Minus 1, Plus 3!

Tinsel, my Asian Long Tailed Grass lizard is gone. He was such a good little lizard. He seemed so healthy just a day before then went down hill with in minutes. One hour before he died he seemed to want to dig under the rocks, weird for his normally arboreal ways. I thought, "huh, that's weird, is he after a cricket?" Then I came back just an hour after and he was dead. I can only guess he was trying to hide because he felt sick. I am heartbroken.

Here is the thing, I am mourning and wasn't ready to "replace" him yet at all but I have 4 Critters 2 Go parties booked next week ABOUT reptiles. I am not one of those big animal party businesses *cough*scalesandtails*cough* that has shelves of snakes and lizards to show. I show my turtle, my tortoise, my female leopard gecko (because Jack BITES)... and, SIGH, my ALTG Lizard, Tinsel, now deceased.

So despite not being ready, emotionally, for a new ALTG Lizard, guess what I did?

I bought TWO. A female and a male named Houlihan and Hawkeye. They are DARLING. Much much more skittish than Tinsel, so much harder to hold. But that will come in time. (I HOPE!)

 

I also bought a new green anole and named her Sprite.

So, while I still miss Tinsel terribly, and am not ready, really, to move on, I am. Suddenly. I just have to look at it like, well, NOT replacing, but filling a hole and making an EXECUTIVE decision business-wise. I feel like I am hiring the new lizards. "We have just suffered a loss in our family, but we need you to work for us...." 

Okay THAT is a good one, Dad.

Sometimes me are not friends. At all.  But sometimes he CRACKS ME UP.

First of all, my dad is NOT the Bishop! Huzzah!  Yeah, Padre is not my bishop...

And I am SO glad. Basically, we have known they were about to call a new Bishop (very sad and hard for me because our Bishop is AWESOME.) and there was talk that it might be my dad. Now, I really do love my dad, but mostly just because he is my dad. We don't really get along. And I think he would offend a lot of people. I know if he HAD been called, it would have been a calling from the Lord. But I have to say it would be a struggle with my faith. Instead, he was just called as the Ward Clerk. So grateful.     Anyway, he had to speak in Sacrament Meeting today, so BoyKid came to listen. He did great... all that I heard, at least!  Pain was really distracting me!

BoyKid and I came home early because I was hurting REALLY bad (better than the night before in the ER, but too bad to trust driving even the short distance to the house from the chapel.).  After feeling a bit better me and BoyKid were chatting in the living room, petting my cat friend Cali who was here on one of her daily visits, when BoyKid yells "WHO IS THAT?!"

There, on our wall, is a HUGE framed picture of some random family we have never seen before in our lives.  The frame had a freaking LIGHT.  And there it was, hanging in our wall where we used to have a painting of the Prophet Moroni!


We suspect my dad, but start to wonder if someone literally broke into our house to hang a picture of their family during church.  It was both hilarious and terrifying!  WHO DOES THAT?!

When Mom came home we asked her, "Where did this come from?"  She had no idea either but also said "it HAS to be Dad.  Who else would do that?  WHERE did he get that!?"

So Padre finally comes home and we ask him.  He admits he found it in a property he bought and the owners said "just throw it away."  So instead, he hangs it on our wall to see how long it takes to notice it.  "When did you hang it? This morning?"

No.  He hung it up on THURSDAY and we just now noticed.

Puppies trump Prozac

I am having a devil of a time with Depression these days.  We are trying to get me on much LESS medicine, and that includes cutting out a lot of my anti-depressants and trying some new stuff.

But one thing that does work for me is animals.  playing with my sugar gliders, even cleaning their cage, helps me feel much more... of value.  They need me, you know?  And boy do I need them.

So Saturday I went to my first school activity. Awesome because it was working with animals.  Intimidating because it was meeting a new group of people. And horses.  For some reason horses and I don't get along all that well.  (Megan, remember when Flurry tried to scrape me off of her like I was some sort of skin irritation?  And even Chief, the "sweetest" pony at work, pretty much hates me.)

Anyway, I went with SCNAVTA to Friends in Need Animal Rescue and Sanctuary in Eagle Mountain.  They are mostly a farm animal sanctuary and dog rescue, though they also have one of the biggest Red Eared Sliders I have ever seen.  She seriously makes Tortuga look like a miniature figurine.

