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moominmuppetContext, since I mention lots of critters here:
Tarma (hound) and Leroy (Pom) -- our dogs, front house
Jax (shepherd) and Ditko (Shih Tzu) -- Bec and Jer's dogs, back house
Mushroom, X, Ringo, Riley, Cat -- our cats, front house
Pookie -- my snake, front house
Bob -- friendliest of the stray cats in the neighborhood, he's our adopted outdoor cat
Coco -- our neighbor's Pom that we petsit most weeks
Ellie -- my boss's beagle
Bella -- our friend Amy's pug that we sometimes sit for
Sugar (shepherdish mix) and Fred Milton (cockapoo) -- friends dogs that we'll be petsitting this week
My icon is Tarma and Ringo asleep together.
Ellie's doing pretty well adjusting to our place; she obviously misses Boss, but she's settling in and getting comfortable. She adores both Liv and Grafton, and she got steak bits this morning, so her life isn't sucking too badly. Last night she slept curled up against me, although I paid for it this morning when she walked all over my head. Ah well. And although we don't have Coco this week, it looks like we'll be getting Sugar for a few days over the weekend. She belongs to some friends on the east side, and it's been a few years since we've petsit for her, but she's a sweetie, so I'm looking forward to it. Very mellow, chill cattle-dog/shepherd mix of some sort, with a lovely red coat. Oh, just talked to her owner; it'll be Sugar and another dog, a small cockapoo named Fred Milton.
I also got some time with stray-cat-Bob on the front porch this morning, and he seems to be doing well. We've got another TNR appt scheduled for one of the other stray cats in December, but it'll require a bit of help from the neighbors to catch her (already talked to them about it).
I've been joking with the housemates about how all the petsitting gives a good outlet to my "must get to know new animals" tendencies, and prevents our household pet population from exploding any further or faster. For a bit of context on my worldview, I'm not just newly turning into the "crazy cat lady", I always have been. From the time I was 4 or 5 until I was in my late teens I was always planning on working with animals in some context; depending on the year I might've been planning zoo vet, wildlife researcher, animal rehab worker, etc. Until college, there was never a time in my life I didn't have a lot of pets. Really, really a lot. Above a dozen at any given point was pretty typical. Cats, dogs, rabbits, snakes, frogs, salamanders, rats, guinea pigs, parakeets, a random pigeon, etc. We lived on the road where folks in town dumped stray animals, and we had woods behind the house that were my primary playspace (house rule was that I could bring home cold-blooded wild critters but not warm-blooded, since there aren't many diseases that will transmit over that great a biological gap and warm-blooded animals that let you get near them are probably sick anyway; that way salmonella was really the only concern). Blessing of the Animals on St. Francis' Day is still my favorite church holiday, bar none. I remember critter names better than their owners, and I am substantially more comfortable in any environment that has animals than I am in those without. I'm that stranger on the street who can't help asking if I can introduce myself to your dog. Mom and Dad were remarkably patient with all of it, and as an adult I've chosen to only live with other people who are cool with a relatively substantial level of pet-related chaos as well.
I got through college pet-withdrawal thanks to my snake Pookie and an assortment of professors' dogs and strays, but as soon as I got out and into my own place I had cats and other critters again. It's a more major factor in my life than it may seem -- it has everything to do with why I'm a "stable home base" and not a "wanderer". It's a major part of keeping myself psychologically stable and functional, too -- having critters that depend on me requires me to hold it together much better than I might otherwise with the bipolar. Conversely, nothing can jack my stress level through the roof like the combo of financial issues and pet needs, so I do need to keep some sort of limit on my critter collection. The pets were a huge factor in my decision to buy the houses last year -- there's been nothing that was a bigger background fear than losing our place for some reason and having to find someone new willing to rent to me with all the critters. People can couchsurf, stuff can go into storage, but there's just no way to be homeless with that many animals. Having the house as ours has really relieved that stress hugely, and is probably the biggest thing I love about owning our own place. It also has a lot to do with the extent to which I'm a homebody, both because of the practical obligations and because there's rarely elsewhere I'd rather be than with the critters.
