One Year Later

Firstly, wow, it has been a very long time since the last post and so much has happened. Well, I guess not anything too exciting 'cause we'd have blogged it, right ... right?

The last post was about chickens ... they're gone now. No, we didn't slaughter them, they just got bigger and we couldn't keep them where we are so they went to a good home with a friend of Amy's. We have visited them a few times since, and one of them did make it to dinner - but the others are still going strong. The girls are laying eggs, and very nice indeed they are too.

So, other news? I started a new job last Monday. I'm still doing similar things, just at another place. It does involve commuting to London but after commuting costs I am earning fractionally more each month.

Amy applied for and received Indefinite Leave to Remain a few weeks ago (fast tracked as she's visiting the US this summer). Ashley is in the process of applying for her ILR (slow-track due to no going-away-urgency and as it is cheaper) and we're fully expecting that to be granted.

Oh, and Amy is pregnant (yes, it's mine, not the milkman's) and is due late December.

Drumroll please.....

I got the call this evening offering me a job in response to the interview I had yesterday.

I don't yet know anything more than that. Don't know what year I'll be teaching or anything. I'll post a longer blog very soon giving you all the gory details.

Yay for being gainfully employed!

We're Moving House Soon, and I Don't Talk About That In This Post......

My toe, as everyone is wondering, is fine. Apparently not broken, as the pain faded after a few days. The bruising spread to the entire top of my foot, but is finally fading also. This week has been an exciting one for my poor toe... not only was it almost broken, but then the same toe was run over by a speeding tricyclist. I was at work, and managed not to scream. I still don't know how. I don't think that was why the bruising spread, but who actually can tell?

I had a sick adventure this week, too. The wonders of working in Early Childhood is that until your immune system catches up with you, you catch EVERYTHING that the children bring into the classroom. This includes icky-vomitous nasty stomach bugs. Which I caught. Tristan called me on Wednesday night, as I had gone to bed early, and after talking to him I realised that I really felt nauseous. Spent an hour or so in the bathroom, threw up 4 times. Went to bed. Woke up a few hours later. Repeat and rinse. By this time the acid from my stomach was no longer in my stomach and had spread throughout my throat and mouth. It was bad enough that I was not going to be able to sleep through it burning a hole in my esophagus. I dug through the medicine box and found, to my delight, a present left by Kelley when she was here. A liquid antacid. Anise flavoured. Bought at Boots (the 'chemist' - i.e. pharmacy.) Grimacing in advance, then telling myself that beggars cannot be choosers, I took a swig. Ew. So gross that tasting it almost made me sick again, but boy-howdy does the antacid from England work so much better than any I've ever had in the States. 5 minutes later, the burning was gone. Then back to bed me. I had to be up early for work the next morning.

7 am, and I was up calling work to find out if they still wanted me to go in. No answer. Off to work I went, hi-ho, hi-ho. I worked 8 - 9:30, and was told that I look awful, and was asked if I have a history of being 'sickly'. I calmly (I think) explained that it had been a year since working with children, and I was in a new country with new bugs. My immune system is a desert rats'. Not some water-logged river-rats'. They did not understand, but did send me home.

I popped into the store on the way, and made sure we had stuff for the BRAT diet. (We only had rice.) Bananas and wholewheat bread for toast made it into my basket. There was no applesauce, so I add apples to make my own. Then, sparkling water. Now, I have to add a side note about sparkling water. It used to be that I didn't like it. But now I do. It is nice and fizzy and sugar free and yummy goodness. And I was hoping it would settle my stomach. 4 liters in my basket. Luckily I had my backpack. It gives one a new perspective when one has to carry all one's groceries home on one's back. When sick.

Home. Didn't even manage to put all the groceries away. Threw the water into the fridge, fell into bed. Slept. Until 3 in the afternoon. Threw up again. And again. Drank water. Ate banana. Had warm, freshly made applesauce and toast for dinner.

Woke up the next morning feeling so much better. Back to the Work grind.

On an extended note, I really don't like my job very much. I am working in an early childhood center, or at least they claim to be an early childhood center. I actually think it is more like a day care. I work in the preschool classroom, ages 3 - 4, and I can think of so many things I would do differently. The staff in the room are quite content to sit back and do as little as possible, and I work extra hard to cover their slack. The room is filthy, and I have been in the process of going through it during the day and cleaning it, center by center. The other staff have asked me why, and told me that it just isn't worth it. But the children must be affected. I don't want to go into the centers, so what makes me think that the children would want to? They don't teach the children how to take care of the toys or the books. It frustrates me. Christi, I have to say that every day at work I wish fervently that you were here and we were opening an early childhood center together. It is what I day-dream about. We would be cutting edge, and the UK would tremble in awe.

