Changes...

Ooooh, I lurve the Internet!  How I have missed you so.  About two days after Les's big surgery back in December, our phone/internet bundle was turned off.  Bastards.  It's like you have to pay your bill every month or something.  What's up with that?  So, I used my tax return to turn it back on because I was going bat-crap crazy without it and so was Sis.  You don't realize how often you want to look at or look up stuff until you bloody well can't.  Going to the library to look up recipes and your bank balance SUCKS.  And having a house bound post-surgery depressed bored angry guy at home with no NetFlix is a nightmare.  Trust me on that one.
There have been changes in our lives here since Les's diagnosis in September.  He had 5 surgeries between mid-September and mid-December, and has not worked since his last day in Texas when he went to the emergency room for what we thought was a bad kidney infection back in September.  I have been working spottily, most recently for several months as a temp in the Environmental Department at Longview Fibre; 85 mile round trip every day in a vehicle that gets about 10 miles to the gallon.  $600 a month in gas.  I actually had someone ask me why I didn't buy a more fuel efficient vehicle.  Wow - why didn't I think of that?  (Did you notice the sarcasm font?  Just checking.)  After paying for gas, food for us, food for the dogs and cats, my storage unit bill, my sister's storage unit bill, the $300/mo electricity bill, kitty litter and anything else we needed, I had approximately -$50.89 left over (yes, that is a negative number).  When I asked them if they were willing to lend me the $40,000 for a used Prius, they walked away in the shame they deserved.  Unfortunately, that job ended about a month ago, and I haven't had anything since.  So, yeah.  Having no money has made a big change in our lives.  We also lost our beloved Monty after only 73 days.  Sis was completely devestated by it and still can't talk about him without crying.  But that is progress; she was openly weeping 24/7 for weeks.  We also are down three cats:  Barnes to old age (we think he was around 20-22 years old), Ethel to her kidney disease (but she lived about three years longer than the vet said she would due to Sis's spectacular capacity for love and dedication to good care), and Gus-Gus went to a new home with one of my Longview Fibre co-workers where he is so much happier. 

Barnes (left) and Gus-Gus

On the positive side, Les's best friend Jim came to live with us in late January.  I will be honest and say that I was not happy about it.  I have discovered that I am a selfish person; I want to spend my time at home with my sister, and don't even like my own brother-in-law to be home with us, let alone any of his full-of-BS loud-mouthed friends.  To make the situation more interesting, my sister used to date this guy, but he was too big of a mess in his head and had too much baggage for her to handle.  He is better now, but I still didn't like him.  It's a long story but at one time he and Les had a falling out; Jim accused him of stealing from him, lying, etc. and even managed to turn one of Les's brothers against him.  Les did not do any of the things Jim was accusing him of, and once he got on some meds to stabalize his mental status, Jim realized how badly he had hut Les and Sis.  I will hand it to them - they are better people than me.  They forgave him and now he lives here.  Jim is on Social Security and has been a huge help around here.  I have grudgingly recanted my original misgivings towards him, and we all get along pretty well.  Jim's two doxies have joined our happy little mix here.  I know, more mouths to feed, but they are little mouths.  They are Snoopy, an older black and tan, and Mrs. Weenie, a beautiful red little girl that is just over a year old.



Mrs. Weenie and Snoopy



In March we adopted Gigi, a pomerainian-chiuaua mix that is cuter than heck.  SHE'S SO FLUFFY!!  She was living with a breeder that had 15 (yep, you read that correctly) other dogs.  Gigi was well cared for as far as food and shelter goes, but she was not loved.  We love her.  When we brought her home, it took all of one hour for her to be permanently bonded to Les.  Where ever Les is, Gigi is either on him or at his feet.  She is the biggest lover and is a kissing machine.  She loves to play Greco-Roman wrestling with Mrs. Weenie.  



Our sweet Gigi




Mrs. Weenie and Gigi snuggling on the couch



A month ago, we adopted Sam (we call him Sammy), bringing our total of black and tan doxies to three.  Sam has large, deep scars on both sides of his rib cage and on his ears.  We adopted him from some people who had only had him for two months, so we don't know the story behind those scars, but it sure looks like something big had Sammy in his mouth and was meaning to eat him.  He was completely shut down and not very well potty trained, even though we think he is about four years old.  We think he has been crated for most of his life and had only been going potty on pads and newspapers, never outside.  He had no idea what toys were or how to play with them, and seemed to be distrustful of our love and compassion towards him.  He has been slowly thawing out, and now runs happily around the house, jumping into our arms to give us kisses and really enjoying life - probably for the very first time.



Sammy



Jim fenced in our front yard for us (we have five acres out here) so now we can just open the front door and let the stampede of little doggies out all at once.  No more trying to walk everyone on a leash 10 times a day for potty time!  It is FABULOUS.  When the weather is nice they stay outside almost all day; Mrs. Weenie is a sun worshiper and has a very tan tum-tum from lying on her back in the grass for hours at a time - that is when she is not barking non-stop for hours at a time.  We have bird feeders around the yard and a fantastically gorgeous array of birds.  We have some Goldfinches that look like they have been colored in with bright yellow highlighter pens.  I will try to get some good shots of them to post on here.

Along with fencing in the yard, Jim has helped Sis make one of her dreams come true.  Sis has wanted chickens for years (only God knows why).  He built a chicken coop around her flower garden on the other side of the driveway and fenced it all in.  Last weekend he went to an auction and brought home six Barred Rock chickens.  They are black and white (kinda salt and pepper) with red combs and are great egg layers.  We had been getting all the fresh eggs we could use, and then some, from Sis's good friend Joanie.  Chicken eggs of all colors, duck eggs, and goose eggs (HUGE!!).  There is a massive difference between fresh eggs from a farm and the eggs you buy at the store.  And I mean massive as in the Grand Canyon massive.  If you have never tried them, do it.  You will never want to use eggs from the store again.  Joanie and her husband are moving soon and have decided they don't want to have birds anymore, so they gave us their spectacular rooster, Elvis, and four hens.  We will also be getting her six ducks and three geese just as soon as Jim finishes building their pen next door to the chickens.  In addition, Jeremy's kids bought Sis a super cool rooster that is a cross between a Silkie and a Polish Crested.  His name is Lloyd.

Jim working on the fences




Elvis the rooster



Lloyd the rooster



On top of all of that, this weekend we are babysitting Jeremy's new baby LaMancha goat, Megatron.  Don't ask me to explain the irony Jeremy was going for with the name, just run with it, OK?  He is just the cutest thing ever!  He is kind of like a dog because he sleeps in the house - sometimes on the couch with Kaya - and loves to be held and cuddled on your lap.  The family is out of town for the three day weekend, so we are taking care of him out here until Monday.



Sis holding Megatron





Megatron, the LaMancha goat



So, that is the bare bones jist of our lives these days.  Now that I can once again access the interwebs, I will try to keep the posts shorter and closer together.



Mrs. Weenie, Snoopy, Sammy (and Bruiser flying up from behind)



TTFN.



Three Bald Eagles circling over our house