Happy-ish New Years

It is New Year's Eve and I am still debating whether to go to Comedy Sportz with the sybs or not.  I feel SO sick.  I am throwing up and generally feeling miserable.  Though my critters are making me feel better.  I've got Fable out in the play tent and she is running around spazzing and jumping.  She is crazy!  I love her. <3

I am also taking pictures of  Jack and Sally Clementine on the Piano (because they just look cool on the keys!).  They are such amazing animals.  Clementine is sweet and shy.  Jack is full of himself and a jerk.  But I do so love them both.


I also decided I needed a more Steampunkish computer.  If I was talented I would make something like THIS:

But as I am not I went to SkinIt. And did this:

Okay.  I'm not going.  I feel terrible.  BoyKid and Rinny are going now.  Mom and Padre are headed to a party.  I will be ringing in 2011 with my animals.

Puffles aren't Popples

Yesterday was so funny.  Today, less so.  So good news first.

Gabe, T-La's oldest, had some woodworking projects to do for his Cub Scout badge and PaDray, being good at those type things (carpentry and such), got asked to help him.  He was THRILLED.  I think he had a lot more fun than poor Gabe who really wanted to play with BoyKid like his brothers were.  They also brought their "Puffles" to show us.  I was hoping I had heard wrong and they had brought POPPLES, but then I realized it was 2010 not 1985.

Puffles are from Disney's Club Penguin and are NOT "pals who pop out of pockets."

But I love those boys.  I don't have nieces or nephews but being their "CousAunt" makes me feel like I do.  They were hilarious.  Eli was dancing to Justin Bieber for us, his main "move" being cartwheels.  Sort of break-dancing. Mostly like gymnastics. But MOST like jumping around like a kook. SO funny and cute.

And Gabe did awesome on his pinewood Derby car display and picture frame.

And then there was TODAY. BLEH.  Had to wake up early for a root canal. SO that hurts.  Then a psych evaluation for Medicaid so that's sad in another way.

But now I am just sitting around watching Toy Story 3 (which is GREAT) with the family. but hurting.  But still it was something I needed to do... my tooth was hurting pretty dang bad.

Even my parents anniversary makes me think of pets

Today was good except for a few painful things... my head, as always, hurt and my stupid tooth in front is crumbling like it's made of clay.  And I hurt my shoulder on Christmas in a ROCKING CHAIR. How lame is that?

BUT Mom drove m,e around to do errands and it was good to get things DONE. I really appreciate her, even though sometimes I am not sure who is a scarier driver, her with her stroke or me with my head. But anyway we got lights and timers for all the reptiles, some chewy treats for Fable, and mailed off the things I sold on eBay. One of those things was the too fancy Prada bag Fresno bought me when we were dating. Good to have money instead of a purse I am not using.  I am using it to buy vitamins for the gliders.  And a new foraging toy.

I might have enough left over to get a book or something (I only got 66 for it), but yes, pretty much all my spare money goes to my pets.  And I am okay with that.  It makes me happy to see them happy and healthy.  I love my babies, including the scaley ones.

Today is my parents 32nd wedding anniversary.  Padre got mom orchids, like growing in a pot. They made ME want an Orchid Mantis.  Someday I will have one. They are gorgeous!  Anyway, bug aside, the flower is really pretty.  And I think it is cool that they have been married that long and still love each other.  That's pretty awesome and rare in 2010.

As for what I am reading right now, I just finished the kids' book Room with a Zoo and am going to review it for the Examiner.  Now I am on Sorcerers and Seers and just starting The Last Olympian.  Better start on that review now.

 Ta ta!

Yawning in Technicolor

Happy Boxing Day! Happy St. Stephen's Day! Happy any other holiday today which we also likely don't celebrate!  I do like holidays.  Not that today was much of a holiday compared to, well, the holiday.  I was too sick to go to church so I did oh-so-productive things like watched a lot of NCIS with my new leopard gecko, Clementine.  She is fantastic so far. P.S. I want to BE Abby.

Also, BoyKid cooked some pasta and sauce for us. He is GOOD. That time in Italy left him mighty talented. I couldn't keep dinner down, though.  Gastroparesis has been BAD lately. I throw up after most meals.  It's like I am bulimic, but physically so.