On yet another note, I have 2 huge projects for University next year. One is a literature review, and while I don't know exactly what I am doing (they want something to be VERY narrow scoped, and I haven't gotten it narrow enough, I think) what I have so far is implementing critical literacy in the early childhood classroom. I could use advice, any research, commentary, or even help on narrowing my topic. I am already doing a lot of reading on it. I will also have a large research project in the spring of 2009. I want to do a comparison study between a reception classroom here and a kindergarten classroom there. That will, of course, depend on if I have the money to fly to the US to DO the research, but I would be open to being pointed towards some kindergarten teachers there that might be interested in participating in something like that. There might even be a tie in between classrooms, if the someone is that interested.

Last thing. Ashley made it fine to the States and is now with her Daddy. She almost missed her flight from Houston to El Paso, but the airline was nice and held the plane. I arrive late on the evening of the 17th, for my three weeks of Boo-goodness. I'll update you on all of the Ashley-flight fun next post.

The Long Silence... an Explanation.

Yo ho ho friends and family. It has obviously been quite awhile since I have last spoken to you all. Last you heard I had many papers left to go. As of right now, I have one left for the year.

So, the quick update and explanation of my distance. Lots of papers to write, and a new job to boot. I am working at a 'nursery' (aka daycare) here. It is a daily experience. There are many things that I would change, but it is a lesson instead in keeping my opinions to myself. It makes me often miss Christi. I daydream about an early childhood center with her...

Anyway, on top of that, I have been really really sick. I am still not entirely over it. It started with the flu (or so I'm told) and happily moved into my chest and made a home there. I still hack and cough things up, and I still feel like there is a tight band around my chest. I make it through the night without coughing, which is an improvement. For a while, I thought I was fighting off pneumonia.



And while all of this has been going on, Kelley came for a visit. We had grand plans to post blogs while she was here; you can see how well that worked out. I am hoping that she still will help me post at least 1 blog. Until then, enjoy the few pics.


I don't want to post too many on the off chance that she will still post a blog with me here about her trip. She and Stephen spent most of their time together, as I still had school and I still had to work while she was here. (Insert sappy face sucking here...)


She and Stephen spent lots of time exploring London: she now has seen more of it than I have. Lucky for me she took lots of pictures, so I could see things too. She saw awesome changing of the guard stuff... I hope she tells all of you about it.

Mother's Day came and went, and it was a hard day for me. I feel it on a daily basis not being closer to Tristan. It doesn't get any easier the longer it has been. It just aches in my chest all the time. (And no, it ISN'T the cough!) I'm sure some of you will say that I brought it on myself. I'm not looking for sympathy, just commenting on the falsity of the 'it gets better with time' statement.

Related to this, it is definite that I am coming home for a visit this summer. My plane flies into El Paso at 10:45 pm on the 17th of July, and I leave to come back at 10:45 on the morning of the 7th. I'm grateful for the chance to spend time with Boo. And I will spend my entire 34th birthday on a plane. I won't even get home until the day after my birthday. Lucky Stephen... he can forget the day and it won't be a big deal at all.

While I am in the States, Tristan and I will be staying at Mom Holen's house. The plan is to go crazy with seeing everyone. I am not going anywhere or doing anything that doesn't involve spending time with the people I love. And Tristan's 7th birthday. I'll have my old cell phone number while I am there, at least until the beginning of August. I would love to see everyone. I am really looking forward to seeing people. But most of all, I can't wait to hug my little boy (who is not so little and graduated from 1st grade yesterday.)

Hope this fills everyone in on what is going on in my world. I hope to get back into the swing of posting, especially as there is so much I could be telling to you. One more paper to go, and then it is just the day to day things. Hopefully there will be a post from Kelley soon, and I intend to force Ashley onto the computer to fill you all in on what is going on in her world too. She has been a busy little beaver lately too.

kisses, and missing every one of you...

The Grand Ol' Potty...

Kelli sent me the most wonderful gift... video. And they are just so cute that I want to share them with you. Kelli, THANK YOU for the videos. Each one feels a little more like I'm involved in their lives. I can't wait to spend time with them in the summer.

