So much has happened since I last checked in.  Well, it seems to me that so much has happened but to others it's probably just another day...

Kurt and I bought a house.  It's adorable, it was well in our price range and the backyard is HUGE for the kids.  Best of all, we're saving over $300/month in mortgage payments as opposed to what we were paying for rent.  Gotta like that!

The downside is that it's a fixer upper.  Not really a DOWNside so much as its a work in progress.  The walls all throughout need to be painted, that's on the top of the priority list.  As well as adding an additional power outlet in each room.  It's an old house, built in 1949, so it's original wood flooring and quirky doors and such but the best part is that it's ours.

We've also added 5 (yes 5) kittens to our family.  It started out with the 2 that I kept that I fostered last summer, and they're almost 6 months old now...and then I temp fostered 5 kittens in December and we had to keep 3 of them (we wanted to keep them all but we just couldn't).  So now we've got 5 kittens all under 6 months.  2 are almost 6 mths and 3 are 8 weeks.  ALL of them are freakin' adorable.  And, since I've handraised them all, from bottlefeeding every 2 hours 24/7 to teaching them to eat solids and use the litter box, I'm mommy to them...they're lap kitties and love snuggles.  I adore them.  :)

Mary and Emily still aren't getting along so we're not even trying to push it with them.  We keep them separated at all times now, which means that we'll need to put off fostering children until (god forbid) one of them crosses the rainbow bridge.  We can't have any accidents with leaving doors open or whatnot.  We switch days as to who gets to spend the majority of the daytime in the main part of the house and who's separated...they both get time in the main part during the day but we switch them out so that they get time with not just me but Kurt, too.

The new semester is starting now.  With buying a house and all last semester I was just not very present at all in my brain so hoping that this coming one will go over better for me.  This semester I didn't get to class sign ups in time so I'm taking math (of course), which I've already taken but I'm re-taking it so that I'm better able to grasp the concepts.  I tried taking the next class but I was so lost and ended up dropping it.  I'm also taking 2 art classes.  I know, I know.  Ceramics, which I hate, and Advanced Digital Photography.  It should be an interesting semester!

Something else that is happening for us is that Kurt and I signed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters so we'll be getting our "Littles" in a couple of weeks after our FBI checks come back.  Can't be too careful when it comes to working with kidgets.  We're really excited to work with kids who need a good role model and mentor.

I had typed up a big ol' update a few days ago and then my program crashed and I lost it.  Ugh.  So here I go again.
Firstly, let me apologize for disappearing as I have.  It's been a crazy past couple of months.  Seriously.  I'm not making that up!
The Spring semester has ended and I'm in my 2nd week of summer break.  I'm so stoked for this break.  I thought math was going to break me, I swear!  I thought last semester was rough, well kick it up a few notches and that's the difficulty of this last class.  And it's only going to get worse!  I'll be living at the tutoring center in the Fall; that'll be that.
Of course I did swell in both my Writing Fiction and Digital Photography class.  I've got some great photos that I need to put into frames and hang up now.  We're talking some kickass pictures!  Not because of the class...but because I had time to actually go through pics from the past year and print them out in class.  So nice when you have a great photo printer worth thousands of buckeroos at your disposal!
As far as weight loss goes...the plateau that I'd hit really hit me hard.  Not only was I not losing weight, but I was losing momentum in a big way.   I was trying not to, but when you don't lose for well over a month, you lose steam.  Needless to say, I fell into the typical rut that those who lose weight fall into for a while.  It didn't help with all of the stress going on from school and such, either, and I easily started to give a day up here and there with exercise...until finally I wasn't exercising at all.  NOT GOOD when trying to lose weight.
No fear, fellow fatties, I'm back.  Well, technically I never left, but I'm back for a few months again.  Regularly until school's back in again.  You know how it goes.  I'm back on the treadmill daily.  Forcing myself to not take Sundays off again so that I get back into the habit again.  When I feel I'm good and ready, I'll give myself that one day off again.  Until then...I'm full force and gung-ho.  It's not fair that us fatties have to always worry about falling off of the wagon, so to speak.  No matter if we reach our goal...we always have to be in hyper-awareness mode of what we're eating, how much, and when....we will never be free from being fat, not really.  Not fair at all.  In fact, it downright sucks.  I want to be one of those people with the magic metabolism.  Of course I will never be...so here I am, doing what I can with what I've got.
Still no work to be found and we're entering summer where the pickings are slim in the bank, as well.  We're usually tight during the summer until my first part of my student loan comes through.  I really wish I could find SOMETHING.  I am trying to keep busy in the meantime.  I'm still volunteering a lot at the SPCA, we're in the process of moving to a new location.  Bigger and better.  Yay!  I'm also involved in animal transport and have done a few of those now, as well.  Which leads me to my next big news...
K and I would love to introduce you to our new family member...merry Mary.

She's part Chow-Chow part Golden Retriever.  She's got the sweet and loving personality of a Golden, and the fluffiness of a Chow.  We couldn't have been more lucky in a new family member.  She's Emily's age, 11 years, and so she's old and creaky.  Her hips are not what they used to be, I'm sure, and she stumbles or loses her balance from time to time...but she's got lots of kisses and love for anyone she meets and Emily and Peaches are slowly getting used to having her as part of our family.  Mary came into our lives through my transporting some doggies from Battle Mountain County Animal Shelter which is about a 3 hour drive East of Reno.  I didn't leave home expecting to be bringing home a new family member...but she was going to be put down if I didn't pull her, and nobody's shown any interest at all in her being's that she was so old.  K and I have a soft spot for older doggies...they need a loving home in their final years.  That's the least that we can do for them.  So Mary came home with me, along with the two other dogs that I was transporting.  We took her to the vet within a day of her arrival and she got all of her shots and then took her to the groomer where she was thinned out and shampooed.  After that, it was like her entire demeanor went from blue to perky.  She literally prances and dances and shakes her head in joy.  She's such a blessing to us...and will continue to be so.
So that brings me to today.  Now.  Things are pretty much the same as usual.  K celebrated his 51st birthday and so we had a dinner/movie date...something that we haven't done for months and months since there's just not money for that kind of thing.  It was nice to get out with my sweetie pie and just be together without worrying about the kids.
So that's what's been happening with me.  As I mentioned, now that it's Summertime, I will be updating on a more regular basis again.