 Uncool.

I am tired of my head, my stomach, everything about me really annoys me.

So random thought about my blog.  Awhile ago I wrote that I didn't know who really read me. And that is okay, I write mostly for myself.  Well, Christmas Eve, my aunt said SHE reads and was wondering if that bothered me. It totally doesn't.  I am happy to hear that I get read.  Granted, it weirds my mom out to read me because she thinks I am too mean about some people and that I shouldn't write about them, even if I DO call them by code names.  But as long as you are not offended by what I write (knowing I am a sarcastic brat. Hee hee! And basically tell the truth as *I* see it, therefore it is all just my opinion.) READ AWAY!  And that includes you, Aunt Clare (who does not have a code name mostly because I don't have any secret stuff about her and her name is short which are the 2 reasons I do it.  That and I like code names. I mean even my brother will forever be BoyKid.

Anyway, tomorrow I need to go to the pet store and get a lot more crickets, since Tinsel, Mab and Oberon eat them but now so do the geckos, especially Clementine who is no fan of mealies yet.  Also I am going to take back the basking lamp for Clementine becuase it is just not working for her. She doesn't NEED UVA/UVB rays, she is nocturnal, but what she does need is HEAT.  Also to the post office where a big order of mealies is waiting.  My mealworm farm needs some revitalization so I am adding a bunch to it.

Good deal.  Gotta take care of the critters! They are my life. They are my kids. :)

Also, I am going to write an article for the Examiner about the book A Room with a Zoo.  I just finished one about live nativities.  I am really liking writing for the Examiner.  I make about $40 a month when I do it right.  That's not exactly an income, but when I am feeling to crappy to work it at least pays for some Pet Society Gold and some online supplies for my gliders and stuff.  It is better than nothing and I get to say I am a published writer.

Christmas Lizards and a Collection of Gift Cards

It's Christmas!  Our morning was very fun, everybody in my family was far too generous to each other so there were lots of fun presents to open.  I got a new basking light bulb for Bratanik, The Last Olympian, Sorcerers and Seers, a necklace with a little Liahona on it, a bunch of gift cards, Toy Story 3, Mork and Mindy season 2, a punch ball froggy, a cute hat, Scrabble Slam, and a bunch of other little things. 

I ALSO got 2 things before Christmas - Tinsel, my ALTG Lizard and Clementine my new leopard Gecko.  Tinsel is cool, but CLEMENTINE is BEAUTIFUL. And such a sweetheart.  She never bites and actually seems to like hanging out resting on you.  She is a Tremper Albino with pretty gold eyes (one winks though, and MAY be blind) and just such a cutie!  I love her so much already.  She is not too impressed with my mealworms though, and prefers crickets. Honestly though, even though I raise my own mealies so it is MUCH cheaper, I will give her WHATEVER she wants for now.  I am also going to try her on wax worms (she is a bit skinny and needs some fat) and of course baby Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as I have THOSE in abundance and they are super healthy for her.

ANYWAY, last night, Christmas Eve was super fun too!  We spent the evening with the Ostleparkwells (Meg and T-La's fams) eating delicious soup, talking, and having BoyKid play with the little boys who so worship him.  He had fun too, don't worry.  He loves those kids! Plus they played Mario Party on the Wii so he wasn't exactly suffering. HA!  But also he is just such a great kid.  He is really patient with his little cousins and is a great example. Great example to ME too.  I love that boy.

Also, I LOVE MEGAN. I know that isn't a huge surprise or anything, I mean she is my bestest friend/cousin.  But I really ADMIRE her.  She has gone through so much hard stuff in her life, but is now becoming SUPER active in the Church (she, well WE, are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... Mormon for those that have heard more about that.).  I know she still struggles (nope, I am not the only one... mental illness runs in our family) but she DOES it. She holds a calling even.  She is a stellar example to me, though some Sundays I just can't go and the Lord DOES understand that.  She is amazing and has come so far.  Her hubby, Jakey, isn't a member of our faith, he is Catholic, but he is SUCH a good person for her.  He adores her and supports her and encourages her in our church.  Marrying someone of a different culture or religion can be so hard, but they are 2 people I see making it work best they can.  They are both awesome.