Kiera talks to Mamie... (that's me!)

Katy reads "Goodnight Moon" to Mamie...

On a completely different note, This Sunday last was Mother's Day here in the UK. No, don't worry, you didn't miss it in the US. That day comes in May. So I officially get 2 days in 1 year to commemorate being a mother... and let me just say that I worked hard enough for it, thank you!

Dan the Man, in case any of you are wondering, will be in London in a little under 3 weeks. He will be the first person that I will see from home. I keep wondering if I should ask him to smuggle things in for me... a big pack of paper-stick Q-tips, perhaps, or a box of malt-o-meal. Or corn masa preparada. Or green chile. Or anything. But it is rude to just ask randomly. I'll be sending treats home with him. I am already hording things to send back with him . (teateateateatea) The goal is to convince him that he and Christie need NEED NEED to move here. And soon too.

What else, what else... I haven't done laundry in 2 weeks, but my lesson plans and all my grading are caught up. Complements on my behaviour management at school today (I was so disappointed; they were terrible. But apparantly terrible is better than they behave with their EVERYDAY teacher. Yay, me!) but those don't make me stop wishing that I were done. I don't like this school. I have been thinking a lot about that, actually... as much as I disagree with the concept of a private school, I am not sure that I am going to be able (or want to) teach the way the schools want. It is all to the tests. So maybe I need to keep an open mind about teaching in a private school. I have hooked myself up with some addresses. Perhaps I'll fill you in on /that/ story another time.

Stephen is happy at his job. He is SO busy all the time. People to help, model airplanes to test drive. Last week I went to his work with the intention of less distractions to get more done. What actually occured was lots of watching British TV commercials, and led directly into the last blog. Did Amy get stuff done? I don't think so.

Ash is doing much better in school. Her science GCSE classes are going fabulously. She has been getting A's and B's in her mock tests, and today she came home with an A* (absolutely highest score) in her mock exam. Wednesday is the next set of REAL tests, and I think she is ready. Every good mark boosts her confidence. Good prep for her A levels. She has tentatively decided to take an A level in Biology (and Stephen-the-Biologist is so proud.) and possibly another A level in Geography or something else. She just needed time to adjust.

Oh my... It's already February?

When Gramy sends a comment that says I need to post more, that tells me something doesn't it?

It has been busy in this here house, and I am sure that you all want to hear all about it. I am in the midst of a 6 week student teaching placement... and I have distinctly mixed feelings. I am in a year 6 class (6th grade) and it is a particularly interesting place to be. Years 2 and 6 are the years of the SATS, which are significantly high pressure tests for both the kids and the schools. Year 2 they try quite hard to hide the tests, but Year 6 it is right there in the open. The kids know about them, know they will be judged, and most, actually, are told often that they will be found lacking.

At first I couldn't figure out why they placed me in a Year 6 classroom, as it was pretty obvious that they really didn't want me there. The administration has made it clear on more than one occasion that I am only to be teaching groups, and that the teacher needs to be responsible for things like lesson planning and whole group instruction. That doesn't work, though, since there are university requirements that must be met. That, and papers that I need to write afterwards that are based entirely on the process of planning, delivering, assessing, then planning from assessment.

While I could go on for quite a while... and I may still do, I want to give other things their fair shot to be spoken of.

Ashley is in the midst of a work placement thing, and is spending some time at the art store on the High Street. She spent yesterday running the till (that's the cash register), calculating change in her head, and unpacking canvases. She now knows more about canvases that anyone else I know. She will be there for another 2 days, and says she likes it. This morning, though, we ended up waking her. She had turned off her alarm for being too tired. Flashed me back to my much younger days when work was not nearly as important as things like hanging out with friends and going out and sleep. Made me feel surprisingly old.

Stephen has shaved his beard. It was lovely while it lasted. He is almost 2 different people. With the beard, he looks older, more dignified, more like the stereotypical Englishman, I think. Clean shaven, you can really see his baby face and he looks years younger than he actually is. Both ways, I had to take a few days to get used to it. He just didn't look like himself. I think he was glad to have shaved, though. His mum definitely likes him better clean shaven. I am happy either way, which I suppose it a good thing, as it is HIS face.

Quite a while ago, Dan and others asked me some questions, which I have yet to answer, So, because i have put them off for so long, I'll do it now.


