The first really sunny morning since I put up the kitteh protection and have been able to leave the balcony doors open. Anyhow, two collages (click to enlarge, then click again for full-size) of Loki enjoying his first sunbeam and then sharing it with Azar.

And since you are no doubt wondering by now … why yes, I do actually do stuff other than make cat collages. In fact, all this “being on line all the time” jazz might finally be starting to pay off…

Since I started back to work last October it soon became clear that trying to rebuild my client base for English classes was not turning out as planned. The economy here is still very bad, much more than I had realised since I’d been off work for a year and a half, so there is much less demand for things like private language classes. As a result, I’ve only been able to find about five a week (15 is basic minimum for barely squeaking by) and so I am clearly not making ends meet and am also up to my eyeballs in credit card debt. BUT … as many of you know, I have also been working on a few projects in an attempt to diversify and get a few jobs going, especially things I can do from home (in case of another recurrence).

These projects have included keeping the Sevilla Tapas blog updated and also expanding my main azahar-sevilla site to include a forum and more frequent updates about stuff going on in Sevilla. I’ve been very active on social media sites and making contacts, as well as meeting with people in Sevilla who are related to the food/wine/tourism industries. I also started offering Tapas Tours and Wine Tasting Evenings and have just recently got The Store more or less functioning (with the help of my very generous techy pal and long-time h2g2 friend Taliesin), though I have yet to “stock the shelves and open the doors for business”. I am in the process of locating good merchandise at the moment. Next I have to get back to work on my e-book for Sevilla Tapas – I’m planning to offer both a downloadable PDF version and printed guide.

So I am actually working a lot! I’m just not making any money. However … through a contact I made on Twitter (you know, that totally silly waste-of-time place) I now have eight tapas tours booked from May-December, with the chance of more on the horizon. And yesterday I found out I may be up for a paying gig taking care of someone’s social media stuff – doing their daily blog and twitter updates. And well, this is exactly what I’ve been working towards. I reckon that having half a dozen part-time jobs is the way to go for someone with dodgy health who is living in a precarious economic situation. Because it’ll be the store, guide book and social media stuff that’ll keep me going if I get sick again. And the other jobs like tapas tours and English classes keep me active socially and are actually quite fun, as long as I am able to do them.

I want to thank those of you who have continued to send donations and gifts – you know who you are. You’ve made an amazing difference while I struggle to get back on my feet again. And you also know I’m not being idle here, though it’s been hard sometimes to stay motivated and focused … that “walking time bomb” feeling never really goes away. Getting Loki was my first step beyond “cautious optimism” and it turned out that a new life in the house was just as important for me as for Azar. I’m still scared and often don’t sleep well, but I’m still plugging away here. And I also keep posting on casa az every single day (even if it’s just kitteh pics), because I need that as my bottom line daily achievement thing, if that makes sense.

And now … back to work!

sunbeam pics on Fotki