a morning of events and kittens at walmart

to preface: i know better than to post date a check. really. but i didn't know what else to do. i had to have my rent in renton by the first, and i get paid on the first. so i post dated. and i mailed the check on tusday or wednesday... somehow they cashed it yesterday and overdrafted my checking account. even though the check is dated for tomorrow. i went down to my bank and talked to the ladies there. it seems that, although banks are not supposed to cash post dated checks, if the teller running the transaction doesn't notice, they can push it through anyway. so i'm minus a couple hundred dollars until my paycheck goes through. and i had planned to purchase cat food today, as i had to go to aberdeen anyway. well, no go on that. so i called the "phone" number that the foreclosure people had provided me, and that turned out to be a fax machine. so then i emailed them. i said i plan to write my next rent check for my normal rent minus the amount of overdraft fee, since that is their fault. i told them i'm trying to get a home loan right now, and if their incompetence ruins that for me, i will be beyond furious, and then they will have some problems. so we'll see what happens there. aaargh!!
so then i went to aberdeen. i went to grocery outlet because i knew i could write a check there. so i got my cat food, got my frozen fruit for smoothies, and got a bunch of plastic shopping bags so that i now have something in which to scoop kitty litter. so then i went to walmart anyway, since they have public restroom facilities. and there was a guy with two boys giving away "free kittens"! at first i walked on by. then i went back and (stupidly) tried to educate these people. i explained that if they took the kittens to paws instead of just handing them to random strangers, then the kittens would be well cared for, as opposed to being dumped when the random strangers decided they didn't want a free kitten after all. the guy's counter argument was "yeah, but people don't want to pay the $35 to get a kitten at paws." also, he claimed that the kid who was handing out the kittens screened "pretty well" to make sure the kittens went to good homes. at this point i walked away and began making some phone calls. after i confirmed with the aberdeen paws that i could bring the kittens to them, i went back to the guy, and asked if i could please have the kittens so that i could take them to paws. he said that he had to call his wife and ask her because she wouldn't like that. ASSHOLE! they're fine with handing them to random walmart shoppers, but he needs permission to give them to a rescue organization!!! i was floored, but i waited while he got her to reluctantly agree. then they handed me kittens. i asked if the basket they'd been sitting in came with them. he said no, and walked away. so i asked a walmart employee for help, and he was able to find me a cardboard box. then i took the kittens to paws. so now they are safe, and are guaranteed healthcare and screening for their new homes. and i am amazed at the level of stupidity and lack of concern that people can attain. sometimes i am so ashamed to be human, but then i meet someone like val at paws, and i'm proud to be one of 'em again. a million thanks to everyone who goes out of their way for rescue. you are wonderful.

stuck in my head

d'you ever get something stuck in your mind - just plastered in there? someone posted a youtube link to a song on facebook. it's called airplanes. so that link did 3 things to me:
1) i listened to the song about 50 times. can't help it. it's stuck in my head, and it goes through my head over and over again when i'm not listening, so i might as well just play the thing.
2) it reminded me that i love paramore. their cd was one of the many that burned up in my car, and i just hadn't replaced them all yet. so i looked up some paramore. and there is a song i hadn't heard before called decode. so i love that song too. and the music video has clips from the movie twilight in it. guess they wrote it for the soundtrack or something. and i've consciously avoided twilight for a long time. several reasons. i generally try to avoid fads. i've never been into vampire movies. i'm just jealous that stephanie myers is getting so much from writing out a dream, when i've had a couple of frikking awesome dreams that would make great book and movie series if i would just sit down and write them (and then find a good publisher and all that). so i'm kind of mad at myself about that... yet another reason to avoid twilight. but the scenes got me hooked. now i know i want to watch. and that means i'll have to read. and that means i'm sunk. and who likes to admit that? so i have mixed feelings about this song.
3) the third thing about the original song is that it's a rap, which reminded me that i haven't listened to rap for a while, having avoided that for a while too. so i revisited some good ol' marshall mathers. and he's still really good, but i'm not used to that much profanity any more. it actually got irritating, how much was in there. i'm sure it's possible to express feelings without using four letter words. so mixed feelings about that too.
and all because liz posted a song she likes.
facebook is an incredible thing.

got two out of five w-2s...