Also, another aspect of awesomeness Megs is like a fiberwork PHENOM.  She can knit ANYTHING!  Like seriously anything.  Monsters, Hermit Crabs, and, for Christmas she is making me some red knitted SHOES!  They are SUPER cute.  She is A-MAZING.  Anyway, enough about her, back to me (JK) Ha!

BoyKid is in the livingroom wailing on the Paper Jamz I gave him.  It can do real chords so he can play it like his real guitars.  He is so talented.  I am seriously surrounded by the coolest people.  That is probably the best part of Christmas (I mean, yes, we remember the birth of Jesus and THAT is the most IMPORTANT, but the FUNNEST part is family.  And it is ALMOST as important, I mean, that's why Christ did it all... so that we could stay with our family together forever.).  I have great family and friends and pets. I am so grateful for all of my blessings. And gift cards.

Becoming a Turtle Pimp

I won a HOVABATOR!  That's as very highly recommended incubator for reptile eggs.  So I am diving into the world of herp breeding. Well, 2 reptiles anyway - Russian Tortoises and Leopard Geckos.  My friend ML has a female Russian and I have Bratanik, my boy.  Russians do not lay many eggs, and the number that survive are even less.  Healthy CAPTIVE BORN RTs are hard to find, that's why I don't feel like breeding is a bad idea.  The ones at the pet stores are notoriously Wild Caught, living really rough lives when first captured and shipped.  It shouldn't happen.  Anyway, when I am homing MY babies people will have to prove they have the right set up for these amazing shell babies.  I do not want to sell to the ignorant and increase the number of BAD homes with pets.

And then there is Jack, my leopard gecko.  For him I am not doing the Stud thing.  I am buying him a girlfriend!  I have one in mind on KSL.com if they can hold her for me.  She is much sweeter than Jack the brat, and will make a much better Critters 2 Go participant.  Kids will be able to actually hold and pet her.  And, with a little help from cupid, hopefully she and Jack can give me darling little leopard gecko eggs! WOOT!  They will be SO CUTE. Jack may be a butt, but he IS gorgeous.

Currently my favorite names for my new little girl are Clementine or Norma.  I really hope it works out.  She is really inexpensive, a tangerine morph, and really gentle.

I am trying hard to think about happy things.  Christmas. Geckos. Family.  But my heart aches.  My Uncle Ken is dying. Their family is so positive, they are such a good example to me.  When Brady died in 9-11 they were the strong ones, comforting US about the loss of THEIR son. And now this.  Ola is so far away and I don't feel like I will ever be better, be HAPPY.  But I'm not dying, just hurting.  I feel lonely, fighting pain everyday.  So I do things just to distract me - play on Gaia, care for all my animals... at least that is taking care of someone else. Caring about something that matters.  I may never get married, have kids.... those things are mostly out of my hands.  But I can love my pets. I can be a CCL (sans cats) at that is a pretty good consolation prize. :)

Whining.

Still sick, eating Ramen and watching my chinchilla spaz out for me.  She is hilarious.  Glad my pets are here for me.  I am also reading Incantation and Billy Creekmore. Both are pretty good.

I am so hot. I rarely get fevers but I have one now.  So I am sweaty and gross. Uncool. (Literally!)

I am lonely. I want to go back to work. I want to go to SPAIN.

I am writing for the Examiner.  I need to get on top of a couple of Christmas themed articles this week. I am going to write about how you shouldn't give pets as presents and another that lists present ideas for pets (or for friends that have them).  Not sure which I will write next.  I am a little writer's blocked.

But I like writing. It gives me something productive I can do at home, since I am basically a shut in right now.  Whether it's blogging or writing an article, it helps.

MyNigerian gets arrested and I get a new lizard

WHAT THE HECK is up with me and people associated with me?!  I am still suffering through headaches always and trying to not hate the holidays because of it.  I feel like Christmas and the rest of life is just passing me by at rapid speeds.  But that's not all...

