For All The Pups I Have Loved Before

I don't know what I would do without my pets. We currently have three dogs and three cats. We also have a turtle. They have been there through good times and bad. I can't remember having a home without a pet. Even when I lived in a place where dogs and cats were not allowed, I had a cage full of parakeets and a tank full of fish.

We have gotten most of our pets from local animal shelters. Over the years we have loved nine cats. With the exception of the two that we got from Chris and Sherri, all of them have come from shelters. We have loved 4 dogs. Two of those dogs were shelter dogs. We got Gibby from a lady who had puppies because she wanted to breed her chihuahuas and so she didn't have them spayed. Too bad there was a pomeranian mix loose in the neighborhood, who also was not fixed. Elvis is a purebred beagle and we got him from a breeder who was a friend of my mom.

I know that right now, in this economy, it is hard to want to spend your money to give to animals. But I just don't know what I would have done without my Gibby to snuggle when I am sad or Betty to chew my fingers or Muffins (IBK) to hop in bed with me at night.

So here is a way to help. The ASPCA is going to give $100K to an animal shelter in the ASPCA $100K Challenge. First thing you have to do is vote. The 50 animal shelters who receive the most votes between now and April 15, will be eligible to win the $100K, possibly up to $300K with other donations and grants associated with this project. So go to the website, votetosavelives.org, and vote for your favorite shelter or rescue. My town, the neighboring town, and the county animal control are all in the running so far. So remember to vote everyday to make sure your town becomes one of the top 50 qualifiers.

Then, the contest is on. Between August 1 and October 31, it is a race to see how many pets can be saved. Winners will be announced November 30.

How cool is that? All you have to do is vote. That is it. A simple few seconds of your day, everyday until April 15. Easy.

Because without animal shelters, I wouldn't have...

Betty and Muffins (IBK- Itty Bitty Kitty)(She isn't so itty bitty any more though, more like giant and fluffy)

Drizella

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And even though we got Two Face here from Chris and Sherri, we had her fixed at the local shelter. And since we take good care of her, she will not end up in one.

Elvis here was fixed at the animal shelter as well, and when he was sick, they treated him there as well.

And of course Gibby... Who proudly wears his license from the animal shelter and he was microchipped there.

Have you seen that much cuteness? You know you want to save the pets. Do it or I will play this commercial over and over again until you cry yourself to death.

Time For A Story

Let me tell you a story. It’s a story or lost and found. It’s a story of welcome. It’s the story of a surprise I have been torturing people with for days.

About two weeks ago, we lost out cat Kitty. Frankly, I have been very upset by this. First of all, we lost our cat Cleo several months ago. I was sad about that, but it wasn’t as devastating of a loss as we had not had her as long. However, we have had Kitty nearly four years. She has been through 4 moves, a divorce, other dogs and cats, and anything else. She is a funny cat who walked on a leash and enjoyed riding in the car and going to PetSmart. It is a sad loss. Especially for David. She was technically his cat. He got her when he first moved to California. He spoiled her. She spent most of her time on his lap.

The strange thing about the two losses of cat… They were identical disappearances. Both happened on a Saturday when no one was home. Both times the garage door was not working properly. Both cats were indoor cats, well cared for, groomed and micro chipped. Both were wearing collars with their names and phone numbers. All that and they never ran off before. I right away reported them missing at all local shelters. I continued to look for them there. Especially Kitty. I have been hitting the shelters every couple of days looking for her. I even went a couple of mornings, right after work, still in uniform, asking neighbors if they had seen her. To no avail. I have come to the sad conclusion that someone is stealing our cats. Across the street from our house is a big empty field where I suppose they could have met coyotes, but I never knew them to go across that way. Usually they went and walked around behind the house, occasionally venturing into the alley between houses. Back there is all residential. It is not likely that coyotes roamed that close to homes.

We still have Betty. That is the cat we got when we lost Cleo. Carolynn was very upset by the loss of Cleo so I got Betty from the shelter. She is a good cat. She does like to nibble on people a little, but she doesn’t claw the furniture or pee on the carpet. I had already decided that if we couldn’t find Kitty, we weren’t getting any more cats. The yard just can’t contain them, and the girls are just not good enough at keeping the cat box clean. Besides, we have dogs.

