hitting hard times :(

So I've done the unthinkable: re-homed a few of my pets. The last ferret I took in has gone to stay with my step-sister. He seems happier there. He lived alone before he came to me and I don't think living with Static and Stella was his cup of tea. So now he has free run of the house quite often and it seems to be working out for everyone. Honey and Milkshake now live with a dear friend. I just never got as attached to them as I did Hairy and Minuit. I think it was too soon... I was trying to help Minuit out by getting her a housemate, but then she died leaving the new rat alone so I ended up buying a newer rat to keep the new rat company. If I'd known Minuit was gonna die anyway I wouldn't have bought the first one to begin with. So that was just a thing I did that didn't work out as I'd hoped...

Anyway, I also sent my gliders to live elsewhere. There was some weirdness going on with them that I could just no longer deal with. A rat, a mouse, the last hermit crab, and the hamster have died. The last time I tried to post a memorial PhotoBucket was being a dick and I never came back to it. I guess I have some catching up to do.

I still have more of a houseful than I need, but I have a hard time parting ways with my kids. Speaking of fur kids something is wrong with Scooter and I hope, Hope, HOPE it works itself out SOON because I certainly do not have the money to take him to the vet. He's had diarrhea and been vomiting for like a week and I've done everything I know of to fix him. I haven't switched foods on him, I've given him dewormer (just in case), I've made sure there's nothing un-foody around that he could be getting into. I just don't know what else could be going on. I treated them all for fleas with CHEMICALS! - which I'm normally opposed to doing, but nothing else is working. The fleas are MONSTEROUS this year. 😟 I wonder if that could have jacked him up.

Speaking of diarrhea - Scooter's just been going where ever he goes. For the most part he's done pretty well considering that there's no one home to let him out mid-day anymore, but now that he's sick all bets are off. And he likes to do his business in the big room where the floor is concrete or cement or whatever. Which you know - is porous. It's like trying to mop up wet poo from a sidewalk or something - it just doesn't work. So my house smells like sickly shit right now and it pretty much grosses me out. I actually feel a little nauseated because of it. But I have not found a way to get it completely up - most of what I do seems to just... rub it in. Mayhaps that's something I can work on in a bit. Suggestions?

Pretty good weekend. :D

So this is how it went:

Friday

My brother called. He gets to come home in July for about two weeks. I CANT WAIT!!! Shadow seemed disappointed when I told him the news and when I asked him why he said he didn't want to wait that long. Aww! I feel him, but I'll take what I can get. 😀 Woo!

Also, I went shopping (sort of). I bought two jackets and a shirt from Martin's and spent about $8, TOTAL. That rocks my face off. 😁

THEN, I went home and figured out how to use the film feature on my camera. Yeah, I've had the damn thing for over a year... I guess it's about time. Not that it will do that much good, but good enough. I think I can only get about 30 seconds at once. But that'll be enough to film my gliders acting silly and hopefully see some baby action. It looks SO weird. They look like they're almost too big to be in Yorda's pouch. But anyway.

Saturday

I went to clean the shelter cats at PetSmart like usual... while I was re-newspapering one of the condos I looked up out the window (cause someone was staring in at me) and it was my dad! I love it when stuff like that happens. It was so good to see him. 😁

I went to Target briefly after the cats. I bought two more jackets... this time I spent about $10. But that's ok. I really like them. Then, we went to Douglasville to see the Aqua Teen movie... it was pretty funny. ESPECIALLY the very beginning. LOLzzzz...

Sunday

I got a new phone. It's sort of goofy-looking, but that's ok.

My mom and her husband came over for a while... they brought my grandmother with them. She's got Alzheimer's. I haven't seen her in a long time. It was good to see her. I've been in my house for about a year and this is the first time she's been there to see it. Shadow was really patient with her, though she kept asking him the same questions (what's your name?, how old are you?, where do you go to school?, etc.) over and over again. He's such a good kid. 😍

I guess aside from that Sunday wasn't so great. I fought a migraine most all day (and nausea) and had a terrible ear pain also (just on the right side, wtf?). Then my dogs got out which (of course) made me panic. (I got them home safely, though). And all in all I just didn't get much done. 😕

But that's ok, I guess. I made up for some of it this morning. Seeing as how I couldn't sleep I decided to get up wayyy early. Then I got busy because I suck at sitting around. And knowing my luck had I gotten comfy I would've fallen asleep and woken up wayyy late or something anyway. But also, the dogs got out again this morning. I think Emma's learned how to open the gate. Smart bitch. Luckily, they were hungry and thirsty so they came right to me when I called.