1) What are you homesick for (besides Tristan)?

Hmm... this is a tough one. There are food items... green chile most especially, and corn tortillas, elk meat, and malt o meal. I miss the cactus. I miss the sunshine. I miss knowing my way around the town and larger grocery stores with familiar items in. I miss quarters. (They have 20p pieces, which seem just silly. I learned that 4 25's is 100 by using quarters. 20 p just seems like a waste.) [I learned that five 20s are 100 - Stephen] I miss my animals. I miss my family. More than missing my family is missing the ability I had to drop everything and go and see them. I have gone longer without seeing them, but the simple fact that I CANT go and see them if I wanted to makes it that much harder. I miss my friends. I am so cautious about making friends here. I am not comfortable opening up. So we do have friends, but they are Stephen's friends, or university colleagues. Not the same.

2) Are you feeling comfortable living in the UK? Are the cultural quirks working themselves out?

I have come to discover that Americans are prudes. I did not consider myself prudish in the States, as a matter of fact, I think I was quite the opposite... risqué, even. But here... commercials make me blush. Comments make me blush. People say things and I am offended, and it is no big deal to them. Sex is taboo in the US. Here it is something that is much more ok to tease people about. So... I am a prude. Knowing this means that I have to be very aware of the cultural lens that I look at things through, and often have to pick apart my response before sharing it with anyone else.

As far as comfort, I don't think that I can yet say that I am comfortable. I know my way around much better than I used to. I feel at home in my house. I don't notice the accents any more (there are even times when I cant tell the difference in a TV program between an American and a British accent.) But I absolutely feel like a foreigner. I actually have a new understanding of how it must feel for immigrants in the US. Sometimes it is downright unintentionally hostile. All the talk about immigrants stealing British jobs, how immigrants should be kicked out, how no one wants immigrants, immigrants should pay more taxes, more tuition, have less pay... all things I heard in the US, but now I am on the other side of the fence. It is not that people are intentionally unwelcoming. They don't see how the rhetoric affects the atmosphere. I wonder if Mexican immigrants in El Paso feel as uncomfortable and lesser.

3) Have you had to go to the doctor yet? If so, was it easy to get in (RE: Sicko).

I have been to the doctor, but not because I was sick. When you register with the NHS, you have an appointment with the nurse for a history, etc. That went smoothly. I had piles and piles of medical records, since I brought copies of EVERYTHING with me (all right, I hear the "Obsessive-Compulsive!" shouts from the peanut gallery... hush!) I have not been sick enough to go to the doctor. Neither has Ash. There is much less an environment of go to the doctor. Most people don't, unless they are VERY ill. It is frowned on. You don't need a doctors note to leave work sick, unless you are out for more than 5 days. Herbs are a bit easier to get, though the raw unprocessed ones are harder to find. I feel very lucky that I brought all mine and they made it through customs ok.

4) How did you do your first semester?

The school year is not divided into semesters here. And the grading system is messy. So bear with me. This degree that I am doing is a 3 year degree. However, none of the grades from the first year are worth anything. But the second and third year, each piece of assessed work is actually a percentage of my final degree grade. Classes are the entire year long, and each class has between 1 and 3 pieces of assessed work. My classes this year are Professional Studies (2 pieces), Science (2 pieces), English (1 piece), Maths (3 pieces), Art (2 pieces), and Inclusion (2 pieces). So, 50% of my final degree grade is in these pieces of work (all of which are really really huge, 8-15 (and some even larger) page papers with appendices and 10-20 researched cited sources.) So, 6 classes, each class is worth 8 1/3 % of my final grade. Divide that into the number of pieces of assessed work and you have how much each piece is worth.

Like I said, grading is messy. Degrees have value. A first degree is the best you can get, then a 2-1, then a 2-2, then a third. [Actually there is a grade that sits under a third, there's a level that is just called a pass. If an honours degree is being studied, a pass may lose the honours label. - Stephen] (I know, it makes no sense. I still am not entirely clear on it.) Assessed work follows the same type of scale. Technically, I could get up to a 100, but no one EVER gets anything above an 80. EVER. A 70 to 80 is a first. 60 to 70 is a 2-1. A 50 to a 60 is a 2-2. 40 to 50 is a third, and below that is a fail. Most people end up with a 2-2. That is average. 2-1 is really good, and it is nigh-on impossible to get a first degree. It happens, but it is always to those ephemeral people who have no lives. (And quite possibly to a colleague named Cleander, who has 2 small children and apparently never sleeps. Or so she says. We still cant figure out what she is doing to get those grades.)

