Max on ...Punxsutawney Phil -- Groundhog Day

Have you met my good friend Phil? He's famous for seeing (or not seeing) his shadow on Groundhog Day. He's a good guy and it's not his fault, but What's the big deal with groundhog day?

I mean... is a groundhog the most popular pet in the world?

No, I think not... not even close.

What IS the most popular pet? The Cat of course.

But, does the Cat have a national day. No.

So, no offense to Phil, but what I propose is that Phil step aside this year and let me poke my head out tomorrow at dawn. Let me look around for my shadow. And when I see it or don't see it, let those wonderful gentlemen in their long coats and funny hats in Punxsutawney hold me up in triumph, so the whole crowd can cheer. After all, I know what a shadow is and can identify it just as easily as Phil.

So, what ya say? Give Ponxsutawney Max a try this year.

For more info on this topic go to http://www.groundhog.org/.

Despite the cold, Mousey Mouse takes a dip.

Max's Story: Episode 1

Hello at long last to all my critter pals. It seems we're back on schedule again. Thank heaven for that.

You know how it is with us kitties -- our schedules -- our routines are everything to us. Well, with HH in such a frenzy (working night and day) to finish her book, my twitter time and my blog time have been limited.

What did I do? I misssed my creative outlets and found myself napping more and more. So, today... got up, did my jumping jacks, and I'm ready to get that creativity flowing again. I'm am READY world. Here I come...

By the way: HH isn't the only one who can write a book... here's a little excerpt from the murder mystery I'm writing...

It was a dark and stormy night -- one to be avoided at all cost -- when Max hitched up his courage and stuck his nose out the cat door. He had heard a noise in the backyard and knew it was up to him to investigate.

He stepped through the door with one front paw and turned his head to the right...nothing. Just as he was about to swing his head in the other direction, the hairs on his back stood up in response to a glint of metal he caught out of the corner of his eye. Too late to turn back, Max....

Max on... it's been quite a week.

It's been one of those weeks where dear ol' Max knows to stay out from under foot and to lead the quiet life. HH has been working on finishing her book and she really got in the zone. Consequently, the house is a wreck and I'm a bit underloved at the moment.

But, she finished the book at 9:30 this morning -- after getting up at 2am to start the final proofing process. Yea! Life will get back to normal tomorrow after we nap a bit.

Just wanted to check in with all of you... cuz I've been silent so long and you know that's not in my nature.

See you on the blog, Facebook and Twitter tomorrow, Critter Pals-O-Mine.

*nosetaps* to all of you.

Mousey Mouse found a dragon

Max on... That January Slump

Every year about this time... I slide into a slump. The holidays are over and it just doesn't seem quite so exciting. Having such cold weather doesn't help any either. I don't like to feel shut in.

So, this year, I'm taking matters into my own paws. I'm not going to slump this year. I'm going to make January the most productive of months.

Here's how I plan to do it...

1. I'm going to start writing that murder mystery. It'll be the first in the Max the Quilt Cat Murder Mystery Series. The outline is ready. Here I go to get to work on it.

2. I'm not going to sit around watching TV. I'm going to stand up and move around when I watch TV or I'm going to determine which shows I want to watch and turn the thing off for the others.

3. I'm going to do laps around the house between naps. It's always good to exercise to raise the spirits.

and...

4. I'm going to enjoy my naps, guilt free...

What are you going to do to avoid the January Slump?

Max the Quilt Cat Blog Receives Honest Scrap Award

*walks to podium... taps on microphone with paw... clears throat... begins speaking*

...Oh my goodness. I was so thrilled to receive a tweet from the Mooshies telling me that I had received The Honest Scrap Award. Yes, I am pleased from the ends of my whiskers to the tip of my tail. Thank you so much for finding me worthy of this wonderful award.

For those of you who don't know about The Honest Scrap Award, it is "for bloggers who put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul." I think it's equal to or better than the Nobel Prize for Literature -- an award I have sought throughout my writing career.

I want to thank Marcella and Whitey Mooshie for thinking of this humble, quilt-sitting cat for this award. I will do my best to "write from the depths of my soul" to ensure I continue to live up to the standards set by The Honest Scrap Foundation. I am very pleased to link to The Mooshies' wonderful blog: http://themooshiechronicles.com/ so readers can see the previous winners of this award.

I can not conclude this acceptance speech without conveying special thanks to HH (that's short for "Her Highness" the special name I have for my food human and writing coach) and to The Great Noodles who taught me everything I know about recovering from writer's block through napping. I also want to give a special thanks to @PepiSmartDog for his friendliness and guidance on Twitter.

In order to accept this award, I must comply with certain conditions:

• Highlight the award on your blog and link back to the person who bestowed the award to you. (Done)
• Post 10 interesting things about yourself. (I will do that in the next section.)
• Present the award to 10 or so other blogs.

Max is beside himself with excitement over the award.

Max on... New Year's Evolution

Happy New Year one and all.

@grrlysquirrel commented, on my New Year's Revolution blog, that maybe we should take the "r" off revolution and see what we can do with New Year's Evolution. Great idea. Here's my take on that....

How about if we all dedicate ourselves to evolving to the next level this year. Here are the steps I'm gonna take to do just that:

1. Analyze specific areas of my life, such as physical, mental, spiritual, educational, leisure, etc.

2. Choose an area for evolution.

3. Analyze that area, including strengths, weaknesses and current level of performance.

4. Set a new higher level of performance to attain.

5. Determining what I need to do to reach my new level.

6. Get started by setting a small step to take....

7. Continue climbing the steps....

Happy New Year!!!