Usually when I just up and disappear, it’s my fault. This recent vanishing was thanks to Mother Nature.
Wednesday, February 22, we had just finished eating and the power went out. We didn’t really expect it to be out long because it never is. But oh, the things that were in store for us. We spent the night listening to ice and tree branches fall on our house. It continued into the next morning. There is a decent amount of damage and Ridley almost got taken out trying to pee the next morning. Our power was off for 4.5 days.
The real heroes of the hour were Mr. and Mrs. Moth. They took us and the dogs in for 3.5 days. Kept us warm, fed and entertained while we had to pay a clean-up crew $2500 in work. There will never be enough thank yous for that. ❤
Now, it’s a waiting game to get insurance to make good on their end of the contract. So, if I’m distracted for awhile, I’m sorry. I will be back soon.
One might think, can you rescue a fish? And the answer is, yes. From poor care by either people or the corporations that sell them. Now, it’s not actually something I had even thought about until IG showed me videos of a couple of ladies and their quests to revive sick fish/eels.
It also happens that stores tend to take very poor care of one of my very favorite fish. Bettas.
I’ve had many bettas in my life. I bought and kept countless ones when I was younger. My last one was in 2011. I was an adult at that point and took better care of things, so he lived for a few years if I remember correctly.
Not long after this realization, I found myself at a grocery store that just so happens to sell fish and what do you know? They were taking poor care of their bettas. Not all were sick but there were a few, unhealthy fellows. Convincing the cashier to give him to me for free took no effort. She promptly said, “YUCK!” and gave him to me. So that’s how I ended up with this guy:
As you can see, his color is bleached from all of his fins and head. Luckily, I don’t think he has fin rot but he was on his way. I don’t have fish, so I had to go out and buy all this stuff to essentially use as a hospital tank to nurse him back to health.
This has led me down the rabbit hole that is proper betta care. Little me would have had her mind blown at what crappy lives she was giving her bettas. (Although still better than in the stores.) It will probably take him about a month or so to heal. So, now the plan is to get a 5-gallon tank and try my hand at live plants, something I’ve never done. Should this little guy live, he’ll have a cool new home and a much more entertaining life. No name until he makes it. (Plus, I’m kind of married to naming him Booberry but I have a feeling he’s going to have a lot of teal and green once he’s healed. Not a color match to Booberry cereal.)
Long story short, welcome to my new obsession. Bettas and aquariums, as now I’m half tempted to just continue to rescuing bettas. Hard part would be finding them all homes though.
It’s been a weird winter here in Michigan. We’ve received hardly any snow, mostly cold rain and gray, gray days. This past Wednesday we were hit with a pretty good storm, and it finally feels like a real Michigan winter. At the very least, the snow is pretty, and it makes the house feel cozier.
I’ve been hunkered down with lots of schoolwork as of late. I do have a book haul on the horizon, a book review and a possible comic review as well. Until then, I try to check in every couple of days when I have extra time. So, for now, I leave you with cute dogs in winter pictures.
The holidays started to kick into full gear, and I just rode that crazy tidal wave into 2023. Sorry for the total absence but it did me some good to step away for a bit.
Ridley loved his first Christmas! To be honest, that is the thing that I cared about the most this year. The poor boy has known nothing but torture before 6 months ago and I intend to spoil him absolutely rotten for the rest of his life. He was showered in toys and treats and now he really wishes Christmas was every week.
On the 30th, Melanie and her husband Nick came to town to engage in various shenanigans. She got to meet Moth in person for the first time and the boys all met each other. They ran off without us immediately to try some craft beers. We ate good food, bowled terribly (except Nick), and laughed a LOT. It was great time and I’m so thankful to count Melanie and Nick in our friend circle. ❤
On NYE, we hung out with Mr. and Mrs. Moth and their fur child (and BFF to Ridley) Noi. It was a very chill evening, just the way we like to ring in the new year. The fur children wrestled endlessly but we also forced them to wear pajamas for pictures. I would like to think we embarrassed them, but they seemed to enjoy themselves.
I for one, am ready for a new year. 2022 sucked for our household and I have hope that things turn around in 2023. I’m not sure whether or not I’m even going to try for any resolutions this go around. I might to see where the wind takes us.
How as your New Year’s Eve? What was your favorite part?
The results? I did not watch a single episode of Battlestar. I watched 3/4 of Escape From New York when Tubi decided it didn’t need to play anymore and it wasn’t going to reload it for me, so I gave up. I read TWO science fiction novels. Semi-success. 😀
The other notable thing that happened during November would be that Mr. C&M and I got memorial tattoos for our beloved dog Ozzy. (He would have been 14 years old today.)
It was a bittersweet tattoo and my most emotional one yet. But I am so happy to have it.
Ridley does not recognize Day Light Savings time. We should be getting an extra hour sleep but instead, I’ve already had my coffee because once I’m awake, I’m awake. It’s hard to stay mad at someone so especially cute though. He’s technically correct and it’s our usual time to get up and start the workday.
So, I thought, what better time to post a Ridley update? He has made a few appearances in posts but nothing substantial.