and i'm waiting for the other 3. waiting. golly, that gets annoying!
so in the meantime, i just ate a bowl of cereal, and hobbes reminded me, insistently, how very, very much he likes cereal milk. also that he is super cute, and did i mention that he really, really likes cereal milk... so after i was done, i know a lucky kitty who got to drink all the cereal milk he wanted.
i suppose i should blog about how the hearing went. the courthouse was old and more church-like than i had expected. i arrived ridiculously early, and sat alone in the courtroom for a good 20 minutes before anyone else came in. an older woman sat near me and we talked - just small talk, but keeping each other from going crazy in those last minutes of waiting. we joked about the lawyers, talked about how far we both lived from the courthouse, stuff like that. and then the judge came in. someone forgot to say "all rise" so it took a minute for people to stand up. but i think he forgave us, since he started right away calling people up to hand their final paperwork to his assistant. as he got the papers, he'd skim through them and either sign off, or embarrass the petitioner by pointing out what they didn't have and that they'd have to come back next week. i was the seventh or so, and even though i'd checked everything about seventy times, i was still nervous. but he signed mine, and then said i could go downstairs if i needed a copy. done. and now i'm single again. i walked outside into the sunshine and didn't know how to feel. how many years i spent in a different life than i have now... i walked to my car and started the long drive home.
by the time i got back i was excited enough to swing by work and squeal with the girls a little bit. then i came home, and fell asleep while i was trying to decide where to go party. so i had a super long really deep nap, and oh boy did it feel good!
so good in fact, that i'm tempted to go have another one. right now.

bursting into song!

"i've got no strings
to hold me down
to make me fret, or make me frown
i had strings,
but now i'm free
there are no strings on me!

i've got no strings
so i have fun
i'm not tied up to anyone
they've got strings
but you can see
there are no strings on me!"

wheee!

random ramblings

so i'm here at the laptop, listening to the twister soundtrack, got snoozing kitties spread around the room. the kids moved back in today so teddy got his workout. he's crashed out over in the corner. i just finished one of my red-white-and-blue rocketship popsicles (only have one left!), and the laundry is working its way through...
i just read the book the daily coyote, and, while i can't condone the practice of taking wild animals and raising them in human households, the story of a coyote pup learning to live with an eccentric writer/photographer kind of grabbed me. the photos more than the writing. the opening section of the book describes how the author (shreve stockton) fell in love with wyoming on sight. from her photos, i can understand why. anyway, the book is connected to a website: www.dailycoyote.net. so you can check it out for yourself. i think i like it, but there are so many things i'd comment at if i was in a feisty mood... either way, call it an art piece or something.
so then i went and read some garfield to balance it out.
can't wait for the hearing tomorrow. i'm gonna be free! not that the marriage was all horribly restrictive or whatever, just that it fell apart and it's over, and once i couldn't take it any more and moved out, then i had to sit around in limbo for 3 months after filing paperwork. i don't know why the state of washington makes people do that, but it's sure annoying to be "in process". i want to decide, do, and be done. so, here's to tomorrow, and being done.

more house

as promised, here are some shots of the house. first, from the driveway:
these are the horse head pillars and the entryway (can you kind of see the rock wall in there?):

this is the fireplace/heat stove from the inside. i love the ceiling, and the arched doorways, and the tile floor:

that's about where it stops being awesome. the rest of it needs more work than i originally thought. like, there's not a toilet in the main bathroom... stuff like that. there is still some carpet that needs to be torn out, but i bet it could be replaced with pergo or something else relatively inexpensive. the potential though! there are 4 bedrooms (rooms with closets) all in the left(south) wing of the house. there is also one bathroom and two additional small rooms (cat/dog or storage rooms, maybe) on that side. the other wing has the dining room (red tile floor!) kitchen (needs some work) den, another bathroom, and the double garage.

all in all, tons of space, would definitely keep me busy for a long time, and would need a tiny bit of work done before i could even move in. also needs some appliances. i noticed a refrigerator, and i think there's a stove, but i that's it. so i need to find out if this usda rural housing thing loans out extra funds for putting in appliances and plumbing fixtures.

