You Know You’ve Been Working Too Hard When…
The Other Half Of Angie's Copywriting
I’ll begin my story by introducing you to my constant companion, Smokie (that’s right it’s ‘ie’…he’s a writing rebel. The typos and spelling errors are, in fact, his contribution to these posts if there are any 
).
This seemingly innocent laid-back cat isn’t what he outwardly appears. He is my guide and good friend.
He shows me his undying devotion by spending hours laying around my workstation and laying in various positions collecting the hours of sleep we’d all like to have.
One of Smokie’s favorite things to do is to sit on his chair (which just happens to be next to mine) and stand with two paws on the arm of my computer chair.
Normally when Smokie wants attention, he will find a paper bag to attack. If I ignore that, he brings his ball (He really thinks he’s a dog). When I continue to ignore his demand for affection, he quietly sneaks over to my couch and expertly digs his sharp nails into my old ratty couch. He knows that this is one thing I can’t stand. Did I mention he was a boisterous cat?
He tries to jump onto my lap, but I kept putting my arm in front to keep him down. When he’s on my lap, I can’t get anything done. Life was going good…until yesterday.
After spending several comfortable hours relaxing on the heat vent, He decided to jump on the chair. I continued to work on the day’s projects and ignore his cute, but unwanted interruptions, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his paw come up to take a swipe at my face. Very out of character for him. I instantly raised my arm to stop him from scratching the heck out of my cheek. As soon as my arm was high enough, he immediately seized the opportunity to jump onto my lap.
He immediately puts one paw on each of my shoulders and proceeds to nuzzle at my neck. Of course, pushing him off isn’t a option — not if I want skin left on my neck anyway. I didn’t know whether to get upset with him or give him the attention he so deserved.
My own cat had just outsmarted me. He figured out exactly how to get what he wanted. I had put too many hours in working and not enough on the things that mattered.
Drastic times call for drastic measures I guess.
Time off is scheduled in for the future, and not a moment too soon I guess. Lesson learned.
December 17, 2008 at 6:32 am | Lighter Side | 4 comments
What a cool cat! I have a little Scottish Terrier for a buddy. Her carefree attitude and excitement about even the most ordinary things in life is a real stress reliever!
Christine OKelly’s last blog post..SEO Copywriting: How To Calculate Keyword Density
We had a dog and two cats before Smokie. I was committed to avoiding animals when the last one died, but the house got way too quite. It is interesting how their personalities can be so different. Blackie (one of the two cats) had a bit of an eating disorder. If he wanted attention and you put him down, he had to go and eat. Silver (the second cat) was the house diva. Smokie plays fetch and behaves like a dog. Since I’ve been at home full time, he’s decided he is my constant shadow. Really great till you try bringing a large basket of laundry upstairs.
I agree that life would certainly be more stressful without him!
Awww, he looks like a great cat — and that says a lot coming from a true dog person. Other people always seem able to find those cats that “act like dogs” but I have never been so lucky. All of my cats have been 100% cat, which means wicked, skittish and coy. Never quite doing what you want them to do!
I hope you enjoy your time away from the stresses of working. You deserve it!!
Tara Geissinger’s last blog post..SEO Copywriting Code-Critical: How to Format MS Word For Publishing Online
Aw Thanks Tara. It’s funny because I’ve packed so much into my holiday, it hasn’t exactly been the quiet computerless one it had originally been. Hubby is working, so that helps. It’s all very exciting. Well, except for the accounting part of it.
For some reason, I always seem to get the animals with the personality disorders. I sure hope there isn’t an underlying reason for that haha. I’ve had an emotional eater, the diva, the baby, and now the cat dog. On the bright side, I don’t have to let Smokie out at 5am (The last dog I had was famous for it.
) and he eases my hubby’s fear of getting a mouse in the house. He’s not afraid of them (not that I know of anyway). He just can’t stand the idea that one might actually come in the door.