“Ugh, puppy mills. These commercial breeding facilities are horrendous. The animals are kept in tiny wire cages, with little to no human interaction throughout their lives.”

Howard is so great in that aspect and he truly is my partner. We have six resident cats – Walter, Apple, Leon Bear, Charlie Boy, Bella, and Yoda-and we have fostered over fifty kittens in the last year. He even lets the kittens play in his hair! They love it!

I like to call myself an “equal opportunist,” as I love both dogs and cats, but over the last couple years, both Howard and I have become champions for cats. They are so independent and loving and playful and bring such happiness to our lives.

Older animals are the best because, number one, a majority of the time, they are already house-trained; number two.

Animals are a huge part of my life, so yes, if you are going to be a part of my life, you would need to have the same love for animals.

Annually, two to four million animals are euthanized, and we can bring that number down significantly by going to our local shelter and adopting and also by spaying and neutering your pets.

There are so many great animals in our local shelters that people don’t really know about.

Special-needs rescues and older rescues have always had a close place in my heart, because those are the ones that tend to get looked over. That is why I love how North Shore Animal League America has their shelter set up.

North Shore Animal League America is so dear to my heart not only for the amazing people that work there.

There are takers, who are always trying to serve themselves; matchers, who are always trying to get equal benefit for themselves and others; and givers, who are always trying to help people.

People tend to have one of three ‘styles’ of interaction.

If you can look in the mirror and say I love myself, that’s going to affect your interactions with people who look like you.

We need to abandon our scale and adopt God’s because our misguided labels keep us from the right kind of interaction with people.

Emotions are the interaction of thoughts and of sensations in the body.

Though human interaction, every day I evolve, I learn something new about myself and world I live in.

Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.

Let’s give this one more try. My brain’s having contractions from those late-night interactions.