harley weekend

this weekend is hog heaven, or something like that. it's the one weekend a year when every harley rider is invited out to a convention of sorts in ocean shores. they ride around noisily, hang out at local bars, ride around noisily, wear leather, shop at local stores, ride around noisily... i'm sure it's exciting to motorcycle enthusiasts. and i understand the appeal of being with a large group of people who have common interests (san diego comic con, anyone?). even though motorcycles aren't an interest i share, i thought i should at least check it out. so i went on down to the convention center parking lot, where there are booths upon booths of leather, fringy, fleeced, accessorized with bandanas and helmets. then there were food booths. i doubted that i, as a vegetarian, would find anything appealing at a biker convention. wrong! there was a booth labeled "thai food". the menu listed pad thai, yakisoba, and fried rice, among other things. well, being the sucker that i am, i went for some yakisoba. yeah. i did that. it was edible, but it wasn't yakisoba, not by a long shot. it was only after i'd spent my 9 bucks on a plate of greasy noodles that i noticed the roasted corn booth, and the place that sold deep fried snicker bars. urk. that's a heart attack on a stick! however, at this point it was cold and misty, and i'd had enough of the leather and trying not to cough, so i walked home.

i found my house

now i just need to purchase it. which means i need to be approved for a loan, which means i need to submit copies of w-2s, which someone has refused to give me. which means that i've emailed all 5 employers and requested copies. let's hope they don't take very long.
then i can get my loan, and then i can get my house!

the outside doesn't look like much - siding that needs to be pressure washed. but, oh, the inside! the last owner was almost done with a renovation, and it's beautiful! ok, so the cupboards aren't all attached to the wall yet, and there is some drywall that needs to be hung. then of course, there's painting to be done. but the focal point of the entire house is an amazing slate stone fireplace and chimney. the floors are red tile or stone (almost no carpet). there is a 2-car garage. there is a "cat bathroom". there is almost 1/2 acre of gorgeous lawn with magnolias here and there. the house is a u-shape with the entrance in the inner center. the wings are bedrooms and garage, and between them there's a wall, with horse heads on the gateposts.
next time i go out there, i will take a camera.
it's perfect.
like i said, now i just have to purchase it.

popsicle run

i finished my last prune pop today, and the throat demanded more coldness. so ensued a popsicle run and, now i've got some ridiculous colorful things in my freezer, and in my tummy. we got some all over the kids too, but they've been cleaned off now.
and, due to escalating email wars, it's been granted that i shall take ownership of all 4 cats, instead of just 2. someone couldn't commit to picking a date by which he would take them and so he capitulated and they're mine, all mine. bwaayaahahahahaaha. which backfired a little bit, since he wants me to take neil too. now don't get me wrong, i love neil, but he's just not my dog. he knows whose dog he is, and is a total daddy's boy. my argument is that it wouldn't be fair to deprive him of that. his argument is well i can't take care of him. my rebuttal: can't, or won't? and we're still on that fence. leaning this way though. so i'll have four cats and two dogs, one of which is bionic, and the other that bites people.
and i'm looking for a place to move where i can keep 'em all. the loan thing is going to take longer than anticipated because, when i packed up to move out, i didn't think to dig up and pack the last 2 years' w-2s. stink!
also, i am still coughing, coughing, coughing, and i have to go pick up paws pups for surgery tomorrow before work. hope the theraflu helps!

teddy the bionic dog

today became pick on teddy day when a no-show made time for him to be x-rayed again. and his darned leg is not healing. the bones are not growing together. the metal hardware is holding it in place, but irritating the heck out of poor teddy, and he is infected again.

so now he's back on his antibiotics, and on thursday, we are going to take off the hardware. it was definitely worth a try, but the experiment did not go off as i had hoped, and we at the office are all pretty bummed about it. teddy was just happy to get off the x-ray table. what a trooper!

fixing paws pups

the newest batch of paws puppies are named for space missions (cassini, luna, and such). they're all black lab crosses, and practically impossible to tell apart. for a while they had numbers written on them, but the marker didn't survive their pre-surgery baths they got yesterday. and the volunteer who brought them in, bless his heart, had no idea which was who. not a problem, except that we have to keep medical records, and we've already started charts on these pups, so we have to match the right pup to the right paper. that was a nice bit of detective teamwork.
and we got them all sorted out and fixed in time to get a real lunch break. yay - mac'n'stuff again!