This boy is an absolute snuggle master. I’ve never had a dog that tried their best to melt into you. He loves kisses and boops my face when I haven’t given him enough. Seriously, each check, his forehead and sides and top of his nose must be kissed before he’s satisfied. He will happily sleep on top of myself or Mr. C&M which has been something to get used to. He sometimes lays his muzzle on top of my mouth and nose while I’m sleeping. I keep telling myself he’s not trying to snuff me out, but I could be wrong. There are worse ways to go.
In the beginning of October, we had a medical emergency with Ridley. What the vet thought to be torn soft tissue from a bad jump, ended up being an abscess that ruptured 36 hours later. Of course, after the vet was closed. Luckily for us, we have a vet tech friend that I was able to call. She walked us through how to take care of him until morning. If you’ve never experienced an abscess rupture, it’s horrifying, and I will never forget that smell. By the time we saw the vet the next day, they pretty much said to keep doing what we were already doing and added painkillers and antibiotics. This meant keeping him bandaged while the wound finished draining (days) and keeping him calm until the wound healed on its own.
After the initial horror show, he was a model patient. The first night, I was the only one he allowed to bandage him. The pain brought back his association of pain with men, and he would not allow Mr. C&M to touch him the first night. Later, he sweetly apologized to his dad for being mean by sulking up to him and covering him in kisses. From then on, we had no more issues taking care of him. (In the second picture above, you can see his injured shoulder after it closed up.)
November 12th will be 3 months since we rescued him. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind but we’re making baby step progress. The injury definitely set him back socially. The pain triggered his mistrust of humans again. So, it’s like we’re starting fresh and that’s okay. Recovery can’t be rushed.
BEEFCAKE.
He is finally at a healthy weight. He hasn’t been to the vet since his injury, but I think he’s right around 47 pounds. (He was only 30 when he arrived at the shelter. Skin and bones.)
Animal rescue is a journey. He’s recovery won’t happen overnight, but I am so glad to have this boy in my life. He’s an absolute clown and love bug. I can’t wait to share the holidays with him. He’s going to love it.
I hope everyone had an absolutely splendid Halloween! We had a laid-back night of homemade macaroni and cheese and a horror movie. I had intended to post again before my favorite holiday of the year, but I did not end up reading the comic that I intended and didn’t have much to post about otherwise.
So here we are leaping into Science Fiction month!
Here is my game plan. Whether it happens or not, that’s a whole different story: Continue my quest of watching all of Battlestar Galactica for the first time, watch/rewatch Escape from New York (I can’t remember if I’ve seen it before) and pick up at least one Sci-Fi novel.
I’ve only read one book in Ridley’s presence, and it was while he was sick, so I still don’t know if he’ll try to eat it while I’m trying to read it. It will be a fun game!
Are you participating in Sci-Fi month or are you more of a Non-Fiction November type of person? Either way, what are your plans?!
Oh, sure. I know it’s already 11 days in but ya ghoul’s life has been chaotic lately. That does not mean that I don’t make time for all things October!
I finally read and finished a book for the first time in 2 months. I will review that soon.
Mr. C&M and I recently watched Rob Zombie’s Munsters:
Let me state that, I will forever choose the Addams Family over the Munsters. For whatever reason, I just never sat down and played with the Munsters. That being said, this movie was fine. It was quirky and the set designs were really cool. Now, Mr. C&M is a huge Munsters fan, and he didn’t really like it. He thought grandpa and Lily were well played and the set designs were cool, but he fell asleep 3/4 of the way through it and sees no reason to go back and view what he missed.
Ridley woke me up much too early this morning, so I put Halloween Wars on for entertainment. It’s a fun little show to drink your coffee too while getting in the spooky spirit.
My life should calm down this week so here’s to hoping that I will be more present online and get fully immersed in my favorite season. 🙂
The weekend following Labor Day (yes, I’m STILL catching up) was Riptide 2022 at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. It’s a several day competition of Rivals of Aether and Smash Brothers. Mr. C&M competed and the rest of us got to tag along at a significantly reduced price thanks to the tournament. Mr. and Mrs. Ignited Moth kindly joined us and made the long weekend SO much more fun.
For two days, we had the entire waterpark pretty much to ourselves. No lines for the slides, no one else cruising the lazy river. No children screaming. THAT was the life. Swim up bars might be my new favorite thing. Especially when it was actually a swim up hot tub. I think our bones were cooked to jelly by the time we left.
It was the relaxing weekend (except for Mr. C&M, he was stressed competing) that we all needed. We plan to make this an annual event.
Note to anyone thinking of going to Kalahari – the booze is very expensive and only one drink was really worth the money. Food was also expensive but incredibly good. There is plenty to do in the resort. We didn’t leave other than to get supplies for the entire 4 days we were there. The arcade is NOT worth it. The crane machines purposely drop your grab halfway to the hole, every single time. How did we get the plushies below? TOO much money and some were purchased at the convention.
I’ve also decided to keep a travel notebook. It’s a fun way to track what we did while on vacation and also a good reference guide for when we return to places. (This place had amazing food! This place was garbage!)
Does anyone else keep a travel notebook? What fun things do you keep in there?
Special thanks to the Moths for making our weekend an absolute blast and being the BEST travel buddies! ❤
cupcakesandmachetes 