HEY Shaun!

[Guest guest]

All are welcome here Darlin. I live in an apt not quite as big as a

single wide but also have 3 furry kids...and one human who is

eleven. The three furballs rule the roost. Crazy little Rosy (skinny

butt black cat) is on my lap right now sleeping. She will wake me at

5 am to play....like I need to loose sleep with PA. Tiger Lily is

the diva. She was the first and will purr one minute and hiss the

next. The vet says not to give her Midol. I want to. lol. Jemima is

the old lady. She is almost 20 pounds. Black with gold paint smears

on her. I had her when I was married to my X and ended up with her

again last year. They are indoor kittys so I'm cleaning out the

litter box twice a day and someone's always hacking up a hairball.

The human is . She is a doll. She has high functioning autism

and is quite high functioning...hard to keep up with. Oh...and then

there is the swamp in the kitchen. In there we have Hicks, the fat

frog who lives in a tank with the cute turtle who will let

you hand feed her. Beside them lives a male and female tree

frogs...Huff and Pickler. And then there is Paris, the bullfrog

raised from a tadpole. They all eat live crickets. At first, I'd

rather give myself another Enbrel injection that dig those dang

crickets out of their box and toss them into the tanks but I have a

system now so I don't have to touch them. Whew. Right before it

rains...you should hear them all singing. The first time I heard

Hicks, the toad, I thought it was one of the cats hacking. The first

time I heard the tree frogs, I thought had changed my cell

ringer again. The first time I heard the crickets, I decided I was

just plain nuts to have all of that stuff in my kitchen. Beleive it

or not, there is no smell. I make my neighbors do a nose check

often! I work hard to keep them clean and I have come to love

watching them. They are great entertainment for my daughter as well.

Animals are good medicine. Even slimy ones. To tell you a bit about

me...I was barely walking a month ago and could not work. I got on

Medicaid and got on Enbrel and it worked. I actually ran up the

stairs at work today. Could not believe it. I cancelled my Medicaid

and my new coverage through my job will start Aug 1. I started

selling Fords last week. If those people only knew how hard this

year has been. My daughter was in the hospital twice too. But with

the help and encouragement of many friend....many of them right her

on this site...I got through and I know that I will continue to get

through. This is an incredible group of peeps here! Glad to have you

here but I'm sorry for all that brought you here. I'm sure this

can't be easy on your partner either. She should feel free to ask

for advise on here as well...I'm sure those who are living with

spouses, kids, partners, and roomies could give her advise on how to

better help you too. -Betz