Pet Stuff

Well, as most of you know, our Rosa passed away in April. The kids were sad, of course. CJ took it the hardest though. We had a nice little funeral in the backyard and said our good-byes. John and the boys made a little grave marker with a laminated picture of Rosa.

Pygmy the snake is no longer constipated. John had the pleasure of removing 3 giganto snake turds from the aquarium cage thingie. Poor Pygmy is noticeably thinner around the middle. That had to have been uncomfortable. He now eats 2 mice at a time every 10 days. I have to say I'm growing fonder of him and might even touch him someday.

The fish and frog are their usual selves.

Update on the boys coming soon.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks. I've actually updated.

I'm a bad, bad blogger.

As usual, life remains busy around here, and I just don't update this thing like I should. What's been going on with the boys, you ask? Well, let me explain. No, is too much. Let me sum up:

John has been on several hiking/backpacking trips with his troop. They are preparing for a two-week backpacking trip in New Mexico this summer. If the stench emanating from his socks after the last trip is any sort of indicator, I live in fear of what he'll smell like when he comes home from the long trip. He has also been rehearsing for, and competing in drumline competitions this semester. He seems to favor percussion over his clarinet and oboe, and plans to focus on that next year in high school (gulp! Did I just say high school?) John is currently looking for an Eagle scout project.

CJ has been on two hiking trips recently with his troop. He recently did a 5.5 and a 6.5 mile trip. To hear him tell it though, they hiked for miles and miles without stopping, uphill all the way. He enjoys the hikes when he's on them, but pisses and moans both before and after. He does have a fondness for choosing trail mix type of snack foods. I think it's his favorite part of the hiking/backpacking experience. He is currently working on a research report about frogs, and I'm treated to a daily helping of frog facts.

Noah is currently reading Charlotte's Web and is loving it. He and I did the two-mile trail at the El Dorado Nature Center a few weeks ago, and met up with a crazy-ass squirrel. It was smack in the middle of the trail and kept lunging for my shoes. Noah thought this was beyond hilarious, and still reminds me of it when he's in the mood for a good belly laugh. He recently told us that "the sound of the ice cream truck fills me with joy".

I'm sorry to report that Rosa seems to be in declining health. She walks very slowly and very unsteadily these days, and appears to have incontinence issues. The last time she was in her hamster ball, she could barely move it. She just sort of lurched around in there and peed a few times. Sleeping seems to be her activity of choice these days.

That's all I've got for now.

Bye for now!

P.S. Does anyone have a good recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese? We've got a hankering.

One Last Post for 2006

I must apologize for my lack of posts lately. I've been terribly remiss in my blogging duties. I'll try to be a better blogger in the future.

For the past month or so I've been spending my free time working on an afghan for my aunt. I got her name in the family Christmas name draw, and decided to try out a new afghan pattern. Here's the finished product. It took over 300 small granny squares, so it was a time-consuming process. I love the finished product though, so it was well worth the work.




Here's a close-up for those of you who crochet, or are interested. The edging is made with four rows of V-stitch.





The boys have all been doing well. Everyone has stayed healthy, happy, and only a little attitudey. John turned 14 this month. Sometime this past fall, he passed me up in height and takes great pleasure in reminding me on a regular basis. He did very well in his first quarter of school this year. At the winter band concert he was given two of the more complicated drum parts. Scouts continues to keep him busy as well. He's begun to plan for his Eagle project.

CJ is still as CJish as ever. He loves to draw, and churns out multiple masterpieces daily. He still loves being homeschooled, and takes a half-day of classes every week at our charter school. He likes the mix of home and school settings. He is the Scribe for his scout troop. His job entails taking minutes at the meetings and doing a newsletter. He enjoys the job, and it provides him the position of responsibility he needs to advance to the rank of Star.

Noah continues to do very well with the homeschooling. He especially enjoys science these days. He did a short season of fall baseball, and has decided that this is not the sport for him. He liked it well enough, but says the innings are too long and he despises wearing a cup. Noah is always enthusiastic about cub scouts, and is progressing well.