the un-monday

there was a surprising lack of drama at the office today. despite a walk-in early in the day, and a routine exam turning into full on x-rays and whatnot, everything flowed really smoothly. we got a little bit behind, but everyone was understanding. we caught up without any no-shows. our clients were all pleasant, even the ones we thought wouldn't be. i got to speak in "ivanna" and expound upon the ongoing georgian/ossetian conflict. and my lunch break was long enough to come home and make mac'n'cheese. so where's the catch? it's monday after all!
ok, i'm still sick, but a tiny bit better (i think) than i was yesterday.
and i got my realtor! a very good client, who i was thinking i should ask for help in my home search, came in today to purchase dog food... and the rest is history. he said that working in foreclosures is a pain, but he'll do it. yay! now i have to go talk to betty at the bank on wednesday and really get this ball rolling!
seriously - catch?

missed the morning

yay - i fell asleep! and stayed there. woke up to a headache and more coughing, but hey, at least there was some temporary relief in there. then hobbes was freaking out and getting the midnight crazies in early afternoon, so i snapped a leash on and we went for a kitty walk. just around the building, but that's usually enough stimualtion to get him to shut up for a while. and it seems like it worked. so there's laundry going, and i washed enough dishes to eat curry and drink mango smoothie. i need to do the rest, but urg. just scooping out the cat box was enough effort to get me wheezing.

so, to keep this from being just a whiney, woe is me, post, here are those awesome red flowers (mixed in with blackberry blossoms) that i mentioned earlier, followed by ripening huckleberries:

pros/cons of insomnia

i noticed in the last year, while my insomnia was pretty much under control, that i got a lot less done in each day - probably because each "day" was a few hours shorter. but they were so much more comfortable days! i think it's just being sick that's making me unable to sleep again this week. i've not been this fevery this long in years. i worked multiple jobs and made more money back when i didn't sleep. and while i was busy making money, i wasn't busy spending it, so that worked out pretty well too. i burned up lots of energy jittering around all night, so i got to eat more without worrying too much about it. plus, the super padded resume from all the extra working looks nice.
the cons, well, they're pretty much all physical. tiredness, dark circles, day-after headaches, slap-happy silliness (that one can be a pro too, in the proper context). i used to get dehydrated and get stress ulcers from lying around at night trying to sleep and worrying about stuff.
was/is the discomfort worth it? probably not. i love sleep. i love that my bedroom is just that, a room with a bed in it. no tv, no books, no nothing. just me and snoozing. i love lying down with that drowsy feeling - and knowing that it will work this time! that i'll stay relaxed and ahhhhhh. it is awesome.
so i guess that means, please don't wake me up in the morning, so that i can catch up from being up tonight.

joys of living in the middle of nowhere

i was explaining (over the phone) my experience with being unable to get a boca burger in aberdeen on wednesday, and the listener stated that i was making her hungry. that made me realize that i still want a mushroom swiss burger. however. the one grocery store in town closed 17 minutes ago. i could drive an hour and a half to olympia to either hit up an ihop or a 24 hour grocery store to purchase bocas and swiss cheese (and bread, and mushrooms too. all i've got is the tomato). that would be a huge investment for a silly food craving.
hmmmmn - i do have meatless meatballs and mozzarella and mushroom soup...
which reminds me that i also do not have m&ms.
i do have a great view of the stars out here though. that's one thing i will miss about this rental place - the roof is flat, and perfect for stargazing. were you all aware that the big and little dipper are also the great and small bear constellations? it just depends on the time of year - that's why in russia they call ursus the winter bear.
and i love being able to hear the ocean every time i walk outside. also, i've got the coolest flowers growing behind my house in amongst the blackberry bushes. i have no idea what they're called, but they're red and remind me of a cross between a lily and an orchid. if i remember to take pictures when it's light out, maybe i'll also remember to post the pictures.
if i ever feel better enough to be completely un-drugged again, that is. oh the joys of otc medicine!

it would be awesome if i would remember lists

i'm really into writing lists. shopping lists, to do lists, lists of goals, lists of things about which to make lists... and these lists pretty frequently don't get used beyond just getting written down.
today it was a shopping list that i forgot to take with me, so i'm pretty sure i didn't get everything i needed. at least i got the theraflu and gatorade. some random objects i didn't "need" per se, but that somehow ended up in my shopping basket include another pet comb, some new socks, and a green see-through calculator.

also, i've renewed my lack of faith in places that claim to be japanese food restaurants. the first clue that "honey teryiaki" was anything less than authentic should have been that the menu offered kung pao chicken. i still went ahead and ordered yakisoba, but darned if they didn't put a fortune cookie in the bag with my lo mein.