Ola got ARRESTED because he couldn't find the right papers and may be deported from Spain!  Like it's not hard enough to get to see him THERE.  If he goes to Nigeria we are just screwed.

Coats had a baby.  Which is pretty scary to think about by itself, but also there is still part of me thinking I AM THE LAST UNMARRIED FRINGE and who knows if I'll ever have kids.

I had a bad week this last week.  My lizard, Legolas, as well as 2 of my hermit crabs, Tolei and Jaque died unexpectedly.  And yes, I cried.

Today Mom gave me an early Christmas present, a new ALTGL like Legolas, who I have named Tinsel for the holidays.  He is just 11 inches long, nothing like my 13 inch Legolas, but he seems tamer and pretty healthy.  So I am happy to have him, though I still miss Legolas a lot.

Can I just say

I am so tired of hurting all of the time.

Ditto

Still sick. Still eating (well, DRINKING) chicken broth and saltine crackers and watching old movies (tonight it's Mr. Mom.). BUT a few things that are fun...

1. I got my "Capycopy" of CAPLIN, the world's most famous Capybara.  It's SUPER cute, as is HE.  SIGH.  Someday I will have a real capybara, if I can help it.  But until then, I will have every thing Capy I CAN.
2.  My new (to me) phone came today! FINALLY.  It is a BlackBerry Curve 8900 and I am so excited.  Mostly, IT WORKS which is more than I can say about my current phone all the time. But also I can use it like a PDA, so yeah, I am psyched. Also nice that I got this 4 hundred dollar phone for under 100. :)
3. My gliders and chinchilla are cracking me up.

Typhoid Mary Christmas

I am sick.

I am so sick of being sick!  It is truly unfair to feel crappy during the holidays.  Mom is in the kitchen making these little M&M treats that have candy cane Kisses on pretzels and an M&M to top it, them she is putting them with this:

M&M Christmas Story

by Pam Ridenour

M&M Christmas Story
As you hold these candies in your hand and turn them, you will see....
The M becomes a W, an E, and then a 3.
They tell the Christmas story it's one I'm sure you know.
It took place in a stable a long, long time ago.
The E is for the East where the star shone oh so bright.
The M is for the Manger where the baby Jesus slept that night.
The 3 is for the Wiseman bearing gifts, they say they came.
W is for Worship, Hallelujah
Praise to His name.
So as you eat these candies or share them with a friend,

Remember the meaning of Christmas, it's a love story that never ends
Merry Christmas

 I think that is the neighborhood gift.  I was helping her but then decided Typhoid Mary would be a better friend to just sit in the other room watching The Sting and drinking de-fizzed 7-Up rather than to spread my love/germs.

So anyway tomorrow is the church Christmas party and my DAD playing Santa.  Heaven help anyone trying to keep Santa real for their children in our ward... he is just plain SCARY as Santa Claus!  But he LOVES doing it.
Anyway, really sick of it.  Not The Sting. That's a good (old) flick. Nor the 7-Up which is pomegranate flavored and quite good. Sick of the being sick.

A mini-update

I am watching Wizard of Oz with Mom (but wishing it was Airplane in Leslie's honor. Rest in Peace. And don't call me Shirley!) and feeling crappy. 

"She pooped! She pooped in my pocket!"

Low-lights of the day:

• *Nobody* coming to my Mountain West Pocket Critters Conference Pumpkin Palooza
• Headache
• Headache
• Headache
• Headache
• Backache
• Boob aches
• Leg aches
• arm aches
• Fibromyalgia

Highlights of the day:

• Baby Fable pooping in Rinny's pocket
• Watching Legally Blonde and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with Mom and Rinny
• *Nobody* coming to my Mountain West Pocket Critters Conference Pumpkin Palooza when I felt like crap anyway.

Fable 2

Big Fable now has a new home with a woman named London who knows all his quirks and unlike my family is not scared of his biting.  I have cried about it but am now okay with it, just don't tell Squall's kids JanBrady and Mini-Squall.

I feel REALLY guilty for THEM.  But hopefully Baby Fable looks enough like him that they won't be able to tell. Because SHE is just PRECIOUS and taming down VERY well.  She is a lot smarter than Big Fable too and has learned the wheel, the ball, and we are now working on potty-training.  She is a doll!

