I always post about the negative things, so let’s start with the positive.

We are moved out and have been living in our new place for an official week tomorrow. The cats have really taken to this place, as it gives them soooo much more room to run around. They adore the stairs and are even more fascinated by the streams outside. We don’t let them out but just opening the patio door and getting to watch the stream trickle along is wonderful for all of us.

Living with Deana is nice. ^^ We all get along and it’s like having a neverending slumber party. We’ve been ordering pizza a lot. That’s always a good thing in my book. I am a pizza monster.

Adriann and I are considering getting married. =^__^= The circumstances surrounding that out of the blue announcement are not the happiest, but thinking about getting a domestic partnership is actually really making me happy. Even if it doesn’t happen, that’s fine, but I love Adriann more than anything in the world and would love to say we’re officially never leaving one another.

Now for the bad stuff.

Pippin, one of Adriann’s dogs, died several weeks ago. I didn’t want to write about it for a variety of reasons, one of which was that he was just the smallest, sweetest dog in the world. :( I already miss playing fetch with him and watching him roll over on his belly, and getting to cuddle him. I guess he had liver failure and just…died. The last time Adriann and I saw him, he was so thin and not eating or drinking. The other dogs wouldn’t even go near him, something that is so much eerier than it sounds. I cried a lot when he died. It still makes me feel so sad thinking about it, but I’m glad he’s no longer in pain at the very least.

RIP Pippin <3 <3

After that, I found out about my dad and the car, etc. That is at least fixable.

So are you ready for the best part? Oh yes, it gets worse:

Adriann was fired on Tuesday.

The whole situation was out of the blue, which is what made it so unbearable. Her supervisor basically sat her down and said, “Sorry, your sales suck, pack up your stuff”. No notice, no warning, just pack up and get out.

My job is currently unaffected, but mentally, it’s broken me a bit. The way it was done bothers me and of course the fact that Adriann’s friends are coming in from Germany in two weeks and basically she can’t get a job till they leave (who’s going to accept her if she says she has to take a vacation for two weeks a week after she starts?) and that we just moved out, etc… Yeah.

Luckily, Adriann can get on unemployment and they cashed out her vacation and sick days, all of which should pay for rent for the next two months or so. She’ll also be getting two commission checks from work, which will probably pay for another month. Plus savings, plus what I’ll be making (I got a $150 bonus recently, which is good timing).

So there’s an update in the life of Tiara and Adriann. I’ll keep you all posted…but honestly, I don’t much feel like writing here these days. Nothing against journal writing or this specific journal, I’m just too exhausted and mentally stressed that it doesn’t feel relaxing. :(

Maybe I’ll win that short story contest and get $1,000. Yay.

I just about sobbed over that stupid ASPCA commercial about the abused animals. Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” is playing and they show all the abused animals and then put up some text like, “Some of them were too late to be saved” and show more images… The thing that gets to me especially was the small dog with only one eye. There’s a level and a part of me that is freaked out by it and another that says if that dog wandered into my backyard, I would love it to death and really give it a wonderful home.

It makes me feel so helpless, seeing commercials like that, because I know I’m sitting here in my comfortable apartment with everything I could ever need…and then there are people starving, being raped and abused, children amputated, bombs destroying cities, soldiers dying, babies shaken to death… It’s all too much. It’s just overwhelming to a point that you think, “Even with a donation to such and such…what will that accomplish? If it’s just me giving $18/month…what does that really do for anybody?”

I dunno…sometimes I think about things that are so beyond my little scope, and I feel so small and so worthless. I wish I could take in every single abused animal in the world and give it so much love and care. I’m so so so so incredibly happy to have found Pickle and adopted Nagini. Pickle was found in a trash can outside a restaurant. Someone threw him away with his brothers and sisters, and he was the only one not taken. When I saw him for the first time, he was just…so perfect. This perfect little kitten with big eyes and a sweet disposition. He cried and tried to nurse on the back of my neck. ;__; Ugh, I get a little emotional just thinking that he was only 4 weeks old, probably just off his mother (though he shouldn’t have been yet), and really could have died, even in our care, because some asshole dropped him off without a second thought. And now? He’s the best thing. He’s so sweet and lovey and playful and stupid and follows us around and cries for us when we leave and purrs and nurses on our arms and shirts because he thinks we’re his mothers.

Ugh.  T__T

And Nagini was found wandering around a truckstop or something. I have no idea what her story is, and I’m sure someone else would have adopted her, but I’m so thankful for her. I love her. She purrs all over us, is currently cuddled in my lap, and just is always so happy to see us when we wake up or come and see her.

I just wish people thought more before they took in pets or don’t get their friggin’ pets spayed or neutered or cared about animals enough to know they FEEL things just like we do. They feel pain, most likely sadness and I know depression, and when they are mistreated they can have trust issues, just like us.

:( Bah. Now I’m all worked up and sad. I’m just glad we were able to rescue our kitties. I’d love to rescue more, and Adriann and I were considering volunteering at the Petsmart by us to play with the kitties there to give them happy little lives, even if no one adopts them.

I uploaded this stuff for my mom to see, but figured I could show you guys too! So enjoy the cuteness of our kittens on their brand new cat tree and then a short clip of Nagini purring all over my hands. :)

And because you all love my kitties, here are some pictures of their grown up cuteness as well.

