My first post!

Hi everyone, and welcome to 'The Pet Nanny Diary" and my very first post. I decided to do this because of the wonderful feedback we have received regarding the newsletter we publish and stories that I have about the awesome group of furr kids and guardians that I have met over the past 4 years.

The story of how I came to be the owner of Silicon Valley Pet Nanny and a full time professional pet nanny is an interesting one...well, I think it's interesting and hope you will too. From the time I was born I was an animal lover, and have had cats for as far back as I can remember. If I went down the line of my wonderful kitties you would hear about Boomerang, (my first kitty) Teddy Bear, (the great one) Macaroni Salad, (my Sister's cat) Dolce, (the one we didn't ask Mom about) Coco Puff, (our supermodel) Magilla, (the love of my life) and of course...the superstar...the wonderful...the reason that I get up in the morning...Blackjack...my #1 buddy. Oh yeah...we have Corn too who is my Husbands kitty, but he really only likes my Husband.

I knew from early on that I will eventually be a crazy cat lady...you know, the one who has 15 thousand cats and chases little kids around with my cane, (Well, okay, not really, but I cannot see myself ever living without a furr kid of some kind) but my career of caring for furr kids would take MANY years to come into vision and it was not without it's criticism. I graduated High School in 1986, (eeeh gad) and with my black mohawk, (yes, I did have a mohawk) started to realize that I wanted to work in the music industry....which too has it's fair share of animals. I started to help out my friends punk bands...answering fan mail, selling t-shirts, grabbing food for them when they would record...you know, those kind of things. After realizing that money is a good thing, and at that time didn't have any I decided to get a "real job" which was a medical biller for a small ambulance company. This was the beginning of my "cube life"...no windows...no fresh air...just me...a computer and a cube. I worked there for close to 10 years before coming down with a horrible case of carpel tunnel syndrome, which required major surgery and a 2-year break from work.

After my hand had regained most of its function it was time to look for a new job...and guess what...I landed a job in the music industry! Well, it was for a small company that produced audio CD's, tapes, LPs, etc...but it was close enough for me! This was a fun time in my life...I was able to travel and do music trade shows, I met very interesting people, and enjoyed talking to musicians...however...it was still a "cube life" and at this point I started to realize that I wasn't cut out for it. I ended up moving to Los Angeles in hopes of furthering my music career...and let me tell you, after a year there I wanted NOTHING to do with any kind of entertainment career! The one great thing of living there was I got to see first hand my girlfriend Gwen's pet sitting business blossom! It was the first time I had ever heard of pet sitting, and she LOVED doing it! I started to talk to her about it, and was jealous about how happy she was and that she was able to hang around with wonderful animals all day long...the seed had been planted!

I landed a few more "cube life" jobs and hated nearly every minute of it. Don't get me wrong...some of the jobs were very important and highly paid, but I wasn't happy...AT ALL. I really started to look at other options for my life, and how it is too short to waste being sad and unfulfilled. Finally I spoke to my Husband, (who is wonderfully supportive) and told him that I wanted to start a pet sitting business. I cannot lie...I was scared to death to talk to him about it, but to my pleasant surprise his reaction was "if you think you can make a go of it do it". And that was it...my cube life was over, and my pet nanny career was about to begin.

If only everyone had the same reaction as my Husband...I cannot tell you the number of horrified reactions I received. A lot of "you're going to do WHAT" and "you're CRAZY" but I pushed on and here I am....4 years later...surrounded by my extended family of furr kids and wonderful furr kid guardians. It's the most wonderful career I can think of, and it's been that happiest time of my life. I SO look forward to seeing my furr kids each day, and no matter what type of foul mood you may be in, when you open the door and see their smiling faces just so happy to see you...you just can't stay mad. Don't get me wrong...it is HARD work and I'm sure some of you have heard me mention that I haven't had a day off in like 2 years, but I love it...it's what I was meant to do, and my Nannies love it too. They call me at least once a day to tell me a cute story about one of their furr kids, or to just say how much they love doing this type of work.

I will try my best to post a new Nanny Diary each day, so you can read about the day in the life of a professional pet sitter. Thank you so much for being a part of my life, and allowing us to care for your special furr kids. I hope that by doing this you will feel more like a part of this very strange world, and who knows...it may put a smile on your face while I'm at it.

That's all for now!