Matt’s home!!!!!  I’m so excited    At LAX, there were a ton of paparazzi hanging around the international arrival gate – David Beckham was supposedly arriving.  Also, Eric Dane (from “Gray’s Anatomy”) and Rebecca Gayheart (from “Dead Like Me”) got off while I was waiting.  I didn’t recognize them, because they were wearing sunglasses and scarves and things, but jillions of flashbulbs went off and people were following them around.  Then Matt came out and I hurled myself into his arms and it was all very cute-ness, once he figured out that the blurry ball of redhead bouncing at him was me and that I would indeed stop just before knocking him over at full speed.  I am soooooo happy he’s back.

We’re staying in a trailer on the property where Fezzik is being boarded, so that’s exciting.  It’s a farther drive to work for me, but it’s slightly more practical for two people and we get to spend time with Fez.  We have a camera now (not just my crummy, fuzzy, pixelated phone camera) so I will try to post pics and video of Matt, Fez, and the area we’re staying.  Work changed their mind about using Fez in a commercial (this is the third time they have asked me to participate in a commercial and then backed out, so I don’t think I’ll say “yes” next time).  This means I just get to relax and spend time with him now instead of trying to get him to do things for the camera, which is something of a relief.

Spending the next three months fundraising; ideally, we’d like to purchase our house right before Matt has to head back to Scotland (he has to return every 90 days due to visa waiver reasons, and stay for a week or two before returning).  That way I could move in, get things settled and all, and then he could come back the next time to a real, legitimate home for us.  So, my retail site should be going up soon.  Besides my very cool vintage clothing collection, we may also be looking into selling vintage books, as well as the trailer and my car.  So, if you need/want any of these things, they will soon be available.  We are currently building my new website and I’ll post linking to it hopefully sometime this week once I’ve got it a bit more established and polished 

Also, I’m very excited about all the discussion going on over at Matt’s site, Homeless Tales.  There are several new authors and comments have really picked up lately.  People are having some really thought-provoking ideas and, even when they don’t agree, some really respectful and healthy debate, which is awesome.  It’s so great to see so many homeless and formerly homeless individuals from such varied backgrounds and perspectives coming up with plans and approaches with which to combat the problem.  Please go check out the new articles there – I was blown away by the depth and preparation that obviously went into each of them.

Matt’s plane lands approximately 5 hours from now.  I’m stoked!!!!!  This time at the airport I get to hurl myself at him and be all mushy and adorable.  The first time I was too nervous about whether he’d like me as much in person, whether I’d be invading his personal space, etc.  Now I know that all signs are go, so woot!

Also, Fezzik is going to be in a commercial for www.makeastar.com, which is pretty awesome!  I knew my pooch had star quality    Actually, he’s just going to be representing the “talented pet” contest they have going on, so it’ll probably be an hour or so of sitting around trying to coax him to actually DO something in front of a camera.  You know dogs, they’ll do everything you tell them to until it actually matters, haha.  I’d better stock up on meat treats this weekend and try to get him to put together simple concepts in his head:

“me + jump through hoop = MEAT!”

“me + stand on hind legs and slobber on Bri’s cheek = omg omg omg MEAT!!!!!!”

“bwahahahahahahhahahaha MEEEEEEEEEEAT!!!!!!!!!  IT’S RAINING MEAT!!!!!!!!!”

So… yeah.  We’ll see how that works.  He’s totally gonna be the most famous Neapolitan Mastiff EVAR.  Not that I can actually think of any other Neapolitan Mastiffs in entertainment.  But I bet there’s one or two out there somewhere.

That’s right, Beethoven!  You ain’t got nothing on my blockheaded dog!  My dog will whip your arse with his superior lumbering skills!  And his laying there and snoring/drooling on command skills!  Hell, yeah!!!!!!!!

The photos are from when I first got Fezzik (he’s filled out a bit since).  You can click to enlarge them.  The video is at the dog park, before I became homeless.  I filmed it as an update to Karma Rescue, from whom I adopted him.  Sorry for the poor/blurry quality, the video camera on my phone is, as on most phones, über-suck.  And yes, the baby-talk mode into which I lapse in the presence of my ginormous lug of a dog does embarrass me a bit.  But I don’t care.  I luuuuuurve him.

[Edit: Sorry, had to remove video for the time being. Didn't realize that by using a video from my Facebook page, my full name and link to my profile would be shown on the vid. Couldn't figure out how to remove just the name, so had to scrape the whole thing.]

