Cats, Dogs, Computers, and Boot Camp

I realized in my last post I forgot to update on the family situation. Recall way back this summer when the kid's dad promised them pets? Well, said pets are now in our home, MUCH to CHAGRIN of our 17 year old tabby cat. She is NOT pleased at all.

First to arrive was the new kitten. Hubby to the kids to the animal shelter to get their pets. Lyd picked out a kitten in record time! There were apparently many, many rows of cats/kittens, but Miss Lyd picked on out in 30 seconds. There was one with a blue collar. None of the others had collars. She said, "that's the one I want, the one with the blue collar and the bell!" $58.00 dollars they were out the door with kitty in tow. I was at work while all this occurred. I walked in the door to be greeted by two VERY excited children! "We have a kitty, we have a kitty!" I was eager to see the adorable kitten...expecting to see a total fluffball like she had been showing me in books. Much to my horror was the ugliest kitten I had ever seen! LOL! This kitten was about 12-13 weeks old, so he was a little bigger than what you picture as a first home kitty. He is black and white with the biggest ears you ever saw. I am sure there is donkey somewhere in his lineage. He has a very pointed narrow face, with huge slanty eyes...(picture the classic alien head), very long legs, and a skinny tale. OH, and then to top it off, he has above his nostrils (but still on his nose) two black dots which make you think he has a nose of a pig. He is absolutely the poorest excuse for a cat I ever saw. LOL. My nephew Brad swears he is a real alien from another planet spying on the earth and this was they best they could do to emulate a cat. ROFL. There will be pictures coming, I promise! Lyd named him Jinga. Now, in the cats defense, he is very friendly, and lets Lyd take him anywhere, happily abides by laying in the doll crib while she reads him stories. He has a great personality, thank goodness. It would suck to have an ugly cat that was also a reall ass. He is fun, and loves to play and doesn't trash the furniture much, but he loves to pull the dead leaves out of planter for the big ficus I have...which in turn spreads dirt everywhere. ah well. He also loves to torment the older cat with his mere presence in our bedroom. She has pretty much kept her residence there now and in no way wants him sauntering in. He does though and she lets him know about it. We have had the cat 4-5 weeks now.

We acquired a dog about 2-3 weeks ago. Hubby went to look at dogs at the shelter. He was looking at a pointer earlier with Roo, but wasn't sure if the size was too big for Roo or not. Roo isn't real happy with big dogs. Well, they had a Beagle when he got there, and so after checking him out and seeing his behaviour, we have a Beagle now as well. He is deligated outside though. Our poor 17 year old miss kitty would have stroked out had we added a dog to her personal indoor hell now. The dogs name is "Bam" according to the handwritten scrawl that was on his collar. He is a bit plump, and didn't want to touch any dogfood at the onset. We figured out fairly quickly that he was quite spoiled and sat on sofas all day while being fed out of cellophane wrapped bags. Boy, do his ears perk up at that sound! We have ran a few pounds off him and he is now eating the dog food, but isn't overly pleased about it. He was pretty hard headed at first about trying to slip into the house and not listen to you. That didn't last too long, at least not with me. He gave a little "fake" snap when I grabbed his collar one time to get him off the outdoor furniture. He understood very quickly that (meaning the fake snap) wasn't allowed. He has adjusted well, and Roo loves him to death. He has several toys now and the kids outdoor playhouse (hand built from wood) is now his dog house (complete with covered porch). He seems to love it. the kids can still play in there, but they never did play in it much anyway, and the dog is very happy to share. Andrew has renamed him Shiloh in memory of his aunt's Beagle that was run over 4th of July weekend, though he still answers better to Bam.

I am in a bit of mourning now. My Nephew Brad is no longer working with me. His last day was last Thursday. I miss him terribly. He left yesterday for Basic Training for the Air Force. He actually gets on a plane and heads off to San Antonio in about two hours from now. I have talked with him all I could. He is so much fun. I understand his need to do this, and it will be good for him. I am not excited about prospects of heading to Iraq, but that will be almost guaranteed I am sure. He is in a good mindset to do this and do well. He wants to get everything out of it he can and get his education completed as well. I wish him the best, and know he will do well. I am following all his training on AirForce.com where they have Boot Camp broken down into weeks and what they do during the training. He called me a short bit ago to let me know that he was selected as the leader of his group of people heading to TX now. He gets one phone call once at the air force base on day three, and it is only three minutes long to give his contact information. He has selected me as the recipient of that call...he said I am the one most likely to answer my phone and be responsible enough to get his info to those that need it. LOL. So, Thursday and Friday I will be having my phone on my ear practically with pen and paper in my pocket at all times. Can't waste those fleeting minutes.

I also took the dive and ordered myself a new laptop. my old one is OLD, in fact it is so old, I let my kids play their computer games it now. I am excited! I wanted it for gaming and managing my photos, as well as work stuff etc, etc, etc. I pushed my financial limit and got everything I could right now because I know this will have to last me a very long time. I did pass on making super wazoo to purchase the 4 year warranty and 4 year accident coverage. With kids and animals, the accident coverage is worth it's weight in gold. I did not get a Mac. I was inclined to so so, but I have never had one before and after talking to the computer nerd crew here at work in computer services they recommended a Mac until I was telling them I will gaming quite a bit with this computer, then they switched me to a PC based laptop. I am not sad though, I was leary of switching to Mac just because of my inexperience. So, I should be receiving that by early November! I just may have to be home ill the day it is expected to arrive. It has a 17" high resolution monitor. I am practically drooling while I type about it. Oh, I had to order one because I just wasn't happy with an "over the coutner" model. Though, I could have ordered one from Costco.com with what I want, but that doesn't come with the 12 month no interest. I love to use that when I can. I pay it off before the 12 months and don't have to fork out a truck load all at once.

I think I am done rambling.