Back to the present

I'm still working at PetPeople and I really do love my job. It's really fun seeing all the pets that come in and a lot of the pet owners are fun too. My coworkers are all really kewl (except one of the high school part-timers, but he's OK I guess...) so that always helps the day go faster. They seem pretty happy with me too as I'm learning fast and I'm actually winning the sales competition we're having!

It's been a little rough adjusting to working with my stomach problems though. I'm supposed to eat small meals every 3-4 hours and it's not always possible to do that at work. The botox really isn't helping anymore and I've had a few really rough days, but hopefully I'll get my meds upped or something. I haven't had to call off because of it yet though!

Last but not least, we've decided not to pursue purchasing this house we're renting. The landlord's asking price was a bit steep, but we could have given him a counter offer... the thing that made our decision for us was the backyard though. Every time it rains it washes up pieces of broken glass that are just under the dirt. We've had 3 dogs slice their paw pads open so far! It would be very expensive to fix the yard and make it safe for dogs and any future children. Sooooo now we're looking for a house!

With the economy the way it is, it's definitely a buyer's market. There are a lot of cheap houses for sale right now so we're hoping we can afford to buy. If we can get a good deal on a house that needs a little TLC, we could end up making a decent profit in 5-10 years. We don't have too long before our current lease is up so we'll have to work fast. If we can't buy, we'll have to find another place to rent!

R.I.P "Bubba" Bear

As I said.... casualties. My childhood dog, Bear, had been going downhill for quite a while. He's had strokes, his joints were shot, he was deaf and half blind... the poor guy was really at the end of his days. My dad couldn't accept the fact that he was in pain and that it would be humane to let him go. My mom has been trying to change his mind, but for all the wrong reasons. She's sick of having for some time now so she can get new carpet.

While my parents were separated my mom dragged my dad out to dinner to discuss what was going on. I'm not sure what all was said, but my mom agreed to come back home under certain conditions. One of those conditions was counseling... but apparently another was putting Bear to sleep. The decision was the right one, but my mom was in SUCH a hurry to be rid of the dog that they had him put to sleep without even telling me. I found out the next day from my Grandma!!

OK. My mom's a selfish bitch. I can handle that.

Rewind: <--------------
Several months ago I accepted the fact that my last visit home would probably be the last time I saw my dog alive. I figured he would die on his own or my dad would finally see it and do the humane thing. Knowing my mother, I didn't want to talk to her about "arrangements" for Bear once he died. My dad is much more understanding about this stuff but I was still embarrassed so I had Eric tell him I wanted to get Bear cremated. My dad agreed to have that done for it and he understood we would pay for everything.

------------> Back to the present
I called my dad to ask what they had done with him. He says they just told the vet to "take care of it." In other words the dog I was unable to take care of in life would be disposed of at the local landfill. He also said he remembered that I said I wanted him cremated but that he didn't think I really meant it. I was sooooo mad that I hung up on him and I NEVER do that. Apparently he understood how upset I was and called the vet's office. It turns out that the vet still had Bear, but he had to be out of their office the next day.... and the place in Sandusky that did pet cremation closed. The next closest place wanted $200 and didn't supply any kind of urn. I knew the place here in Columbus would cost under $100 and included an urn... so we drove to Sandusky the next day to pick him up and had to take him directly to the funeral home in Columbus.

In the end, everything happened as it should. I'm still mad at my mom but she'll always be a bitch and I still have to deal with her so I put on a happy face and move on. My dad meant well and fixed his mistake so I don't hold anything against him. I've grieved for my dog and he's safe here with me now. He wasn't very well cared for in the last years of his life and I couldn't help him... at least I can give him a respectful resting place.

Strike that

My sister was fine and understood that it was going to be good for them. One problem.... Mom's back with dad.

They're going to try counseling, but I can't see it helping them. The fundamental problem is that their personalities aren't in sync. Mom wants to go out to dinner all the time, party with friends (she's a wine-o,) vacation a ton, travel, shop.... she's a complete busy-body and is incapable of just RELAXING for a weekend. My dad is all too good at relaxing. He doesn't like eating out and would rather grab a bag of pretzels that re-heat leftovers.

You'd think that she'd be OK going out with her friends by herself, but nope! She was the same way when I was at home. She's up at 9am so that means everyone should be up at 9am. Drove me crazy... still drives my dad nutz.

Oh well. Problem now is that my mom has leverage on my dad and she's VERY good at using it. I can imagine everything is "do this or I'm leaving you" and it will only be a matter of time before dad says GO!!!! In the mean time, there have been casualties... to be continued.