Anyway, today will be better. I have something exciting sort of going on a little. Something to look forward to. 😀 Yeah.

Sort of an update here...

Expect a longer blog later, (with pictures, even) of the awesome time we had last night.

BUT FOR NOW - hear this:

So things are pretty ok around here... still feeling the burn of being laid off so much in the last quarter of the newly-ended year, but I think things will be back to normal soon. I'm not sweating it too much I guess.

Tiny Alice, (our female veiled chameleon), is not doing well. From pet stores, talking to other owners of chameleons, and lots and lots of reading we've found out that they usually aren't fixable (even under a vet's care) if they ever get sick. They're very fragile creatures and I don't know how they ever survive in the wild. *sigh* ... Unfortunately, Tiny Alice seems pretty sick. She's normally the more hearty of the two (so much so that I nicknamed her "Hogzilla"), but she hasn't eaten in a while. She looks like she really wants to, but one of her eye's is all jacked up (I think Nick read that that's a sign of respiratory infection) and she can't focus in on her food, I guess. I feel really bad for her... We were told to feed her chicken baby food and Pedialyte to help her get some energy back, but we can't get her mouth open. I really hate this... I think it's hitting Nick harder than me because Alice was his girl. As bad as it sounds I think we both wish it would go ahead and be over with... it's really hard to see her and know that you can't help.

Anyway, on to a lighter subject - we're pretty sure we're having a baby. Yep, Yorda has a wiggly little lump in her pouch and I couldn't be more stoked. For a while there she went through a phase where she wasn't very nice even though she's normally the sweeter one of the pair. Then she started being nice again and got all fat. Now she's back small again and there's an obvious lump on her belly. Sounds like a typical sugar glider pregnancy to me. Yay! Of course, we won't know anything DEFINITE until we see a little head peek out, but I feel certain. Male or female I think me and Nick have decided to call it "Wander," pronounced "Wanda," in keeping with the name theme from Shadow of the Colossus. (Yorda, Ico, Wander).  Unless you're a video game nerd you probably don't get it. But whatever.

Well, I'm pretty disappointed with myself lately... I haven't been writing as much as I'd like to. I've actually had a few good ideas and not forgot them... I'm just not motivated. I don't know what it is... maybe I just have too much other stuff going on... *shrugs* I dunno... but it bothers me.

You know what else bothers me?? My damn shoes won't stay tied lately. It's like somebody greased my laces or something. What the hell?? What's up with that?? I'm clumsy enough without having to worry about tripping over my laces all the time. ...

Her name is Stella...

and she's a doll. Her and Nick seem to have hit it off and I think she likes me pretty well, too. She likes to give kisses and lovings and she's just sweet as can be. Scooty seems a bit... distressed... since her arrival, but I think after a few days things will smooth out. He's never been around a ferret before and he's acting much the same way as he did when he first met the hedgehog. It must be their strong odor... he doesn't seem at all bothered by anyone else... except the sugar gliders when they started barking last night. (Yes, gliders bark on occasion... little tiny barks - like baby puppies. It's so cute!) 😍 But anyway, here are a few pics of our newest family member. 😁

She'd just woken up...

Here's a few of her and the Nick-Daddy...

She is SO kissing him in this picture!

Goofing off... 😁

"Play with me!"

Looking sweet. 😍

Can you believe someone didn't want her?! She was in two other homes (that we know of) before she came to us. I can't imagine not loving her. *sigh*

It's Monday & I'm pooped.

Well, I hope to keep this one kind of short so I'll just get to it. Thursday I had to pick up Shadow from school because he was sick and that's pretty much lasted until now. Over the weekend he seemed to get better with a little TLC and Tylenol so I sent him to school today and ended up having to go get him again. 😐 I took him to the doctor and he had a temp of 102.8°F and strep throat. 😕

He had to get a shot. Ya know he's 6 years old, but that still doesn't stop me from getting all teary-eyed when they have to do that. It sucks. 🙁 Also I felt really bad for him already because one day this weekend I closed the car door on his head. He knows not to get out of his seat belt until he's told to do so and we were in a parking lot about to get out and a car was trying to park right by me so I closed the door... Unfortunately, Shadow had decided to stand up and stick his head out right about then. I didn't see him until it was too late. 😭

He has a bruise and that's all. I felt terrible (and will probably have nightmares for a while), but that's just one more reason why kids should listen to their parents. I probably could've killed him if I'd closed it harder and I told him so. I don't think he'll be doing that again. I truly hope not.