The rats, too, have a great home with Kayla.  So glad because I was so attached to them. I love rats. If I didn't have gliders I think I would totally have rats.

So my rescuing for the time being is complete.  When I have a house of my own I am sure it will start up again but for now all my pets are now my own.  And I am TOTALLY enjoying their antics. Baby Fable is a hoot.

The Holiday Looms

So I am watching Covert Affairs and Fable play in the new cage I got from the rehomed rats.  THEY are happy with their new mama. The chinnie is happy in the new cage.  And I am being uber domestic... knitting My Nigerian his Christmas present!  Okay so it is on a loom but it still says knitting on the package. WHat I supposed to call it? LOOMING?

indian giver (I know. Racist.)

Last night I thought I was getting a hedgie/ I chatted with the gitl for about an hour, talked about a lot of things actually, and mom had been talking to dad. He had seemed not exited but okay about it.

That changed;

Now I am FORBIDDEN to get anymore pets. "Fable is the last!"
Where does that leave Critters? BOO.

Lists and a Hedgehog and Rats

Things I think my future kids will say

• I don't have to obey you, you're not my real mom!
• What's a Walkman?
• Can I take one of your animals to school for show and tell?

Things I want for Christmas

• A trip to SPAIN
• A Hedgehog
• A Chocolate Orange
• To go back to my own house

Things I am really tired of
This headache. This plus 3 month long migraine
Living at the padre's
Not being a real part of this ward because I don't stay the whole time because my head hurts and stuff

So I MAY be GETTING that Hedgehog, and early.  I am talking to a girl who has a perfect one named Mr. Ouwie that needs a new home.  He is darling. I don't know about having him early, as I am going through all this USDA stuff, but he is going to need to be registered too anyway because I definitely want him to be part of Critters 2 Go!  Anyway, I am texting the girl about the little guy back and forth tonight. 

Meanwhile, I HAVE RATS. 2 truly darling little girls that if I could I would keep but I can't so I am looking for someone awesome to love them.  Because I already adore them and they deserve it.

Confusicopia

My blog is more journal than, I don't know, BLOG.  I write for myself mostly, and someday I may even print it all out into a book. Who knows.  But I am still curious if anyone reads me anymore. It's not important. I don't get paid like I do for the Examiner and writing for nobody but myself does not bother me.  But I am still curious.

Anyway, I have been on a little bit shaky ground with MyNigerian.  Nothing has HAPPENED, it is just so hard to not be in the same dang country that sometimes I get a little weird.  And I don't like his little expiration date of December.  I mean if he wants to date other people, just do it. Don't make it be December when he already knows I can't come. I dunno. It's frustrating.  I guess I just feel like I need to start falling out of love so it doesn't hurt so much. Mom reminds me if it is meant to be it will work out, and if it isn't it won't. But my health and other circumstances are such that it's just probably not going to work.

But the thing is, and I am not being negative here, I am being realistic, how many chances do you think I am going to have?  TexasBoy... Fresno... MyNigerian. Each felt like a miracle.

And then there is the BrazilianVampire.  He swooped right in yesterday, reminding me "I like you how you are" and telling me he'd kiss me and he would move to Utah and pay for a trip to Brazil.  He told me so many things, right when I was feeling my saddest about Ola, that it was tempting.

But that is so literally what he is: Temptation.

He is not an active member of the church and has no desires to go back.  He drinks. He gambles.  He would screw up my life.  It would be worse than PoetryBoy.

How many chances?

I want Ola. I want him and his spiritual powerhouse ways and his sweet words and everything.  And I think I am not going to get him.  I just feel like swearing. DAMNIT.

I hurt.


My HEART hurts.

And it goes with out saying my HEAD HURTS.

OY.  Other than that, I just finished The Castle Corona. Reading is my escape.  I kept getting stories mixed up though (I blame the headache) They were asking what the corno (like a cornucopia) could mean and all I could think was DUH, the thing in the middle of the Game where all the weapons are!  Only that was not IN sweet little Castle Corona. THAT was in Catching Fire of the Hunger Games trilogy. HA!

