Weekend Reading: February 11, 2011

by Mandi on February 11, 2012

our new cat

our new cat, Winter

We have gone back and forth on the pet thing a few times recently…we both had pets growing up and would love for our kids to experience that, but we also travel fairly often — for a weekend or a week — which isn’t nearly as easy when you have pets, especially when you live in the boonies without a lot of neighbors!

We get a lot of stray cats out here, though, and the most recent one was friendly and sweet, sticking around even though we hadn’t fed her for more than three weeks. We finally decided to adopt her, giving her the name Winter and making her a part of our family. She’s been to the vet to get her shots and will be going back in a few weeks to get fixed.

We’ll still have to figure something out for longer trips, but at least we’ll be able to pick up and go for a weekend without worrying about finding a pet sitter.

And I think she’s stolen all of our hearts!

Here are some of my favorite posts from this week. As always, check out what I’m reading to see the other posts that make me stop and think. You’ll find new posts all week long!

If you haven’t yet heard it, I was recently a guest on The Simple Mom Podcast, chatting with my good friend Tsh Oxenreider about organizing, homeschooling and blogging!

Motherhood {Back to the Basics}

Success {For Entrepreneurs}

Food

Have a great weekend!


  • KimH

    Although many people dont talk about it, cats are notorious for being able to sustain long periods of time without human care.  As long as food, water, and a litter box are available, they’ll do fine.

    We had a cat that I got as a tween, and many years later after I was married & gone, my mom had a job in the city and would only come home on the weekends, or every other weekend. 

    Lacho had food out, the ability to come & go in & out of the house, Mom kept a bowl under the sink that she left at a slow drip to keep the water fresh,(and he had access to toilet bowls-no cleaners in them)  and he lived alone in that house for probably 2 years.  She did eventually move back and build a permanent home, and took Lacho to live with her, so he didnt spend the rest of his life, mostly alone. 

    He lived to be 22 years old,(which is mostly unheard of) and she finally had him put to sleep after he couldnt move anymore…  He lived a long, happy, kitty life.. and did so some of the time, on his own.

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Thanks for sharing your experience, Kim! She’s still going to be an outdoor cat, but I think she’s already proven her ability to survive for long periods since she hung around for so long! :D

  • http://joyceandnorm.wordpress.com Joyce and Norm

    The only pets hubby and I ever had growing up were goldfish, and we weren’t too great at keeping them. =p When I taught PreK, we had a class bunny, and it was the best bunny in the world. If I could find one like that one, it would probably be the only pet my girls would have. There is a nature center close by our town that has a “rent a pet” type program. For a small fee, you can keep the animal (gerbil, rat, or mouse I think) for a week and they provide you with all the food, cage, blankets, etc. Have fun with the kitty!

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      LOL, too funny!

      Love the idea of rent a pet!!

  • Marycarol

    Sweet looking cat. Name fits her. May you enjoy each other.

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Thank you so much!

  • Tracy

    The “what I’m reading” link on the weekend reading posts hasn’t worked for a couple months now.

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Ack! Thank you for letting me know. I had no idea it wasn’t working (although I now realize what happened!), but it’s fixed now, in this post and in my template! Thank you!

Previous post:

Next post: