Double Trouble / March Playlist

I mentioned in my last post that I might be adopting a Special Needs kitty. Well... He's home!

Meet Marshall Lee. He's a cuddly cat who likes to knead on your chest and give kisses on your face. Marshall came in through a confiscation case. There's only so much medical we can do at the shelter so when it became apparent that he had some sort of issue with his back legs, he wasn't able to be an adoption candidate. I waited to see if a rescue would step forward. They didn't. Knowing how sweet he was, I knew he deserved a second chance. So instead of being euthanized, he came home with us a few days ago after being neutered. Today was his first appointment with my vet. Speculation is either back trauma or neurological issues. Even if we spend an arm and a leg for x-rays, we wouldn't be able to fix him if the bones have healed wrong. That's if the x-rays even picked up anything. Neurological problems are very costly and hard to diagnose. So what we all decided was to leave him be. He can walk and jump (he just does the Bambi on ice thing where his back legs splay out or don't catch up with his front). He eats, drinks, and goes to the bathroom normally. He's just a little on the wobbly side. Unless his condition or quality of life worsens, he's happy to live his life as normal as possible.

Marceline wasn't so sure about him at first. Oh wait... You remember her right? This was the little kitten we ended up keeping last year when I fostered a litter. She's grown quite a bit since then and she's a handful. Her favorite activities are wrestling with Quiche and watching us shower. Her obsession with water is very strange. Also, you get cool points if you get the reference on their names!

Anyways, she was curious about her male doppelgänger the first couple of days but would hiss when he came up to her. Luckily Marshall is an easygoing fellow and just ignored her. The easiest way to intro cats is to make sure they both have separate safe areas where they can be kept away from each other. I only ever let them socialize when I was there to supervise. If Marceline became agitated, I removed her from him and tried as much as possible to end any interactions on a positive. Introducing cats can be harder to do then dogs, that's for sure. It's really important to try and find a suitable personality match before even adopting. The last three days, they have been spending time together and greeting each other properly. It went easier then I thought it would to be honest. 

So we are very happy to have another addition to the pack. That makes 3 dogs, a foster dog, 2 cats, 2 finches, a rat, and a hedgehog. WHEW. Quite the menagerie we have! I think it's safe to say our animal family is complete for awhile.

I also thought I would end this post with a playlist of songs I've been listening to on repeat lately. Sometimes I can go months without listening to new music. However I've been coming across a lot of good stuff lately and wanted to share it with everyone. I've already got some of my coworkers hooked!

 

Snapshots Lately 3/14/17

How's it going everyone? It's eventful as always over here. It's barely Spring but already feels like summer which means I'm layering on the sunscreen and overheated after every playgroup but it's worth it! I'll be honest, most of these photos are a few weeks to a month old. My phone had an untimely accident with my bubble bath and I'm waiting for my replacement to come in. So older photos will have to do.

The shelter is busy as always, spring means puppy and kitten season. We had a newborn bull terrier puppy dropped off not too long ago (who I'm babysitting above). She was the sweetest thing and born with a deformity where she is missing her front legs. She's luckily gone to a rescue and seems to be doing really well! I also celebrated a year of working at the shelter (feels like so much longer!) , cuddled a variety of cute pitties, and we made Quiche an official part of the family on Valentine's Day. She even got her own photo shoot to celebrate!

To drive my boyfriend even more nuts... It looks like I'm adopting a special needs cat within the next few days. Don't worry, we are still at legal limit with our pack of animals and this little guy couldn't find a rescue which means if I didn't take him, nobody would. Johnny's really ok with it, I swear! Since I've just come to realize that I gave Quiche more of an intro then I did for Marceline when we adopted her (and she came first!), I'll post something special for the cats of the family once he's here.

Sprocket is also still with us. It's turns out he has chronic heart failure and then gave us a very scary day when he had some kidney issues. However he is now spunky as can be and doing so well. Hopefully after his next checkup he will be adoptable but for now he remains as our single resident foster.

That's about all I think there is to catch up on for now! Hope everyone's enjoying the extra sunshine and longer days, I sure am!

Back to the Gypsy that I was

Happy 2017! Maybe a new year will motivate me to update this more frequently.

I feel like so much has happened recently. For Christmas, Johnny surprised me with tickets to see Stevie Nicks. That woman is my spirit animal, she was absolutely amazing. I recently found this star print jumpsuit that was so Nicks and inspired this self portrait shoot, I couldn't resist. Also the fact that I now own a romper when I hate them so much just goes to show how much I'm opening myself to new possibilities this year.

A few other things that have been happening:

+ I've started exploring Wicca and Witchcraft again. Before you guys get your panties in a twist, no it's not about worshiping the devil. Pagan religion focuses on a nature based religion, respecting the earth, elements, and all those around you. Do what you will as long as you harm none. I practiced when I was in middle school and then got distracted by... well growing up really. Recently I had a few signs over the months and an itch I needed to scratch so I joined up with a school, found a wonderfully inspiring group of people, and slowly doing solitary practice. There's so many kinds of witches and wiccans, I'm still doing my research and trying to define exactly what my calling is, reading a lot of books and such. However my crystal collection is growing and Johnny blessed me with a wonderful tarot deck so I'm learning every day!

+We have decided to adopt Quiche, our little blond crazy Chihuahua mix foster that nobody seems to want and yet fits into out household so perfectly. We also have a new foster named Sprocket. I was one of the only people able to touch him at the shelter, he's an older fellow with 5 rotten teeth and heart failure. Poor guy. He's been with us for about a week and just started meds so we remain hopeful for him. If his heart failure turns out to be terminal though, he will stay with us for as long as he lives.

+ Can't begin to express how much I love my new department at work. It's not always easy, having to make those choices of who passes to adoptions and who doesn't. However I love being able to work with the animals that need that extra TLC so I can try to get them shelter side. I've been filling in for someone on maternity who is finally back, so now I'll be solely focusing on my Playgroup position. My job literally consists of watching dogs play together and making sure everyone gets along. Seriously, I get paid to watch dogs play. I'm a lucky girl.

+I'm finally going through photos from last years WPPI shoot that I never got a chance to edit. About time right?

My goals for 2017 are pretty simple. Keep rescuing, find inspiration and motivate myself back to photography, keep learning and growing as a person.  Keep searching my crystal visions.

Romper: Charlotte Russe (currently on sale!)

Dreamcatcher: Thrifted

Hat: Thrifted

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