Many people, after having read my previous post about my Cosmo boy, have accused me of being selfish for feeling so heartrendingly sad to see him go. Let me assure you, once again, that I am ECSTATIC that he has found a wonderful home. He's now got a permanent playmate with their big dog (who was/is well taken care of, I noticed), parents who will love him and give him lots of scritches and tummy tubs to his little heart's content.

But let me try to explain how and why I feel the way that I do. I spend hours each week at the SPCA. Most of the pups there are adopted within a couple of weeks of arrival, so I don't form as close of a bond with them as I do with the "long timers" who've been there for a few months. There are 4 dogs that I can think of off hand who have been there as long as, or shortly after, I've been volunteering (since before xmas). Kermit, Tobi, and Archie are all kids who were there before I got there. Cosmo arrived, I believe, the same week that I did. His paperwork claimed that he'd been found wandering the streets as a stray. As soon as I looked into his sweet and soulful eyes, I knew that there was more to his beautiful spirit than just being a dog. Of course, I always know that these critters are MORE than just an animal....I call them my kids. My extended family of children. Anyway, his eyes, they were so full of wisdom and sadness. I don't know how long he was without a home, if he ever had one, but I knew that he was going to be one who needed some time to find the right forever home. I took him under my wing. I would sit for sometimes over an hour in his kennel with him, telling him stories, whispering secrets, telling him about my life, school, my various problems. He never judged, he never told any other doggies (or people) about my issues. He just listened, patiently, understandingly. He knew what I was feeling. I absolutely know that for a fact. I even cried a few tears in the thick fur around his neck as I held him close for hugs and support. He would just look at me with those deep eyes, and I knew I had a kindred soul with me. That I had a greatness in my presence.

I know many of you think that I'm crazy for saying all of this about a dog. But if you had gotten the chance to know Cosmo the way that I did, you'd understand.

Over 2 months passed by... With each dog who left the shelter with their new people he would look hopefully out the gate of his kennel...wondering when it would be his turn. I could read his mind, we had that much of a connection. I assured him that his family was going to be so special that they needed just a bit more extra time to find him than the others did. So he wanted patiently with me. We became closer...the more secrets shared, the closer our bond became. With each opening of the door, we'd both look up, in hopeful earnest, to see if THIS time it was for him.

I was so lucky to be there a few days ago when it WAS for him. And I almost wasn't! I was planning to run some errands that would take most of the afternoon that day. I left the house, got into the car, and would remember something else that I'd forgotten and have to run back in. Before I even left the front of my house, I'd been in and out of my car three times! My first stop was the grocery store to pick up some things and my meds. The first thing I realized was that I'd forgotten a coupon that I'd had in my hand before I left for a free product. I chalked it up to just one of those days and headed toward the pharmacy. They were closed for lunch and wouldn't be back for another hour. It was at the point that I realized that I was probably not supposed to run my errands that day, that I was supposed to be at the SPCA instead. So I headed over to the shelter, camera in hand, as always, and went straight to Cosmo. I sat down in the kennel with him and spent over an hour with him, snapping pics, talking, laughing, playing, giving tummy rubs. The next thing I knew, his number was up. His new family was there. It was time. I was supposed to be there so that I could say goodbye to my Cozzy. And that was the most precious gift that I could have ever received. That extra time to just say goodbye. I cried in his fur that day, when his new family was doing the paperwork. And I cried when I gave him his final hug as he was leaving out the door. I will miss my Cosmo very much...but I do look forward to forming another special bond with another critter soon.

If I'd known that my Emily had been as loved as Cosmo was when I adopted her, I'd feel so much better remembering the history of adopting her. Loving the critters is a good thing. And I'm better for it.

Yesterday my sweet, sweet boy, Cosmo, was adopted and left the shelter. He'd been there almost as long as I've been volunteering, and he didn't show well at the gate of his kennel, so everyone was kind of expecting that he'd be there for a while. So I took him under my wing. He became my sweet buddy, my best pal at the shelter. I whispered in his ear secrets that nobody else knows and I rest assured that he will never tell. It was in his eyes that I found solace on my bad days, so full of deep wisdom and soul. He was more than a friend to me, my Cosmo boy, he was one of the greatest buddies that I will ever know.

I cried when I said goodbye to him, and I cried later after going to bed, alone in the dark. My heart knows that he will be happy in his new home, with his new family, but I am saddened at the fact that I will never again see his face light up when he sees me walk in the door, his tail thumping lightly on the floor. His new people are very nice and he has a playmate in their 9 month old New Finland puppy (a very slobbery and sweet puppy). I gave him one last and final hug as they were leaving out the door; I whispered to him that he will always be loved by me, and that I would never forget him, his infinite and quiet wisdom, his thoughtful regard for me when I needed a sweet and sloppy kiss on the face. I would never forget the hugs that we shared, the big and solid body, so warm and jiggly (private joke between he and I), and his love.

Cosmo, I know you will love your new family, but know that I will always love you and will never forget you.

Adieu, my sweet friend, adieu.