Tuesday, August 16, 2005

More Beach Drama

First, let me start by saying that Jeff made a DVD of last year's beach trip and it turned out awesome!! It has a menu screen and chapters and everything..it rocked!! There's even an opening music sequence! Yeah Jeff! You rock, Gorgeous!

Alright...if you'll remember, we had money issues earlier and agreed that they would pay for all the groceries since they owed us money anyway. Then Jeff asked if it was ok for Misti's friend Ginger and her kids to come since she found her husband cheating on her. Misti thought it'd be a nice way to get her mind off her troubles. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I didn't really care as long as it didn't mess up our vacation. I needed to know how much lasagna to make, so I called to ask if she was definately coming and they didn't know. I was told to make enough in case they did come. Um, ricotta is like..$4 for one big jar. I was irritated but never said anything.

Yesterday, I find out that Ginger isn't coming b/c she wanted to bring her cheating husband with her, even though she caught him cheating on her...again..last week. We said no. That made me quite happy, but then I was told that Ronnie's parents would be coming. Um..ok..thanks for asking us first. I mean, we only paid for half the house, so why should we be told if other people are coming? What if I'd just been like.."Oh, I invited my parents to come down..hope you don't mind." ?? It would've pissed them off and been totally disrespectful. They wouldn't appreciate strangers imposing on their vacation and neither do I. It's not that I don't like his parents..they're very nice and wonderful people...but even if it was The Pope, I still would've been mad that I wasn't asked beforehand.

Misti says she asked them because his mom is having heart surgery the week after next and is afraid she won't make it b/c she "doesn't have the will to live". Plus, she didn't think they'd actually go. His mom thinks she's going to die basically and wanted to spend as much time w/ the kids as possible. It's a simple heart cath..she won't die. So, how can I tell a woman who's having heart surgery that I'd rather them not be there? I can't. So I just have to get over it.

Also, Misti said she'd probably cook one night and help out with groceries. The only reason that makes me mad is b/c it gets them out of paying us the debt they owe us. It's not about the money..it's the principle of not taking the responsibility of paying the debt. Dad said that as long as I get to eat free for a week, that I shouldn't care who paid for it...and his parents are only staying till Tuesday morning. It's just that every year I feel like this is their vacation and we're just tagging along. I paid for half that damn house and it's our vacation too, we should be allowed to invite whoever the hell we please.

I feel bad b/c Jeff is stuck in the middle, but I don't know what to do. I've said it before and I'll state it again now for the record....I AM NOT GOING TO THE BEACH WITH THEM AGAIN NEXT YEAR. The first year, we only had to pay for 1/3 of the groceries, but we had to stay in a bedroom w/ Justin. Misti said before we went that she'd like us to leave midweek so they could have "family time" and then changed the plans without telling us....so Justin got to stay there the whole week and we went to a shitty hotel for 3 nights. Oh..and while we were there...had to sleep on the floor one night b/c Misti's mom and her boyfriend needed the bedroom for the night before they left.

The 2nd year..last year..wasn't too bad, but we still had to pay 1/3 of the groceries even though there's 5 of them and only 2 of us. Justin's the one who got really screwed b/c he paid 1/3 and it was just him. This year...sigh...well, just read the posts. The whole thing is stressing me out and no one should be stressing over vacation...they should be looking forward to it. Part of me is glad just to get the hell away from here. Another part is just dreading to go. If anything pisses me off this week, I'm just leaving and going down to Kelly's to stay for the rest of the week. I only get 1 vacation a year and I want to enjoy it...especially since I paid for it.

Sigh...I just have too much drama already in my life...I don't need to deal with any more.

Yawwnnn...Wonderful but tiring weekend

Wow....I had a great weekend! I feel like I got so much accomplished! Saturday we mowed the lawn and got the weedeater out to straighten things up. I had some issues..so Jeff and I had to switch places b/c I got really fed up w/ the weedeater. I kept losing the line. Anyway...the yard looks really nice.