So, if you follow my Twitter stream, you probably already know that my retroactive UI checks DID finally show up last week in the P.O. box (wooooooot!)

Some of it went towards practical things such as paying bills, but I have reopened one of my old checking accounts (the credit union one, with the great interest rate) and shoveled the rest in there, to hopefully accrue and amass enough to buy a house.

Ah, there’s the other thing.  The house that I had been working towards was pulled off the market (not sold); I’m assuming due to the California 90-day foreclosure moratorium that recently took effect.

Oh, well 

Matt and I have found another house that we absolutely adore.  It is still a fixer, but it is in much better condition and it costs much less (Asking price is in the $190K range).  If we can just get a mortgage for this, we’ll be set.  I have a few thousand already; we’re on our way!  I’m not going to post pictures of/info on this house because I’ve started getting paranoid that someone else will see it, think “ooh, that’s a great deal!” and it’ll get snatched from under our nose like the last one did.  So, sorry… if we get it then I’m sure I’ll be posting pics galore!

Other than that, Matt returns to Cali on Friday evening and I can’t wait to see him.  He’ll be here for 3 months this time, which is awesome.  We’re going to be spending a lot of time with Fezzik, and taking on extra work to bring in extra income, because right now we are super-focused on this house thing.  It’ll be a major bummer if we lose it, so we’re really gonna be cracking down.  It’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

~Bri

P.S.  I am wearing a pretty, sparkly, antique Edwardian/art nouveau diamond and platinum piece of jewelry on the ring finger of my left hand…  Hmmmmm…  What could that be?  Pictures soon, I hope.  Actually, I may soon go looking for an affordable Wal-Mart camcorder/camera in order to document my life with Matt, since the one on my phone sucks.

P.P.S.  “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” is holding open auditions.  I have decided that I should totally do this, because:

a) I need money for our house.

b) I have watched this show and have a hunch that I am at least as smart as a 5th grader.  Hell, I was one not too long ago…  Maybe 13 years ago?  And I was a smartass, too.  I was the kind of kid who looked down my nose at all the other kids reading fluffy young adult novels, because I was busy toting around “Gone With the Wind” and “Shogun”.  Hell, “A Wrinkle in Time” was my first novel.  I was 6.

Matt is on a plane to Scotland as I type.  He needed to return home for about two weeks to sort some things out, and will be returning after that for a three-month visit (90 days is the longest he is allowed to stay in the U.S. at a stretch, per the visa waiver program currently in place between our respective countries).

I had a nice little breakdown at the airport.  Tried very hard not to cry, and failed miserably – burst out into huge, jagged, red-faced sobs (and Matt was quite a bit moist as well, which I found oddly reassuring).  I think we may have annoyed some innocent bystanders.  Our goodbyes were quite prolonged and punctuated by lots of kisses, hugs, sniffles, caresses, longing gazes, and other similar things that make strangers barf and wish that you would move the hell out of their way so they can get through the security checkpoint to the metal detectors, already.  I finally watched him head up the escalator towards the boarding area, until I lost sight of him.  He turned around many times to catch my eye and wave.  I know he misses and loves me just as much as I do him.  That is something completely new.  I am grateful for it.

Now I’m back at the motel where I will be spending the next few nights (I check out Friday morning and need to return to the trailer at Wal-Mart), and I’m trying to keep myself occupied with random things like surfing the Internet, catching up on “So You Think You Can Dance”, making dinner (ramen noodles), reading books – anything to keep my mind off the gaping hole in my life.  But nothing is working.  You see, it was hard enough being without Matt before he ever actually came out here.  I wanted to be around him in the worst way.  But now that he has been here, it’s about a million times worse.  I’m not only longing for something I’ve never had, I’m now missing something that has been here, filled my life, and is now absent.  It’s a very slight, intangible difference, but it’s there.

The passenger seat of my car feels empty.  My hand feels empty without his to hold.  The bed in the motel feels empty without him to cuddle with.  Everything feels kind of sepia-coloured and there’s a weight on my chest.  Occasionally I think I’m all cried out, but something like a half-finished carton of grape juice or a bag of Doritos he left behind will start me off again.  My pillow smells like him.  There’s still sand on the floor that we tracked in from our day at Newport Beach this weekend (he wanted to see the Pacific Ocean).  Perhaps I’ll feel a little better once I know his flight has landed and he’s arrived safely.  But even then, I know I can’t be completely top-notch again until he’s here with me, and we’re wrapping up all the loose ends to ensure that we won’t have to be parted again.

