We woke up this morning to a sad discovery. Our beloved cockatiel, O.B. (short for "Other Bird" - long story - see below), who we have had since my 12-year-old daughter was a baby, passed away sometime in the early morning hours. We are devastated. I spent a full 15 minutes on my knees, clutching her lifeless body to my chest, rocking and crying. The tears are still flowing as I sit here typing. O.B. was truly a part of our family and we loved her very much. She will be missed dearly. We knew we were going to lose her soon because she was old, but the knowing doesn't make the losing any easier. Her much younger mate, Falon, is so confused. He keeps calling and calling for her...can't understand where she's gone. I know many people would say, "Get over it; it was just a bird.", but those are the people who have never experienced the personality, love, and friendship of one of these plucky little creatures.
I got O.B. almost 12 years ago. When I first saw her at the pet store, I was living in a place where I couldn't have any pets, but I would be moving to a new apartment in 2 weeks. I couldn't pass her up. She was the sweetest thing and kept following me from one side of the pet store cage to the other. I bought her and convinced my parents to babysit her for me until I moved. My dad had a parakeet at the time that was named Crazy Bird, or C.B. for short. Each morning, when my mom would go uncover the bird cages, she would say, "Good morning, Crazy Bird. Good morning, Other Bird", and so that's how O.B. got her name.
Our days will have a little less sunshine in them now that O.B. has left us, but I know that she is in a better place. The last several months have been difficult for her, because her age caused her to have health issues, including blindness. I know she is enjoying flying around the trees of Heaven and will be waiting to land on my shoulder when it's my turn to join her.
Rest In Peace, my precious friend.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Birthdays and other stuff
Wow...it's hard to believe my BABY just turned 9 years old yesterday! Time sure does fly, doesn't it? My mom and dad went away for the weekend, so we had a birthday dinner on Friday at their house, along with cake and presents. She got a new pair of jammies, a few outfits, some hair accessories, some undies and socks, and a really neat Littlest Pet Shop board game.
On Saturday my boyfriend, Dennis, and I took both of my daughters and one of the birthday girl's friends to do Cosmic bowling. It's the coolest thing. They turn out all the lights in the bowling alley and have strobes, blacklights, lasers, and smoke. It's also a really good deal. For only $9.99 per person, you get two hours of bowling including shoe rental. During regular "open bowl" times, that $9.99 would only get you shoe rental and one game, which equals about 15 minutes of bowling. After bowling, we went shopping and then took the kids to Souplantation for dinner, where we all stuffed ourselves way past the normal limits of human suffering (what else are buffets for???).
On Sunday, Dennis had to leave early so he could get home in time for work (did I mention he works with dead people?). I took my daughters out to Hometown Buffet for brunch to celebrate the actual birthday date. A word of advice - NEVER have two meals in a row at buffets. I felt like the ultimate hog and I will never do that again.
We have more celebrating coming up on Friday when my birthday rolls around. People used to ask me if I hated having my birthday so close to Halloween, because a lot of the time I would get Halloween related gifts. Anyone who knows me well enough now, though, knows that I LOVE to get Halloween things for my birthday. Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. I like it better than any other holiday...even Christmas.
What? Oh...the dead people thing! Dennis drives a van for a mortuary. He picks up bodies from the morgues and delivers them to the mortuary. He morbidly jokes that he likes his job because his passengers don't tell him how to drive and he still gets to use the carpool lane. I haven't checked that one out myself, but he tells me that he's had a police officer tell him it's true. "There's nothing in the law that says your passenger has to be breathing."
Thumbelina is doing pretty good! Her fur is starting to grow back in the places where she lost it due to the skin condition. She's gobbling down canned kitten food like a champ and bouncing all over the house, terrorizing the bigger cats. Her favorite place to be is either snuggled up with our youngest orange cat, Pixie (who's about 4 months old), in the kitty bed my dad gave her or else napping on my shoulder. I'm not sure how she's going to handle getting too big to perch on my shoulder. It seems to be one of her favorite places to be. I am going to introduce dry food softened with a little of her formula in the next couple of days. I'll try to get a more updated picture of her posted ASAP.
Well, dear family and friends, the time has come for me to end this babble and get back to work. I wish you a blessed day.
On Saturday my boyfriend, Dennis, and I took both of my daughters and one of the birthday girl's friends to do Cosmic bowling. It's the coolest thing. They turn out all the lights in the bowling alley and have strobes, blacklights, lasers, and smoke. It's also a really good deal. For only $9.99 per person, you get two hours of bowling including shoe rental. During regular "open bowl" times, that $9.99 would only get you shoe rental and one game, which equals about 15 minutes of bowling. After bowling, we went shopping and then took the kids to Souplantation for dinner, where we all stuffed ourselves way past the normal limits of human suffering (what else are buffets for???).
On Sunday, Dennis had to leave early so he could get home in time for work (did I mention he works with dead people?). I took my daughters out to Hometown Buffet for brunch to celebrate the actual birthday date. A word of advice - NEVER have two meals in a row at buffets. I felt like the ultimate hog and I will never do that again.
We have more celebrating coming up on Friday when my birthday rolls around. People used to ask me if I hated having my birthday so close to Halloween, because a lot of the time I would get Halloween related gifts. Anyone who knows me well enough now, though, knows that I LOVE to get Halloween things for my birthday. Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. I like it better than any other holiday...even Christmas.
