It should be easier to help animals.

We went to Savannah for the holiday weekend to find a house and the good news is we did. Yippee! More on that later.

At our hotel we befriended a cute little lady cat (and of course I forgot to take a picture of her.) She had no collar but was as friendly as could be. In fact, she ran right into our hotel room and jumped up on the bed to cuddle. One day passes and she's still there. We let her in our room again and let her eat some of Duncan's food. At this point we're pretty sure she is pregnant which is a big concern for me. We had noticed another cat who seemed to be feral to an extent. Two unaltered cats can become hundreds in a shorter time than a lot of people realize.

I went up to the hotel office to ask if maybe she was a mouser cat for them, after all, you could tell that she was once somebody's. Nope. We were going to be leaving and taking her home with us wasn't an option because we're moving, she's going to have kittens soon and not to mention Valentine isn't tolerant of cats other than Veronica. Mr. Boom and I discussed it and we couldn't just leave her. Since we're moving back in a few weeks we thought had she not been pregnant, we'd just leave her where she was and check back on her when we came returned. Let me defend myself, she had shelter, wasn't close to any busy traffic, and with our hotel being pet friendly, we had noticed other people had left food out for her. Considering some of the other conditions stray animals live in, her's wasn't so bad.

I called what I thought was the local animal control which ended up being animal control for the next town over. I know the fate of many animals who end up at animal control but figured it would be the best chance for her an her kittens. The woman I spoke with was wonderful but unfortunately, they were filled to capacity and she told me that if an officer was dispatched she'd be put down right away. Same for the actual local animal control. She gave me the name and numbers to some local rescues and told me that she knew the situation wasn't perfect but maybe leaving her be would be best considering she had a good access to food and shelter.

Okay. Now I was calling local rescue groups and none of them could take her. One, because they didn't have room for her and two, because there is a law in Georgia where all stray animals have to go to animal control first and only after that can rescues come in to help them find homes. Not even the Human Society is exempt from this law. I looked up Savannah animal control and found some information that said if you find a stray and can transport it, to just bring it in, they're open everyday. Awesome! We were running out of time before we had to come home and this seemed like the best solution.

Of course, by then it was Labor Day. Surely though they'd be open, the website said they're open everyday. We get there a little before they are due to open and wait. And wait. Then I called to find out that only the dispatch desk is open. When I said I had found a stray and was trying to turn her in, I got a very short, "Animal control is closed today." =/

Luckily (not) for our little lady, the Humane Society was right next door. They have to take her, we have no other options but to leave her in the street if they don't take her. They're closed. Womp, womp. We were walking around trying to find a place to get her through the fence. Sure, there was a sign saying not to do that but what the fuck else were we supposed to do to HELP this cat?! Thankfully, Josh went ahead and tried opening the door and it opened! We understood that the person working the desk had his hands tied. They were supposed to be closed that day and even still, they weren't allowed to take strays. We explained the situation. He reluctantly told us we could put her in the play area, where we were going to sneak her into. He said if she was still there when his manager came in a few hours, she could decide what the needed to do with her. When we took her out and he saw her it became less easy for him to just deny her, (or I'd like to think.) He said to go ahead and bring her in and he'd take care of her.

I'm so happy that Josh tried the door and that we were able to leave her in good hands but it was such a pain in the ass to get to that point. I know that shelters and rescues are full to the brim of animals that need homes. I also know that this cat commanded love and would make somebody a fantastic companion if she could only get some help finding her forever home. What were we to do? I think we went above what most people would have done. I know there isn't an easy option but I'm willing to bet that making it hard for people to try to help out animals isn't the solution.

I'm going to keep an eye out on the Savannah Human Society, animal control and rescue sites and see if I see her. If I do, I'll post her picture. Until then, I'm going to believe that she's warm and fed.

RocLok tops my list of things to buy for our new home

I'm happy to report that we are pre-approved for a mortgage and will be going Labor Day weekend to hopefully find the one for us. I've been searching for months, educating myself on home ownership, HGTV has become my most watched channel and I've been searching for things that will be just right for our new place in Georgia.

Shorty Rossi tweeted the other day about RocLok. I checked it out and I want one so bad that what inspired this blog post about it is a give away over at Momma Told Me. I love that RocLok looks so real, has multiple styles to choose from and has a combination. I loved all of that before I read the Momma Told Me review but after reading it I've decided that even if I don't win the giveaway, I will for sure be purchasing one of these once we're not broke from moving and buying a house.

I've locked myself out and lost my keys so many times it has become a bit of a compulsion for me to check to make sure I have my keys with me but I love the added peace of mind I'd get from this product. So cross your fingers for me and hope that I win!

Duncan

So named because when Mr. Boom found him wondering around he lured him with doughnuts. He's a sweet guy in his senior years who is a little skinny from living on the streets. I'm hesitant to call him 'ours' because I've made the effort to try to find his home by putting up fliers, using Internet lost and found adds and taking him to animal control to be scanned for a microchip and to find out if anybody had reported him missing, (negative to each of those.)

From a report of a dog matching his description animal control told me of, and a woman at Pet Smart saying she had tried to catch him too, I know he was outside for minimum of a day. Like I said though, he's skinny. He's not a bag of bones but it's definitely noticeable and his farts smell like he ate death. I found five ticks on him, he's got a couple of sores and he is a bit dirty. All of this leads me to believe he's been wondering the great outdoors for at least a week but still I can't find anybody who is looking for him.