* * * * *

The “sweet” part of my bittersweet day came after leaving the airport.  I stopped by the post office to check my P.O. box.  Inside – oh, happy day! – sat 6 EDD claim forms.  That’s right, after months of waiting, phone calls, e-mails, and stressing…  I have received the paperwork to file for 12 weeks’ worth of retroactive UI benefits.  I mail them out tomorrow; the resulting checks are *supposed* to be returned to me within 10 business days, which means that soon I could be brandishing $5,700 (normally would be $5,400 but a stimulus program in place provides me an extra $25 per week, which sounds small, but obviously adds up over time).

So… woohoooooooooo!!!!!!  I have to be very careful with the money – hoard it up and get a mortgage all straightened out.  This is a huge step towards Matt and I buying our own home (which is good, since a place I was in love with was just sold to another interested party… I’m awfully torn up about it; I hope I don’t have to experience that kind of disappointment again).  I just have to scrimp and save and not blow it.  I am staying in the trailer for the weeks that Matt is in Scotland; once he returns, we are probably going to stay in a rented motorhome for $450/month.  It will be on the same property Fezzik is being boarded at, so we will be able to be with him full-time, and Matt can take him out for long walks every day and bond with his new dog.  The motorhome will also be hooked up with electricity and water, and we may even have cable TV and internet access included, which is obviously a vast improvement over Wal-Mart, and no facilities/utilities.  The downside is that the ranch is in Norco/Riverside area, so it will be a long drive to work and back for me.  With gas prices on the rise, that obviously isn’t super great.  Still, $450 is so little per month, we should save enough to more than make up for the fuel costs.

Once we are esconced on the ranch, I would like to look into selling the trailer, and into settling with Wachovia and selling my car as well.  That way, I can use the truck that I inherited from Bill, which is currently towing the trailer (and which is completely paid off).  Gas mileage is worse on the truck than on my car, but again, there’s the issue of not having to make any more car payments to Wachovia the crooks.

I think things are finally looking up for us.  I was a bit down this weekend because one of the tires on my car had a blowout, and I had to invest a lot of money in a new one that I hadn’t planned on spending – goodbye, paycheck!  But then my claim forms finally arrived, and it’s a huge weight off my mind.  Now, as long as my baby makes it home in one piece (and also returns to me safely in two weeks) I think things will be well on their way to perfect, or as perfect as imperfect, unpredictable life could ever possibly be for two crazy kids madly in love with one another.

OK, so it’s update day.

First of all – woot, Matt made front page of Digg a few days ago!  So if you found me indirectly through his article, welcome!  We are both so appreciative for the outpouring of support and congratulations we’ve received from so many!  We have received a couple of offers of donations – honestly, for now we’re doing OK; there have been minor financial/food struggles occasionally, but on the whole we’re managing.  If you absolutely feel like you wish to make some sort of donation or contribution, please do so at HomelessTales.com – there is a “Donate” button in the right column of the front page that enables Matt to keep the site up and running, or you can PayPal him directly at mdbarnes@hotmail.co.uk.

It looks like we have another reprieve for Fezzik, thanks to Karma Rescue in Los Angeles.  I originally adopted Fez from Karma, and when things got too tight to afford his board with Sage (my hours and pay at work were recently cut), I tearfully contacted them to find out about re-adopting him out.  Well, it turns out that Karma would love to see us kept together, so they have super-duper-generously offered to pay his board for three months.  I can’t tell you how amazingly awesome that is – Matt and I are struggling to move him out here and buy a home together, and we had envisioned our life as a family with Fezzik as our dog, sleeping in our room, loving and protecting our children, etc.  It was so difficult to send that e-mail to Karma Rescue, and neither of us expected such an accommodating and generous response.  Our effusive thanks to Rande and Cassian of Karma, and to Barbara DeSantis, Fezzik’s former foster mom (as an aside, her husband is director Larry Charles, who directed Religulous, which is a really interesting and thought-provoking documentary about religion – how awesome is that?!)  If you are looking for a dog, or dogs are close to your heart, please support and/or adopt through them.  You can find their list of adoptable pets here.  I have nothing but good things to say about them; they care so much about each and every animal that they place, and were on hand every time I had a question or needed help regarding Fezzik or his training.  I recommend them so, so highly.