Anyway, since he was sick this weekend he slept a lot. So I had time to get one more room sort of situated. It's the front room - the room you walk into when you come in the front door. We have a lot of the animals in there and I think it looks pretty nice. It could still use a little work, but it's fine for now. So... that leaves 3 rooms to finish. They will probably not be completed anytime soon.

On to the pics.

This is our porch type area. I like it out there. 😄

If you look to the left after you walk in this is what you'll see. (It's where the gliders and the parakeet live).

If you keep looking around you'll see Shadow's desk (complete with a hedgehog on top )(who, btw, is rather cuddly - or at least tries to be). 😍

The chameleons' fancy setup.

And finally: the mantle with a bunch of random stuff on it such as: the Matrix box-thing, a lamp, and a shark fin and hand print that Shadow made, and his cap & gown pic. SO cute!! 😁

And that's pretty much that room. It's not perfect, but it's better than being crammed full of ugly boxes and stuff. I'm pleased... at least for now. 😄 And exhausted so I'ma go. LOVE!!!

Like a cow in a bull shop.

Since this one may be a little lengthy I'll break it up into sections. ('Cause I'm nice like that).

Sugar Babies - part I
For anyone who's curious the little darlings are getting along fairly well. Yorda did not look at all happy to have the screeching little Ico anywhere near her, especially not stuck in the same cage with her. (FYI, they make a severely strange sound when they are not happy). They were both very standoff-ish when first introduced... he did not want to come out of his pouch and she didn't want to go near it. So we ended up dumping them both out. (Hey, they had to meet somehow - right?) Anyhoo, Ico huddled up in the bottom of the cage (obviously uncomfortable in his new surroundings), and Yorda ran up the side of the cage and got behind him... and then on him. And there she stayed for a good few hours grooming him, sniffing him, crawling all over him, not letting him get out of her reach for even a second (and believe me, he tried)... She seems a bit clingy, but she's been alone since we've had her... they're pretty social creatures and I had a feeling she was getting lonely. I couldn't handle that - I felt really bad for her. *sigh* Anyway, when I woke up the next morning they were cuddled up asleep in the same pouch looking extremely cute... and that is that.

Sugar Babies - part II
Ico is doing ok... not doing as well adjusting as I would have expected him to, but Yorda could be stressing him out. I dunno. He's very moody and not so much tame, although in the pet store he was the friendliest li'l fella in there. And he's very vocal about his feelings... by that I mean we get to hear his weird sound pretty often. You don't even have to be near him for him to start. He doesn't want to be held and he'll actually lunge at you and try to bite when you attempt to pick him up. I honestly think he's stressed and not handling the change from pet store to home very well. He's a good bit younger than Yorda was when we got her so that may be a factor. But I'm gonna be patient with the little guy... I think things will turn out fine.

On another note we've been wearing them out in the pouch pretty frequently and Yorda's sneaky little ass got out in the car the other day. Nick got peed on and bitten or scratched or something, but things could have been a lot worse considering that we had the windows down. I'm very thankful that she didn't jump out. Also, I'm not sure which one of them did it, but Nick has the cutest little paw-shaped scratch on his arm. You can see where all of the tiny claws dug in and pulled. I think it's adorable, but Nick doesn't seem too happy about it. I should take a picture of that. I think I will.

Lily
This is pretty sad. No, she's not dead, but she did get hurt. I was putting something new in her cage the other day and she got out. She hasn't had her wings clipped in a long time and she's not at all tame so she flew around the house smashing into stuff for a while before finally landing beak-first on the hard kitchen floor. It bled a little and we were all very concerned, but I think she's gonna be just fine. I talked to one of the awesome ladies at Critters and she said she the same thing. I'm just keeping a close eye on her to make sure that she acts normal... well - normal for Lily. (That bird is crazy, I swear). But she's been eating and grooming herself and even playing a little so that's a good thing.

And finally...
THE END

Meet Ico. :)

What?? We needed a complete set. 😁 He's the new baby... isn't he adorable? 😍 We think so, but Yorda is not so fond of him just yet. It's really cute seeing them try to figure one another out. Awww! I can't wait until they're more used to each other and play together. I'll post updates as things progress. Until then enjoy the pics! 😀

Also...