What? Oh...the dead people thing! Dennis drives a van for a mortuary. He picks up bodies from the morgues and delivers them to the mortuary. He morbidly jokes that he likes his job because his passengers don't tell him how to drive and he still gets to use the carpool lane. I haven't checked that one out myself, but he tells me that he's had a police officer tell him it's true. "There's nothing in the law that says your passenger has to be breathing."
Thumbelina is doing pretty good! Her fur is starting to grow back in the places where she lost it due to the skin condition. She's gobbling down canned kitten food like a champ and bouncing all over the house, terrorizing the bigger cats. Her favorite place to be is either snuggled up with our youngest orange cat, Pixie (who's about 4 months old), in the kitty bed my dad gave her or else napping on my shoulder. I'm not sure how she's going to handle getting too big to perch on my shoulder. It seems to be one of her favorite places to be. I am going to introduce dry food softened with a little of her formula in the next couple of days. I'll try to get a more updated picture of her posted ASAP.
Well, dear family and friends, the time has come for me to end this babble and get back to work. I wish you a blessed day.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Endurance test
Wow...has it really been over a month since I've been here?!?! Time sure does fly. I guess when you're super busy, though, time just gets away from you.
I still have not heard anything back from the congressman regarding the letter I mailed to him. I have called his office a couple of times, though, just to keep my name fresh on their minds. You know what they say: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." I'll be certain to post something here as soon as I receive any kind of response.
I still have not heard anything back from the congressman regarding the letter I mailed to him. I have called his office a couple of times, though, just to keep my name fresh on their minds. You know what they say: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." I'll be certain to post something here as soon as I receive any kind of response.
So...here's the reason I've been super busy. I've been bottle raising this little tyke! My best friend's daughters found her at their apartment complex, where she almost got run over by a car! She was only about 1-2 weeks old. They couldn't keep her, because my friend's fiancee is very allergic to cats, so I agreed to take her. We've named her Thumbelina, because she's so tiny. She's just about the cutest thing you've ever seen, but she's having some major health challenges. She has a skin disorder that I'm working to cure, plus the formula I was originally feeding her just did not agree with her delicate little system. Three times now she has just about died on me...and each of those three times were about the most devastating 12 hours I have ever been through. The first time, I sat up holding her all night long, talking to her, stroking her face to simulate her mother licking her, and praying to God to either end her suffering or give her a miracle. About 3:00 a.m. she began to show signs of regaining her strength and by 6:45 a.m. she was just about back to "normal". She has repeated this pattern twice now, but the episode she had yesterday was the worst yet. I was truly convinced she wasn't going to make it this time. She's definitely a fighter, though, because she pulled through once again and today she's bouncing around the house as if nothing happened. This little one is the reason this post is titled "Endurance test". I am fairly convinced that God put this kitten on the earth to test the endurance of my faith. Let me tell you, dear friends, my faith nearly failed yesterday. Never fear, though; I do know who gets the credit for this baby recovering yet again. All the credit goes to God.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I had a horrid day yesterday. I have been excitedly looking forward to beginning online courses with The University of Phoenix so I can work on earning my Associates Degree in Business...a first step towards my dream of owning a catering business. Much to my chagrin, I was informed that I have a student loan in default. What?!? I had requested that my loan be put into deferrment, so of course I was completely taken by surprise with this tidbit of information. Apparently the financial aid representative at the completely worthless trade school I attended (www.claritacareercollege.com) did NOT do as he promised and, therefore, my loan is now in Federal Default. What does that mean? It means that I cannot get another student loan as long as the default exists. It also means they will seize my tax refunds until the loan is no longer in default. I have only two options for getting the loan out of default:
1) Pay off the total amount, in excess of $8,000. YEAH RIGHT!!!
2) Set up automatic monthly payments in the amount of approximately $90. After NINE months of these monthly payments being made, the loan will no longer be in default and will be eligible for deferrment once again. Since I cannot afford an extra $90 a month, this is obviously not an option for me, either.
My dear mother, to whom I owe so very much, called me rather excited this evening when she got home from work. Her wonderful boss had come up with a genius of an idea - write a letter to my congressman!! It's an election year. They don't want ANY dissatisfied voters on their hands come November! I will spend Friday (my next day off) composing a letter that would make even a heart of stone weep at my plight. So, my dear family and friends, please pray that the letter I will place in the mail on Saturday touches the heart of a person who just may have the power to give this situation a happy ending.
1) Pay off the total amount, in excess of $8,000. YEAH RIGHT!!!
2) Set up automatic monthly payments in the amount of approximately $90. After NINE months of these monthly payments being made, the loan will no longer be in default and will be eligible for deferrment once again. Since I cannot afford an extra $90 a month, this is obviously not an option for me, either.
My dear mother, to whom I owe so very much, called me rather excited this evening when she got home from work. Her wonderful boss had come up with a genius of an idea - write a letter to my congressman!! It's an election year. They don't want ANY dissatisfied voters on their hands come November! I will spend Friday (my next day off) composing a letter that would make even a heart of stone weep at my plight. So, my dear family and friends, please pray that the letter I will place in the mail on Saturday touches the heart of a person who just may have the power to give this situation a happy ending.
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