas tree pretty much every day.

See that sad little tree? With some of its branches thrown this way and that?

Eddy's quite proud of her work, and she even modeled the dilapidated tree, of course only in the form of blurry bloopers, though.

This here human did fix the tree back up, with the understanding that it will probably be in pieces again within minutes.

We hope your entire Christmas season was merry and bright, friends!

Though this is technically the end of the Christmas season, we will be extending the celebration a couple more days. Not only do we have a couple severely neglected Christmas doodles to share still, but we also will finally be sharing our Secret Santa Paws gifts this weekend. The kitties have been enjoying everything they got, so they can't wait to show you all!

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Festive Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

Today's tip on caring for ferals and other outdoor cats yet again relates to shelters. If outdoor cats aren't using a shelter you've put out for them, first look it over and make sure nothing is off with it. Make sure it is not too confined or that its entrance isn't too small, as such things might make a cat feel trapped or cornered inside. If need be, such as if you do think an unused feral cat structure is being avoided due to confinement, add extra doorways or in another way make the shelter less likely to make cats feel trapped.

In some cases, outdoor cats just need a little extra help realizing that a shelter is safe and for them. If you have not already done so, put food and treats inside the shelter to tempt feral and other outdoor cats into the shelter. You can perhaps similarly tempt a feral into a shelter with bedding and a heat source, if you have found a workable, safe way to provide that in the shelter. If further tempting is needed in order to get cats into outdoor shelters, you can even try sprinkling some catnip, or silver vine or valerian root, inside in order to entice them.