At work today I broke the clock on the wall. We have these cubicle-type wall things set up and one of my coworkers, Colin, threw something at me and Mike over one. I was being goofy and kicked at the wall. The clock proceeded to fall off and the glass promptly shattered. 😳 Mike had seemed pretty down during break, but he burst out laughing when that happened. He said that was the first time he'd laughed all day. At least some good came of it. 😂 And for the record I wasn't in trouble or anything. The boss bought that clock at a yard sale for like $.50.

... And now I must go. Yorda is being crazy hyper and just peed in the chair I am sitting in.

Pet Pics!!!

So I'm finally putting up some pictures. This will probably take up several entries since I'm so far behind. Oh well - it's getting done. Now look at them and tell me how cute they all are! 😁

This is Lily, our parakeet. I've had her for a while; the neighbors gave her to us because she's so loud (but she's not that bad, really) and does weird things sometimes. She's a little crazy (seriously, I think she's insane)... but I love her anyway. 😍

These are the gerbils we got a while back. The blonde one is Toad and the darker one is Testiclees. Toad belongs to Shadow, (hence the weird name), and Testiclees... well... if you saw him from behind you'd understand. 😜

This is Sabembermoff. He belongs to Nick, but I thought I'd put him up anyway. He glows neon green under a black light. He is the AWESOME! (And I think he needs a hug). 😁

And now a couple of pictures of Yorda (the newest addition to the family). The first one is her eating yogurt off my finger; the second is her and Nick (it's my favorite so I saved it for last). 😍

So there's all of the creatures I currently live with. It's kind of like I have a mini-zoo going on, but it's cool. They're all awesome to have around. I'll be posting more pictures soon now that I've figured out what I'm doing. Well, I hope everyone likes my pics! :)

Oh baby?

Yeah... oh baby. 😁 I have a new one. Rather, we have a new one. Her name is Yorda and she is about 11 weeks old. I took a picture of her, but it didn't turn out very good. She's nocturnal and I was scared to use the flash for fear of hurting her ginormous eyes. 👀

*sigh* She is so awesome. 😊 She is a sugar glider - and so far one of the cutest pets I've ever had. She's very friendly and curious, but has sharp little teeth and will bite the shit out of you. I've read that the best way to get her out of that is to let her bite you without pulling away and she'll realize that it's ineffective and stop... but it really freakin' hurts so I've not managed to not pull away yet. But there are other methods that I am trying so we'll just see how that goes.

Anyway, another fun fact about her is that she is a marsupial so she likes to be in a pouch a lot; also, she likes to be in contact with other living creatures. So that means in the daytime when she is sleeping we can wear her around in her pouch. It's supposed to get her used to our scent and get her to bond with us. It's so neat. She has to definitely be the coolest pet ever.

Also, in the last few days I've learned that she is quite the little escape artist. She gets out of her cage and I can't figure out how. 😆 I woke up this morning to her crawling around in the floor... and this evening when I got home she was just sitting atop her cage like she belonged there or something. 😂 It's very cute; I find it hard to be irritated with her (even though she managed to knock down some of my knick-knack stuffs and chewed the scroll wheel on my mouse so that it doesn't function very well). It's ok; other than my scroll wheel nothing was hurt. From watching her tonight I can totally see why everything would be knocked over, though. She's extremely clumsy, (probably because she's just a baby... and also, she probably expects her claws to catch her every time she starts to fall - but unfortunately they are no match for a metal filing cabinet and such). *sigh* Oh, she's adorable.

Anyway, she's pretty much consumed most of my attention the last few days... that and the rest of the things in my life that I have to keep up with. ... Speaking of other things in my life, my boy is finally growing one of his front teeth back. He's had both of the front ones missing for quite some time. *sigh* He's growing up so fast. He can spell some words and read a little now... sometimes I feel overwhelmed at how much he's progressing in life. It's all happening so fast and it's right in front of my face, but you can't even see it until you stop and look. *sigh* It hits you suddenly and you're left just like "whoa". Yep.

Anyhoo, Shadow really likes Yorda. He wants to play with her so bad, but we can't have a lot of people messing with her at one time until she gets trained and such. She's still too skittish around people for me to feel comfortable having her exposed to a 5 year old. And she still bites some so that wouldn't be a good thing. She seems to have a friendly nature, though, so maybe it won't be too tough to get her trained. I hope not. 😊