That's also why I consider it my personal mission, in relation to taking in new animals, to focus on situations where someone is having to give up a beloved pet; it's my personal great fear, so I have a lot of empathy for it, and I see it as something of a two-fer -- doing something good for the person and the critter at the same time. Although I've never lost my original interests, along the way I actually discovered I mostly liked people too, and got even more strongly drawn to women's health care and GLBT activism work. As a result, a lot of people who know me these days may not be aware of what a major factor critters are in my life. So, there. Now you do.
In other news, it's all rainy, so I'm all flarey. Boo. I just finished the most recent Walking Dead volume (#12), so I guess I'm done there for a while, at least til a new one comes out (Jer doesn't get that one in individual issues, so it'll be when the next volume is released). I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it; I'm certainly fascinated and sucked in, but it also hits a lot of the buttons I don't normally much enjoy hitting -- the ways in which human beings can be evil to each other. It's why I'm a creature-horror fan, not a slasher fan, too. My general feeling is that I've got a limited amount of emotional energy to cope with depressing crap, and I try to keep that directed at the real life/nonfiction versions. I tend to like my fictional entertainment pretty psychologically light and fluffy, even when it's gory as hell.
I'm currently reading The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time -- I'm only into the second chapter, but it's a fun read so far. Yay, evolution! Oh, and I sent off an email to Preterm about volunteer possibilities, so I'm excited about that, too.
It should be a quiet week aside from the critter-stuff. Lots of folks taking time off at the Clinic, so our call volume will be pretty low, and I can get through more of those CBTs (Computer-Based Trainings, for the kinkier among you who are snickering -- I giggle too!). Life is good.
Also good, for the locals: Farkas Pastries. I got some of their goodies the other day, and I've already sent Grafton back for more apple pie. Mmmm-tasty.
Big upcoming house project is going to be rewiring the back downstairs apartment. Should be interesting; Liv and I aren't handling any of the hot work, just running the cable to the boxes before we hire someone to come in and terminate it all in the main box, but we're both madly reading up on electrical code requirements and such to make sure we don't screw it up.
Tarma (hound) and Leroy (Pom) -- our dogs, front house
Jax (shepherd) and Ditko (Shih Tzu) -- Bec and Jer's dogs, back house
Mushroom, X, Ringo, Riley, Cat -- our cats, front house
Pookie -- my snake, front house
Bob -- friendliest of the stray cats in the neighborhood, he's our adopted outdoor cat
Coco -- our neighbor's Pom that we petsit most weeks
Ellie -- my boss's beagle
Bella -- our friend Amy's pug that we sometimes sit for
Sugar (shepherdish mix) and Fred Milton (cockapoo) -- friends dogs that we'll be petsitting this week
My icon is Tarma and Ringo asleep together.
Ellie's doing pretty well adjusting to our place; she obviously misses Boss, but she's settling in and getting comfortable. She adores both Liv and Grafton, and she got steak bits this morning, so her life isn't sucking too badly. Last night she slept curled up against me, although I paid for it this morning when she walked all over my head. Ah well. And although we don't have Coco this week, it looks like we'll be getting Sugar for a few days over the weekend. She belongs to some friends on the east side, and it's been a few years since we've petsit for her, but she's a sweetie, so I'm looking forward to it. Very mellow, chill cattle-dog/shepherd mix of some sort, with a lovely red coat. Oh, just talked to her owner; it'll be Sugar and another dog, a small cockapoo named Fred Milton.
I also got some time with stray-cat-Bob on the front porch this morning, and he seems to be doing well. We've got another TNR appt scheduled for one of the other stray cats in December, but it'll require a bit of help from the neighbors to catch her (already talked to them about it).