First we spent some time grooming the dogs, brushing them, clipping nails.  Those further along in the program gave them little health checks, wrapped some hotspots, etc.  Then we walked all the dogs.  One very strong pittie about yanked my arm out of its socket it was so excited for the walk.  That actually STILL hurts.  But yeah, I had to say "umm, I am not actually strong enough to walk this dog!  Can somebody swap me?"  I felt so silly but I am pretty sure if I hadn't I would have permanent damage to my rotator cuff had I walked the dog, and probably lost the dog, too.  However, walking the little ones... a poodle named Pepper, a chihuahua named Mini, etc. was really fun, but tiring.  My energy level is still really low, I haven't even been doing water aerobics every weekday lately, I have just been hurting so much.

After we helped feed all the dogs, we headed over to the farm area. They have EVERYTHING.  Goats, cows, horses, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, emu, and even yaks, water buffalo, and a long horn!  I "socialized" (played with) goats, rabbits, some chickens, and ducks.  We corralled some pretty wild little horses, which was a bit scary.  They would run right at you then skid to a stop in front of you because you were holding your arms out wide.  I kept thinking as they ran towards me with their tails lifted up all angry-like "stopohpleasestopohpleasestop" but they always did.

Then we made rope halters for a few and we brushed down the horses. One girl checked their hooves and made some recommendations of some veterinary stuff to do, and who needed to see a farrier and such.  I left the horses and helped muck out the pens.  Then I helped clean out the trays under the bunnies.  It was all really hard, but very good for me, emotionally and physically.  Except maybe I over did it a bit because I am STILL hurting, but I hurt ANYWAY, and at least this way I helped some animals in need.

I think it will be good when school starts.  I am scared to go back to college, but I want to go somewhere, and I think being a Vet Tech might be a great thing for me.  I will still teach at Thanksgiving Point, though.  And work on growing Critters 2 Go.  It's just a more "stable" direction. (I hope.)

Putting Lipstick on a Pig

It means "making superficial changes is a futile attempt to disguise the true nature of a product." It got to be really famous (and misunderstood) lately when President Obama was running and it said about Palin and Macain but many took it as a slam on Palin herself.  A little history for you... that doesn't really have much to do with my post.

I have been thinking about that phrase a lot lately, in an almost literal way.  My mom has recently been trying to get me to wear something cuter and she got me an appointment to get my hair cut.  Embarrassingly, I cried for about an hour before my hair appointment.  No, I am not attached to my split ends or anything.  I just feel the phrase "putting lipstick on a pig" keenly.  Like what is the point?  Getting my haircut isn't going to make me cute.  Neither is make up or a blousey shirt.

Depression is a really sucky disease.  Sometimes I think it does a lot worse to me than even my diabetes or migraines or gastroparesis.  Though they really all contribute to each other.

I hope they call me on a non-existant mission, when I have saved an amphibious kangaroo or 2!

Serving a LDS mission is awesome.  You get to share your testimony, meet cool people and serve good causes (like teaching English as a second language, shelve library books, visit rest homes, etc.) Sometimes I really miss it. 

AAAAAND sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and really miss ANOTHER mission.  Where we spent the holidays with the Amish kids from that Lifetime movie... and their crazy grandmother, Cloris Leachman. Where we all went together to rock concerts/Karaoke where the Amish girls performed Les Mis and Hannha Montana, respectively.  Where they all made us missionaries elaborate beaded Nativity sets that we treasured.  Where they helped us get in volunteer hours by fostering and rehabilitating bear cub, giant ducks, and ummm... kangaroo who live in lakes.

Yeah, my brain is so warped.  At least it wasn't a nightmare.  I am actually on meds to prevent nightmares. Crazy. )I refer to the situation AND myself)

Sappy Movies, Crappy Day

Today was a not-so-good church day.  My head was (still is) stabbing.  My stomach was giving me major grief too.  I went to church, but only stayed for the Sacrament, then ducked out.

So,  I was watching some silly Lifetime movie about a lady who has to raise her Amish sister's children after she dies.  Saving Sarah Cain.  It's an interesting story, pretty sappy, but not bad on a Sunday afternoon.  (Besides, I have to admit I am kind of obsessed with the Amish.  I think it is funny when they are confused for Mormons, since I am Mormon, but I really admire them immensely.  Mostly I kept watching thinking, "I know him/her" and "that place looks really familiar!"  So I looked it up on IMDb and sure enough it was filmed mostly in Utah, with a few people Rinny has been in shows with.  Small world.

