Carpe Noctem

Dentist

2007-05-01T20:37:00.000-04:00

I don't know when the last time I went to the dentist was, at least not for routine care. I had three of my wisdom teeth pulled 3 1/2 years ago, and I had another tooth pulled about 10 years ago. I have a tooth that started giving me trouble several months ago, but it's been manageable, so I've put off taking care of it. My dental insurance kicked in a month ago, so I decided to bite the bullet and go in. My major criteria for picking a dentist was sedation. Knock my happy little butt out before poking around in my mouth. I had x-rays and a thorough cleaning, and hopefully it won't be long before I can get that tooth fixed or pulled (I'd like to keep it, but financially that will be easier said than done).

Considering my limited criteria, I chose well. The hygienist was so careful not to hurt me and backed off whenever something did hurt. I can birth a child without batting an eye, but even slight oral pain kills me. Go figure. Anyway, I keep looking at my teeth in the mirror. They look so much better since being cleaned. They aren't super white, but they're whiter than they've been in years. Now I can't wait to get the rest of it done.

On a humorous note, he said that he would advise me the way he would his sister. I couldn't help hoping that his sister didn't torment him when they were kids.

Thought for the day

2007-04-30T07:04:00.000-04:00

I took four semesters of Spanish in college. It's been a couple of years ago now, and I haven't kept up with it, but a nuance of the language popped into my head last night and sparked a thought. In Spanish certain feelings/sensations are spoken of as things one has as opposed to states of being. In Spanish, you don't say "I am hungry", you say "Yo tengo hambre" (I have hunger). Emotions aren't spoken of in that way, but what if they were? If I have something, I control it. If I am something, it has me and therefor may much more easily control me. So if I *have* anger (or other emotions), I can more easily control it. If I *am* angry (or whatever), then it has me and guess who's in control then?

Up too early

2007-04-28T11:10:00.000-04:00

It's 10:00am and I've caught up on reading blogs; I've unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher; I've baked a batch of blueberry muffins and I've watched far too much TV. Oh, and now I'm writing my first blog post in two weeks. How have I managed to accomplish so much on a Saturday morning? I was up at 4:00 this morning. Not by choice, I tried to go back to sleep, but it wasn't happening.

I really haven't felt like writing lately (so I haven't). I know I have at least one comment to respond to, and I will here in a minute (thank you for reading, and I didn't mean to ignore you), but I wanted to post a quick update.

Hubby's back to work. He's working as a temp on the graveyard shift doing remodeling and he has had a job offer (pending background check) driving a route and he has a second interview this week. The job offer he has pays $700 a week and he kinda wants it. The other job pays half as much and he *really* wants that one. As far as I'm concerned, there's no decision, take the money. Just kidding. I told him if he got offered the job he really wants, he should take it. We need the money enough for me to insist that he get back to work, but we aren't desperate enough for him to pass up his dream job.

I was beyond upset with him for a while, but now I'm pretty proud of him.

What kind of soul are you?

2007-04-14T13:24:00.001-04:00

All very true for me.

You Are a Seeker Soul

You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges.
You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions.
Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist.
Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!).

Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others.
And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you.
You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically.
Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas.

Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

I made it

2007-04-10T07:54:00.000-04:00

I posted that I was in really bad shape Sunday evening. Well, I made it throughout without doing anything harmful. I actually started to feel better after writing. Thanks for letting me vent.

Hubby finally started to warm up yesterday. He and I worked together last night to get him a decent resume together. It could be better, but it's not bad. I wouldn't have minded going to the bookstore and perusing some resume books for good words and phrases. He should be able to use what we have to find something this week, but if not, we'll do that this weekend.

On a brighter note...

2007-04-08T20:09:00.000-04:00

I redid my blog layout. The only thing I don't like is that it's all scrunched on the left side of the screen and has a wide blank strip on the right. I'll figure out how to fix that later. I also don't like that my blog description fades into the photo. I'll figure that out later, too.

I'm just proud of myself that I found one I mostly liked, I found a photo that I liked, and I figured out how to plug the photo in at the top where I wanted it. Please, let me know what you think.