Before I actually answer the question, I have to point out that I have really struggled. The writing style is completely different here. I remember being taught how to write a 5 paragraph essay... 1 paragraph introduction with topic sentence and 3 main points. 1 paragraph for each point, with evidence. Conclusion states topic and 3 points again. I remember being taught this and then told to NEVER WRITE LIKE THAT AGAIN. That's how they write here. And there can be absolutely no independent thought or opinion in the realm of academic writing at my level. EVERYTHING must be backed up with evidence. Someone else must say everything that I want to say. No one has taught me what is expected, I have just been assumed to know. So this whole time has been a process of figuring out exactly what it is that they want. And it has been tough. and I am not sure that I like it. I am a good writer, but it hasn't seemed like it lately.

Ok, my grades. Professional Studies, I have turned in 1 assignment, but have not gotten it back. Science, I have turned in 1, and got a 60. English, none turned in. Maths, 2 turned in. 1 a 56 (that was the first paper I've turned in) and the other a 78. Art, 1 turned in, got a 73. Inclusion, 1 turned in, got a 66. So I do some figuring, and right now I am looking at a 66.84%. That is a 2-1. This is not final, it will depend on how well I do in the rest of my assessed work. But I seem to be on an upward trend.

The hardest part of it all has been combating my own feeling of having poor grades. A 58 % looks terrible when you are used to that being a failing grade.

5) What language differences have you found?

Tons. Just for ease, the first word will be American English, and the second British English. And Ill provide the more daring of you a link to an American/British English dictionary. Whoever said that we speak the same language is WRONG.

• period - full stop
• quotation marks - speech marks
• parenthesis - brackets
• gas - petrol
• big rig - lorry
• tylenol or acetaminophen - paracetamol
• pants - trousers
• underwear - pants
• trash can - rubbish bin

There are so many, I almost don't know where to start. And this doesn't touch on words we spell differently (fetus/foetus or center/centre, for two) or words that we spell the same but say differently. (herb and route, off the top of my head.)

For far more than I can or will give, check out here. If you want to know the slang terms and see the site I use most often, then check out here. And for a website that points out cultural differences, go here.

Have Yourself A...

First of all, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends and family. Even though I didn't do anything, really, but study... I was with you in spirit. Imagining Anna's pumpkin cheesecake, Dar's turkey... my pecan and pumpkin pie. I miss you, my family and friends.

There was, of course, not enough time or fundage to call everyone that I wanted to call, or talk as long as I wanted to those I did call. But my thoughts were with each one of you.

There are still 4 projects left on my plate... and they are all due next week, so this really is crunch time. Last night I dreamt about not getting them all done in time. That I was trapped doing them forever and nothing was actually getting done at all, and that the clock was pressing down on me, crushing me. No wonders what I have been thinking about, right?

There have been so many changes here...

The Christmas lights are turned on in the High Street at night. It is amazing to me how something so simple really transforms the whole street. The trees look as though there are will-o-the-wisps floating in them, the whole street glows, and there is an air of Christmas. It makes me excited for the holiday.

The weather, while still cold, is far less cold than I expected. I still freeze, it is still at least as cold as the deep winter in New Mexico, but there has been no snow, and only one day when I walked outside and swore my face was going to fall off from the bitter frost. It has been raining a lot... which I still haven't gotten used to. I still LOVE the rain so much, seeing it grey outside makes me happy.

The river here is SO sensitive to the rain. When it doesn't rain, the river is low. The ducks and moorhens walk around on rocky patches. But the day after a rain, the river runs deep, and if you see a duck at all, it has attached itself to a glob of waterplants to avoid being swept away. It often amuses me that the ducks are so graceful when they swim, while the moorhens have to paddle like crazy and still get swept downstream. That is the joy of not having webbed feet. Poor moorhens.

Speaking of moorhens, the babies I watched from the time I got here have finished growing up and have moved away. Occasionally Stephen and I see one that he says is one of the babies, but I have no idea how he can tell. They all look the same to me anymore.

The one change that I am not happy with involves the sun. It gets really dark here, really early. By 5:30 it is midnight black. The sun is setting at 4. Stephen tells me that by the deep of winter, we will walk to work/school in the dark, and walk back home in the dark. I can't really imagine that yet... and wonder how I will respond. I hope I am not someone who needs the sun in order to function. I have never not had the sun before...

