two dolla

some nights I forget the internet is even around

It’s usually night like tonight, too.

Drive home from work where The Boy and I yammer away about homework, cleaning his room, a kid at school that’s kind of a jerk, and Minneapolis city curfews. The Boy does his math homework while we run to the store for paper towels, a prescription, and a winter scarf Riley can wear to his first visit to Santa on Saturday.

The three of us stand around in the kitchen. Well, The General cooks, I open things and taste test new recipes. The Boy, in his attempt at talking his way out of cleanup duty, tried to say he helped with dinner prep by “providing conversation”.

Dinner at the table, discussions about hot sauce and what size shoe The Boy’s dad wears. Then it’s off to bathe for The Kid and some program watching for the adults.

Now I’m in bed with little Thelma. The Kid has a Panic at the Disco CD on repeat while he sleeps. And The General and Riley are closing up shop downstairs before coming up to bed.

Nights like this have become my life and I don’t have a complaint in the world about it.

super cute sleepy time at our house right now

call this my crazy cat lady post

Back a long, long time ago in November 2010, we got a call from the Director of Pet Project Rescue. She was all, “I know you don’t really want to foster cats or kittens, but I had to rescue this little 8 week old kitten from animal control. He has a cold and they were going to euthanize him.” Those may have not been the exact words, but close. And, yes, they do euthanize even 8 week old kittens at animal control, especially when they have colds (otherwise known as CAT HERPES) and they can’t be around other cats. So, do you see why we said, “Sure, just bring the damn cat over already.”

He came over, looking like this:

He’s pitiful looking, no? He weighed a pound or two, had to have his face wiped off multiple times a day just so he could open up his tiny little eyes, and we had to force feed him lysine to help combat his herp (those are The General’s word, not mine!) a few times throughout the day. But man, he had some attitude and I should have realized it at that point, but when something curls up right in the crook of your neck and purrs you both sleep, you forget about that little demon part of him, right? I’m assuming that’s what it’s like with human babies, too.

He’s never scratched or bitten any of us, even on accident. He still has all of his claws (DECLAWING CUTS OFF THEIR KNUCKLES, FRIENDS), but only uses them when we give him a cardboard box to destroy. We’ve been trying to train the new foster puppy basic commands from time to time and Marshall is getting them quicker than the dog. Yes, our cat sits and lays down and he’ll do anything else you want him to do, all for a dog treat.

And now he’s this cat. A cat that thinks he’s a dog. He couldn’t catch a fly to save his life, despite really, really wanting to. He likes to go on walks outside in the backyard while I hold him. We got him a fishing pole at the dollar store and he loves it so much that you have to hide it from him or he drags it all the way around the house.

I never thought I’d like cats, but Marshall, our little butt tabby (that’s how animal control denoted that he was a butterscotch tabby) changed my mind pretty darn quick.

a plea for garcia

It was a cold day, just a few weeks after we’d moved into our new house when we got a call from Pet Project Rescue asking us to take in a couple of puppies that were found outside, fending for themselves, in South Dakota. Of course, we said yes.

And now, nearly three months later, look who’s still hanging out at our house:

It’s Garcia, or C.C. as we sometimes call him. He’s five or six months old now and is very much ready to find a forever home. He weighs about 35 pounds, but the majority of that is all legs and his big ol’ head. He has the softest black fur with tints of brown throughout it. His little white goatee kills me, and if you scratch the white spot on his chest, he’ll love you forever.

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365 day project – 1 more time!

As an homage to one of my favorite Flickr photographers, I gave my own version of 2011 a go… until Marshall came in at the tiniest sound of food being dropped onto the table.*

*Afterwards, we decided we couldn’t remember if we fed him today or not. PET OWNERS OF THE YEAR.

this is our current zoo

Marshall is a 10-week old kitten that was rescued from animal control the day he was going to be euthanized. He couldn’t be adopted out, because of an upper respiratory infection. Right now, he’s sitting with me in the den looking out the window. In a few minutes, I have no doubt that he’ll be helping me finish my freelance work by typing “…..3.3…….3″ which is what he seems to type every time he’s on my desk.

Garcia (on the left) and Morgan (on the right) are 12-week old puppies that were rescued from a reservation in South Dakota. They’re part lab, shepard, mutt, wolf, spider monkey… or so it seems. They’re named after two of our favorite characters on Criminal Minds. Morgan’s tough, but sweet. Garcia’s loud and just wants to be loved. If you’ve seen the show, you can see how their names fit.

jaula means crate in spanish!