Unbelievable nerve

2007-04-08T19:43:00.000-04:00

After walking out on his job Thursday, my husband asked me to write a resume for him. I asked him to write out his job history while I was at work on Friday, and I would do it over the weekend. I got home Friday and HE HADN'T EVEN STARTED!!! Son of b**ch. I asked him to estimate for me our bills. He blew a f**king fuse! He went on about how I only had him around for his money, etc., etc. and stormed out of the house. He came back, but he didn't speak to me all weekend. He even went for coffee without me yesterday (that's our weekend thing).

This afternoon, I told him I needed to go to the store and asked if he wanted to go. He said he'd like to, but wanted to take a shower first. I waited while he watched an hour of TV before taking a shower, then waited a half-hour for his hair to dry. When we finally left, he wanted to drive around and look for some place that he'd wanted to go last night. Ok, fine. When we FINALLY made it to the store, he had the nerve to tell ME to hurry up so we could get home and he could do his job history so I could write his resume!!!! I just about blew a f**king fuse. I was so mad I couldn't even see straight. THEN he had the nerve to say that one day he would leave and not come back. I wanted so bad to say "please do".

I can't believe he walks with the size of balls it takes to ask me to hurry up so that I can do something at the last minute that I should have started at least by this morning; and doing it after not talking to me all weekend, and THAT after storming out of the house. He left again a little while ago and said he'd be back later. Such a large part of me hopes he doesn't. God help me, but right in this moment...

When I was at my worst in my first marriage, I self-injured a lot. I only have a couple of small scars, and I haven't done it since I got out of that marriage, but I want to right now. I want to so bad I can f**king taste it. I'm not, at least not yet. I hope I don't. But I don't remember the last time I cried so damned hard. I can just barely see what I'm typing right now. I can't even call my mom because my phone is dead and my charger's at work. God, I'm so angry.

Thumb-sucking feline?

2007-04-07T17:22:00.000-04:00

I was watching kittens sleep and talking on the phone with my mom this morning and one of the kittens moved in its sleep. I noticed that his "thumb" (dewclaw) was near his mouth, and a few seconds later, I notice him sucking on it. I have never seen a cat suck its thumb before, and likely never will again, but I thought it was really cute.

I'm pissed

2007-04-06T06:59:00.000-04:00

My hubby called me around lunchtime yesterday to inform me he was walking off of his job. He's a delivery driver, and he took a full van back to the warehouse, locked it up and left it there. There wasn't anyone there and he didn't stick around. Not that I blame him, really, they were really taking advantage of him. Still, his timing couldn't have been worse. We are finally getting all bills caught up, just in time for my paycheck to take a $250 hit (insurance premiums). He is going to have to find another job and quick, and/or I'm going to have to do something. I was thinking of a series of blogs about my various interests. I've hardly got this one off the ground, but it's time to get it together. Perhaps I can get a jumpstart by selling off some of the stuff that I have laying around that I've been meaning to get on an auction.

Prayers, encouragement and helpful advice are all welcome.

I had my children broken on Tuesday

2007-04-06T06:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, so my children are of the feline variety, and most people would say that I had them "fixed" not broken. A few years ago I heard a friend say that, if you take something that is intended work in a certain manner, and do something to cause it to no longer work in that manner, you've broken it, not fixed it. Still, it had to be done. They're doing well, though. Devon has been sleeping a lot. He's sleeping on my desk right now. Tyler isn't as eager to help hubby make coffee, but I think he's working his way back to his old routines.

Poor little guys had a traumatizing day all the way around. They were denied food and water all night (per instructions), locked in a crate together (a big one, they weren't cramped), taken on a long car ride (about 15 minutes) in a noisy car (my muffler's busted), major surgery, long car ride back home, and then left in the crate all afternoon (again, per instruction). I felt bad for them, but it really did need to be done.

Kittens

2007-03-29T07:29:00.001-04:00

Misty had kittens this week.  She had two on Monday, and we thought that was all there was going to be.  Then, last night she had two more, but one of them was stillborn, so there are three kittens now.  I already have a home for at least one of them.  I was talking to my neighbor and she said she has a mouse and wants a cat.  I invited her to come see them, and she wants one of them.  I'm hoping she'll decide she wants a couple of them.

