I still feel pretty sick...

I still feel pretty sick... thinking it was more than just the ice cream that got me.  🙁

I had a fun day at DeSoto with my guys.

I had a fun day at DeSoto with my guys.  Went into the cave, did the water gun maze, found TONS of stones while panning for gold, fed some goats, etc.  😃  Ate too much ice cream when I was hot, though, and was SICK by the time I got home.  Luckily, Shaun is THE BEST; he brought me something for my head and bought us all dinner while I was busy barfing and napping.  ❤  Back to bed - work in the morning.  😃

I am going to DeSoto...

I am going to DeSoto tomorrow with Shadow and Shaun...

caves, butterflies, and water-gun mazes.  Much fun to be had.  🙂

Shaun and I have matching cats.

Shaun and I have matching cats.  Check this out:

This is Shaun's cat-cat, Sindar.

This is Shaun's cat Boo, now known as Ember, from the shelter.

This is my poor shelter kitty, Mox, now known as Snaga.

This is my fur-child Midna. The goofball who just fell off into my lap. 😂

So Shaun has had Sindar for quite a few years - she's about 4 years old. I got Midna last year when she climbed up my leg to escape life at the neighbor's house and she's about 8 months old. We were at PetSmart a few weeks ago and came across Morwen and Snaga who are both female like our cats and the same ages, too. It was so bizarre. I know that Midna enjoys having company and Shaun was thinking that Sindar would enjoy a friend so we just had to get them. We kind of let the cats pick where they wanted to be - Morwen was rather freaked by my dogs, whereas Snaga used the litter box and settled in for a nap right away. So our original plan was to each have twins, but we ended up with matching sets and that's pretty cool, too.

But wait - it gets even cooler. (If you're dorky like me, that is. 😜) Midna was given away at KMart in Anniston... Morwen was a feral kitten found at the Dad's BBQ in the very same parking lot. They have exactly the same white spots on their chests and they are the same age. I really, truly believe that they must be sisters. I would not put it past someone to try to give away kittens out there and then dump the unfortunate babies that were left. We didn't find this out until after we'd taken them home, but that just made the story of our matching cats even more bizarre.

And so that is all the silliness for tonight.

On a more serious and quite sad note I found Neo dead this weekend. I remember waking up and spraying him and him acting like he loved it, as usual. When I came home that evening he was just gone. Considering that I really have no idea how old he was, (remember, he was a rescue, too), I'm just going to guess that it was old age that got him. I never saw any signs of illness or anything and I'd had him for a few years. I feel sure that he was grown when he came to me so I only hope that he enjoyed his stay. He will most definitely be missed. ❤

Everyone's got the sillies tonight!

Earlier I was giving everyone some canned food as a treat - we primarily eat the dry stuff around here to avoid the tooth rot - so when they get wet food it's very exciting. Well, my foster girl Faith was sitting on the couch and I put the bowl in the floor in front of her. She ate the whole bowl of food with her back feet on the couch, front feet on the floor, and her head in the bowl! I've never seen a dog eat while standing on their head! I'm going to try to get her to do that again so I can hopefully catch some photos or video. That girl is such a clown. I'm really gonna miss her when she's gone.

[Edit: I has a video now!]

A little later I heard some scuffling around in the dog room. When I looked in there, Lowrider - of all dogs - was playing with Emma! She's never been very energetic and right after her last heartworm shot she really hit a low point. She lost a lot of weight and wouldn't do much other than lay around. But she's been gaining her weight back and wagging her tail and now she's bouncing around and playing like I've never seen her do before. It's awesome. She got rid of her heartworms and now she's a brand new dog! 😁

I was sending an email to the shelter a bit earlier and my cat just rolled off the top of my computer armoire into my lap. She looked stunned, but she was fine. She is such a goof! 😂

Some HUMAN shit in my yard.

I really wish I was kidding. But I'm not.

I came home today to my house smelling like a sewer. Two of my dogs had found said shit and got themselves covered in it. I had to bathe one and partially shave the other. Not really how I'd planned to spend my early afternoon home from work. I would have rather been admiring my almost-finished new roof. But no - I was dealing with shit. LITERAL SHIT.

I have a pretty strong idea of who it was - one of the young fellas working on my roof. I called the supervisor and asked if he thought it was possible one of his crew members shit in my yard and he said that he wouldn't put it past one of them. He said that one had needed to stop and use the bathroom before arriving at my house. That also happened to be the same guy who stopped about a half-hour into his work for a water break (I was still home when that happened). Diarrhea dehydrates you. Since it wasn't solid turds clinging to my dogs fur that was just another clue.

When we found the shit it was between my garage and little storage building. There was a place where there was less dust on my garage - as if someone had popped a squat. Underneath my storage building were two white shoe covers with some poop on them (whoever used them did a crappy job of wiping their ass, btw). They were bright white so I knew they hadn't been there long (aside from the fact that I clean my yard regularly of dog shit, sticks, and litter). I knew that they were recent. All signs pointed to someone shitting in my yard today. I'm not really happy about that.