There are changes in us, too. Ash has taken to going out wandering with her friends, and occasionally she wanders out past when I am comfortable. In her defense, my comfort level has nothing at all to do with time, but with how dark it is... so I feel like she is out WAY too late and it is only 6pm. She is so good about coming home when she says and letting me know when she is going and with whom. For the most part, anyway.

I am ready to be done with this degree. I feel as though I am most productive when I don't have to interrupt what I am doing in order to go to class. I spent a few days at one of the local schools, focused on behavioural disorders, and I enjoyed it. I miss being in a classroom. Next term I will spend 6 weeks in a classroom, and I am looking forward to it. I never wanted to be a teacher because of the studying... but because I love being in a classroom learning with the kids. (Though I find that there are some specific classes I really want to take right now... physics, for one. And something math-y.) I miss Tristan so much that it hurts. And I made an apple pie that was so lovely... including the pie crust, from scratch. Yay me.

Stephen is enjoying his job; at least as much as I suppose it is possible to. He has lots of opportunity to direct his own tasks. He likes that. Gaming happens at our house, which I like, because I can pretend that I am involved even though I'm not... and it makes me a little more ok with the fact that I simply don't have time to do fun things like game the way I want to.

Well, this post is long enough to perhaps make up for a bit of my not blogging as much as I want. By the end of next week, things should calm down. I only have 1 big paper that /must/ be done over the break. The rest of the page long list is simply things to keep me ahead. So I should have more time to keep you all up to date. More soon, then!

In Which Amy is Not Weawy Gone... just werry werry qwiet... (Myspace Blog)

I have the bestest friends in the whole wide world.

I know that it has been forever since I last posted... and every day I tell myself that I need to post for all of you today. And it doesn't happen - what with all the day to day life stuff.

Of which there is a lot lately... wanna hear, you say? OK! I'll spill...

When we last left our hero-ess...
she was ranting about the horrors of capital punishment and talking about her response to the death of Sadaam Hussein. She was gearing up for school, but had not started...

Well...

My old job called me out of the blue one day. This would be the old job that I tried very hard to get them to work around my schedule, even going so far as to ask them to split my position so that I could keep my job and still go to school. Needless to say, the answer was NO! So they call me... and here is the conversation:

Them: Um... hi Amy.... um... could you come in and meet with us?

Me: Huh?

Them: (wail) We can't keep a teacher in your classroom and we have gone through three and can you please just come in and meet with us?!

Me: (thinking) This should be fun... bet it is just going to be the same old same old...

Me: Well... ok.

Meeting went as follows: I walk in, sit down.

Them: (handing me a notepad and a pen) Write down the 4 things we need to do to get you to say yes. *YES!!! that WAS an exact quote!*

Me: huh?!

scribble scribble scribble

Moral of the story: I got three of the four. A significant raise... part time.... responsible for only 1 session of a two session split. The only thing I asked for and they could not give me was benefits.

So I am working again. Hard. About 25 hours a week. Trying to make up for not being there for a semester. And school. 16 hours. Calculus, 2 histories, geology, and an honours English class (Arthurian legend - yee haw! I love it!). I'm so busy that I gave up Yoga just to keep my head above water. Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, as my daddy would say.

But that's ok.... because I am NOT replaceable. That is the highlight of this. They /regretted/ letting me go. I am not replaceable. HaHa! I am awesome!

To Stephie and Paula... thanks for loving me... for checking up on me... and for pushing me to post. My kids rock. Jim and Erin got married... and neither of them is spilling on how to get at the wedding pics so I can post some of me and the kids on here. The world is a blissful place and I love learning. Plus I am adored and kept, and it feels tremendous.

Oh, and I have a spare cat... a large orange tabby that gives hugs and kisses (seriously) and is the sweetest boy I have ever met... and he really needs a home. Hijo has decided to name him Chanco... and can't understand why we can't keep him. My house is just too small. He needs to be neutered, and he has a very loud voice... but so so sweet. Someone take him before he worms his way into my heart and I cannot let him go.

Ok, enough babble....
I'm not promising more... but I'm going to try.

Oh! Speaking of no more babble... did you all notice The Dead One called me goddess? (check out my comments... it's there) I'm totally digging that... I should be referred to as such more often!