I've been joking with the housemates about how all the petsitting gives a good outlet to my "must get to know new animals" tendencies, and prevents our household pet population from exploding any further or faster. For a bit of context on my worldview, I'm not just newly turning into the "crazy cat lady", I always have been. From the time I was 4 or 5 until I was in my late teens I was always planning on working with animals in some context; depending on the year I might've been planning zoo vet, wildlife researcher, animal rehab worker, etc. Until college, there was never a time in my life I didn't have a lot of pets. Really, really a lot. Above a dozen at any given point was pretty typical. Cats, dogs, rabbits, snakes, frogs, salamanders, rats, guinea pigs, parakeets, a random pigeon, etc. We lived on the road where folks in town dumped stray animals, and we had woods behind the house that were my primary playspace (house rule was that I could bring home cold-blooded wild critters but not warm-blooded, since there aren't many diseases that will transmit over that great a biological gap and warm-blooded animals that let you get near them are probably sick anyway; that way salmonella was really the only concern). Blessing of the Animals on St. Francis' Day is still my favorite church holiday, bar none. I remember critter names better than their owners, and I am substantially more comfortable in any environment that has animals than I am in those without. I'm that stranger on the street who can't help asking if I can introduce myself to your dog. Mom and Dad were remarkably patient with all of it, and as an adult I've chosen to only live with other people who are cool with a relatively substantial level of pet-related chaos as well.
I got through college pet-withdrawal thanks to my snake Pookie and an assortment of professors' dogs and strays, but as soon as I got out and into my own place I had cats and other critters again. It's a more major factor in my life than it may seem -- it has everything to do with why I'm a "stable home base" and not a "wanderer". It's a major part of keeping myself psychologically stable and functional, too -- having critters that depend on me requires me to hold it together much better than I might otherwise with the bipolar. Conversely, nothing can jack my stress level through the roof like the combo of financial issues and pet needs, so I do need to keep some sort of limit on my critter collection. The pets were a huge factor in my decision to buy the houses last year -- there's been nothing that was a bigger background fear than losing our place for some reason and having to find someone new willing to rent to me with all the critters. People can couchsurf, stuff can go into storage, but there's just no way to be homeless with that many animals. Having the house as ours has really relieved that stress hugely, and is probably the biggest thing I love about owning our own place. It also has a lot to do with the extent to which I'm a homebody, both because of the practical obligations and because there's rarely elsewhere I'd rather be than with the critters.
That's also why I consider it my personal mission, in relation to taking in new animals, to focus on situations where someone is having to give up a beloved pet; it's my personal great fear, so I have a lot of empathy for it, and I see it as something of a two-fer -- doing something good for the person and the critter at the same time. Although I've never lost my original interests, along the way I actually discovered I mostly liked people too, and got even more strongly drawn to women's health care and GLBT activism work. As a result, a lot of people who know me these days may not be aware of what a major factor critters are in my life. So, there. Now you do.
In other news, it's all rainy, so I'm all flarey. Boo. I just finished the most recent Walking Dead volume (#12), so I guess I'm done there for a while, at least til a new one comes out (Jer doesn't get that one in individual issues, so it'll be when the next volume is released). I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it; I'm certainly fascinated and sucked in, but it also hits a lot of the buttons I don't normally much enjoy hitting -- the ways in which human beings can be evil to each other. It's why I'm a creature-horror fan, not a slasher fan, too. My general feeling is that I've got a limited amount of emotional energy to cope with depressing crap, and I try to keep that directed at the real life/nonfiction versions. I tend to like my fictional entertainment pretty psychologically light and fluffy, even when it's gory as hell.
I'm currently reading The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time -- I'm only into the second chapter, but it's a fun read so far. Yay, evolution! Oh, and I sent off an email to Preterm about volunteer possibilities, so I'm excited about that, too.
It should be a quiet week aside from the critter-stuff. Lots of folks taking time off at the Clinic, so our call volume will be pretty low, and I can get through more of those CBTs (Computer-Based Trainings, for the kinkier among you who are snickering -- I giggle too!). Life is good.
Also good, for the locals: Farkas Pastries. I got some of their goodies the other day, and I've already sent Grafton back for more apple pie. Mmmm-tasty.
Big upcoming house project is going to be rewiring the back downstairs apartment. Should be interesting; Liv and I aren't handling any of the hot work, just running the cable to the boxes before we hire someone to come in and terminate it all in the main box, but we're both madly reading up on electrical code requirements and such to make sure we don't screw it up.
