I have a new fella in my life. His name is Waffles, but as with any pet, he has already gained a few nicknames, the most frequently used being “Waffi.”

When I had to say goodbye to my Kismet in March, I had some consolation in the fact that when I left the vet’s office, I got to go back and spend the weekend with my buddy, Zeeba. Zeeba kept me company as he normally did by sitting on the couch near me purring (or, even more loudly, snoring) the hours away. He was kind enough to let me hug him while I cried, and I know for sure that I would have cried longer and harder if I hadn’t had him to keep me company.

As I have become busier, I have found myself adding to my list of employees. With the busier list of dates I need to be gone, the two awesome ladies who work for me sometimes take on jobs that I would be happy to do myself, but don’t have the availability in my schedule for.

National Ferret Appreciation Day is April 2. Of course, as a ferret lover, I think every day should be National Ferret Day, but I know not everyone agrees with me. Some of those disagreements come from misunderstandings about ferrets. I’ve heard everything from “they stink” to “they bite faces.” And while every person’s ferret experiences may be a little different, those who take the time to get to know a ferret will find them to be wonderful pets.

September is National Service Dog month, and to help celebrate these highly trained “dogs with jobs,” it seems only fitting to discuss what a service dog is (and isn’t) and to elucidate the role of anyone who might find a service dog in their midst.

As an animal lover, knowing that an animal wants to spend time near me feels like the equivalent of winning the lottery. I’m that person who will go to a party and hang out with the dog. I’m far more comfortable around animals than humans, so if an animal chooses to spend time with me as opposed to other nearby humans, well, I can’t think of any greater honor.

At first glance, pet sitting seems like an easy job. You show up in someone’s beautiful home, you lovingly care for their pet, and then you go away, always leaving the place a little better than you found it (if possible — some houses are spotless to begin with!).

I have always admired people who knew what they wanted to do from a young age. In my youth, my choices included astronaut, marine photographer, Air Force pilot, and a few other things I was even less-suited for. (Due to having a smidge of claustrophobia, all of those careers would have been disastrous.)

Cats are weird. I’m just going to put that out there right now, in case anyone thought that because I’m an animal lover (and a “crazy cat lady”) I have some sort of rose-colored glasses on that make me not able to see the true nature of cats.

There are animals who come into our lives and remind us how lucky we are. Either they touch our hearts because they are so kind and are exactly what we didn’t know we needed in a companion, or they have an indomitable spirit that makes us want to be better humans because we see that no matter what happens to them, they never lose their enthusiasm for life.

“Craig loves his dog.” I looked down at my notes, and discovered that I had scrawled this down, and then underlined it several times.