MySpace-June 12, 2010-Our Pets

I think I talk a lot about our pets and the cute little things they do. I’m not really sure if I have gone into intricate detail about them and their personalities but now I think I’ll do that.

The oldest of our pets is a little male Netherland Dwarf rabbit named Teddy. Teddy’s full name is Lil’ Teddy Kellerman though I’m not sure that’s his name on his pedigree. I’ve had him since July of 2005 making him about five years old this year. He’s a black otter which means that he’s black with a sliver belly, paws and around his eyes in addition to a tan triangle behind his neck. Teddy doesn’t do much. I call him four pounds of fury because he’s not super  fond of being held or petted. Teddy isn’t afraid of anything and routinely has been chased by the dogs or chases the cats. Teddy just sort of exists in our household. I hope with a substantial yard that I will be able to put him outside in Mary’s crate or something.

Then there’s Riley. Riley is a four year old spayed female Pembroke Welsh Corgi that I’ve had since she was a puppy. She’s AKC registered as Blue Ribbon Riley. Riley is a tri colored corgi meaning that she has white, black and red coat colors. Her head is mostly red with a white blaze. Her belly is white as is all of her feet and around her neck. Her back is black with red down the sides before changing to white at her belly. Riley is a very pretty corgi with sharp foxy like features. Unfortunately, Riley is overweight mostly because I haven’t trained her to have any manners making her begging for people food super adorable. Even if she wasn’t overweight she would be a larger corgi anyway. Her faults mostly include her lack of manners, inability to do tricks and being overweight. Then are her assets. Riley is super obedient-she responds very quickly to being called and instantly to being told to go to her house which is code for crate. Riley also plays fetch and likes to sleep on your lap or next to you. She does have a genetic disease called degenerative myelopathy. Its similar to Lou Gehrig’s disease, an ascending paralysis leading to respiratory compromise. Riley was tested and came back affected/at risk meaning that while she may not every develop the disease which happens later in life, she does carry the gene for it. Until then, Riley does what she wants which is mainly be cute.

Mary is our next pet in terms of length of ownership. Mary is a two and half year old spayed female Briard mix. She has like one beagle five generations back or so. Mary hardly looks like a Briard at all. She has floppy ears (whereas most Briards have them cropped), she’s about 20-30 pounds smaller and her hair is short and wirey. Mary is black and tan with adorable eyebrows and whiskers. Like a Briard though, Mary has double dewclaws on her hide feet. Mary was most importantly adopted from a research lab at MU at 9 months old. Mary has a genetic disease called retinal atrophy which was being worked on in the lab she was from. Her ancestors were imported from Sweden and used to find a gene therapy for this disease for which there is a human equivalent in infants. This disease makes it difficult for Mary to see at night so she does this goosestepping walk at night in the dark. Mary had a rough go when she started with us in that she was difficult to housebreak and for her to catch on to our walking routine. Now Mary is a very good dog. Mary loves to go on walks and even more loves going to the dog park. Last spring, Mary learned to swim and even though she does it very slowly and carefully, she will go out after a ball. Mary loves to wrestle and play. She tends to bark some though most often its to tell a very important dog story. I’m never sure what its about but she loves to tell it. Mary’s favorite toy is a 18” light purple dog that we call ‘Baby’. Mary loves her baby and will carry it around faithfully. The other dogs know that baby is off limits to them. Baby has had several surgeries during which Mary paces around crying until Baby is released. Overall, Mary is super cute.

Bess Truman was adopted from the humane society in Columbia in October. She’s a three or so year old spayed female domestic long or medium hair cat. She’s a brown tabby but only really her head is striped. Bess replaced Roosevelt and had a hard task ahead. When we went to the shelter, I wasn’t planning on getting a female cat but after taking Bess into the little room, I couldn’t leave her. She had been surrendered in the spring and when we had her in the little room all she did was purr and make biscuits while sitting on my lap. Bess has always been friendly-wanting to sit on your lap, sleep in your bed. Recently though, Bess had become even more friendly. She now wants to go into the bathroom with you while before it was a system of trickery to get her in the shower with you. Bess wants to hang out in the living room even if she has to hide from the dogs.  When not asleep, Bess follows you around and overall tries to be super cute.

Finally, there’s Sadie. We call her Biscuit or Little Bit. Sadie is a two year old spayed female Pembroke Welsh Corgi. We adopted her in May from a rescue in Missouri. Sadie is sable so she’s mostly red-brown with a black cast to her coat. She has white on her nose, neck and four  legs. Unlike Riley, Sadie isn’t AKC registered (that we know of) and she’s super little-under 20 pounds. Sadie has a very cute face but its more angular with very large ears. Sometimes one ear flops over. Sadie loves to be cuddled and is really good on a leash. However, she isn’t the greatest about going to her crate or being loose outside. Sadie tends to run off. She’s a naughty but cute dog. She is afraid of storms. At the dog park, Sadie will swim. She’s not very good at it but its good for a laugh.

