My Two Cents

I think you did pretty well, sweetheart, in covering the last few months. I suppose I could add some of our family news. Little Arleah was born to Tae and Steve in March and has been a completely delightful new niece. My Mom had gastric bypass surgery and is losing tons of weight very fast! I can't wait to go shopping with her soon. I'm also making a cd with my brother and sister. It should be finished soon if the "Diva" (Jason) would get off his high horse and work. We'll see. Speaking of Jason, he got his mission call to Paraguay, Ascuncion North. We're very excited for him. I continue to work on my book and stories and my sister joins me in my efforts. I love my new job and Aaron's too. Yes there are a lot of bills and times are hard, but they're good too!

11 months summed up in a few paragraphs

Eleven months have come and gone. I guess enough time has passed for an update on the going ons of our lives.

First off, we didn't get rid of Kaylee. Shyla hated her guts for a little over a month and then they became fast friends. Their personalities are very different. Shyla was a crazy kitten, attacking everything, shredding the walls and peeling off the wallpaper. Kaylee was more relaxed and a cuddle puss.

Unfortunately, their friendship hit a rocky spot in December when we took Kaylee in to be fixed by the vet. When we brought her back home Shyla could smell non-Kaylee scent. This did not go well. Shyla tolertates Kaylee now, however, long gone are the days of cuddling together. Also, Kaylee is as big as Shyla and loves to play. There's another factor that strained their friendship which I will comment on later.

After adopting Kaylee we found ourselves in a tricky situation. Our apartment did not allow pets. We ignored that and adopted Shyla...hey, I can't live without cats :) Adding another cat made life a little more interesting. A few of the other renters in our complex had cats as well and that added a little comfort. We also felt cramped living in a one bedroom apartment.

We searched and searched and searched and finally in September found a two bedroom apartment that allowed pets. We moved in the cats enjoyed the extra space as well as stairs to run up and down in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, while this was going on Jessica's health declined and she was forced to quit her job at Dillard's. She didn't like working there so it wasn't hard for her to say good-bye. We felt the loss of her paychecks twice a month. Life was rough then. We didn't unpack everything. The apartment was a mess. The neighborhood kids constantly wanted to see the cats and rat/mice. New ward. No money. The usual.

In January we bought a black lab puppy for Jessica's birthday. Days passed before we decided on a name - Diesel. He was a cute and cuddly ten pounds...and a pain in the neck to keep from peeing/pooing every where. I wanted to kill him a few times and stopped calling him "pup" and switched to "poop"...a nickname that stuck.

Now he is approaching seven months old and is 65 pounds. He rarely has an accident inside and, if I remember correctly, has only destroyed a pillow and one of Jessica's sandals. All in all, he is a great dog who suffers from HLS (Happy Lab Syndrome) and LOVES to play outside with other dogs.

Jessica went to the ER/hospital again in the early months of the year. We are once again fighting bills and trying to make it to the next paycheck. Thankfully, in May I was promoted from the midnight crew to assistant (to the) manager at Lee's. I've enjoyed my new shifts and new friends and Jessica, I suspect, has enjoyed my being home at night. Sleeping at "normal" times is taking getting used to and I do miss the perks of the old shift - iPod and friends - I love working in the day.

Jessica started a new job a month ago. She works after hours as a dental clinic filing files and setting up appointments with old clients. The two hour shift is great for her on the bad days when she can't stand up or move around much.

That brings us to the end of the cliffnote update. Jessica might do a post with her version of events. Maybe the next one will arrive before another 11 months passes on :)

Here we go again...

Jessica and I go to Petsmart each Saturday to visit the various animals for adoptions. She likes to visit the dogs while I, surprisingly, head for the kittens. I don't know why I do this. I would compare it to a person on a diet going to the bakery to stare at the doughnuts.



Now we have a two month old kitteh (I think she is even younger). We named her "Kaylee" from the character off of Firefly. Sweet and innocent...for the most part.

Shyla hates her. Hopefully things will calm down in a few weeks or it's bye-bye Kaylee.

ai don't do "fetch"

hoominz sae goggies r smrt

but ai traynd mai hoomin to trow teh ball for meh

stoopid goggies

o rite
tis b wen ai wuz a itteh bitteh kitteh
lyk, won yeer ago

Aaron and Jessica Plus 5 (without the drama)

One night at work there was a mouse running around the backroom. First so and so saw it, then another guy. Over there, now over here.

I finally saw the little guy running out in the open. I noticed how small it was compared to my huge ratses. Then I saw how it did a lot of things that the rats do- stand up on hind legs, sniff the air, wash whiskers with front paws, etc.

The next time a sighting was reported I did my best to catch the little bugger. I managed to do so, because I am awesome, without using my hands. I put the little guy in a box and showed him off to the coworkers. Some were screaming for its death.

I doubt I would have been able to kill the tiny thing before making the rat comparisons. AFTER that...no chance at all.

So I took him outside and let him go.

A week later I bought two pet mice.



The dark one is "Gus Gus" and the lighter one is "Fieval".

Shyla wants to eat them.

New Job!

Yay for me! I have been hired by Dillards! I'll be working full time and getting benefits. Aaron is thrilled, even if it does mean he has to go to school come Spring. I couldn't be happier. I get to work with clothing and home decor, I get to help people, and I'll finally be contributing equally to this little family. Nothing is worse to me than being a burden. My dad always said "Whatever you leave undone falls to your spouse to do." I hated it when my health or my inability to find full time work left Aaron with the burden of our family's finances (and sometimes the house work too). Nothing is worse to me than feeling useless. I'm so excited to finally be an equal contributer to our well being! So friends, come to Dillards and see me! I'll help you find that dream outfit (on sale ;).

Rude Awakenings

One of the joys of working while others are sleeping is waking those slumberers in odd and interesting ways. I enjoy waking Jessica up in several ways.

For example- when Shyla was a wee kitteh I would put her on Jessica's face/stomach/arm. Let's not forget the run-in-and-belly-flop-on-the-bed. Sometimes I will throw in a flip-on-the-light-switch before ending with said maneuver.

I've done the whole "awake sleeping beauty with a kiss" maneuver. I find it to be a little too boring.

That leaves me with the infamous putting-rats-in-the-bed trick. To do this I take Velvet (she's more friendly than the psychopathic River) and place her quietly on Jessica's pillow. Velvet will then proceed to climb over Jessica's face/arm/bare flesh, which rips her from blissful slumber.

This video is not said maneuver. It is just funny.

And to think Jessica didn't like rats or have any desire to own one while we were dating...