Reflections

It is this time of year that I would start getting babies.  I reflect on how much my life will be different this year.  When I was looking after 10 kittens (I had 18-22 usually once per year) I calculated how much of my "spare" time I spent looking after kittens and also working 40 hours per week(plus travel time to and from work) I spent 60 hours a week (dramatically increase that for when I had more than 10 kittens which was more than 50% of the time) bottle feeding, weighing, bathing, getting up during the night, doing laundry, taking pictures, organizing and labeling the pictures, writing my blog, force feeding, walking the floor with a kitten in trouble, cleaning 5 litter boxes in the morning and again before going to bed, scrubbing poop off practically every surface in my house that a kitten could get to, vet visits, buying buckets of litter, hauling home cases and cases and cases of canned food, getting formula, making formula, picking names, shampooing my furniture, vacuuming up the litter daily, remembering when to deworm the kittens and when it was time for their first shots, worrying, worrying, worrying about a kitten in deep trouble, making time for people to come and view the kittens up for adoption, waiting for people to drop off kittens in need of my attention.  So with 168 hours in a week minus 42.5 hours working and getting to and from work and 60 hours per week tending to a kitten family of only 10 kittens this left 65.5 hours to sleep, eat, do summer yard work (a lot as half my back yard is garden so every inch gets hand weeded), putting away my garden produce, hanging laundry on the line, spending time with my children.  What will I do with all my time?  I got a most wonderful puppy to keep me company who is my heart now and the most wonderful companion I could have ever dreamed of.  Rylee is the smartest dog I have had and brings joy to me every single day and who loves me with all her heart.  She is mending my shattered heart, makes me laugh and gives me a reason to love with all my heart again. I will survive the betrayal, cruelty and horrible ending of my 18 years of looking after orphaned kittens.  I am strong.