We have our old beagle, Elvis. He is 8 now and we have had him since he was a puppy. My mom’s friend Helen gave him to us and she named him Elvis. She is a huge Elvis fan, and, after all, he ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog. He is getting pretty lazy in his old age. He got all pooped after one jog around the park. But he is a good dog. He doesn’t go in the house and he doesn’t bark and howl much. He does snore pretty loud. He is definitely Catherine’s dog. He sleeps in her bed with her. She feeds him and brushes him. She chases him around the yard. He’s been her dog since they were both younger and Catherine used to try and ride him around the house in Wisconsin. He hiked all the trails of the Lake County, Illinois hiking guide. He rode to Wisconsin and back. He doesn’t fetch or do many tricks. But we love him.

Then there is Gibby. He is Pomeranian and Chihuahua. Gibby is my dog all the way. From the day I picked him up, he has been mine. My mom bought him for me and my dad and my Grandpa named him Gibby, after the baseball player Kirk Gibson. He is a Dodger dog after all. He goes where I go. I take him to the park, to my moms, to the concerts each week. When I worked at the pet store, I even took him to work. He follows me all day. He sleeps in my bed. David says he mopes around when I am not here. I have taught him a bunch of tricks. He fetches and loves to play Frisbee. He wears clothes and I spoil him. I love him.

Anyways, on Saturday, Catherine and I were out running errands. We were going to the bank and to softball sign ups. I decided to check once again for Kitty at the shelters. Usually I go alone, but, this time I had Catherine. We went to one, the softball sign ups, and then another. No cat. Finally we went to the last one. Still no cat. But Catherine wanted to look at the dogs. No harm in that. I had no intention of getting one. So we walked down the range and saw all the dogs. I was surprised at the amount of small dogs like Gibby. The people who worked at the shelter said that people get the little dogs because it is trendy now, but don’t realize how much work they are. It is sad really. We also saw a lot of pit bull puppies. That is just not responsible pet ownership in my opinion. At the end of the row, we came to a cage with a German Shepherd puppy. The man working there said it was a purebred someone had bought and then decided they couldn’t have a big dog where they lived. He thought it was an apartment. She was very pretty. They called her Roxy. While we were talking to the shelter guy (he was feeding her) a lady came and put another dog in the same cage (it was a pit bull puppy) and said she was going to take Roxy out for her daily walk and to the exercise yard. They asked Catherine if she would lie to do it. Of course she did. She took Roxy out to the exercise yard and threw a ball for her for a bit. We were in love. We couldn’t very well leave her there at the shelter.

This wasn’t nearly as willy-nilly as it may seem. There was reasoning behind it. First, there was David. David, who despite popular opinion, has never been anything but good to us. David who works at a crappy job, while constantly searching for another one. David who goes to college. David who takes good care of the girls and everything else while I work. David who gives me nearly every dime he makes to pay his share. He may not be very tidy and he may enjoy a lot of video games, but he is a pretty good person and a good friend. He just lost his cat. He has been saying for years that one day he’d like a real manly dog, specifically a German Shepherd or an Australian Sheep dog. I actually looked into getting him one once, but it was $300 to $500 for one and that didn’t include shots or having it fixed. If you adopt a dog from the shelter, it is $75 and all of the shots and the fixing is included. Of course, what are the chances you are going to find a pure German Shepherd puppy in a shelter?

Then there are the people at my work. They encourage me to make sure and keep my home safe. Truthfully, I could be a target. I have heard of a state correctional officer, in Michigan I think, that was killed on her way home from work simply because she was a cop. I want to make sure my home stays safe. Many people have encouraged me to own a gun, but they are very expensive. Yes, I am very educated in them now and am qualified to carry them at work and being a federal officer, I am within my rights to own and carry one all the time. They used to scare me, but now that I am educated, I know how to deal with them. But they are just so expensive. Plus all the safety accessories I will insist on having will be another huge expense. Maybe one day, but not now. David owns a really neat WWII Russian rifle. It is very cool, but not exactly for home protection. It’s wooden and as tall as me. It is a real working gun however.

