Tax Day Edition!
I was so happy to have this extension as we owed Uncle Sam quite a bit this year. I am very lucky that one of the benefits of my job at Lynn University is free tuition, not just for me but for my family. My daughter has her Associates’s degree, but now she is moving towards her Bachelor’s degree. But slipped into the trump tax bill that benefited all his rich friends was that “free” tuition is now counted as income. So while she’s taking classes, my income jumps by thousands of dollars, which is then deducted to pay for tuition. But I get the tax bill. And it’s large, people. It might even be cheaper to send her to a state school. But she is so happy at Lynn, and wanted to go back to school because she feels so welcome and safe there. Best of all, she knows the professors and really all the staff are there to help her succeed. That is worth any bill.
So to cheer myself up as my bank account empties, I look at pictures of Loki. He is 11 years old now and still the sweetest boy ever. He has adjusted to everyone being home all the time. He still needs his 18 hours of sleep, but now he wanders in to see what’s going on now and then before going back to bed. My bed! Here are some pictures of how Loki spends his days.
He was the cutest kitten! With the bluest eyes – they still are amazing.
Loki is unbelievably smart; he is like Jack Reacher in that he always knows what the time is. If I’m not out of bed and on my way to feed him breakfast by 7:15, he sits in the hallway to my bedroom and meows, repeatedly, until I get up. We call him the Kitty Alarm Clock!
After he has breakfast, which he may or may not eat, it’s time for bed. He does prefer it when the bed is made.
But if he has to, he will sleep in an unmade bed.
Some days he wanders in for lunch.
Sometimes he likes to hang out when there is a Zoom meeting. #colleagues
After all that excitement, it’s time to nap again. He has other favorite spots for napping.
In case I forget, he yells to remind me that it is dinner time!
Guess what happens after dinner? Naptime! But with us. He’s not much of a lap cat, but he cuddles in his own way.
Sometimes, we nap, too.
He also likes watching TV with us. Rachel Maddow is his favorite.
He never forgets a birthday.
Loki celebrates holidays
And of course, he likes books.
Loki does tricks! Well, one trick. Still, he is the first cat we’ve ever had that could learn a trick.
I hope you found at least a tiny bit of happiness looking at cute cat pics. As always, thanks for reading and stay safe!
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 
What a wonderful fun post! Well, apart from getting a new tax on a long-standing benefit 😦
Aww Loki is really cute!!! I’m not much of a cat person (we had a rescue when I was little that was a vicious little beast, I think the experience scarred me) but that said I think I would like your cat! Thank you for sharing these cute pictures X x x
Hi Florence,
This is going to be a long ramble, sorry! We also had a vicious rescue. I’ve had rescue cats since I was a teen, and until we got Edgar, never had a problem. When we got Edgar from the shelter, they told us he was an orphan and I thought, aren’t they all orphans? Isn’t that why they’re here? Turns out an orphan cat is one that was taken from its mother too young and never learned social skills. Edgar was a biter. My husband almost ended up in the hospital on several occasions, and my daughter did end up in the hospital. We tried drugs, aromatherapy (seriously!) and nothing helped. We had him for about 2 years and when I woke up one morning from him biting my ankle and blood all over the bed, I couldn’t take it anymore. The no-kill shelter said to put him to sleep, or they would take him back but if he bit anyone he would be relegated to one of those tiny cages for the rest of his life. The vet said he was brain-damaged (he was also visually impaired and hard of hearing) and suggested we put him down. I was heartbroken but I would have done it, I could not live with that cat anymore. But my husband is a think-outside-the-box kind of guy and has the biggest heart. He built him an 8’x8’x8′ cage out on our screened-in porch. He moved out there, Larry would let him out on the porch during the day, and he seemed happy. He never tried to get in the house and he still tried biting my husband when he fed him! By that point, I was scared of cats. My husband had a client who had 3 Birman cats and he just loved them. He said they were the sweetest cats he’d ever seen. He found the name of a couple of breeders and we checked them out. One of them was far superior than the rest. She lived in a huge house and had 8 Birman moms living with her. The others had cages in the garage type setups. Not inspiring. One of the moms was due to give birth in a couple of weeks. We waited, and met Loki when he was 7 days old. She encouraged us to visit, and we did, weekly, until she felt he was old enough to leave home. You can see his mom in one of the baby pictures. Well, Loki cured my fear of cats. I never thought I was the kind of person who would get a pet from a breeder, but life pointed me in that direction. And that is the happy ending to this long, rambling tale!
Aww what a lovely story, thank you for sharing! I’m sure there was a very sad story behind our Dizzy’s unpleasant behaviour too. My brother is allergic to cats but when I move out I’ll definitely consider getting a rescue or one from a responsible breeder like your lovely Loki! 😊 X
What a beautiful cat! Adorable!!
Thanks, Katie!
wow, he is one gorgeous cat!!! I can feel that I’m finally ready to be a cat owner again, and I want one that looks like yours!!!
~ Corina | The Brown Eyed Bookworm
Thanks, Corina!