Summer Chaos

So, it's been a while.

Things have been pretty intense out here, with people moving in, people moving out, things moving around, etc. etc.

Laura and Bryce have (mostly) moved out this weekend, taking all their things with them, so the house is starting to look pretty naked. Geoff and I have acquired some furnishings from Craig's list which were incredibly cheap (thank you, Craig's List,) and are very unique, since each one is from another place. I enjoy that. Slowly, we are reorganizing our lives here, and are preparing for the arrival of our puppy, who comes home from the vet tomorrow afternoon. (I will get to that soon.) We've also been dealing with the painful chaos of switching over the utility bills to our names. What seemed like an easy 1 or 2 step process, ended up being much more expensive than we'd expected. Since I have no credit, and Geoff has a little, we were not able to waive a

ny of the "deposits" for starting a new relationship with each company (ie. Water & Trash, Electric, Gas, Cable/Internet.) So, I'm not going to get into nasty details on this journal, but let's just say each one decided to charge us a good amount of money to insure we would keep up on our payments. It's sort of like renting a little apartment with each utility company, if you think about it. Needless to say, we don't eat out anymore, and spend our money on only what is essential for survival (haha). No but seriously.

Anyway, as far as the puppy goes, we have some bad news and some good news.

Bad news is, we are not taking Bandit home.

Here's Bandit's Story.

So, we were supposed to take him home on Friday, but things 

changed. Our neighbor, who had been fostering him until he was to go to us, went away for the weekend. So, she gave Bandit to another Humane Society foster to look after for a couple days. When she came home, the foster wouldn't return her calls. A few days later, she found out that the foster had given him to yet another foster, and between the two of them, they decided that our neighbor was not fit to decide who Bandit went to. They told her that the Humane Society didn't adopt to "renters" nor did they "hold puppies" for anyone. Obviously, our neighbor was more than pissed, and made it known to us. No one cared about the puppies at all while she was raising them alone, until now, all of a sudden, some other people decide they know better. She informed us she was going to meet with the president of the Humane Society that night, and if things didn't get resolved, she was going to quit. Unfortunately for both of us, things didn't go that well, and she is now with another rescue agenc

y that does much more efficient and proactive work with animals on death row, and the people actually respect each other. So, we lost Bandit. 

The good news is, after some mourning, (which I personally am still working through,) we decided to look at puppies at our shelter in San Bernardino. It was our original plan to rescue a pup from there anyway, and we did end up finding one we really loved. Tazz, (like the Tasmanian Devil,) as we've decided to call him, is a black lab / pit bull mix. He is 3 months old, and is black with a white chest and white little paws. I am glad we chose the black dog, because as strange as it sounds, black dogs usually don't get adopted. Part of it is that since they are so dark, people can't see them in the kennels, but otherwise it is just a mystery that more often than not, the black dogs/puppies are put down because no one will adopt them. I like to think we saved him from the animal co

ntrol center. He is very precious, and energetic, and I will have to take a lot of photos to show you guys. As per the adoption requirements of the shelter, he got his microchip surgically planted in his neck so that if he ever gets lost, he can be scanned and we, his owners, can be located and contacted. Tomorrow, we pick him up from the vet, where he is being neutered. Then, he will be officially welcomed into the house. His crate is full of blankets and a pillow I got for him, toys, treats, a bed, and a puppy play pen, are all at the ready! Here is the only decent photo we have so far, but I'm sure there will be millions more come tomorrow.

I have a gig this week at a surprise anniversary party for a family in Riverside. They rented a full bar, and I will be the bartender on site! I'm very excited, and can't wait for this opportunity. 

This is really all I have the energy to update on right now... I'm giving this job searching thing all I got.

It's awesome having Liz here.

Even though I've been super stressed out, I'm glad to have a friend to play with.

Everything will work out eventually... we're just hitting a hard patch.

Bandit

I am ecstatic to say 

that I can now introduce you to a new member of our little Californian family.

Meet Bandit. Our new puppy.

Bandit is almost 7 weeks old now. He is a rescue puppy, and so we do not know exactly what breed he is, but judging by his looks, and the looks of his brothers and sisters, it's definitely

 safe to say he is part German Shepherd, and then something smaller, like a Lab. Our neighbors right across the street work for the Humane Society, and so a couple weeks ago, they brought home 9 baby foster puppies! Terribly chaotic, but also fantastically adorable. We picked (or, I guess I picked,) "Bandit" because he is the darkest one of the bunch. He has this mask over his eyes and nose, so that is why Geoff and I decided to call him "Bandit". We talked it over with our going-to-be new Landlord, James, and it all worked out pretty well. We are now adjusting our budget and all that we have saved for him to finance his food and shots and toys and such things. I bought him a couple of toys the other day, and some no-tears puppy shampoo, as well as some puppy treats, so he will feel very loved when he does come home with us. (He is still with his brothers and sisters right now, until he finishes getting his vaccination shots. This means, he will come home with us in about a week and a half, giving us time to finish up school before his arrival.) 

Anyway, we are VERY excited. Our neighbor even said that she would let us take him home for a sleepover before his release date, since she knows that Norman is up to date on his shots! But we are still waiting on his crate to come (which I ordered on Sunday, I think,) before we feel like we can have him sleep here. He is definitely going to be crate-trained, to make life easier on everyone, and so we can eliminate any chance of him getting the idea that the carpet is good for eating when we are away for any small amount of time. I have a ton of pictures of him and his friends, so if you're interested, feel free to check out the album "Bandit & Family" on my Facebook.

I started Bartending school this Monday, as well. And I must say, I am having SO much fun!!! I look forward every night to driving out to that class, and always set up my bar area early so I am ready to go. I was surprised at how quickly I picked it up, actually, and while my memory is a failure most of the time, surprisingly, I am having no problem remembering these drinks, and have already memorized over 40 different drinks, without studying my flashcards! I feel really confident already, and today was only my 3rd day! My instructor calls me "Hollywood", because I'm real fast with my pouring, and I add extra color to my drink mixes so they look bright and fancy. (We don't use real alcohol when practicing, obviously, just water with food coloring, but in the real bottles.) He says I'm going to make a great bartender. And I asked about their job placement program, and he said it was really good, and I had nothing to worry about. In fact, he is already looking at places that are hiring, and reports back to us who is looking. Unfortunately, none yet in Redlands that have called him looking for bartenders. But, I still have another week. There are only 5 people in our class this session, so that is great for me because we get extra attention, and I'm paying less, which means more toys for Bandit! :) Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I am doing really well in that aspect, and am having a REALLY great time with that aspect of schooling. 

Some of you already know this, but I sent out copies of my book on Monday, (finally,) and so you will all (or almost all..) be receiving a copy sometime... Grandma and Papa I know already got theirs, (which is crazy... I have no idea how that got there so fast, considering I sent it "Media Mail" which is like, slower than the slowest mail...) so hopefully yours will be coming in the mail sometime soon! Enjoy!

Love to you all.