More than one officer has suggested we have a good guard dog. I know a guy who raises pit bulls. Like I said the other day, not my thing, but a guard dog sounds like a good idea. My kind of protection. Besides, I love animals. Just ask my mom about the menagerie of pets I had as a child. Everything from dogs and cats to goats, chickens and potbellied pigs. And a German Shepherd certainly is your traditional police dog.

So there we were. I paid the $75 on Saturday, as well as made a donation to the shelter of another $10. Of course there is a law preventing the shelter from allowing us to take her home before she was fixed. (A very good law that I am totally for) And they don’t do that unless the dog gets adopted. Why fix a dog that doesn’t get a home? Sad but true, I know. The shelter is closed on Sunday and Monday and they do their spaying and neutering on Tuesday, so we had to wait until today to pick her up. That is why you all had to wait until now to hear the news.

That gave us time to go out and get her some stuff. That is one of the real reasons we were at PetSmart on Saturday. Yes, we did buy dog food for Gibby and Elvis. But we bought large breed puppy food as well. We bought her a new bowl. (That is what was in the hint picture.) We got her a collar and some toys. We got all the stuff we needed for her. What we didn’t have was a name.

I suggested a nice German name. I made a list of ones I liked. Emma, Ella, Gertrude, Helga, Hanna… it was a heck of a list. I got it off a website for German names. The girls wanted to call her Zelda. It is a German name, and also a video game. In the end we left it to David. He wanted to call her Drizella. He apparently had a German Shepherd growing up named Drizele. He just loved that dog. Drizella is the name of one of the evil step sisters in Disney’s Cinderella. It was a Brothers Grimm tale and they were German brothers. So it worked.

So here she is, Drizella. She had surgery this morning so she is just chilling. The girls have been so excited all weekend waiting. I could have picked her up at 2, but the girls wanted to go so I had to wait until they got home. Then when we got there, they were having a hard time getting her to wake up from the drugs, so we had to wait. That means I had to wait to tell everyone else. She will be fine in a few days and ready to play with Gibby, chase the cat and annoy Elvis.

And So It Continues…

Three years ago today, I started this blog. At the time, I had just moved into my first apartment after my marriage ended and I had just started a new job at a basket warehouse. Things certainly have changed since then. We have had many great adventures. We have done some traveling. We’ve had ups and downs. But mostly, I have enjoyed it.

One year ago today, I began a new life. I left my job in San Diego, left my apartment and moved to my home town of Apple Valley. I rented my first house and after a long and sometimes painful period of joblessness, I began a new career in a field I don’t think anyone would have thought I would have done. Mostly, it’s pretty good. Here is an update…

Like I said, we moved to Apple Valley. I looked for jobs like a mad woman. I worked briefly as a fish tank cleaner at a pet store. I spent a lot of time stressed. But in December, I finally found just the right thing. I was hired as a federal correctional officer. Yep, me. Tiny old me. I now go to work every day in a uniform and enter a place grown men fear, and spend my day with men who have done things most of us couldn’t imagine. And I like my job. I like the feeling that I am doing something to make the world a little better. That perhaps something I might do might help these men change their ways when they exit. And for those who will never leave, I am protecting the community by keeping secure these men who cannot be part of normal society. I am happy now. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about bills, as I know I can pay them. Plus I still have a little left over to enjoy. This March I spent 3 weeks in Georgia for training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I learned a lot, met some great people and had a great time. While I was there, my dearest friend in the world, Trisha, and her whole entire family, came and we went to Savannah. It was so pretty and I had a great time. Since I have been back, I have been working a lot of hours and am hoping we can take a fun vacation this fall to San Francisco. Last year, we went to Las Vegas. Plus I made a few trips to Palm Springs.

Carolynn has also had a big year. She turned 13 this year. She did her first year of school in Apple Valley. She made some new friends, ditched some classes, got caught, got grounded… Made some different new friends and learned to play the saxophone. She dyed her hair, went to Hawaii, and ran cross country on her school team.

