My name must be Tinkerbell...

because all the lost boys find me.

So yeah, he came here tonight in the crappiest of conditions. He'd been left at a friends house (probably on their porch in this cold ass weather) in a 10 gallon aquarium with a wooden board on top with a t-shirt and half a bucket (for shelter, I guess??) thrown in the tank. And his food and water dishes were the bottoms of 20 ounce soda bottles. My friends then brought him to me seeing as how they have a bunch of cats and couldn't keep him.

So uh... I guess I have myself a new man rat.

Chocolate Dog

The other day on my way to work I saw a dog in the middle of Quintard. There was traffic all around and he was just running back and forth across the lanes. Had he not been near a traffic light that happened to be red I'm sure he would've been hit. Anyway, I couldn't just leave him there... so I pulled over and called him to me. He looked scared, but he came anyway. I petted him and got him to follow me back to the car. Then I hoisted him in and took him to work with me. Good thing I work at a pet store.

Well, we arrived at work and I left him in the car while I got a lead for him. (He had no collar so I couldn't just hook a leash to him). I persuaded him to walk as far as the doors, but then he wouldn't come in. We finally lured him just inside the doors with treats (he seemed so hungry that he probably would've done anything for something to eat). But then he still wouldn't walk with me - he was too scared. 😟 He wasn't a tiny dog by any means, but I managed to carry him back to the grooming salon. Our manager donated a small bag of food to him so I set him up in a large kennel with some food and water. Poor thing... he ate and drank so much. 😓 A bit later I gave him a bath. He acted like that was a first... he was SO freaked out. But he did need a good cleaning up.

All day I tried to figure out what I was going to do with him. He had no ID on him... I even had him scanned for a microchip. No luck. 😑 No one else could take him home so he ended up spending the night with us much to Nick's dismay.

The next day he went to work with me again. Before we even made it in the doors good a man came up and commented on what a beautiful dog he was. I told him thanks, but that he wasn't mine and explained the situation. He said that he wished he could take him, but that he didn't think he could. We talked for quite a while and then I ended up giving him my contact information just in case he found anyone who might want him. It wasn't even a half hour later that he called me at work and said that he'd talked to his wife and it was ok with her if he took him home.

Though I very much liked Chocolate Dog I knew that I couldn't keep him. After talking to Jim (the kind man who wanted him), I really felt like that was the best place for him. He said that he had two kids and another dog at home, and two cats, also. Chocolate Dog looked like a lab or lab mix and a vet tech told me that he couldn't have been more than 8 or 10 months old. He was always very excited when anyone came into the salon... he would bounce and bounce like he was saying, "Oh you, please play with me! Come on, I'm ready!" So between the kids and the dog he would have plenty of playmates. Jim also said that he had a fenced back yard, though Chocolate Dog would be living inside. No more wandering in the road for him, thank goodness. 😌

Later that day Jim called to let me know how things were going (which made my freakin' day). 😁 So far Chocolate Dog had made friends with Jim's other dog and they'd been playing and playing. 😀 His kids weren't home from school yet, but he was sure they'd be excited about having a new puppy. He was going to let them pick out some names seeing as how "Chocolate Dog" was just one of many nicknames I'd given him (along with "Lost Boy", "Fella" and "Brownie"). He said that he'd be going to the vet this coming week and also that he'd bring him in to the salon to see me from time to time. 😄 So needless to say I'm very pleased that Chocolate Dog lucked up on such a happy ending. He was such a sweet boy and deserved so much better than wandering hungry in the streets. I can't wait to see him again. 😊

Yay! :D

We bought Rock Band the other day and I can't not play it. That is the MOST AWESOME game EVAR! 😁😁😁

Shadow's our front man and I LOVE to hear him sing. When he's not singing he's dancing. Nick plays bass and guitar (I think - but not at the same time) and I'm on drums. It's SO much fun. I don't even care what songs we play; I just want to play.

It's great because I haven't played anything drum-like in YEARS. You probably can't even imagine how much I've missed being in the high school band... mostly marching band. That was more fun than concert band (although that was cool, too). But anyway...