And this is a shot of the alcohol basket we won from the LP Christmas party…as well as some of the effects which occurred after partaking in some of the gift basket…

lol j/k, but Adriann had some Midori at the party and was pretty tipsy. My excuse was I was just exhausted. Tah for now. <3

Nagini, our beautiful black kitten, looooves Pickle. And Pickle loooooves Nagini. All the awesome pics are on our digicam, and I don’t feel like getting up, so I’ll post some later, along with awesome videos of how adorable they are.

In other news…I missed Jackie and Vickie’s bday. :( It’s pretty much made me feel like crap…and I haven’t heard from them since, and I wouldn’t blame them if they’re mad at me, ’cause I would be too, but it’s kind of just felt terrible not hearing from them. I’ve realized lately that I have kind of separated myself from everyone back home. It’s so hard to keep in touch. With Jackie and Vickie, its’ great because even if we don’t know every single thing going on in our lives, we can still continue to connect. Or I hope so anyway, ’cause I am soooo excited about seeing them when I go to St. Charles to visit.

In other other news, Anime Expo is tomorrow! Believe it or not, I’ve never been to an anime convention! *gasp, SHOCK!* I’m dressing up as Severus Snape and Adriann’s gonna be Remus. I dyed my hair to fit the part. Enjoy angsting Snape:

 

Yes, my hair is muuuuuch longer now than it’s been since I was 18. I’d like to get it cut, but it works out well for Anime Expo!

More news: saw Ratitoulle (sp?) and it was FAN-TA-STIC. Seriously one of the best Pixar movies ever. It was just completely original and unlike anything they’ve (or anyone else) has ever made.

Okay, time for bed. :(

We got a new kitty on Friday night. Yeah, we’re going to be crazy cat ladies when we grow up. ;)

She’s about 9 weeks old, pure black with dull gold eyes, and is a TON bigger than Pickle. She’s very elegant, while he’s very um… clumsy. =^_^= We’re thinking of calling her Nagini, because she does remind us of a slithering snake at times. But “Picke & Nagini” doesn’t have the greatest ring. The other name we could go for would be Mollywobbles. I’m kind of partial to this one, ’cause it’s funky and cute and she kinds of looks like a Molly.

In other news, I’m excited and nervous to be going to Chicago and Missouri next month. It’s a little over a month away, but I’m starting to get butterflies. Mostly about the conference itself (I want to have charisma and some kind of social charm, but if not, Amy will more than make up for my lack) but also about Missouri and trying to balance friends & family.

I think, if Jackie and Vickie can come pick me up in Chicago, J&V and I can hang out Tuesday night, I’ll do conference stuff on Wednesday morning/afternoon, and Wednesday night I’ll hang out with J&V on the way home and crash when I get there. Thursday I’ll hang out with my mom and probably grandma, maybe go out to lunch with them and go down to see the horses or something. Thursday night, if my mom’s working, I’ll hang out with J&V and hopefully Jenn (still up in the air, so I’m not stressing over it). If she’s not working, it’s all day mom & grandma if I can stand it. ;) Friday will be all day FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe the park, lunch, and some awesome STL activity (the Muny? :D). Maybe even a sleepover at my mom’s! That would be awesome. Saturday, a balance — mom & grandma time in the AM, friend-time at afternoon/night. Sunday…I leave. :( Not till 6pm or something, so probably just mom/grandma time till then.

Notice I haven’t mentioned my dad. :( He doesn’t even know I’m coming in to visit. Not sure if I should tell him…though I think I’d be filled with guilt if I didn’t at least go out to dinner or something with him. I feel bad but…I know he’s just going to complain and pin things on my sister and mom…and I just don’t want to deal with it or have to be in the middle.

Anyway, we’re off to PetSmart (our new home away from home) to let the cat lady know how our new kitty’s doing and to get some coupons for kittystuff. Will write more later.

I’m updating from my cubicle at work, because Adriann’s in the process of selling some huuuuge hosting plans so I’ve gotta keep busy and my brain is dead.

We took Pickle, our kitty, to the vet earlier this week. He looked like he had an inner-ear infection, and I freaked out a little bit. :( The poor little thing was itching and shaking his head and I thought he might have ear mites so I rushed with Adriann to the vet. I hadn’t even eaten, and I was STARVED, but the kitty takes priority now. ^^; He ended up being fine, a little bit of yeast or something in his ear but nothing serious. He was soooo good at the vet’s too. A little scared at first but overall so good about getting his shots, stool sample (*weeps!*), etc. And since then, he pretty much crashed all over our apartment. We bought him a cute kitty bed and he SLEPT for about 24 hours off and on. He slept in our bedroom too (spioled booger) and was just so good all night.

Then last night….he got better. lol We love him to death but he can be SO persistant about his playtime. Especially since he had been sleeping for a day straight, he was READY to play at around 1am. We were not. ;) Needless to say, he didn’t sleep with us last night.

I’ll be posting more pics soon. He’s just impossible to resist.

In other news that’s totally related, we’re going to adopt another kitty. This one will be a girl most likely because we fell in love with this cuuuute little girl kitty who apparently had a bit of a birth defect (her eyes are slightly smaller than normal). We figure, little Pickle needs to have someone to be around every day while we’re gone, ’cause we don’t get to spend enough time with him and we want to make sure he’s healthy. I think I’m going to miss the dynamic we have with Pickle at this juncture, because it’s just me, Adriann, and pickle-kins… but that’s selfish thinking, and I know that. I want him to grow up to be a great, healthy, very much loved and appreciated cat.

Ah what the hell — here are some pics! :D