Rosa the hamster is still alive and kicking. She seems a little less active than before though. Pygmy the snake is in hibernation mode with the winter season coming on, so I have no photos to share at the moment.

I leave you with a final picture for 2006:




Noah found a rock during our recent camping trip at Calico Ghost Town near Barstow. He called it "his first mineral" We told him that he couldn't take it home, but we'd take a picture of him with it. This is the pose we got.

I tried to post some other pics, but it's not happening. Blogger seems to be copping an attitude at the moment. Hopefully I'll be better about posting soon, now that my days are not being spend in a mad crochet frenzy.

Happy New Year to all!

Outnumbered Again

We have a new addition to the family. For CJ's birthday earlier this month, his main gift was a trip to the pet store to choose a reptile friend for himself. He is a real animal lover, and recently developed a fondness for the slimy, scaly members of the animal kingdom. I was hoping for a cute little chameleon, or perhaps an unassuming turtle of some sort, but that was not in the cards.

We visited a few pet stores, and CJ carefully considered his options. He had many questions for the reptile guy at the store. What does this one eat? How often should I feed it? Does it like to be held? He carefully read the signs on the cages for any and all tidbits of information that would aid him in his decision-making process. Noah soon lost interest in the process and spent the rest of his time in the store begging for a chinchilla.

After much consideration, we were now the proud (and freaked out, I must say) owners of a one-month-old Ball Python. Ew.

As is customary in our home, the addition of a new pet was not without it's drama. The pet store guy assured us that the snake, who is now named Pygmy, would need to eat in a few days. He sent us on our merry way with a two-pack of frozen adult mice. Not ones to disregard instructions from supposed experts, we dutifully thawed one of the nasty little buggers and gathered the family for some good old snake feeding fun. We knew right away that this sucker was way too big for our little Pygmy to handle. He was not at all interested.

A few days and a few conversations with other pet store personnel later, we were the proud owners of a tub of a dozen frozen "pinkies". These poor little buggers look like they were kidnapped at birth and promptly thrown into the deep freeze. Luckily John the Husband is in charge of the thawing and snake food delivery in this house. I can't bring myself to touch them. Anyhow, Pygmy barely showed more than a passing interest in his cute little corpse entrees. At one point he appeared to be cuddling up with one, but no actual eating took place. After three weeks he still hadn't eaten and it was time for drastic measures.

To make a long story short (too late, I know!), we found a local store called Radical Reptiles. These guys know their freaky creatures. As young as Pygmy is, they believe that he hadn't actually been fed yet at Evil Chain Pet Store, and had not yet learned how to eat. They had us bring Pygmy in to them and performed what they called an "assisted feeding". That basically entails holding the snake at the base of the mouth/throat area and stuffing in a tiny, squirming mouse. It was quite a spectacle. All other activity in the store came to a halt as employees and customers alike came over to check it out. I took that moment to discreetly walk away and look longingly at the turtles, lamenting what might have been. A few minutes later, another little mouse joined Pygmy in the box and was promptly constricted and swallowed. By George, I think he's got it!

And that's how we solved the snake dilemma and lived happily ever after.

Um, NOT!

The drama isn't over yet, people. Yesterday John the Husband announced that it was time for Pygmy to eat again. We took ourselves back to Radical Reptiles where John the Husband asked for two "hoppers". They brought the mice out in a brown, wiggling paper bag that was stapled shut. It wasn't until we got home that we realized that the two mice consumed last week are what are known as "fuzzies". Hoppers are smaller adult mice. One is plenty for Pygmy. He stalked and ate one of them like a pro, so at least the eating issues are over. We are now, however, stuck with an extra mouse for about a week until Pygmy needs to eat again. CJ and Noah have named him Shadow, and have begun lobbying for him/her to become a permanent part of the family. *Sigh*

The pets in the house now outnumber the humans 6 to 1.

Stay tuned for snake pictures.

I Love it When We're Cruising Together

Vacation was a success! We took a quickie cruise to Ensenada this past weekend; and a good time was definitely had by all. As the person in the family who is responsible for planning and preparing meals, I have to say that the variety and constant availability of food was probably my favorite part of the whole thing. There was something for everyone.