Catherine spent her year being Catherine. She is going to a school here that is geared for kids with her special needs. She is a little bit of an overachiever. Only at school though. At home, she can’t manage to wear clothes that match, clean her room or remember to brush her teeth. She also went to Hawaii this past year. She played softball in the town Little League. Her team won the city championship. At th end of the year, she won an award for perfect attendance at her school, as well as a physical fitness award. And as usual, she got all A’s.

David has had the toughest year I think. After we moved, he has had a hard time finding a job. He got a job right away at McDonald’s, but they don’t schedule him consistently. There were weeks last fall, when he got no hours at all. Then in the winter, the McDonald’s was robbed while he was there. As a matter of fact, he has to go to court for that on Monday. He still works there part time, while continually looking for something better. Unfortunately, in this current economic condition, there are just way more people looking and fewer jobs to find. He did begin going to college since we moved here. Also, in the past year, he took a trip to Texas to visit his family and he returned with a vehicle of his own. I am glad he is here. Without his help, there is no way I could have been gone for three weeks to Georgia, no way I could work the crazy hours, no way I could work midnight to 8… He may not be the tidiest person, but he is always there when I need a back up.

This year was a big year for pets. When we moved here last year, we brought our two cats, Kitty and Cleo, as well as our turtle, Little Dude. Soon after, we were joined by our dog, Elvis, who had been staying with my mom. Then there was Gibby. Gibby was a gift from my mom. He is Chihuahua and Pomeranian. He just had his first birthday and he is filled of energy. He wears clothes, follows me everywhere, and loves to ride in the car. He was the mascot for Catherine’s softball team. Then sadly, we lost out cat Cleo. She got out one night and we never saw her again. Unfortunately, we live in an area with a lot of coyotes. We did get a new cat, Betty.

But the best thing of all, this past April we welcomed a new family member. Nathan Joseph joined us on April 6. I have a nephew. He is too cute. As a matter of fact, I was playing with him earlier today and he was giggling and grinning and I wished I had a camera.

This next year of blogging is going to be great. I hope all my readers hang in there with me. We are about to embark on a great new adventure. Until then, enjoy a look back on this year in pictures.

Broken

Yesterday morning, I got up and my iPod wouldn’t turn on. I figured it needed a charge. I plugged it in to the computer to charge it. It said it was charging and it seemed fine. I left the house to go run some errands. When I got home, my iPod still wouldn’t turn on. It no longer said charging and my computer wasn’t even recognizing it. I took that to mean something was wrong with my iPod. I have only had that since December. I got it for Christmas. So, I took it back to the Best Buy. The girl was going to give me a new one, no problem. However, she decided to talk to the Geek Squad guy first, to see if he could see what was wrong with it. No sense in having to reload everything in it again. Turns out nothing was wrong with it. He turned it on. The battery was still low, but it worked perfectly. He said perhaps I was trying to turn it on while still connected to the computer and it won’t do that or maybe I didn’t hold the button down long enough. I felt like suck a dork. I took my non-broken iPod home. I sat down and turned on my computer and downloaded some new songs into my iPod. It seemed to be fine. I ejected my iPod and it was charged and loaded and fine. I went on to checking my e-mails and such when my computer said something had updated and it would need to restart. Okay, seems reasonable enough. The computer is new and updates certainly became available since it was programmed originally. So it restarted. Problem was… It never actually restarted. No matter what I did, the computer will not turn on. So obviously, the problem was not the iPod. It was the laptop. It still will not turn on this morning. Luckily, most of my stuff is backed up. Everything but my bank account registers. I spent hours balancing my check book the other day and now it is gone. I only have it through when I bought the computer. Now I have to start over from there again. That part sucks. But what sucks even worse is my computer, the one I bought on the 24th of January, less than 2 weeks ago, crashed. Of course I will return it to the Best Buy and of course they will give me a new one, but that is still stupid.

The dishwasher in our house has been broken since we moved in. They sent someone to fix it about two weeks after we moved in and it worked better but still not great. It makes a terrible loud noise when you use it, like a fork in a garbage disposal. It got worse and worse. The dishes never got clean in it. They sent another person out a few weeks ago and they said they needed to order a part. We never heard back. Yesterday morning, when I went to pay the rent, I mentioned that no one ever got back to us about the dishwasher. Yesterday afternoon, Midway Appliance called to set up delivery for today of a new dishwasher. Midway is where I bought my washer and dryer. So today, between 1 and 3, we should have a new dishwasher. The rental agency we use generally does a fabulous job. This house is older and was empty for a long time before we moved in. It was bound to have some problems. But they ensure everything gets taken care of. They have to go through the owner of course, which is usually the hold up for things, but they never forget and usually take care of it as soon as they can.