[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on June 14, 2011]

MySpace-June 6, 2010-A-May-Zing

You may have been wondering where I went off to since I haven’t written much and its known that there were lots of things going to be happening. Well, I’ve been in Pennsylvania and without internet because of a miscommunication with Comcast, so I’ll post this when I get to some place with Wi-Fi OR after Tuesday when I finally get some internet.

So after graduation, life around our house consisted of packing and tying up the loose ends before moving. There were bank accounts to close, friends to visit with and boxes to pack. Joe also had to finish paying off the engagement ring. I went with him and the entire time had this puke-y feeling. I had to go sit down while he went back for his change. He bought me a pretzel. Even though, I was there when we picked out the ring and there for picking it up, I had never considered ourselves engaged. One shouldn’t just assume these things. I told Joe that he really should ask me. He finally broke down and told me that he had a reservation at Jack’s Gourmet for that night that he had made several days earlier. However, such a fancy dinner required untaping boxes to find suitable clothing. Once there we ordered dinner-neither of ours was as good as we had previously. Joe was super nervous as was I even though we both knew what was going to happen. Finally, he got up, dropped down to one knee and asked. Aww…how sweet! So it’s a done deal. I have a giant diamond on my hand and now a fiancé.

The next day, my parents came to Columbia to help us pack the moving truck we had rented. It was a 16ft Budget truck which also was to tow a car dolly hauling Joe’s car. I drove the truck to the apartment and Joe took care of it from there. There was some generally good natured arguing about backing the truck up and getting it parked but all and all got it done. All morning long we packed the truck. Once mostly done, my parents left us to finish and we took our time putting the last belongings into the truck. Joe and I left on Sunday morning making it into Ohio before stopping for the night. It was a long drive. Joe, Bess and Teddy enjoyed the air conditioned comfort of the Budget truck while me and the three dogs had to endure the heat as we drove. My left arm bears the sharp tanned difference. Monday morning we left to arrive in Pennsylvania that night. It rained a couple of times that day and Joe had to drive through tunnels for the first time. I don’t think he thought it was all that great.

We were able to get into the house early which was awesome and as we pulled in, the entire neighborhood-well, a lot of it-came out to greet us.  We worked to unload about half the truck before deciding to call it a night and go for a drive. The next day we finished unloading the truck and are continuing to unpack. We are entirely unmotivated to unpack and lots of boxes sit around the house still. Its an ongoing process.

Eventually, Joe and I would go out and buy a microwave and some other needed items. These other needed items included a front loading washer and dryer which come Monday. When purchasing this washer and dryer set, I got that same puke-y feeling that I did with buying a ring. Joe and I are really a couple, really adults now. I’m super excited about that because we have lots of towels and blankets that were used for packing that need to be washed. In addition to unpacking, there are lots of little things that need to be done to make this house ours-a different shower curtain and mat, a different kitchen mat, some flowers for the front porch (secretly, I was planning to do that today but have decided against it because I am very lazy), a second new bookshelf for the dining room, which is the room I am most excited about decorating.

Today, Joe and I opened a new bank account together and Monday, Joe will be responsible for getting renter’s insurance as I start my new job. I went and visited the clinic and got my coveralls and white coats. The coveralls excited me the most since they are bibs and green. This means a lot to any vet student…well, former vet student. My white coats have my name on them too. Embroidered in purple, all very official.  Monday is going to be scary but I can’t do anything about it. I can only try my best and hope that somewhere in the back of my head there is some knowledge. I could probably do some studying as previously intended but this would be better accomplished if I had a place to do it. The two rooms that I have commandeered as my own are in shambles. One because I can’t find the bolts to put my futon back together.

I’ve learned some things about Pennsylvania in the short time I’ve lived here. One-the beer laws are completely insane. You can’t buy alcohol at the grocery store or Wal-Mart. Liquor is at the liquor store but beer is not. You can buy 6 or 12 packs at bars and some restaurants as a carry out at inflated price but if you want more, you need to go to a state store which I’m not sure is the same thing as a distributor. There you can only buy cases-a minimum of 24. AND some restaurants are BYOB. Really, bring your own? Wow. What’s up with that? Drivers in Pennsylvania are complete a-holes. They are very aggressive drivers and the only way to deal with them is to be as aggressive as they are. Pennsylvania is essentially the Missouri of the Northeast. Lots of hillbillies. Esp. at Wal-Mart. Go figures.  Umm…what else? Oh, what the fuck is the difference between a borough and a township? I don’t know either. What’s a pike besides a fish? Isn’t it just the highway? Then there’s the boro bags. Essentially in Carlisle, you don’t pay for trash service; you pay for the trash bags. $3.80 each! They were really hard to track down but eventually we went to the borough itself and bought some.

All and all Pennsylvania is good. I like it and look forward to working on Monday. More looking forward to getting internet, I guess.

[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on June 14, 2011]