On Saturday, we spent the morning shopping in Ensenada. John, CJ, and Noah each went about their souvenier- choosing in a predictable fashion. John spent the entire time with no clue what he wanted. He went into several stores and half-heartedly tried to convince himself that he wanted some of the stuff in them. He ended up with an Ensenada shirt from the shops located at the dock, chosen moments before getting back on the ship.

CJ was a true comparison shopper. He stopped checked out shops and street vendors alike. A green luchadore mask with gold trim and white horns was a serious early contender, but once he saw the hats he was hooked. His trip mementos were a chihuahua bobblehead and a big - ass sombrero.

Noah was busy checking out the sites and gave little thought to what he might want to purchase at first. After we started working the second side of the street, he immediately fell in love with a collection of stuffed animals. He toyed with the idea of a some shark teeth for a while, but settled on a stuffed koala, which he promptly named Kolly. He really gets into the whole stuffed animal thing, and talks to them as if they can understand him. He was very excited to bring Kolly home and introduce him to the rest of his stuffed friends.



This was taken just before we got back onto the ship. Notice the gargantuan headwear CJ is sporting.



















Noah enjoyed a late night PBJ from room service.

Almost Everything but the Kitchen Sink

It was a very productive weekend in the kitchen. On Saturday, John and his good friend layed tile in the hallway and front entry. We spent that night in a hotel, since we were unable to walk on the tile until it had set, and we no longer had access to the bedrooms or bathrooms. The kids spent two hours in the hotel pool, returned to the room to enjoy the free cable channels, and declared the day a hit.

Today John and friend set most of the cabinets. At that point it started to look like a real kitchen at last.



Front entry














John took this pic from the front doorway. We still have to set the countertops and put in the sink.







This is the former walk-in pantry. We still have to install the cupboard above the fridge.

What We Do at Night After the Kids Have Gone to Bed

We sand, mud, and stain like crazy, that's what. We're wild I tell you, wild! Don't worry though, we're practicing safe home repair. I even wear gloves when I stain the cabinets. Of course, it might have helped matters if I weren't barefoot when I do it. I'm afraid my toes are a bit discolored. To the casual observer it looks like I've been out enjoying the warm California sun. They don't have to know it's actually Classic Oak semi gloss.

The kitchen remodel is proceeding slowly but surely. The last of the old cabinets came out over the weekend, and I've been working on staining the new ones. John has been busy with wall and ceiling repair. Every day when he sands the drywall mud stuff, it's like living in the Sahara Desert during a dust storm. The stuff gets everywhere. He ends the evening looking like he's prematurely graying; his hair is just so thick with the stuff. Up next: priming and painting the walls, followed by cabinet installation and tile flooring.





We've relocated the refrigerator to the old pantry spot. We've gained a lot of space by taking out the big pantry. It was a lot of wasted space before, as it was too deep for those of us who weren't blessed with long monkey arms (that would be everyone besides John the Husband) to actually reach the backs of the shelves.

We've been without a functional kitchen since last Sunday. We are still able to use the microwave, so the kids have been enjoying various frozen food items lately. Today they had Bagel Bites for breakfast. We've also become extremely familiar with the offerings at our local fast food establishments. The fish tacos at Rubios are far superior to those at Del Taco, in case anyone was wondering. Also, if you haven't tried the chicken tortilla soup at El Pollo Loco, you don't know what you're missing.

In other Jost family happenings: John the Son passed his Board of Review at his Scout meeting on Monday and made the rank of Life. He'll be going to Scout camp at the end of July where he plans to earn the Archery, Horsemanship, and Lifesaving merit badges.

CJ made the rank of Tenderfoot last month and is well on his way to First Class. He is also attending camp at the end of the month (same week as John, different camp). He should have his First class requirements done when he returns. He plans to earn the Art, Reptile Studies, First Aid, and Woodcarving merit badges.

Noah bridged to Wolves last month and is pleased as punch about it. He'll be attending Cub Scout Day Camp next week. He's excited that he'll actually be a camper this year.

