Well, I had basically figured I was done with Live Journal. No offense to anyone who has a lot of friends they keep up with or those who find blogging a way to unwind, but it's exhausting to keep up with twitter, facebook, myspace, blogs, ect ect. I'm posting on a yearly basis, (maybe longer, I haven't checked.) But as always, my account was waiting for me; like a loyal pet, for said yearly post.
I'll try to keep it to the point to ensure that my post doesn't take over the entire friend's page.
Andy and I are expecting our first child! I'm currently in between 3-4 months. We aren't exactly sure what time I conceived, but the anticipated due date is the middle of October. I'm October 19th, so I'm excited about the date! We still don't know what it is, but we're hoping for a boy first.
My parents got divorced. It wasn't pretty. My mother divorced my adoptive father of 16 years and proptly remarried before the ink of the divorce was dry. I really can't begin to explain my mother, or this situation. It's as wierd as it sounds, at it would seem that my mother is far far far more childish and impatient than I ever began to imagine.
After my mother purchased a farm in Eudora, Mississippi, (just outside of Hernando, and 15 minutes from Tunica) she offered to rent a small house to us. At the time we were living in a third floor, 1 bedroom apartment, with our menageré of animals. At the time we only had 2 dogs, Basch, my plucky, 25 pound pomeranian (nicknamed Bear-Bear) and Zero, my adorably cute floppy-eared Corgi. Being at her mercy and enduring much scrutiny from her and my step-father looking for any way to turn the wrath of my negative mother away from him, we had to move. We have now moved back to Memphis, in a really cute neighborhood not far from everything we've grown up with, and miles away from the farm from hell. (I'll go into that next.)
Before we left the apartment a co-worker at my job at the time (Petsmart) asked me if I would take the most perfectly cute pomeranian which Andy nickanamed Flea. He was the most adorable dog in the world with the energy of the Sun. He weighed only 5 pounds soaking wet. Shortly after we arrived at the house another dog wound up chained to our mailbox. Her name wound up being Penny, and she was a female Rottweiler.
She was starving, malnourished, and I thought fairly smart. But she was also stubborn, dominant, and more hyperactive than I had ever seen in a rottweiler before. She looked as if she had been bred very early. (She probably wasn't even a year old when she had puppies). I recognized her as having been stunted developmentally and was very puppy-ish in play. I spent a lot of time teaching her to lay down and wait until I gave her the command for food, teaching her to walk on a leash, sit, stay. She learned quickly, but her hyperactivity and stubbornness gave her a goofy 'mongaloid' quality that was originally cute.
She seemed to get along fine with the other dogs at first. Zero has some snippy issues that sparked a big of a disagreement, a couple of times. Both incidents were involving chewies, and I never had a problem other than those two incidents with her. She started play fights with flea and sometimes zero in the back, but she wasn't a bity dog and I had never seen her be anything but gentle with flea. I could leave the 4 of them alone together for hours and hours and hours and they were fine.
Except for last friday. Andy and I stepped out for an hour to throw away some things and go to the store while we were packing for our move. Upon walking into the house I saw that it was a wreck and feces was smeered onto the floor. Penny was looking excited but standoffish, the whole house seemed wrong. Then I heard Andy call out Flea's name. Flea was lying dead on his back on the floor. It was all a blur, and he was still warm but had already passed on.
On closer inspection I can only piece together that he had become a ragdoll toy for penny. There were large bite wounds as if she had put her mouth on him at the ground and flung him into things. I can only hope and pray she killed him quickly. It was heartbreaking to see him there.
Recently I had quit my job at Petsmart and was spending most all of my time at home. Flea was my constant companion, and was always wanting to know what I was doing. If I was somewhere, he was guaranteed to be with me. Andy, who doesn't gush over any of the animals, was instantly attached to him, and he got special treatment constantly, even though we tried hard not to be partial. I would never want to see any of them go, but losing Flea has been like losing a real family member, almost like losing a child. Pets are sad to lose, but close friends are even worse. We buried him far in the back of the farm. Used a long spindly willow tree limb to fashion a cross and took a large flat stone to build him a marked grave. I think I cried for three days, and even now I've got a lump in my throat and I'm misty eyed.
I wasn't sure what to do with Penny, but as soon as I deduced it was her, I couldn't look at her. My step-father was going to kill her right then and there, and Andy was prepared to do the same. Thankfully when I called Tiffany, she immediately offered to take her. I really couldn't handle the thought of two animals being dead in the same day. Not when I realize she probably had no idea what she had done. We took her to Tiffy that night, and my hope is that she will go to a strong family with other big dogs she can play with safely. I unfortunately, hold responsibility for trusting her with my precious little boy, and I feel horribly guilty that this has happened. As much as I loved big dogs, I think I'm sticking with my little guys from now on. I miss Flea terribly and this whole event makes me sick hearted.
I've been told I was lucky that this happened before the baby came, and of course, a human is different from an animal, but you have to understand that Flea has more history for this family in the 10 months that we had him than even Basch or Flea. It was as if his life was condensed, because he had so much personality. He's kept me company when I was lonely with no one to talk to. Him being gone has left a big gaping hole in the family. He'll always be remembered, and will never be able to be replaced.
So we've moved back into Memphis with just Zero, Basch and the Cats. The house is nice and the yard is much larger than the last. It's older, but it's so much more comfortable than the last place. The cats handled this move so much better than the last 2. Once they knew where their litter was and food was, they were happy. Basch and Zero are acting a big depressed since the pack has disappeared. Basch in particular is acting kinda depressed and is sleeping a bit more than before. Flea being another Pom seemed to 'speak his language' and they used to play all day. Andy and I have considered that eventually (not until we're finished grieving) we will have another pom-pom to complete our pack. But with the baby on the way, we have no idea when that will be.
All of the homes on our street have a lot of character, and the neighborhood is very nice. We found that our first neighbor in our first aparment lives directly across the street from us. It's a really small world. We're hoping to be picking up a grill soon and having a barbeque for a housewarming party. Dunno when that will be, but I'm itching to have friends over. So maybe I'll use it as an incentive to unpack boxes!
In a final note:
On April 8th, 2009, Andy and I celebrated our 3rd year married together! Also, on July 11th, we will celebrate knowing each other for 8 years! It's been great, though tough sometimes.
So there, it's not everything, but it's a lot. I have no idea when I will be back on here, but that's the big news. I'll probably be back up with updates about the Pregnancy and the Baby. I should be taking note of these things. Anyway, for anyone I haven't talked to in ages, sorry, hope things are going well for all of you!
This is the end of Update 2009~!!
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