And sientate means sit. I learned that last night while helping bathe, dry, feed, water, walk, clean up after, and play with 10 dogs that had been rescued off the streets of Cancun/Isla Mujeres and flown up to Minneapolis to find nice new families and homes. During that time is when we were taught the dogs only knew Spanish commands. My extent of the Spanish language are things my 13 year old kid has taught me, what I’ve picked up off Dora the Explorer, and the choppy shit the ungrateful Americans on Amazing Race use when yelling at cab drivers. I really need to learn more.

Since we’re still another couple of days away from being completely unpacked, we’re only temporarily fostering a pup for a couple of days. Her name is Pinta or Pintata or Pizza. She’s five months old, weighs about 20 pounds, and is so sweet I can’t stand it. She was so excited to be in a house and to find out what was on the kitchen counter, and especially to sleep on a couch with a person who covered her up with a blanket in the middle of the night.

It’s possible I spoil these dogs a lot, but c’mon. They deserve it. They’ve been living on streets, eating trash wherever they can find, getting covered in fleas and ticks, and discarded like they’re dirty rats. A little extra padding on their bed and maybe a few extra treats won’t hurt them one single bit.

Visit Pet Project Rescue and I’m sure you’ll be able to see pictures of all the new dogs very soon. And they all need homes!

willie is lost!

If you’re in Northeast Minneapolis (or maybe even anywhere at all Minneapolis), please keep an eye out for Willie!

Pet Project Rescue rescued Willie from the local animal control last week. He’d been hit by a car and his owner surrendered him, because they couldn’t take care of his medical needs. He’s just about ready for a forever home of his own, except now he’s missing.

Tonight, around 5pm, he ran out of his foster home’s backyard when someone opened the gate. After several hours of combing the neighborhood, Willie’s nowhere to be found. He has a history of running, so he might be hard to catch. Willie is a very sweet dog and loves other dogs, but he might be a little scared right now.

If you find him, please hang on to him and call PPR’s director at 612-207-0602 or email info@petprojectrescue.com. More info (and a recent picture) on Willie can be found here.

see, i really have been busy

I still have postcards from Chicago I’m determined to still mail. There are still hundreds of photos from our trip that need to be uploaded and edited. And I still owe a brief write up of The 3 day to nobody else but myself. All of these things have been put on the back burner with The Kid’s school starting back up, putting in some volunteer time with Pet Project Rescue, and catching up on Mount Dirty Laundry.

And then there are our latest in the department of foster puppies. Best guess is they’re part husky/shepard/heeler/who knows what else. First, we had eight week old brother and sister, Metro and Wolfie:

Metro’s new home includes someone that works from home on a daily basis, so he’ll get a ton of attention.

Wolfie’s new dad was possibly the sweetest, most excited emo kid I’ve ever met in my life. He’s changing her name to Mila and was totally smitten with her.

And now, currently awaiting their forever homes, two more puppies from the same litter: Oliver and Newton. If I knew they wouldn’t grow into giants, I’d strongly consider snatching one of these two little guys up.

Oliver is a shy little guy, but he’s very smart. Already three times tonight, he’s managed to steal one of The General’s balls of yarn and run underneath the TV stand to play with it, because he knows we can’t reach him under there. I threatened to give him another bath if he did it again, and since then, he’s been keeping his nose clean.

And this is Newton, by far my favorite of the puppies. He’s almost twice the size of Oliver, but as sweet as can be. I think he’s my favorite, because he can appreciate a good Law & Order:SVU marathon just about as much as I can.  Not the brightest out of the litter, but, hey, we can’t all be cute and smart, can we?

As soon as these last two guys find somewhere to live permanently, I’ll try to get back to my regularly programmed blogging schedule. Or maybe I’ll just find another excuse to avoid it, which seems to be the norm lately.

(As usual, all photos borrowed from Pet Project Rescue. These puppies move way too fast for my camera!)

full of labor

Right now, I’m laying on the couch with Riley at my feet and Jaws, our 5 lb foster chihuahua, laying on top me. After the last two weekends which included The 3 Day and several days in Chicago with family, I’ve felt lucky to not fall asleep on the couch by 9pm.

Tomorrow, aside from taking Jaws to her new forever home, my plan is to find myself back on the couch watching the 4.5 hours of “Who’s the Boss?” that I’m recording right now. I’m not even embarassed about it because it’s the episodes where Tony and Angela finally get together.