I own a set of drums, but I never had a clue as to how to get all my limbs to work together... so playing this game was sort of challenging at first because it has a bass pedal and all that jazz, but I'm catching on pretty quickly, I think. I'm scoring pretty good, (like in the 80's, AT LEAST - even on the harder songs). I think I've done as well as 97 on some of the less hard ones, though. It makes me excited because, hey - maybe one day I'll actually get un-shy enough to wail on my real-life drums. That would be nothing short of exhilarating.

Also, you get to create the rock star you play with so there's a bald drummer with taped up glasses and a skinny guitarist and a cute little mohawked singer in our band... which is called "The Sneak" btw. I wish I could put up a picture of our characters... I'll have to find a way to get our images - even if I have to somehow photograph them from the TV.

Now that you know what a dork I am I guess I'm done. Laterz!

Work...

Well, I'm working a whole lot. If I'm not at PetSmart, I've got books to do for a small company on the side, and also another project coming up after Thanksgiving. Needless to say - I'm busy, but things seem to be going pretty well. I'm still loving PetSmart... I feel like I'm learning a lot. Yesterday I did anal glands for the first time and I'm also getting better about trimming black nails (though they usually still end up a little long). I just really, REALLY don't want to quick a dog and with black nails it's just so hard to tell when you're close.

Anyway, the company I'm doing books for currently is pretty awesome; I'm SO excited to be helping them out. The man who runs the company is a big animal lover... he has a 14 year old German Shepherd who's back legs stopped working and since she doesn't seem to be in pain and is in good spirits he just carries her butt around for her with a harness. I like that he would do that for her... she goes everywhere with him so I know it's not an easy task. It's just nice to see that some people have it in them to care for their pets so much. And I know - some people would say that it's cruel to not put her down, but I say that it's no worse than the elderly in wheelchairs. Hell, I'd do it for any one of my dogs.

Well, I can't think of much else going on right now... it seems like all I do is work lately. I guess that's ok... no time to spend my money, right?? 😂 More later... 😊

I’m blawgin’ it.

Punniest Thing I've Done All Day... 😂

I'm Blu. 😂

I Kiss Girls.

Honestly, did you not see that coming?? 😀 And hey look - my psoriasis looks like a paw print. I don't think I've ever been more ok with having jacked up skin. 😝

Emma’s trying to catch a moth. 😂

Yeah... you can expect the rest of this blog to be that random. 😝

So... I've been sick. Feeling pretty terrible...

A little bit of nausea in my life

A little bit of snot dripping by my side

A little bit of TheraFlu is all I need

A little bit of tissue is what I see

A little bit of cringing in the sun

A little bit of cold sweats all night long

A little bit of coughing here I am

A little bit of flu makes me feel bad 😓

And yes - I totally just made that up. 😀

Anyway, I went to work Friday feeling terrible, but I didn't stay long. The manager called and I squeaked and croaked into the phone and he sent me home. I was RELIEVED. I needed to rest and so I did. And it helped. ... BUT... he didn't send me home before I got myself bitten by a Shih Tzu named Larry. I was totally out of my head from feeling so bad so I was an easy target. He didn't break the skin, but my thumb is still aching and he left a red mark in my nail. If I remember correctly all I said was "shit" and stood there gawking like an idiot.

Moving on... Saturday, we had a LOT of cute dogs. One, I shit you not, looked like an Ewok from Star Wars. And we had a Chinese Crested come in and she was SO cute and warm. Her name was Diva, but her hair held a striking resemblance to that of Cruella Deville. 😄 Do I even have to say it?? I want one of those dogs - if only to keep me warm.

Sunday we rearranged the house with the help of our good friends Jajuan and Janet. This is the first time since the flood (which happened in JULY!) that I've been ok / even remotely happy to be in this house. We've pretty much given a room to the pets (so me and Shadow can play with the dogs - Yay!) and made ourselves a new living room. Hopefully we'll put our new flooring down soon and in the mean time figure out who to go after for the damage to our other room. That would be nice. Now if only we could manage to afford a fence, life would be grand.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good today. Not at first... at first (and by at first I mean 6:30 A.M. - I had to get Shadow ready for school), I felt like shit. For some reason I woke up with a migraine. Then I took some Ibuprofen and laid back down since I didn't have to be at work until 11. But then I was woken up by the dogs going straight NUTS and someone banging on the door. It was the cops. Apparently, we Trick-or-Treated in the wrong place at the wrong time... there was a robbery in the neighborhood and someone said that our car was out there until 11:00 that night. That was complete bullshit... I told the cop that we headed home at 9:30 (which was wayyy too late in my opinion, but hey - it was HALLOWEEN!) because my kid had to be in school the next day. He asked if anyone could back up my story and I was all "Yeah, plenty of people could."