My husband really surprised me.  When we noticed the stillborn one, he kept hoping that it might start breathing.  He asked me over and over if I was sure it wasn't going to miraculously start breathing.  Misty had tried, I saw her cleaning that one much more vigorously than any of the others, like she knew there was something wrong and she was trying to get him going.  Very sad.

The neighbor liked Devon, too.  My husband had talked about still wanting to find homes for him and Tyler, so I told her I would ask him if he was serious about that.  I didn't want to give him up, but would have if he was serious.  He wasn't.  He said he would feel guilty.  I was so glad to hear that.  Even if he doesn't feel the attachment to him that he feels with the other cats, he has come to see him as part of the family.

Scribefire test

2007-03-28T07:35:00.001-04:00

I downloaded Scribefire for Firefox and I'm trying to decide whether I like it or not.  I decided the only way to figure that out is to write a few posts with it and see how it works.  I like the layout, but I'm looking at a Trackback URL box, and I'm not sure how that works, or what goes there, or if I need to do anything with it.  I thought Blogger did all that automatically.  I see that the title of my post is linked, but there isn't a url at the bottom of my posts like I see on some other blogs.  I have really got a lot to learn.  If you are reading this, please help!!

I be edjumakated

2007-03-25T11:55:00.000-04:00

You paid attention during 86% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

I couldn't resist with the title. Does having recently acquired my degree give me an unfair advantage? I'm pretty proud of it, but it's only a milestone in my learning, not a finish. I have a long way yet to go. Try it out, let me know how you did.

Nontarget Pests

2007-03-17T17:11:00.000-04:00

My husband was watching Dirty Jobs on Discovery or something a couple of weeks ago. This particular segment was about a team of exterminators. They used the phrase "nontarget pests" to refer to the "pests" that you don't necessarily want to kill, such as kids and pets. I just love that phrase. My husband was annoying me today and the phrase popped back into my head. The phrase so accurately describes him. The cats, too.

What flower are you?

2007-03-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

I am a
Canna

What Flower
Are You?

Cleaning House

2007-03-13T07:30:00.000-04:00

I went on a blitz-clean this weekend. I'm not very good at getting myself motivated to clean house, I'd rather read blogs, especially when it's just about cleaning. Sunday, though, I was racing the clock. I had certain things that I especially wanted to get done, so I challenged myself. Our apartment complex has a laundry room downstairs, so while the clothes were washing, I challenged myself to get certain things done before the clothes were ready to go in the dryer. I sprayed the bathroom down with Scrubbing Bubbles (OK, not the most eco-friendly choice, but it does the job) and closed the door. While it was doing its job, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, cleaned out the kitchen sink and cleaned out the fridge. After that I went back and wiped down the bathroom and then went to clean the litter box. I was just finishing up when hubby called time. Two rooms and a litter box clean in 25 minutes. Not bad.

Even better, I followed up yesterday. While my lunch was in the microwave, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, grabbed a rag and wiped down the bathroom and scooped the litter box. Less than 10 minutes.

That doesn't mean my house is clean, far from it. I still have piles everywhere. But when I set myself a time limit and try to accomplish just as much as I possibly can, I'm always amazed at how far I get.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title

2007-03-11T19:51:00.001-04:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Duchess Eve the Undefeated of Greater Sodbury
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I was cleaning out my inbox and ran across this. I liked the "Undefeated" part. I've been through a lot in my years, but I truly am... undefeated.

Cats and gardens do not mix

2007-03-11T18:23:00.000-04:00

I live in an upstairs apartment, so my "garden" consists of a few potted herbs. It also included a windowbox with romaine lettuce, but the cats have pretty much chewed that down to nothing. My husband has been wanting me to put the herbs in a sunny window since they started coming up, but I was afraid that the cats would eat them before they had a chance to get established. I have heard that cats hate the smell of onion and garlic, so I figured I'd try it. My husband cut me a nice thick slice of onion, and I put half-rings of onion around the inside of the edge of the pot and put the pots in the window. Sure enough, the cats were curious, but not for long. My whole apartment smells like onion, but my cilantro hasn't been eaten!!

I've heard the same is true of oranges, but we didn't have any oranges. We did have an onion. I want to expand my garden and I'm thinking of using orange oil to spray down the outside of the pots. Stay tuned to find out how well that one works.