Sunday, Jeff and I got up at 5am, loaded all our junk in the trunk and headed out to the Raleigh Fairgrounds for the flea market. We paid our $18, set up all our stuff and waited for the money to roll in. We were there from 8am until 4:30pm..so we were exhausted by the time we got home. We made about $160 and got rid of a lot of stuff, so I'm happy!! Jeff sold 2 of his Celebration III Star Wars Darth Vader figures for $35 a piece even though he wanted $50. The guy spent $80 though. We got rid of 2 chairs, a phone, the wicker table, a knife, a speaker, toys, a tv/radio, and a few other things I can't remember. I really wanted to get rid of the desk and the corner shelf b/c they were our 2 bulkiest items. We came home w/ them anyway and plan on dumping them at the thrift shop.

Today, I cleaned up all our extra space where the chair and all those boxes used to be. I dusted the ceiling fan in the dining room in addition to the display cabinets and curtains. The small display cabinets hadn't been dusted since we moved there 3 years ago..so they were pretty nasty. The curtains were cleaned not too long ago, but I did them again b/c the fan blew dust all over them. I put all Jeff's stuff in a pile and put the leftover boxes in a neat stack so the stuff in them can be sold on www.craigslist.com .

We also got rid of the green couch today and made $300 off of that...so that was more extra space I got to clean. I rearranged the den a little to take advantage of all the room. Oh, and I even fixed the smoke detector!! It would beep if we didn't keep a fan blowing on it...so we thought it was picking up carbon monoxide from somewhere. Either that or the battery was going dead. We replaced the battery but it kept on beeping and after so long, it sets off all the other detectors. I got so sick of it that I got a compressed air can and blew the thing out...thinking that maybe there was just dust on the sensor...and that fixed it!!! Woo hoo!! Yeah me! I did injure myself though..just scraped off a scab trying to climb into the chair. It hurt something fierce, but I lived. It still hurts though.

Overall, it was a great weekend and Jeff and I had fun together. Oh, and we also got a car loan. We refinanced his Chevy and used the equity in it to get a small loan so he can buy a commuter car. He had his eye on an Audi 5000 Quattro, but the guy sold it. Now he's looking at an Audi wagon for $400 more than he originally wanted to pay, so we're trying to figure out how to do that. I still think he'd be better off getting something smaller like a Jetta.

Another UPDATE: Lucky man is doing fine..rambunctious, but no more peeing. He's also getting along with the other cats again, so that makes me happy. Nothing else new to report for this post!!

Friday, August 05, 2005

My Poor Little Lucky Mustache Man....

Sniff..tear. I got my little Lucky man neutered on Wednesday because he was spraying our couch. I tried to trick him into the carrier, but it didn't work, so I ended up having to shove him in. That pissed him off, so he sprayed on the inside of the carrier and had to sit in it. It's a putrid smell I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Ok, yes I would. Anyway, so I took him to the little mobile spay/neuter unit and dropped him off at 8:30 that morning. Around 2:30 I went to get him. He was so groggy and his little head was just bobbing around w/ his eyes half closed. I got home and gently carried him into the bathroom and left the carrier open so he could come out when he wanted to. I ended up just taking him out of it and laying him in the cat bed until he woke up. His whole back half was numb, so he couldn't move.

Later on, after the anesthesia wore off, he started seeking out Farley and Elvis to play. They both would sniff at him..then hiss, growl and run away. ?? I don't get it. As soon as they do that, he chases them b/c he wants to play. They'll keep growling and he'll just sit down and meow this long, lonely howl. It's so sad. I just want to hug him all the time!!!

I have no idea why they're so terrified of him. They won't even eat food next to him. I wonder if the neutering changed his phermones making him smell different..or if he has something on him that they don't like....like lying in his spray on the way to the vet. I can't bathe him until he heals, but I'm so afraid they won't accept him again. I don't want my Lucky man to be an outcast.