So... Back to what I was saying - at work my headache faded at some point. I'm glad about that. But I almost got bitten again. She put her teeth on me, but it didn't hurt. I'm sure she could have hurt me and damn if she didn't try. She's so grumpy that her owner even calls her "Pissy Missy." And yep - she was another Shih Tzu. Those little critters just are not happy. 😕

Pissy Missy

threw a hissy

and tried to bite me and Jennifer

but I hugged her tight - not without a fight

and we finally finished her

Oh, I am SUCH a poet tonight. 😂😂😂

Anyhoo, I'm really glad to be home (it feels like home again!) - and that in itself is a damn good feeling. It was great to come home to three wagging tails and lots of kisses. It also smells really awesome in here... there are these things that you can put in your air vents to make the house smell yummy... ours smells like spice cookies or something. I'm digging it. 😀 And I can't wait to put on something comfy and curl up on the couch with Nick and a blanket and some Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa (that shit is the shit - [I'm serious!] - but only if you share it) and watch some Scrubs. All is right in my home tonight.

So here it is:

Tomorrow is my last day at Artisan fucking Magnetics.

😁😁😁 I am STOKED! 😁😁😁

I know that probably sounds terrible, but I've been walked upon and shat upon for long enough. Three years is long enough, right?

For those who have somehow missed out on my periodic rants, let's recap: I worked my ass off and received virtually nothing (except the experience I'm walking out the door with) in return.

When I started the office area was in shambles. There was no organization, no method to the madness, no files set up (except for those that my co-worker created and used). But that's it. There were piles and piles of paperwork - in boxes or just stacked somewhere. Guess who had to organize all of that, and figure out what was in the accounting system or not, and what had been paid for or not? Me. And I did. And I did it well considering that this was my first bookkeeping experience straight out of college. (The teachers pretty much expect that you'll get a job working under someone with experience... but that didn't happen in my case. I was pretty much on my own and I think I handled things well).

Anyway, I've endured:

• being laid off at inopportune times
• the company randomly shutting down and re-opening
• Nick being laid off out of spite (because I stood my ground one day)
• stress and anger almost daily due to terrible management decisions
• being lied to
• watching the boss's family and friends getting paid outrageously and promoted

... and that's in addition to steadily taking on more work (including two other people's jobs) and not getting a raise IN TWO YEARS. There's (unfortunately) so much more that I could say, but I just don't want to get into the specifics. Not today, anyway - I'm in a fairly decent mood. So yeah... you can probably only imagine how fed up I've been. My main goal this year was to leave this place and I can't express how excited I am that tomorrow I get to walk away and not look back.

I know I probably sound really terrible for saying all of these things (and I realize that this is wayyy unprofessional - hence this being a preferred post), but this shit was affecting me. It was affecting my mood daily, and thus, my quality of life. Nobody wants to come home angry every day (or dread their days before they even start, for that matter). I know that I sure don't.

Things weren't always this way, though. When I first started I was excited and happy to come to work. As time went on I saw more and more ridiculous things happen and my "happy and excited to be here" started fading until it pretty much turned to contempt over time. I just couldn't do this anymore. I'd rather work part-time, or two jobs, or something - ANYTHING - to get away from here. And so that's what I'm doing - stepping out of my comfort zone and going for something better.  Things are changing and it's scary, but it will just have to work out.

P.S. If you have any odd jobs or hear of anything part-time or flexible - send it my way. I'm good at cleaning, laundry, bookkeeping, and handling animals. I'm not quite getting enough hours at my part-time job for the time being... hopefully that will change soon, though. 😊