Matt’s next visit to Cali is in early July, and he will be staying through October.  We seem to have found a low-cost rent option for that time period (we have stayed in the trailer for a few days since we ran out of motel funds, and let me tell you, that thing was not meant for two people!) so that’s helpful.   As a plus, we will also have access to utilities/facilities which will mean no more driving 8 miles to shower at the gym, or walking to the Arco gas station at 3 a.m. to use the restroom!  Yay!  Matt flies back home one week from today (*sniffle*) so for the couple of weeks that he is in Scotland I will stay in the trailer and accummulate/hoard funds for fun things – such as a house and a low-budget, very DIY wedding 

California’s 90-day foreclosure moratorium started today, blegh.  Unless I am misunderstanding something, this means that the possibility of purchasing the house I was pining over is now pretty much kaput, or at least on hiatus for the next 3 months or more (it was a short sale), so I may need to just look at other options…  Matt and I are scoping out a few other places and are working on raising the necessary funds, which is around $10K-$15K.  Still waiting on my back EDD claim forms – FINALLY got through to EDD via phone (not just e-mail) last week and was assured that THIS time, they are REALLY sending out all my claim forms (I remain skeptical, yet hopeful).  With that money, we would have a good head start towards the money we need to buy our own home.

We are also working towards setting up an online business for me, to sell my vintage clothing on.  I just have way, waaaaay too much of it, and while I’ve done a decent job selling off some pieces on eBay, I’m well aware that I have a good eye for it, and a drive to do a lot more with it than I have, and make quite a decent profit.  Combined with Matt’s knowledge of the interwebz, I think we can go a long ways more towards helping ourselves out financially.  Still hoping not to have to sell Ingrid, but I would like to sell the trailer once Matt and I are more settled elsewhere.  It was to eventually go to my sister in AZ, but alas, no longer, so it’s mine to do as I please with (woot!)  I would also like to eventually sell my car and just use the (paid-off) truck I inherited (which is currently towing the trailer), but evil Wachovia is making that sooooo difficult.  I’ve contemplated joining one of the several pending class-action lawsuits against them; I wonder if it’s worth the hassle.  From what I’ve read, thousands of other consumers have been ripped off by them, car-loan-wise.  What a bunch of crooks.  The dealer I bought the car through chose them to finance me; I wish I’d known better at the time than to go ahead with the purchase, but it was my first car loan, so oh well.  Life happens, and you take lessons from it, I guess.

So yep yep, if you asked a question in the previous comments, I hope this post answers it, and thanks again sooooooo much to everyone with kind words and support.  I’m so happy and it just goes to show that great things can come out of even the most shite situations.  I will continue to dig my way out of homelessness, and I fully realize how lucky I am to have so many awesome people cheering me on.

Love,

~Bri 

Fezzik has been boarded at a VERY affordable rate at a ranch in Norco, thanks to the power of Twitter.  Sage is the nice lady boarding him, and he seems super happy to be there.  I miss him terribly but it’s good to know that I can visit any time.  Also found out:  he WILL chase chickens.  And horses (but only if they run).  You’d think a few well-aimed kicks in the general region of his head would dissuade him, but nooooooo.  He came running to me whining for about a second and a half before deciding to see if his next attempt would go any better.

…Idiot dog.

I want to thank everyone on Twitter involved in helping me find a solution for Fezzik.  So, thanks to @ChiqueLife, @dailypatricia, and @SewChick for schilling on my behalf!!!!!  I can’t tell you guys how much I appreciate it, and how grateful I am that you would work so hard to help a complete stranger like myself.  Please check out these awesome women and their respective websites below:

http://www.chiquelife.com/

http://patriciahandschiegel.tumblr.com/

http://sewingchicks.wordpress.com/

And super extra thanks to Sage at http://www.sagency.net/, not only for agreeing to board and care for Fezzik long-term while I work on buying the house, but for showing me around the ranch, making me feel at ease, welcoming me to visit any time, and calling/e-mailing me regularly with updates.  I feel so safe and secure that he is in good hands and enjoying himself!!!

As far as the radio interview with Jennifer Westaway goes, it is being broadcast Easter Monday, April 13th (today!)  It is going to be a 3 1/2 minute segment on their national radio news, “The World at Six”.  It starts being broadcast at 6:00 p.m. from the Atlantic region; earliest you could hear it streaming would be at 2:00 p.m. our time at http://www.cbc.ca.radio/.  Probably better, though, would be to download it as an mp3 and then you can scroll along to find the item without having to listen to the entire show to hear it.  You can do this in the afternoon/evening here:  http://www.cbc.ca/w6/

So… yep.  Here we go again!  She said they’re going to mention the name of my blog on the air, let’s see how high the Canadian traffic spikes!  I love Canada!