"not"ter pops

i woke up this morning with a pounding headache, a dry throat, and general soreness. oh, and repeated hacking coughs. this after i used up all my theraflu, wellpatches, halls drops, gatorade, etc. over the last few days. thank goodness i still had some excedrin. so then i went looking for something liquid for my throat. and i found some wannabe otter pops in my freezer. except these are "all natural" i found out that means they're sweetened with prune juice instead of, well, anything else. that's all i can taste is prunes, in any of the 3 "flavors". if i were smarter, i probably wouldn't be eating my 5th prune pop right now, but the sore throat and all... i gotta get to a point of functionality so i can go out and buy more theraflu and whatnot. plus, there's a birthday party i'm supposed to go to tomorrow, and i don't have a gift yet. and the house is a disaster from me being sick all week (sick people don't have to clean up, you know) but it sounds like the temporary roommate and small children are coming back in a couple of days, and i can't have small children running around in filth. blah! blah, i tell you, blah!
and no response yet from the realtor.

the "b" word

so while i was at work today, one of the paws volunteers told me that she had been called "the b word" by the angry lady who owns the little dogs we helped care for after they were displaced by a fire in their home. (this lady is angry because we didn't want to give 40 obviously neglected little dogs back to a currently homeless person with no questions asked).
i was happy to be able to lift her spirits, with the statement that i have never called her a "b word" - i use far more creative terms.
the laughter that ensued sent me into a coughing fit, and i had to leave the room.

"just for fun"

i may have mentioned that my mildewey, roof-leaking rental is foreclosing on me, and that i have until the end of august to move... the plan was to move on-site at north beach paws as the resident dog handler - they had someone ready to donate a double-wide and everything. then we come to beaurocratic red tape. yep. the county won't let them put another "residence" on-site because of the number of "bedrooms" officially in the cat house. and i mean house that has been converted into a cat dwelling. there are no bedrooms. there are several kennel rooms and isolation rooms and whatnot. no bedrooms. however, this is not a place where paws and the county see eye to eye. their problem is that in order for there to be more "bedrooms" on the property, there would need to be more septic system. as in a new one being dug and whatnot. that's a level of investment beyond which paws is willing to go to get me on board. so i've wasted several weeks of my precious get-out-of-the-rental time on that debacle.
moving on, (ha ha, get it, moving? oh brother!). originally when i got the notice on my door about the property reverting to bank ownership, the notice stated that if a tenant had an interest in purchasing the property, they would be given priority consideration. so i thought about that for a day or so, during which the mildew leapt from the walls in force, and a new roof leak appeared. thank goodness, or i'd have considered that for a bit longer. while i was considering that option, though, i discussed it with my boss. now that paws has fallen through, she reminded me about purchasing property, and got my brain wheels turning (notice how it's late at night and i'm really darn sick, and yet not sleeping?!?). so now i've emailed real estate people to schedule viewings on two different foreclosed properties each going for under 100k. both are "project houses", but one is a huge house with a partially finished remodel (rock fireplace and whatnot), and one is a cottagey-type blue house on 3 acres (can we say BURRO SPACE?!?!?).
and i've just submitted a usda rural housing thingy to verify that i qualify for their program (i should - i'm poor with decent credit and i live in the middle of nowhere!) and now i'm thinking, gee, what else can i do to forward the process?
why, blog about it of course!
if anyone would like to cross their fingers for me or remind karma that i've been behaving myself lately, it would be most appreciated. as per the usual, i shall keep the blog world posted.