Now I am watching Kate and Leopold, one of my favorite chick flicks.

Also trying to decide how to make a Saint Patrick's Day article REALLY about snakes. ;)

I really get frustrated with days like this.  The headache, the Gastroparesis, the Fibromyalgia.  When am I going to feel GOOD?

On my way!

It has been a long, but very eventful day.  Right now I am just hurting (bad BAD Fibro day and stomach day too) and watching Monk and also watching Tortuga swim around in her newly cleaned tank with the filter WORKING! Woot! Everyone is so clean for the vet visit!


The first step to getting my little business, Critters 2 Go, to really take off is DONE! I am getting my USDA Exhibitor's license so I call be all legal and do shows with schools, etc. And today I had my vet inspection! It went AWESOME. My exotic vet had to come to my house, work with me on a written program of veterinary care, inspect the cages, the food, and do health checks on the gliders and chinchilla. She said the animals looked exceptionally healthy AND happy. The diets were all excellent, their coats were gorgeous, she just gushed.

She also gave me a LOT of good advice about my USDA inspections to come, gave me some new health logs to keep on a monthly basis. I also told her about starting my vet tech program classes soon. She spoke very highly of my school and said their program is excellent. 

So a very good start! 

Dog 4 Deeds!!! #fordeeds

My good friend Bobbie is awesome.  She also has an awesome little boy with some pretty big challenges, named JD aka: "Deeds." He's got Autism, mild Cerebral Palsy, and something called Periventricular Leukomalacia.  Then on his 3rd birthday he accidentally pulls a pot off the stove and burns his face!  Some crappy birthday present, huh?  Anyway, he needs a dog.  And not just any dog, though I strongly believe pets in general can do AWESOME things for Autistic kids (and anybody with Learning Disabilities, mental illnesses (myself VERY MUCH included, obviously), etc.), but a super cool, specially trained service dog from 4 Paws for Ability.  Those are NOT cheap.  And it would be fantastic if anyone could help. Do it #forDeeds because he rocks.  And so does his mom (and so does his dad, I assume. I mean, he's JD and Gwen's dad, and Bobbie's hubby, right?!).

AND if you want to buy a shirt or something that will help Deeds, too?  OR blog about him yourself and even get into a giveaway? Check out Living with Logan!

I'm talking about Sports. Next thing you know I will be talking about Charlie Sheen. I am so trendy.

Oh. Good. Crap.

I am not a basketball fan this year.  Okay, I admit it, I have been really into basketball 2 times in my life.  1. When the Jazz were in the finals in the 90s and we had tickets (I was way more into the hype than the game) 2. When I was dating Fresno (I was way more into the BOY than the games.)  But I am not a huge basketball fan.  On the other hand, my whole family are huge Cougar fans, and my dad is an INSANELY OBSESSED basketball fan.  So he has been crazy this season with the whole Jimmer thing.  Then the Brandon Davies Honor Code violation.

OHMYGOSH, Padre's world just fell apart.  It has been ALL anyone will talk about at our house and my dad has it somehow tangled with the church.  Like basically that Davies was to be blamed for big damages to the CHURCH.  Ummm... no unhallowed hand much?  But no, Padre thinks Davies owes the Church big apologies and that it is impacting the gospel in some way.

I don't believe that at all.  Repentance is between him, the Lord, and well a Bishop.  But it doesn't need a freaking press conference.  It is a sad thing, sad for the team, sad for the kid, sad for his girlfriend to be dealing with this all in public, but it's not our business.  BYU did what was right - they have an Honor Code and people who go there agree to it.  If you don't want to, choose another school.  The Honor Code reflects the our LDS beliefs.  But beyond that, I think Davies owes his "public" nothing.  He is a college kid who made a mistake.

Padre on the other hand, would basically rather kill off his family than let BYU lose their season.

Mom: "We almost got in an accident today!"
Padre: "I would take THAT over what HAS happened [w/BYU]" WHISKEY TANGO?!
Mom: "Uh David, we could have died."
Padre: "Well, not if any one was seriously hurt..."
Mom: "SERIOUSLY hurt?!"

*face palm* Scary, Padre. Scary.