Change the World

2007-03-11T16:40:00.000-04:00

Hubby and I were talking this morning. We were once again solving all of the world's problems (we do this a couple times a month or so) and he got a little frustrated because that's all we ever do. We talk, but we don't actually do anything. And he's right, we don't. We have a lot of wonderful ideas, but we never act on them. Part of it is that we both work full time and we're still scraping by. Part of that is because I just graduated last spring, and I just finally got a decent job a few months ago, so we're still catching up, but I digress.

We may not be very well off, but we're still far better off than many. We may not have a whole lot of leisure time, but it only takes a few hours to make a huge difference. We have some good ideas for a community center, but we only plan on being in this area for a couple more years at most, and seems like it would take at least that long to get anything really established. So we're looking for a good volunteer opportunity that we can donate a couple of hours to each weekend. Any ideas?

Odds 'n' ends

2007-03-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

My sister just loves these "getting to know your friends" things. I thought I would use this one here.

How tall are you barefoot? 5 ft 7 or so

Have you ever flown first-class? Nope

One of your favorite books when you were a child? The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I probably read it 30 or 40 times

A good restaurant in your city? I don't know, we usually hit fast food (and that really doesn't count)

What is your favorite small appliance? my blender

One person who never fails to make you laugh? My hubby.

What was the first music that you ever bought? I don't remember, probably Bon Jovi

Do you do push-ups? I don't think I *can* any more

What was one of your favorite games as a child? Crazy 8, Rummy, Sorry

When you were twelve years old, what did you want to be when you grew up? I had no clue, but lawyer wasn't among the ideas that sounded good

Have you ever met someone famous? No, and I even lived in Branson for a couple of years

Date of Birth? June 13

From what news source do you receive the bulk of your news? Hubby

Current worry? I'm hoping my cat isn't pregnant, and won't be before we get the boys fixed, we don't need any more.

Current hate? I'm actually pretty content at the moment

Favorite place to be? In front of my computer. Isn't that sad?

Least favorite place to be? Again, I'm pretty content, I don't think there's anywhere that I ever go that I don't like. Unless it's work, but I enjoy my job most of the time.

Do you consider yourself well organized? I wish

Do you believe in an afterlife? Yes

Where do you think you will be in 10 years? In a law practice

Do you burn or tan? burn, far too easily

Are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the future? 100% optimist

What did you fear was going to get you at night as a kid? I don't remember ever worrying about monsters under the bed type stuff

What's in your pockets right now? No pockets.

Last thing that made you laugh? Some stupid thing my hubby said.

Worst injury you've ever had? I've never had any major injuries. No stitches, no broken bones, no surgeries

How many TVs do you own? two, but one doesn't work

Best compliment received? Someone that I admire tremendously said that she admired me.

What leaves you speechless? Me? Speechless? Never

What is your favorite book? Anything by Robert Fulghum (Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten)

Last meal you cooked for the opposite sex? Every time I cook, it's for the opposite sex. I never cook just for myself, so if I cook it's for hubby and I.

What were you doing at 12 midnight last night? Just heading to bed.

Adding to the family

2007-03-04T17:06:00.000-05:00

I made a baby comment to my husband last weekend and he asked me if I really wanted a baby. I told him that, though part of me wants to wait until I finish law school, most of me really does. He was uber-apprehensive at first, but after a while he went from apprehensive to almost excited about the idea. In just a couple of hours, we went from avoiding getting pregnant to trying to get pregnant. We're gonna have a baby. Oh, we don't have a positive test yet, so it may take longer than nine months, we're gonna have a baby. We're both capable (we both have children from previous marriages). I may have to make this a parenting blog. Either that, or start a separate blog for parenting. Nah, I don't post often enough for that, I'll probably keep it here.

New Addition?

2007-02-18T06:04:00.000-05:00

Not this time. It's really strange, because I was so sure. Part of me is relieved, it really isn't the best timing (is it ever?), but most of me is really disappointed. The past few days of wondering have really told me something, though. It's time to start thinking about it.

Ms. Coworker from hell?