Ooh, got my tax return, too.  Woohoo for extra money!!!  Although, can someone please explain to me… my income tripled from 2007 to 2008 (this is before I was laid off, obviously).  Yet I got only about half the amount of refund this year as I did in 2007.  How does one earn MORE money and get LESS back?!  *confused*  H&R Block guy tried to explain it to me, but failed miserably.  Ah, well.  Anything is helpful at this point.

~B~

So, radio interview with Jennifer Westaway went well, I think.  Not sure how long we talked for, must have been a good half hour or so, although all that needs to be edited down to about 3 minutes before being broadcast.  Still not sure when it’s going on the air, but she’s going to let me know as soon as she knows, so I will link to it when it happens.  You should be able to reach it here though when it does happen:  http://www.cbc.ca/radio/

Fezzik is not looking well.  He’s lost a lot of weight, which really bothered me.  I asked them to ramp up his feeding.  They go “oh, so would you rather we give him two feedings a day instead of one?”

Um… you’ve only been feeding my dog once a day?!  He’s used to twice a day.  How much have you been feeding him?!

One cup of food a day.  That’s all my dog has been getting.

Just for reference, adult Neapolitan Mastiffs should be eating 8-10 cups of food per day.

What kind of fucking morons are these people?  And now they want to charge me extra for extra feeding – isn’t that why I’m already paying more to board him than smaller dogs?!?!!?!?

He was very happy to see me, but he seemed depressed and lethargic, not his normal upbeat self.  And I can’t blame him, poor thing is STARVING.

Also found out from the teenager at the desk (contrary to what I was told when checking him in) that he is NOT being exercised daily, apparently that costs extra too (they told me when I first boarded him that it was included).  He spends his days in a 4′ x 12′ dog run, and his nights in a 4′ x 4′ cage.  At least with me, he had a 30′ trailer to roam in – more than twice the space he has now.  I didn’t want to make a scene, especially with a reporter there, but I’m livid.  Just insanely livid.  For the time being, they’ve promised to feed him more, but tomorrow I’m starting looking for somewhere to move him.  Seriously.  Who feeds a giant breed dog ONE cup of food per day?!  GRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

He’s lost a ton of weight and he’s blowing coat and his nose is raw from rubbing it on his kennel door… I could have cried, it makes me so angry to see my dog rapidly decline like this.  He was SO much better off with me, and yet I’m paying $600/month for them to starve him.

So, looking for a new place ASAP.  A place that will let him play and interact with other dogs, take him for walks, and freaking FEED him – they’re out there, I know, I interviewed at one once.

I’m tempted to give out their name and location so that they get credit for being assholes, but I’m afraid of giving away my own locale at this juncture, until I get off the street.  If anyone knows anywhere in Orange County (I don’t care which area, North or South, I’ll travel!) or even as far as Long Beach/Lakewood area, please give me a recommendation.  My dog can not stay at this kennel.

*cries*

Dwight is letting me crash on his couch again this weekend while his roommates are out of town – thanks, Dwight!  Love sleeping on a warm couch instead of a cold parking lot.  Tomorrow I’m doing a radio interview, which should be kind of cool.  It’s with Jennifer Westaway of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) – so soon 2 million Canadians should know who I am, even if very few people in America do, haha.  Seriously, though, that’s pretty awesome.  I LOVE Canada.  My grandmother and her seven siblings were all born and raised in Toronto – in fact, I used to spend my summers there as a kid with my great-aunt, who passed away when I was a sophomore in high school.  That was the last time I ever visited, but I still cherish the memories of the time I spent in that cute little old house at 19 Brad Street.  When my great-aunt died, I went to her funeral but didn’t visit the house, which was being slowly picked apart by warring extended family members.  I didn’t want to see it like that, so to this day I remember it exactly as it was – the walls all painted bright pepto-bismol pink (I thought it was sooooo beautiful when I was a little girl) and a huge basement full of old mementos and family history to explore.

Anyway, I’ll link to the radio interview for you guys once I find out when/where it’s going to be broadcast.