Anyway, yesterday and today are my days off from work. Work is going better. I am getting the hang of it. Once you get past the part where they are a bunch of felons, it isn’t bad. You just stick to the schedule and keep an eye out of anything unusual. Before you know it, it is time to go home.

We never did find our cat. We tried the shelters several times. We asked the neighbors. We looked all over. We miss her. Carolynn still thinks we should go get a new cat, but I don’t want a new cat. I want my cat. Since we can’t find her, I guess we are just down to 1 cat, 2 dogs, and a turtle. Gibby is enough for like 10 pets anyway with all his energy.

Well, the Best Buy should be open soon and I have lots to do. Why does it seem like days off are almost harder work than days on?

Working 9 to 5

That is not something I am doing this week. I worked 8 to 4 this week. Then I worked midnight to 8 am, and then I will work that one again tonight. Then the 2 pm to 10 pm shift. Then the 4 pm to midnight shift. I am exhausted. My boots are going to be the death of me. The lack of sleep, combined with the pain in my feet gave me a migraine that made me want to quit my job. It was awful. My head was throbbing, my stomach was churning and I felt like I might pass out. However, I am tough. I sucked it up and made it through my shift and I came home and slept until three this afternoon. I will go back tonight. Tonight will be better.

We made lasagna for dinner. We had garlic bread and Caesar salad too. It was fabulous. Too bad my stomach was still a little queasy from the migraine.

We still cannot find the cat. We have looked everywhere. I reported her lost to animal control as well as the local humane society. I checked the animal shelters. It is very upsetting. I really liked that cat. It is Carolynn’s cat. She has been very worried. She has a microchip and was wearing a collar with her name and phone number. I hope we can find her soon. She is older and it has been cold. I hope she is somewhere safe. Perhaps someone found her and loved her so much they kept her. She is a very good cat. I still have no idea how she could have gotten out.

Yesterday Carolynn played her first band concert. She was very good. Check my mom's blog for pictures. I forgot my camera.

Well, I am going to rest some more before I get off to work. I swear I will try to write some more meaningful stuff soon. I will also try to answer any e-mails and stuff soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Cleo
Apple Valley, California
December 2008

Come home soon!

The Downey Softness

… was not present in my new uniform pants. I got them in the mail on Friday. I did not wash them since I do not own a washer and dryer. They were itchy and gave me a rash. My new boots were stiff and gave me huge blisters. Nevertheless, I made it through my first day. Now, I have two days off.

The girls spent the day with my mom. She took them shopping and to a movie. Catherine is in a little trouble. She was supposed to shower and be ready when my mom arrived, and she was not. I told her to shower and she did not. She put on the same dirty clothes. I hung a sign in the bathroom to remind her what needs to be done and she didn’t follow directions. Therefore, when I got home, I made her shower and do some chores.

Carolynn wasn’t dressed and ready either, but she is having a rough day. Cleo, her cat, is missing. Carolynn and David saw her yesterday morning. We were getting ready to leave and we could not find her. We figured she was just hiding. She does that. She does not like to go outside. No one saw her go outside. Therefore, we left. When we got home last night, she was not here. We looked everywhere, but it was dark and she is dark. Today David and the girls looked everywhere, but we have not found her. The girls thought that they heard her this evening, but again, it was dark. I know we will find her soon. We rescued her from the pound. She is a tough kitty.

We made burritos for dinner. They were so good. My mom made beef noodle. I will eat some tomorrow.

My parents and Grandpa are going to Pala tomorrow. I am sure they will have fun.

Wordless Wednesday

"I don't believe I asked for your opinion."
Cleo
November 2008
Apple Valley, California

Is My Cat Trying To Kill Me?

I took this quiz about Kitty (above). This is what happened.



I figured as much. So then I decided to try it for Cleo. (below)