2007-02-17T22:01:00.000-05:00

I mentioned last week that I had a coworker that I wasn't getting along with and that my boss wanted us to work things out. I don't know what he said to her after talking with me, but this past week has been the best week I've had since I started my job. She has been much more helpful and sociable than I expected. I guess I've done better myself. I've made a point to go by her office more frequently and renewed my efforts to communicate, especially face to face. All very cool.

Momentum

2007-02-11T00:06:00.001-05:00

"If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now."
~ Mildred Mcafee

Potential

2007-02-11T00:05:00.004-05:00

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."
- Thomas Edison

Direction

2007-02-11T00:05:00.003-05:00

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the woman who'll decide where to go."
- Dr. Seuss (seen in an email from fitness.com)

Procrastinating

2007-02-11T00:05:00.001-05:00

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." - Picasso

Time

2007-02-11T00:04:00.003-05:00

"Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in
the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out
of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week."
--Charles Richards

Crimes

2007-02-11T00:04:00.001-05:00

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more
hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever
been committed in the name of rebellion. -C.P. Snow, scientist and writer
(1905-1980)

New Addition?

2007-02-10T23:42:00.000-05:00

It's really too early to know for sure, but I have a feeling I might be pregnant. If I am, it's only by days, I'm not even late yet, but I feel like I could be. I felt really nauseous a couple of times today and I've had some belly pain that isn't quite like typical cramping (I generally don't cramp much, if at all). Hubby doesn't know yet. He asked when I said I wasn't feeling all that great if I was pregnant, but I don't think he was thinking of it as an actual possibility. I've been using contraceptive inserts, and I didn't this past week. We'll see, I'm a bit torn. I want to be pregnant, but I have so many reasons to be nervous about it, that I'm a little scared. I'll know more in the next few days.

Talk with the Boss

2007-02-10T23:36:00.000-05:00

So it seems I have underestimated Ms. Coworker from hades. My boss called me in to his office for a talk. It was actually really good, I was able to tell him what was going on from my side, and he seemed to really understand. He had a lot of really good insight. He told me that he expects us to do whatever it takes to work things out next week while he's halfway across the country doing depositions. He talked to me first because I told him I was going to try to leave early (it didn't happen). He said he was going to have the exact same talk with her. He seems to think that we have the potential to make a terrific team and to learn a great deal from each other, if only we can find some common ground. I agree with him. I've been thinking the same thing for a long time, I just didn't know how to go about confronting the issue. Now I know that the how isn't important. I'm a little nervous about Monday, but also really looking forward to clearing the air. Stay tuned to find out what happens.

Criticism, Gossip and Life Lessons

2007-02-08T11:18:00.001-05:00

I have a coworker who is hyper-critical. I can't possibly do anything right. My first week in the office, we spent a lot of time together because I was to take over her job so she could move to another position and she was training me. The second week, she mostly ignored me. I just thought it was because she had a lot of catching up to do, she'd been doing the work of two people for about a month. My third week, the griping set in. Over the next few weeks, we got into several arguments because I don't do things exactly the way she thinks I should. Eventually, she stopped speaking to me. Our boss really believes in communication and that we should each know what the other is doing. About a month and a half after I started, I realized we weren't communicating very well at all, so I started keeping a log of what I do and emailing it to her at the end of the day. Her response: none unless I made a mistake. It got so frustrating that I sent several really sarcastic emails the other day. Not good, but despite hubby's concern that they might get me fired, I really doubt my boss will ever know of them. If she said anything about them, she would have to admit that she is blatantly ignoring me.

Recently, I started talking with the receptionist and learned that the attitude is very typical of my coworker. I know, I shouldn't talk about people behind their back. On the other hand, it really helps to know that I'm not a special target. The more I think about the situation, the more I've learned that criticism, particularly the way it is delivered, says more about the critic than the target. Wow. It's not about me, it's about her. Does this mean I'm automatically immune and will never again be bothered by this person? Not at all. But it does give me something to focus on other than how I'm going to get anything positive out of her. And that makes a big difference.

I read a post from the World Wanting Peace blog about allowing someone else to rent space in one's head for free. That's exactly what I've been doing for my coworker for the past three months. It's time for an eviction.

So, now what?