some jerk i'll call "david robbins"

so there's this guy, and as far as i know he's the secretary of the local homeowners' association. so one would think he would know something about his local town. also, he's the manager of a place i'll call the "grey gull inn" which is down the street from where i work.
so this guy forwards his association an email about vet offices helping out with the gulf oil spill and says that this is an issue local people had better take seriously because we "don't have a local vet" who can help out in emergencies.
HELL-FRICKIN-O!!
someone didn't check the local red cross registry where we are an emergency shelter. someone didn't watch the statewide news show(s) about my office taking in rescue dogs twice. someone seems unaware that my office is just a few short blocks down the same street and that my boss is on 24/7 emergency call.
i find myself questioning whether he's actually that stupid, or perhaps just a world-class jerk.

being sick is the pits

but going to paws to help take care of a dozen puppies helps a bit. there are 7 lab mixes and 5 newfie mixes, and they're all between 8 and 10 weeks old. 9 of the 12 are black or blackish, and oh boy are they one cute pile of poo machines! they tore a hole in my pants, which wasn't too cool (i kind of liked those pants, so i'm sure it was stupid to wear them at paws). ah well.
did i mention that someone stole hobbes' cable tv... i mean my bird feeder?

alas, alack, a flu attack...

urg. spent the night alternating between sweating buckets and chattering teeth. didn't sleep more than maybe two hours. spent the day moving achingly slowly, trying to hold back coughs because they hurt. in the meantime, i'm watching/attempting to train a little benji-looking dog. he went home for a while today, and his mom said he behaved very well. so we'll see what another few days of me being strict at him does.
i plan on going back to bed now.

The Long Drive Home

so i didn't blog yesterday about how i finished my 2-day course in just under 1 day. the instructor was a little perturbed, but she double-checked it all, and not only did i finish, i ROCKED! (not to brag, or anything)... so if i hadn't been the chauffer i could have come home last night. ah well. after a not-so-great sleep on the floor cushions again (and me waking up early enough to go on a 5 mile walk before breakfast with the masochistic folks who do this daily) i got to spend the morning plugging away at normal work stuff on my laptop. my cohorts were able to wrap up their courses by early afternoon, so after a brief (and awesome) pizza lunch at pizzicatos and a quick trader joes run, we started the loooooooong ride. on a side note, it was very warm, and my car does not have a/c. so we left the windows down, freeway and all. so not a whole lot of talking happened along the way. the day was beautiful though, and the scenery... ahhhhhh. i love so many things about living in the pacific northwest!
however, after all the fun and whatnot, despite my planning this entire trip because i craved curry, the only indian food i got is trader joes' palak paneer in a box. i shall have to plan another trip shortly.

Weekend in Transitraining

so this adventure started with nobody else wanting to drive to our training in tigard this weekend. since the whole trip was my idea, i'm the lucky driver. yay-ish. the list of things on my car that don't work include the door locks, speedometer, trunk seal, quietness of brakes, odometer, a/c, driver side window, there is a lack of cd player... and i'm sure i could go on. don't get me wrong, i love my car. it was a free car, and as such, these issues are just humorous quirks. however.
so i drove it on down, filled with coworkers and luggage. we got here a half-hour before the boss (who had the magical checking-in credit card), but late enough that no shops or entertainment were still open. so we got to wait around in the humid, but pleasantly warm outdoors for a while - only to find that we had been given dinky rooms, instead of the nice, big, actually-fit-3-humans-apiece rooms we had last time. so we talked to the nice guy at the front desk, who was very apologetic about: tough toots - there were no suites left. so, now i'm sitting on my pile of couch cushions and sheets on the floor, and listening to the showers/footfalls of other hotel guests. it seems the nice, big rooms also had better soundproofing.
and i thought i was going to get a break this weekend from sleeping on the floor!

in other news, i shall guinea-sit a couple of cavy pigs next week, and a client has persuaded me to "see if i can do anything" with her dog training-wise. so li'l dexter is moving in on monday, and i'll get to drive up to moclips a couple of times to clean out a pig cage. that plus these trainings always leave me with a to-do list for work. i hope i won't need to sleep much in the near future.