I just started Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and it seems interesting.  Maybe I'll go read now.  My brain is tired.

Halloweekly Planning

I officially have my USDA papers and am working on them for my Exhibitor's License!  It is a little daunting.  I need to write up my "Veterinary Plan" of how I care for my animals and get it, and THEM checked out by a qualified vet.  I hope Dr. Dobson will do it! She has been my gliders' vet before, though she has never seen Fable.

Last night we had a little Sibling Party.  Watched Clue (one of my FAVES... haven't watched it since, well, I guess since that date with PoetryBoy in college in Cedar City., carved pumpkins (Mine was Trogdor from Homestar Runner, Spencer's was Boo from Super Mario, and Corinne's was Charlie Brown. Yeah, we are old school.), ate REALLY yummy pumpkin bars from the Thanksgiving Point's Harvest, and fed the pumpkin scraps to the critters. The tortoise, the gliders, the hermit crabs, it's good for everybody.  Not that they will all eat it. Fable wouldn't.

It was good times.  We (me and the parents) will be passing out candy (well, chips.) to the Trick-or-Treaters on SATURDAY, Padre about FREAKED when I said we should save some treats for kids that came Sunday because not everybody knows how Utah operates. "THOSE kids will come to a dark house. They will learn not to bother people on the Sabbath." Jerk.

 I doubt they are PURPOSELY bothering people on the Sabbath. They are just Trick or Treating.  I hope everyone just comes Saturday like the news says they will.  What if they come MONDAY?!

If I had kids they'd go Saturday.... or whenever their friends were going. Safety in numbers and such.  I really want to be a mom.  Someday I am definitely adopting.  Kids, too, not just babies.  Probably from Haiti, maybe from Nigeria if that's easier, if MyNigerian and I are together someday.  Dang but I hope so. I love that man. *SIGH*  And we want kids. They can be from Nigeria, Romania, Haiti, or here in the US, wherever they let us love them.  Someday.

Okay, I'm gonna go read in the bath now.

Happy Chinchilli Day?

Today was my cousin's kid, Chad's, mission homecoming talk at church.  He did a good job... he also did a good job serving the Lord for 2 years.  I am proud of him. It's weird how OLD everyone is.  His big sister has a new baby... the same sister I remember as a cute 2 year old living in my grandma's basement in Sandy.  Makes me feel downright elderly.

It is hard with all the cousins (and 1st cousins once removed!) having kids, living "grown up" lives.  And I am still so dependent on my padres.  With not being able to work right now, my head still being what it is, I'd be utterly screwed with out parental support in a big way. :(

I love my padres.  I appreciate how they support me. But I wish they didn't have to.

The OTHER excitement of the day is Fable, that BRAT of a chinchilla, escaped. DANG is he FAST! It took me half an hour to catch him and he was in plain sight!  Crazy rodent.

I just finished The Loud Silence of Francine Green and it wasn't awesome but it was pretty good.  And it made me think.  Yes, it's a kid's book but it still made me think.  About the parallels between the McCarthy Communism trials  and the black listing of pro-Prop 8 in the entertainment industry. Now I am watching M*A*S*H* until bedtime.  Unfortunately I have no audiobook for tonight.  Time for a library run.  Until then I will just listen to one I one, like one of the Tennis Shoes series or Ella Enchanted.

Chuck it!

Watching DVRed Chucks, crying my heart out (not ABOUT Chuck. About LIFE), with my glider pouch around my neck so I have my 3 babies close to me as I can.  Having a REALLY hard day.  The Headache is still here, Botox be damned. Really really discouraging.  I miss MyNigerian as he can't chat often. I miss leaving my (parent's) house. I miss LIVING in MY house (you know, that place my roommate lives?). 

Things I am grateful for today:
Chuck
K-Love
Writing for the Examiner (I got my first paycheck!  50 bucks! WOOT!)
Fable the Chinchilla
Heber, Nani, and Lilo, my babies
Jack is alive!
the Gospel is TRUE
The ability to type out my thoughts rather than letting them consume me like pirahnas
Pumpkin Seeds. Go tryptophan!