2007-02-04T16:13:00.001-05:00

The cats and the hubby are all sleeping and I’m here wanting to write a blog post, but I’m not sure where to start. I have some ideas what I want to write about, but I’m not sure where to start. I’m looking at a couple of self-improvement things that have caught my interest. I think I want to write about those, among other things. I started on the Year to Success, but I haven’t stuck with it. I plan to start over, and write about each day as I do it. I’ve been signed up for a while, so I’m behind, which means I can ignore the Review and Reflect weekends, though I may go ahead an observe a couple of those a month. I’m also trying to get myself to follow Simpleology 101. I know that I accomplish a whole lot more when I plan my time, I’m just not very good at sitting down to do it. If you go to the site and sign up, they’ll try to sell you the 102 and 103 versions. I don’t have them, and don’t plan to spend the money, so I can’t say whether they’re worth it. I intend to start again with both of these and writing about what I learn. I hope you find my ramblings helpful, or at least mildly entertaining enough to keep reading.

For the record, I am not an affiliate of any program. If I suggest something, it is because I think it is worth your time to take a look at. I don't make a dime from recommending any site or resource. I will have ads on my page (hey, can't pass up the opportunity to make a little spare change) click on them or don't, makes no difference to me. On the other hand, I hope to eventually offer items for sale, sort of a virtual yard sale/craft sale, but I'm going to hold off for now. You aren't going to be the least bit interested in buying from me until you get to know me a bit.

Introduction

2007-02-02T23:21:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here completely clueless about what to write. I'm sure it will get easier the more I do it, but that's not much help right now. Well, I've titled this post "Introduction", so I guess that's what I should do, I should introduce myself. I graduated last May with my BA in Speech Communication (not to be confused with Mass Communication, which is related, but not the same). Not only did I graduate, I graduated with a 3.8 despite having taken massive courseloads, my final semester I took 24 credit hours and finished with straight As. I also worked as a tutor that semester. That was my heaviest semester, but don't think that it was the only difficult one. Whether I finished with my sanity intact could be open to debate.

For the past three years I have been married to who I (most of the time) believe is the most wonderful man on the face of the planet. Right now, I'm feeling his only fault. What is it? The past several months or so, he sleeps. Alot. Last Saturday, he took six hours worth of naps. I'm not exaggerating, I watched 8 hours of TiVo (minus commercials) while he slept. It's enough to leave me feeling a bit neglected, and I can't help dreading this weekend. Anyone know what I can do to help him not sleep so much (and spend more time with me)? He's on medication, which may or may not be causing or contributing to the problem, so I have to be careful about interactions. But we have a really good natural food store with a good selection of supplements.

Moving on. My mostly wonderful husband and I have five cats; Autumn, Brooke, Misty, Devon and Tyler. We got Autumn when we first got together. We needed a mouser and a friend was moving and needed a home for her cat. He desperately wanted to pick out a cat together, but I talked him into taking her. He really bonded with her, to this day she's "his" cat. He found Brooke in a box outside Walmart and brough her home, she was only a few weeks old. She became my baby. Autumn acted like she hated Brooke at first, but they are very close now. About a year later, Misty showed up on our doorstep looking very scrawny. Hubby started feeding her and we found her to be very affectionate. It wasn't until she weaseled her way into our home and hearts that we discovered she was pregnant. She had a litter of 5. We found homes for the two females and one male, and we kept the other two males. They look very much like one another, but Devon is about twice the size of Tyler. They are about eight months old, and I still need to get them fixed before they get Misty pregnant again (they've already been trying). And that's my family.

I work as a legal secretary for a personal injury/medical malpractice attorney at a smallish law firm. But you won't see my boss on any of those sleazy TV commercials. We only accept catastrophic injury cases. The people I work with are great, with the exception of one. Unfortunately, that one is the one I'm supposed to be working the closest with. My boss told us right from the time he hired me that he wants her and I to communicate constantly, but she has refused to speak so much as a hello to me in almost two weeks. I send emails every single day to let her know everything I've done for the day, and if I haven't made any mistakes that she can jump down my throat about, she ignores me. The other day when I emailed her, I said that I was probably the only person in the world who can consider the silent treatment a compliment. I don't think she liked that too well. My husband said that she will probably report my sarcasm to our boss, but she can't do that without admitting that I'm doing exactly what he wants, while she is outright ignoring my attempts.