Got an e-mail from the seller’s agent on the house today.  He hadn’t heard from me in a bit, so he asked if I was still interested in the house; he thinks that right now I can get it for a REALLY low price (he didn’t go into too much detail, but I get the impression perhaps the family is running out of time to sell it… maybe the bank is thinking of proceeding with foreclosure?)  I’m trying to figure out the most tactful way of asking him just HOW low he thinks I can get it for, haha.  I sent him the contact info for the guy we’re working with to get the loan, and asked him to find out from him exactly what our status is on the prequalifying letter.  I DID find out from the broker we’re working with that Obama is giving all first-time homebuyers this year an $8,000 tax credit (woohoo!!!!!) which I can file an amendment for after purchasing the house.  In addition, there’s some other 6% seller credit I’m apparently entitled to as a first-time homebuyer, to cover closing fees and down payment.  All together, that’s a fair amount, if all goes smoothly I may have to come up with little or no money out of pocket at all  *crosses fingers*

Still quite a process, though.  I can’t wait.  I have grand visions of an exciting new life, should I manage to swing this house.  Of course, I’m sure the enormity of the work still to be done will all sink in once I have to buy the first several gallons of paint, or call the first contractor for bids/estimates on improvements.  However, I’m also looking forward to it all.  To taking something once stunningly beautiful (now a bit run-down) and restoring it to its former glory, stripping away one layer of the house at a time until I get at what it used to be.  I’m even reading a jillion home blogs that chronicle the efforts of homeowners to restore their Victorian houses, revelling in each tale of unexpected mishaps.  I so want that to be me.  I only WISH I could complain about having to decide between paint colors, or the woes of repairing century-old plasterwork.  I’d rather worry about things like that, than about living in a parking lot forever, or wondering when I’ll be able to pull Fezzik out of the kennel, and take him to an actual home again.

Sigh.  When you’re homeless, it’s good to have hopes and dreams.  Now, if I can just somehow make them come true for myself.

Below I’ve posted an aerial shot of “my” house, so you can see how awesome and huge it is.  It’s the house on the corner, that I’ve outlined in the rectangle.  There’s the main house, and then in the back, there’s a large garage that’s been converted to living space as well (I need to decide if I want to leave it that way, I may want somewhere to park my car, haha).  In my head, I’ll paint it kelley green with white trim (it might sound scary, but like those crazy party animal Victorians, I love love love love love LOVE bold colors, especially green!), and everyone will ooh and aah at the big, beautiful green house on the corner.  And once I get it, Aishwarya and I can start looking into getting a nonprofit grant to help renovate and start our own halfway house for homeless women and children.

Yes, it’s good to dream.

Well, if you’re here, obviously you’ve noticed – I have moved to www.girlsguidetohomelessness.com – a kind stranger basically bought me a domain and is building me my own website!!! How crazy is that?!?!?!

It’s a work in progress, so I have to play with it and do some tweaking, but thanks to Adam Warner (previously mentioned kind stranger), it already looks about ten bajillion times better than the blogspot! Adam’s super awesome – he saw the Invisible People video interview and did all of this out of the kindness of his heart, so please (shameless plug) visit his sites and return the love:

http://wordpressmodder.org
http://mybodypart.org
http://learnwebtools.com

At some point soon I’ll just redirect my blogspot to point to the new site, but for now, it’s manual.

I feel sooooo bad for not updating for a few days, I’m still figuring out this WordPress thing, and it took me a while to edit the imported posts, because they seemed to have random and arbitrary wonkiness that took some experimenting and tweaking to fix. Now I’ve pretty much got that handled, but my sidebar seems to have randomly gone all wonky, so that will take some more playing. Work has been pretty all-consuming during the day, as well. Plus, I’ve kind of got a couple of secret side projects going on. Please bear with me! I’m really trying hard to get back to daily updates!!!!!

Fezzik is doing well, I keep calling into the kennel to check on him and he is (of course) loved and adored by all. This makes me happy, at least. I miss having him around to hug and cuddle with, and I also miss the protective aspect. Now, every time I enter my trailer late at night, I am super paranoid about opening the door. What if someone broke in and is lying in wait? I always hold my keys in a fist, pointy ends poking out through my knuckles, just in case.

Still working on the house. That’s one of my major side projects, although not the most all-consuming, by far, haha. That one I’m keeping under wraps for the time being. But it makes me super happy and I can’t wait until the day it’s safe to talk about it. Ha, mysterious enough for you? I hope so.