Look - I understand that emergencies happen. But goddamn clean up after yourself! I have a child and dogs who go out in that yard. What the fuck, man?

I've sent word to this guy that I think he did that and that I'm not happy about it. I don't know what I expect to happen. But I do know that if I felt like returning the favor I'm cleaning up shit after 6 dogs almost every day. I'd be happy to return his shit to him - plus some interest. I really think I need someone to give me a few good reasons not to. SEVERIOUSLY.

Life as of late... (Part 2)

I've got 4 extra animals in the house right now. I'm not complaining... I'm doing a favor for a friend with an urgent family situation - just pet-sitting for an extended undetermined amount of time. So far the animals are ok, but I've had to do some re-arranging to get everyone settled in. It's been a job, but I think I've got it all worked out now.

There are two small dogs - Bo and CD. They are both old and grumpy, but that's ok. They're getting along with my dogs which was my main concern. Since they're used to a much different situation I'm trying my best to accommodate them by letting them sleep in the living room in their own beds. For their own safety, though, and because I want them to know my dogs they are spending the days while I'm at work in with my pack. It's working out.

I'm not the biggest cat-person on the planet, but I've got the cat, too. He's a big pretty Maine Coon named Mr. Kitty - though I can't help but call him "Fat Cat" when I look at him. Or "Old Greg," because he has a man-gina. His owner said that he had to have his penis removed and the opening butterflied open so that he could pee properly. Anyway, he and Midna are finally warming up to each other. I'm glad because I'd much rather see them play than hiss and be mean.

Also, I have their parrot named Dillon. I like birds, but I've never had anything so large; just a couple of parakeets and cockatiels. He's funny - when you walk by his cage he's all, "Whatcha doin'?" and sometimes he busts out with some "Peekaboo!" or "Ok" and then he laughs. He even calls Bo. He will also make faces with you like sticking out his tongue and blinking and turning his head sideways. He's a clown which is just fun. I haven't tried to touch him since his owner left him here... I'm just not sure how to read him. I was warned that if he pushed me away with his beak to listen to that and leave him alone. But I don't know how to tell if he likes me or not. He will talk to me and take treats from me with no problem, but I haven't worked up the balls to try to hold him yet.

Other than that in animal news I took my dogs to the vet for their yearly exams and shots. I finally had them heartworm tested and they all came up negative - THANK GOODNESS. I've known for quite some time that I should have had them all on preventative, but back when I got Scooter I'd never had a dog that stayed inside and that I was solely responsible for. I remember the vet mentioning heartworm prevention to me, but after talking to some people it didn't seem like a big deal since he was indoors most of the time.

Later on I got Emma, and then Scruffy, and then Natasha, and still people were telling me that since they stayed indoors it wasn't a big deal. Up until I had my first foster dog, Bug, I'd honestly never encountered a dog with heartworms so I didn't really think it was that common. And then it just hit home - that shit happens and it's scary. I got worried since some of my dogs had come from precarious or neglectful situations and I decided that it was time to have them all tested. I needed to know. It was keeping me up at night. Anyway, I'm glad that they all tested negative. Now we have prescriptions for preventative medicine and I feel much more at ease.

Last thing, I guess. I showed my crazy today when I was out with Shaun, Jeni, and Ben. We were at a place with water and ducks and were actually on our way out when we witnessed some kids (had to be at least Shadow's age - 10) hitting some ducks with some rocks. I'm not usually confrontational, but I just started heading towards them. I had no plan. I heard Shaun come up behind me and I thought he was going to try to stop me so I started running. I got close to the kids and just yelled at the top of my lungs "Stop throwing rocks at the ducks you fucking assholes!" I guess I could have left off that last bit, but I was livid.

Their mom (who was not paying a bit of attention to them) yelled at me that I needed to watch my mouth. And so I yelled at her that she needed to watch her damn kids. She proceeded to tell me that they didn't hit any ducks which was complete BS. We were watching and she was not. To my delight and surprise everyone was backing me on the fact that they did hit some ducks and told her so. She said that I had a nasty mouth and I was like "Yeah, but I got your fucking attention. You need to teach your kids to respect life" or some shit. She then flipped me off. I just laughed (and returned it x2). I guess that was all she had.

Anyway, I do realize that I could have been nicer about it, but I've found that when I'm nice I'm a pushover. She wouldn't have listened to me if I had been nice, nor would her brats. The way I ran and yelled they stopped dead in their tracks and went towards their mom, I made a scene, and everyone knew that she wasn't watching her kids yet was going to lie for them. Even though we were on our way out they disappeared before we even made it back to the car.

And yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'm going to get some comments along the lines of "What if someone did that to Shadow?" and all that crap. First of all, fuck censorship. You cannot protect them their whole lives from words. Those words exist and they will hear them. Besides, words only have the power over you that you give them. By making them "bad" or "taboo" you are giving them power. Second, if my child is doing something that offensive and I'm not stopping him it's up to society to let him know. Some things are just unacceptable and should not be ignored. Don't forget: it takes a village, yo.