Janet the fish is apparently not pregnant. She's still sporting a chubby belly, but we'll just chalk it up to a fondness for fish flakes.

Sorry for the short, boring update. I'm sure there will be much more to share after the weekend. We have lots of kitchen work on the agenda.

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

The demolition phase of our kitchen remodel has commenced. The boys have been extremely helpful in the tearing down of walls and the removal/scraping of our dirt-nasty, hideous, old linoleum. I'd like to think that it's due to the wonderful work ethic we've instilled in them, but I'm fairly certain that the sledgehammer and the sound of crumbling drywall were the real draw. In any case, they made short work of it.

Stay tuned for further Jost Kitchen Developments.








The half-wall between the kitchen and living room is gone. We've also torn down the walls of the walk-in pantry and have gained kitchen space. John has some electrical work and wall repair to do before he can install cabinets. The goal for the weekend is to lay the tile floor in the hallway and front entry.

Please ignore the mess in the backgrounds of the pictures. Most of our kitchen stuff is in boxes and on tables. The mess hasn't even started to bother me yet. I'm too excited about the prospect of a new kitchen to care! Also, please excuse the poor photo quality. Two of them were taken with the camera phone.

I Think Our Fish is a Tramp

The little trollop first surprised us by giving birth in the plastic bag on the way home from the pet store, beginning a week-long saga of name changes and Dead Fish Baby Watch 06. Hours of fun were had staring into the fish bowl trying to count just how many babies survived from one day to the next.

Matters seemed to settle a bit, and the final Fish Baby tally stood at one. One hearty little fish is all that survived. Janet and Fish Baby, who has recently been named Kirby, spent a good month living together as a little fish family doing all the things fish families do. They swam, they ate, they pooped, they had a great time. I rather foolishly* thought our pet issues had run their course. I should have known better.

Two weeks ago, CJ and his friend won 3 cheapo fish at Scout-O-Rama. These fish were carted from booth to booth, switched into various containers, and were happily living it up in an old (and rather poorly rinse) fruit container. The plan was for CJ and his friend to divvy up the fish when we dropped Friend off at his house. Friend's parents are clearly not as gullible as we are, as they nixed that idea from the get-go. Apparently Friend's other fish are aggressive little bastards and it was feared that they would eat any newcomers. CJ was awarded sole custody of all three fish, who were then named Chubbo, Brunch and Dessert.

The three new fishies seemed to acclimate well to our fish bowl and got along swimmingly (ha ha, I crack myself up!) with Janet and Kirby. It seems that Janet might have been a little too hospitable and accomodating. She now appears to be sporting quite the bulge in her belly. I had read that goldfish don't do live births; but rather lay eggs that are then fertilized in a swim-by fashion by the male fishies. With this knowlege in mind I was willing to give Janet the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she wasn't the little slut I'd assumed her to be. Maybe we had a case of immaculate conception right here in our own home.

Further research reveals that she isn't a goldfish at all. She's actually a swordtail something or other. These fish do, in fact, do the live birth thing. So we're back to square one with a cheap little hussy fish on our hands. Sadly, the three new fishies didn't surive and Janet and Kirby are on their own again. Janet may soon become a single mother to another bazillion little miracles. I'm hoping that the bulge is just from a few too many fish flakes. I don't think I can deal with another Fish Baby Saga.

For those of you who are wondering, CJ was quite distressed at losing all three of his fish in one weekend. We made a trip to the local pet store on Monday. He is now the proud owner of an African frog. It lives in the tank with Janet and Kirby. If she manages to birth some sort of freakish FrogFish I'll know we have some really wonky pet mojo going on.


*I say "foolishly" since our luck with pets has always been odd at best. Who can forget the fish who flipped himself out of his tank one night and was found stiff on the kitchen floor the following morning? Ah, good times. Good times.

On the Next Dr. Phil...........................

Women Who Love Too Much: Home Appliance Edition







*swoon*


John the Husband surprised me with major appliances for my birthday. Isn't he a stud??

The picture quality isn't that great, but I'm sure you can still get a sense of what wondrous machines these are. I am thoroughly enjoying doing laundry these days.