The Kindness of Bloggers and Cats

On Wednesday night Tami Cowden and I co-taught a workshop for the beginning blogger at my local library here in Nevada. We had 40 plus people in attendance and wow, were they a lively bunch. They tested my blogging knowledge with tons of relevant questions. I hope they walked away feeling more confident and ready to dive into the world of blogging.

One of the highlights of the evening was seeing Meg, the mother of Fin the amazing blogging cat. Fin sent a gift for my cats, Harry and Domino. He shared two cans of his beloved Fancy Feast. Now that's generosity. It really does mean something when a cat shares the items most near and dear to its heart.

Another was seeing familiar faces in the audience. They were their to learn but I like to think they also came as support. Among the Henderson Writers' Group, my fear of public speaking is well known. Maybe not, but like a teenager with a big zit on her nose, I'm positive everyone can see my fear radiating bright and red. I was very happy to see John, Linda, Judy, and Helene.

When I arrived home I showed Harry and Domino their gift. They were very happy and couldn't understand why it took me so long to open the cans. Duh, I was documenting the event for all to see. Especially Fin.

My cats were very grateful to Fin and anxious to devour what was hidden in the little cans. They sniffed and pawed at the tins until finally I decided I that I might be inflicting emotional torture upon my sweet pets.

I stopped snapping photos and filled their bowls. I must agree with Meg, Fancy Feast is very aromatic, much more so than Friskies (the typical feline fare served in my house). But I think it was the smell that drove Harry and Domino completely mad with desire and anticipation.

They ate the treat in record time. As they smacked away, I told my family all about the night at the library -how proud I was to have sold a copy of Writer's Bloc II and signed my name for the buyer - how happy I was to know the answers to all the questions put before me (except, how to move mail from a web based service into Outlook. Not my expertise, sorry John). - how excited I was to be asked back to do more workshops and to participate with Tami in a new writing project.

Life is good for me and my cats. Thanks to the kindness of a room full of new bloggers, I'm feeling less nervous about speaking before a group. And thanks to Fin and Meg, my cats are feeling like they want more Fancy Feast...good cat food is addictive and kindness is contagious, so they tell me.