I'm also concerned b/c he's still so swollen that he looks like he still has testicles. Is it supposed to look like that??! They apparently don't use sutures for male cats b/c the incisions are so small. I hope it heals the way it's supposed to. Anyway..My poor little Lucky man....keep him and his healing nut sacks in your thoughts...

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Denver Pitbull Ban...My Thoughts

My sister told me the other day that since Denver is starting to enforce their Pitbull ban, 350 have been confiscated and another 257 have been euthanized. That's 557 dogs that are being killed just because of their breed. That's so...racist. Breedist?? Anyway...people are basically smuggling their dogs outside of city limits in order to save their lives. I think they should have at least given them a year to put them up for adoption or move out of the city..just some time to figure out what to do, you know?

Here's my thing..ok, so yeah, you hear more stories of Pitbulls biting people than any other breed, but German Shepards are actually the ones who've bit more people..it's just not televised as much. That doesn't include police dogs...that's just the general Shepard pet population. Ok, ok..so pitbulls have a higher fatality rate b/c of their strength, but it's not a reason to kill off all the ones in Denver. They euthanized dogs that have had no violent history or even any inclination to bite someone. What they did is like saying.."Well..we've discovered that 8 out of 10 robberies is committed by a black man, so we're just going to throw them all in prison." That's not right. I at least think that they should maybe do behavioral screenings on the dogs to see if they have violent tendencies or not. That way they're not killing perfectly good pets.

Also, there's been problems here in NC w/ dog fighting rings. In Randolph County, the shelter had to take in 13 pitbulls from a dog fighting raid. They're having to be kept in individual pens until the trial is over (a year or more) and the shelter is having to euthanize adoptable animals due to lack of space. To top that off...the SHELTER is having to pay for their care. WTF!?!? I think whoever owned them should have to pay the costs and they're trying to pass a bill that states just that. They pay for their care throughout the trial and if they fail, the dogs are euthanized then instead of at the the end of the trial. I don't understand why they don't do that anyway...a fighting animal can't be adopted as a pet. One man was required to pay for the dogs' care, but he would only send $5 a month. Finally, the court ordered him to pay a certain percentage of his income. The whole thing just makes me want to cry, you know?

Plus, dogfighters don't tend to follow the laws anyway, so even if you banned all pitbulls from ownership across the country, they'd find other breeds. Hell..you can make Yorkshire Terriers and Pomeranians fight..so nothing will stop the dogfighting...including killing pitbulls. I think Pitbulls get a bad rap. I think the problem is that there are too many irresponsible people owning them who don't know how to handle them. Large breeds require experienced dog owners. I don't think I'm even qualified enough to own a Pitbull..and I have 4 dogs. Anyone who owns dogs with an aggressive tendency should be extremely experienced in how to handle them. Dobermans, German Shepards, Pitbulls, Rottweiler's, Alaskan Malamutes, Huskies, Chows, Wolf Hybrids, Boxers...I can't think of any more at the moment, but you get the point.

All of this comes from the fact that my sister and her fiance own 2 pitbulls. Ok..one Pitbull and one Am. Staff. They are both sweet, sweet dogs. I wouldn't want to piss one of them off...but I'm not afraid of them. Padme is high energy, loves to play, loves to groom the cat and is spoiled rotten. Bane thinks he's a lapdog. Bane is more aggressive than Padme is and Kelly told me recently that he's growled at her when she tried to correct him on something he did wrong. I'm not sure if he really growled..or if he just grumbled over being punished. It still scares me because he's huge. I've never seen a head so big in my life! Actually I have, but that was on a Mastiff, so it doesn't count. It seems like he just gets more aggressive when he gets older...or maybe it's just because he's in an apartment all the time instead of having a yard to play in, who knows..but I'm terrified he'll just snap one day and hurt her. I know she thinks that's ridiculous, but most owners who've been attacked say their dog never showed any tendency towards violence.

To sum up: Denver sucks, not all Pitbulls should be killed--b/c it sucks, Dogfighters suck, and I love my sister....who does not suck.