Updates

I previously mentioned that a lot of shit has been going on in my life...

1. I received the results of my CT Angiogram and my aortic aneurysm has increased in size from 4.1 cm to 4.5 cm over the past year... which is not good. I had to gather all sorts of information from all of my doctors and send it to The Cleveland Clinic for a specialist to review and decide whether or not another open heart surgery is necessary right now. (I've already had two of them to repair a bad heart valve in 2000 and having a third to repair my aortic root is only a matter of time, WHICH SUCKS, to put it mildly.) I was told that all things considered, I can wait but I need to have the series of tests that I typically go through yearly again in 6 months... so, Nov. or Dec. of this year and they'll re-evaluate again at that time. I can only hope nothing happens between now and then... or EVER for that matter. Nothing like being scared shitless.

2. On June 24th I was having A/C installed in my condo. I got a call while I was on lunch from work saying there was an "incident" at my place and I needed to get there ASAP. What the fuck? An "incident??" Well, the dumbfucks managed to flood about 80% of my place with several inches of water. How? When they were soldering in the utility room, they set off the sprinkler system (in the utility room and the dining "nook" / kitchen area), and the fire alarms. The water was spraying for about 15 minutes I was told, and the alarms go off throughout the building of all 6 condos. LOVELY. Apparently this causes the fire department to come... lights and sirens blaring.

I got home, was mostly worried about my pet rats, which were safely in my bedroom but freaking out from all the noise and chaos... so I ran them over to my friend Tom's. Then, I asked what the fuck they did to my home.

Needless to say, all of the flooring had to be ripped out except for my bedroom and bathroom, and a lot of drywall had to be replaced... retextured... and repainted.

I had to move to a hotel for two weeks (which wasn't bad, actually) while most of the renovation happened, and my ratties had to go stay with my friend Francoise... which sucked for me. However, the "silver lining" was that I decided to take the money that was estimated for the flooring that I had previously and install wood flooring thoughout the livingroom / kitchen / dining nook. My Dad did most of it, with Mom and myself helping when we could (mostly during demo, when Tom helped also). Wow, what an undertaking, but it's beautiful! And, I'm home and settled again. Now I just have the project of caulking around the door jams... what a pain in the ass.

3. Work has been challenging lately... I won't get into any details. I did get a "promotion" and small raise, but I still don't know what is going on there other than the feelings of unrest.

4. Due to my asthma and tactile allergies, I had to give my two BIG male ratties, Caleb and Hardy, to a friend of mine (Francoise). She was at the point where she was wanting rats again, and they have totally bonded with her, which makes me happy (and sad). I miss them so much, but it was a decision I had to make for my health, and I know they have a wonderful home. And, I visit them once or twice a week.

The boys sure are spoiled now. In fact, they have an entire bedroom!! And a futon too! Right now, I'm rat-sitting them, as Francoise is traveling for 3 weeks. It's nice having their fat selves back for a while.

5. There's other more personal things I'm struggling with as well, but I really don't feel comfortable sharing them with (potentially) the world. I'll just have to keep them inside...

6. On the fun side, recently I adopted a 1 year old female Hedgehog and named her Hazel. She's very cute, yet very prickly. My eldest Niece (she's 7) thought she was a Porcupine. hahaha I'm working on becoming friends with her and getting her to trust me. I think we made some progress last night which made me happy.

I still have three of my dear ratties (ET, Piglet, and Darby), who are still my passion... and my cuddly, smart little ones. Hazel isn't cuddly... OUCH... and she sure isn't smart, but she's adorable and should live 5-7 years vs. the 2-3 years of rats.

That's it for now...