I'm not sure why; he's a great dog. I've only known him little more than a day and I know:

• He shows no interest in the cats and seeing as how he's a beagle, that's impressive.
• He is house trained. He only dribbled a little inside but that was my fault for not realizing he was trying to signal me to take him out.
• He's gentle. When I was looking him over for ticks he sat there and let me mess with all his body without a hint of annoyance.
• He's quiet, aside from a little snoring I haven't heard him make a peep.
• He likes the vacuum.
• He is calm-submissive to Mr. Boom, myself and the cats.
• He rides really well in the car.
• He walks calmly on the leash.

I can't imagine why his owners aren't looking for him. I have not yet taken him to the vet so beside the possibility of some medical condition the only negative thing I could think of, (for some,) is that he's a bit older. A person at animal control said that if she had to guess she would say he is at least 8-years-old. I believe that but I'll see what the veterinarian says when I take him. It's not like he needs special care from what I can tell though. Aside from the stairs, which I think is more that he's never had to deal with stairs before than age, he moves around just fine. He's got a good amount of energy but not so much somebody might find it irritating.

I want to believe it was a mistake and maybe it is but either way, I don't understand why somebody isn't looking for this awesome dude and I never will. Veronica has been with me almost five years and the longer I know her the more I cannot understand how somebody could move away and leave her behind to fend for herself. Whatever the reasoning, I am glad Mr. Boom happened to be there to rescue Duncan. We will give him a good home and he can stay with us as long as he wants.

Job jitters

I've really been looking forward to transferring stores and thanking my lucky stars that I have a job where transferring is easy. My store current manager called the store I'm transferring to on my behalf yesterday. Hooray, right? Ehh, yes and no.

The manager in Savannah, J., wants to interview me. I get it, I can understand why J. wants to do that but I wasn't expecting it. That is not how things are done at my store and it took me by surprise. It really should be no big deal because I've already been working in this position for two years and I'm good. I'm a retail sales associate so don't confuse me with an egomaniac. I'd have been promoted to key holder if not for somebody else having seniority. Anyway, so I'm freaked out by it. I'm positive that my sympathetic nervous system is making a much bigger deal out of this than need be, remember I already have this job, but I'm nervous about it.

I called and introduced myself to J. today. She's pretty busy so she will be calling me back in about a week. She seemed nice and I'm glad I've got some time to collect my thoughts. I'm a bit of an over-prepare-er so let's hope that works to my advantage. That can even be my question for if/when she asks me what my biggest weakness is. I don't like to be caught off guard by things so I tend to think it through-and-through until I've created an anxiety about something small. On the plus side though, I'm almost always prepared for whatever is thrown my way. No, I think I'll stick with: Before coming to work for this company, my previous job required me to very individual task oriented. I would focus on getting one thing done before moving on to the next. When I first came to this company I still had that mind set and it took some getting used to multi-tasking all the things we have going on at once sometimes but eventually I did even though I still hold onto that part that makes me want to finish what is important.

Gahh!!

Today Veronica Brought Me:

Bless her, she brings me presents. They say it's a cats way of showing love. If we had rodents, I'm sure I'd have disemboweled carcasses to take pictures of, but lucky for you I don't.

What I do have is stuff on my floor. More stuff than I realize until it's the middle of the night and Veronica comes in and drops something on the floor for me. Maybe it isn't a gift at all, maybe it's her way of telling me to pick up after myself. Most days it's hair ties or pens that she brings me. It used to exclusively be pens and because of that I thought it had to do with the fact that it smells like me. Lately it's become bigger and more strange things so the pen smelling like me was just egotistical on my part it turns out.

So what is that in my hand? It's a piece to a towel rail that has broken off of the wall. I got tired of trying to fix it so it was laying on the floor in the bathroom. V brought it from one end of the apartment to the other, in her mouth, and dropped it off in the living room. She also brought me a roll of medical tape tonight and I have no idea where she found it.

She's so adorable when she does it and I'll try to take more pictures of the things she brings me and post them. If not for the rest of the Internet to see, for me.

Dog fever!

I'm so excited to be moving to a new state and at the prospect of having a house. When my Realtor asked me what I was looking for in a house I told her I wanted a fenced yard and minimal carpeting. Not for me, (well, a little for me since Josh spills frequently,) but for the dog I want in my life so badly.

Seeing as how this is my first post in this blog, you may not be aware that I am an animal person. Not like an animal hoarder but the formerly vegan, currently pescatarian, has two rescued cats, 15 essay questions away from being a certified dog trainer, volunteers at a shelter kind of animal person. Unfortunately, having a dog right now is out of the question. I live in an apartment with a 2 pet maximum limit and I've got the lovely V's, no doggy for me. Womp, womp.

You know those people that want a baby and can't have one at the moment so they fantasize about children, want to cuddle everybody else's and do lots and lots of research about acquiring children? That's me except with dogs and it's why I need a fenced in yard. Granite counter tops, dual sinks and the like do not hold a candle to any potential house that has a fence. I find myself driving around and wondering what places I'd be able to take my dog. I get home from work and think about how nice it would be if I could take a dog for a walk and decompress.

There are still over 60 days until we move so until I will for the next two months I will be stalking Petfinder and researching holistic foods, veterinarians and getting my fix down at animal control.