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Friday, March 9, 2007

Cue Up



No, I don't mean let's all play a game of pool. This is something that I've been working on with 2 of my major distractions, my beloved beasts. I've got one of each an 18lb cat that's a stomach with legs and a basenji dog. The cat is my first cat ever and the dog is my second basenji.

So what does this have to do with Cue up? The cat is a wussy boy who deeply desires one thing only: food. He's willing to demand food at any time, all the time, including in the early morning hours a minute before the alarm goes off (whoever says animals can't tell time never had a cat). Now, I'm not a morning person, I've never been a morning person, I'll never be a morning person. The cat has no idea how close he comes to an ugly death every morning.

Bruce, my problem solving great boyfriend, suggested we feed the beasts as late as possible so the cat wouldn't expect food at 5:30 am. He mentioned using "cues" to reset kitty's expectations, such as after we have breakfast and are dressed and ready to go out the door.

This works, and if it works for my very smart cat (he can open the pantry door) it'll work for us humans. I've been cuing myself up this week and trying different cues for success. What works best for me is getting dressed and getting a soup-sized cup of tea--then I have no excuses for setting down and WORKING. I'm going to work.

So, what cues might work for you?

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