Struggles of unnatural student

I can't believe how busy i've been in the last few weeks. The end of term always comes with a big crunch. I've already got two of my final marks back, even though i'm writing my final exam tomorrow. Let's say one mark i'm fine with, the other is less than stellar. Talk about killing my dream of going into the Education program. But, I kinda expected this. I've never been a natural student. I struggle constantly with writing essays. I really have no skills for writing essays. They're erratic at best, and of course I had to choose English as my major where i'm required to write at least two essays per class. Since i'm pretty sure I won't be getting into Education this year, i'm going to take the full 4 years of my BA of English (instead of the combined degree of 3 year BA). At least that way I can take less English courses and more of the stuff I find easy (like History). At least I now know what prof to stay away from (I wish I could pound him with the angry fist of a god for giving me such a low mark). He's a real GPA buster. But what can you do, life is full of obstacles, and one more hurdle as been thrown in my way. Good thing I was in track and field as a kid. Adios.

Going Green cont.

So, as much as I like the litter "Yesterday's News", my cat Apollo doesn't. He went to the bathroom in there a few times but now he's kinda refusing. Last night he decided to pee on a black garbage bag, poop on the rug, and then pee this morning in Artemis' carrier. After spending an hour cleaning the mess up, i've decided to use one littler as a transition and the other will just have the new litter. I went and picked up some cat attractant (which pretty much smells like cat nip so it probably is). I really don't want to clean up anymore messes but I don't want to go back to clay litter since I think the dust caused Artemis' upper respiratory infection. So Apollo must suck it up and use this new litter... I hope. My kittens are really taking me for a crazy ride this week. Both of them are sick and Artemis can be cured... but Apollo might have IBD. Inflammatory Bowel Disease is where the intestines are chronically infiltrated with inflammatory cells and it's not curable, just manageable with immunosuppressants and a different diet. If Apollo does have this "disease", i'm not putting him on prednisone for the rest of his life, i'll just switch his diet to one that's grain free. I've given this a lot of thought. Right now we're trying probiotics and then antibiotics. If those don't work, he most likely has IBD. My poor little kitty. I really hope my student budget can afford him.

Going Green

I'm slowly trying to go green. No, not "green" as in the colour, but "green" as environmentally friendly. I'm not very far in the process yet but i'm getting there. I've decided to use environmentally friendly cat litter. Yes, that's right. Cat litter. It's called "Yesterday's News" which is made from recycled newspaper. I was a little worried about how my cats would take it since it's pellets and now little clay rocks. But so far, the cats have no problems with it. Apollo's was the first to be introduced to it and he actually took a piece to play with. So far so good, but it's only the first day. We will see how it stacks up on odour control. With two cats, that's a big concern with me. Both cats leave some pretty stinky messes. I'm a little apprehensive about it since the pellets just absorb the urine which makes it unscoopable, and already i've noticed that the cats aren't covering up their poop. But hopefully it all works well since I believe Artemis got a upper respiratory infection from kitty litter dust :(

Peeps

It's Easter morning!!! The nephews got me up at 7:30 to do some Easter egg hunting, and beg to eat candy (or at least the one who can talk). At this point, I had to think about all the candy we feed kids on Easter.... especially peeps. Now Peeps freak me right out. Not because they are marshmallow chickens that stare at you all unblinking. It's because researchers have deemed them "indestructible". Peeps are insoluble in acetone, water, sulphuric acid, and sodium hydroxide. Scientists also claimed that the peeps eyes would not dissolve in anything. Now that seems like something I want to put in a kids stomach.

Meet the Pets

So, my life is pretty much my cats. So I will introduce them to you.

Tobey: I picked him up from the SPCA when he was 4 months old. I was still living in my parents house (because I was in highschool) so he became a family cat. He's is a adorable grey tabby with target swirls on his side. He has his own unique personality. He's very c

uddly and comes to the song What's new pussy cat, whether you sing it or whistle. I left him with my parents when I went off to university because I was living in residence where pets aren't allowed. As much as I love him, he's now my dad's cat. Tobey will still cuddle and love me when i'm here, but he's completely, and utterly, bonded with my dad. I still call him "my cat" but he will forever live with my parents. I couldn't part him and my dad.

Artemis: She's pretty much a demon. She's hyperactive and likes things on her schedule. She cuddles, gets petted, but only when she wants it. If you try to pet her and she's not cool about it, she'll bite you (not too hard, but hard enough to tell you to eff off). She's a grey and white shorthair kitty that

I got off Kijiji. Her personality is that of a psychotic kitty. Even though she drives me nuts with her paper ripping, chewing, and scratching, I love her to pieces. She was such a nice little kitten, n

ow she's a pain in my a**.

Apollo: I got him as a companion for Artemis. He's a chocolate sealpoint siamese cross. He's also a chicken sh**. He's scared of anything and everything. He is also a one person cat, with the sweetest personality. He loves to cuddle (but only with me), and sleeps on my pillow at night. He's still a baby, 4 months old. He's a bit of a medical problem (mostly with his bowels) and i've had to switch his (and Artemis') food to something more expensive -- but he's totally worth it.

Grizzly Hunt

Saving the Animals is something dear to my heart. It doesn't matter the animal, it deserves to live. Right now, my focus is on the Grizzly Bears in my home province of British Columbia. I'm afraid that soon, they will be extinct because of trophy hunters. Please read this article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/suzuki-report-warns-of-grizzly-hunt-overkill/article1519783/

My 5 Things

5 things that drive me crazy
*the hiccups
*headaches
*rude people
*socks with sandals
*writing essays

5 things that make me laugh
*animals
*"smart" cars
*my friends
* boys wearing girls jeans
*flood pants

5 things that disgust me
*boys wearing skinny jeans
*people who don't care
*seaweed
*head cheese
*stinky outhouses

5 things that I can't live without
*my family
*coffee
*my cats
*books
*handotion

5 things that I'm deathly afraid of
*snakes
*sharks
*heights
*small spaces
*the dark

5 things I can live without
*War
*TV
*junk (i'm a packrat)
*violence
*Meat

5 things that I wish wouldn't have happened
*nuclear bombing
*genocide
*the breakage of my tail bone
*start of animal abuse
*9/11