Forever-waiting.net

We’ve been wanting to get a pet for awhile and both Randy and I have always had an interest in ferrets. His mom and aunt were talking and she had a ferret and wanted to get rid of her because she had too many pets (Don’t even get me started on that). She gave us Pookie, who is about 10 months old from what she says along with her cage. We were also informed that she gave her vegetables and kitten food. *sigh* I did a ton of research on ferrets before we got her so I knew what to feed her, how they like to live, etc.

So we got Pookie Monday (April 8th) and Gracie is in love with her. However, she acts a bit odd and we’ve concluded that his aunt probably got her and let her sit in the cage most of the time so she’s used to being alone. She’s incredibly calm. Since ferrets are social creatures, we went and got Dory to keep her company when we’re not home for the day or just to have a companion with her. Dory was born in January and is very hyper, playful and full of energy. She never stops going and loves to play with everyone. Since she’s so active she doesn’t like to be held for more than a few seconds. She also likes to lightly nip at toes to get attention. Pookie and Dory didn’t really associate with each other though and things didn’t feel complete. Sunday, we added Jasper to the mix. He didn’t work out for us because he was very mean and aggressive. He bit at all 4 of us and Tuesday morning Trent was playing on the floor and he bit him and left little marks for NO reason. We decided he needed to go back to the pet store and I did that yesterday and brought home Jasper #2 (Randy really liked the name). He is the same kind as the first Jasper, but can already tell he is much tamer and suitable to add to our family. He isn’t a biter and the girls love him too.

We have a 4 level cage for them to sleep in and play occasionally with 2 hammocks. I take them out of their cages 3-4 times a day for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to run and explore. We bought a baby gate to keep them out of the kitchen. For the most part they are litter trained. Pookie goes 100% of the time, Dory was doing really well but stopped using the in-cage litter box after I cleaned it the other day. Jasper was just introduced last night, so I’m not sure where he stands just yet.

I wanted to give you individual pictures, but they didn’t all come out since it’s incredibly hard to get a ferret to sit still for any length of time. I managed to capture all three of them this morning before I cleaned their cage out. Jasper is the long white one across the top, Pookie is sleeping under him and Dory is on the far right.

We all have things we like (and hate) about our house/apartment/garage/phone booth/cardboard box. I’ve been meaning to make a post giving a general “tour” of my apartment and highlighting what I love and things I absolutely cannot STAND. I think every house designer should have to live in the place for at least a month to see how impractical some stuff is to live with. Before I get started I’m issuing a disclaimer. My house is lived in. I have 2 young kids and I don’t spend all day cleaning.

Let’s get started.

Living Room

This is the view from my front door to my living room. I like it, but at the same time I despise how I can’t re-arrange things. The doorway leads to the kitchen, the door on the left next to the kitchen there goes to the basement, and the doorway to the left in the photo leads upstairs. I also only have one window in here, so natural lighting is out of the picture for the most part.

Another view of the living room, but now I’m standing in the kitchen doorway.

Kitchen

I love that I have first floor laundry and a huge pantry to store food and stuff in. The doors also close, but I leave them open constantly. I despise my lack of counter space. I can’t fit my strainer for my dishes and all my other things like my toaster and such have to be stored away. BOO. We also have a tiny table that was here when we moved in. We only have one window in here as well (we’re in a house with 4 apartments that leaves us with only 2 outside walls). Excuse the baskets of laundry. I have been anti-folding lately.

The Upstairs

I hate these stairs. Not only is their positioning incredibly inconvenient, but they curve and there are like 4 steps when you go to the right so it’s hard to get stuff up there. It’s the reason my huge dresser is in the kitchen and not in my bedroom.

Gracie’s Room

I really like her room. It’s big and she has closet space. The only thing I really don’t like is the window. It opens from the floor up and, even though we have it locked, it’s not my favorite thing. Pardon the mess. She plays in here, but that’s it. She doesn’t sleep, nap or spend a ton of time in here and it’s her space to do as she pleases.

Mine and Randy’s Room

We don’t do anything up here but sleep, which is why it’s so empty. It’s big and has Trent’s dresser and we have plenty of closet space. Excuse the very messy bed. It never gets made and all the pillows and blankets get situated at night right before we climb into bed.

Bathroom

HATE. See how tiny it is? Yes, we only have a stand up shower and I’m constantly knocking things down when trying to shower. The toilet is also WAY too close to the wall there and it makes it uncomfortable to sit on and good luck wiping. It’s a tight fit, especially for me. The only thing I like is all those shelves.

Outside

This is the view from my front door. 2 apartments to the left and one to the right. We live on a main road (yuck), but we have a decent yard in the back. The shitty part is there are 6 parking spaces for 4 apartments, so it’s cluttered and guest parking = none. The building next door is a little hometown flower shop.

Overall, I can’t really complain too much. We pay $600/month plus gas/electric/water. Our gas is less than $100 in the winter, so nearly non-existant in the summer. Our electric runs around $150 and water is like $20-$25 every 3 months. We don’t have to pay trash b/c our landlord provides a dumpster out back.

What do you love/hate about the place you’re living and what would you change?

We have been talking about getting another vehicle when our tax return arrived because it’s not convenient to have only one vehicle while I’m stuck home with two kids all day long 5 days of the week. After surfing Craigslist for a day or two, we stumbled upon a 1999 Chevy Tahoe which was conveniently located only 20 minutes from the Olive Garden we were eating lunch at. We looked at it and decided that it was in our range and was what I wanted in a vehicle. We knew what it would need and how much it would cost, so we didn’t blink an eye at dropping $650 for new tires or about $500-600 on various tune-up things and a few minor fixes. My air conditioning and, most importantly, 4-wheel-drive also work perfectly.

It has SO MUCH space and I love it. I don’t have to struggle to fit everything we need into the blazer. Randy constantly keeps a very large toolbox with him and a large car jack, which consumed my grocery getting space. I’m still getting used to driving it. I definitely cringe when filling it up though. The gas tank holds about 22 gallons. It cost $85 for my last fill up at $3.85/gal (with a store discount). Based on my mileage for the fill-up before that, I get approximately 10 miles to a gallon. OUCH. It wasn’t a swaying factor though because I don’t work outside the home and the furthest place we typically go is the closest “city” about 10 miles away. It’s something I’m willing to accept for convenience.I really do love it though. I have a new radio with bluetooth capabilities, a 2000w amp and 2 12-inch subs in the back that make it quite enjoyable to cruise in.

That consumed a large part of our taxes, but we also finally paid off his fines.
-$2,000 to the county for driving w/o a license
-$461 or something for a surcharge from 2006
-$246 or so for a 2009 surcharge
-$750 NYS DMV “Driver Assessment” fee

His very last substance abuse class is Monday (Required to complete within 1 yr of applying for your license after 2 DWIs). He started this in May. Once his counselor faxes the form to the DMV stating he successfully completed it, we have to pay another $100 fee to get the revocation lifted and about $90 to apply for a permit and do the process all over again. He didn’t get fined for the DWI since he served 1-3 in prison for it. It has been a very expensive road here, but I’m SO glad that it’s almost done.

I graduate with my AAS in criminal justice in May. I’m not sure what I’ll do after that. Honestly, I’ll probably stick with writing online and staying home with the kids for now.