Tale of the Left Behind Kitten

here it is - this little squirt was brought in to my office by some people who had picked it up from a construction site. apparently its mama had been disturbed from her nest and took all the other babies somewhere else. for some reason she left this one. it seemed a healthy enough little squeaky thing, and it needed some milk asap.

as it turns out, we had a feral mama cat in for surgery. she had milk. it was warm and there was plenty of it, and she wasn't awake yet:

so that little kitten latched on for a meal, and wouldn't you know it, the mama cat woke up purring. she let the little squirt keep eating until it fell asleep. if only that mama was a tame cat, we could have left the baby with her.

in the meantime, bella mama (who already has five kittens of her own) was being brought in. from the first second she heard kitten squeaks, she glared at us, as though to criticize our care (or lack thereof) of the smidgen kitten. she glared while we tried to bottle feed it. she glared when we removed her kittens, one or two at a time, and rubbed them with the baby. she glared when we let her kittens cuddle the baby and get its scent on them. she glared when we put her kittens back in with her, and then washed them as quickly as she could. after a couple of hours of this nonsense, we finally gave her a chance - we snuck the baby in to nurse when bella's kittens were already at the milk bar. she immediately washed and pottied the baby.

i decided this would be a good time to take a picture:

bella did not agree with me:

she put her paw over the baby, pulled it closer, and began to wash it again. can you seee the "leave my baby alone" glare? over the next few days, the kittens gradually accepted the new baby as some sort of squeaky toy. a few of them have copied their mama and begun to wash it. they are fascinated by the noises it makes when it's looking for the milk bar.

finally, the baby is one of the gang. here they are on the 4th of july:

Too Hot to Really Blog

it's insanely hot here today. uncomfortably hot and i'm sweating from just sitting outside. i made fuzzy navel slushies and ate chinese salad, hoping they would help me cool down... at least they tasted good.
the paws shift today was short. the dogs were too hot to play outside long and i was a little busy with allergies. so my helper and i busted out the cleaning and feeding and put the dogs back in their kennels. then i took the pet people to their swimming lesson. then i went to walmart to pick up some stuff for work. glucometer test strips, and kleenex (the kind with lotion). one would hope that walmart woudln't run out of both these items at once, however, one's hopes are not always realized, and walmart was indeed out of both these items. i would have been significantly more bummed about that if i didn't need to get iams and kitty litter anyway.

chinese salad

so as i was putting together my cabbage-based sweet chinese salad, someone asked me if they really eat that stuff in china. i had to say no. i really don't think they've got craisins in bulk over there. and, lately at least, i don't make salad without craisins.

Small Children at My House

yep, that's right. a pair of ankle biters have moved in. i've noticed that these girls wear a frightening amount of pink. they followed me home after the fireworks last night - in the back seat of their mom's car. she's here too, but the title was more fun with just kids in it. we're having girl time and milkshakes and a massive sleepover party that's scheduled to last at least a week.
it all started with the ymca. see, the girls have swimming lessons, and they were staying at their grandma's house, but she's too far away from the y (like, she lives in puyallup). so i invited 'em over and voila! teddy has children to play with. he really likes 'em, and hobbes is having fun too. the other kitties are all still hiding out in my room.

and an update on the teddy: not so good. his x-rays do not show any bone growth between the broken pieces. so we might have to go in surgically again. after i finish paying off this round of surgery and the romania trip.
speaking of which, please feel free to donate at the romania blog: i've got a whopping $90 towards the trip so far. urg.

Intro Post

hello and happy independence day!
in the last couple of weeks i've found out my rental is foreclosing so i have to move, helped with an emergency gastric torsion surgery, scheduled a divorce hearing date, helped a friend move, discovered mildew in at least 4 locations in my apartment (including the bottom of a futon mattress - ick!), groomed the dog, "stole" a car, made a deal with north beach paws to move on-site as dog handler if they or i can find a trailer, spent the day as a tourist in my own town, helped get an orphan kitten fostered by 2 different mom cats, dumped squatters' trash out of my trash can in front of their door, tried a new pizza place that gave me cold alfredo dipping sauce, lost two special, long-time patients, discovered i have a stalker, got some nose cartilage busted by a whack from a giant dog head, ate ice cream in the walmart parking lot, and got a copy of the stage west theater group's christmas play - a hillbilly christmas - in which i intend to play the part of cora belle.
i'm sure some other stuff happened too, which is why i need a blog that's not limited to one topic like my spay/neuter trip blogs, or not limited by space like facebook, or limited to who can read what like myspace... so here we go - enjoy!