Okay, mom just called me and told me that for right now, stepdad's father is stable -- still in serious condition, still in the ICU, but he's stable for now. The reason I got her voice mail at home is because she and my stepdad were at a church festival playing blackjack. Heh.

Which I think is a *good* thing -- it's been a crazy stressful day for them, and if stepdad's father is stable, then they need to chill.

So everything is in a holding pattern right now, which is okay, I guess.

Uh, javachik, whyfore the tagline? Puppy mayhem?

YAY for good enough news, Steph!

I want Graeters ice cream.

Uh, javachik, whyfore the tagline? Puppy mayhem?

Yep. I'm keeping her because I'm not a quitter when it comes to pets, but man oh man has it been incredibly challenging.

Java, can I help at all? I'd be happy to share whatever doggy lama wisdom I can provide.

I want Graeters ice cream.

And now I do, too.

We should go get some!

So need to get screens. Toss up between sitting in the dark and having all God's creatures flitting to the monitor, or with the lights on, AGC amassing overhead on the living room ceiling. One is incredibly annoying, the other is terribly creepy.

And Nunya is starting to tear apart my paper lamp in an effort to get at all teh bugs. I blame the massive thunder and rainstorm that just passed through. From the bug-eyes the cats were making, I kept expecting to find chipmunks and rabbits and 'coons taking refuge from the deluge in my apartment.

Speaking of critters, we're having a rash of dead squirrels at work. Health Department is giving a song and dance of "well, yes, we've received similar phonecalls from elsewhere in town, and the Fish and Game Department tells us that overpopulated animal species can do a self-correction, which is the most likely cause of all the dead bodies."

Um... rodenticide, mayhaps? Deer and coyote don't "course correct" for over-population. Dude, if you don't know, don't make shit up. I think the Health Department is related to my boss.

(I'm not sad over dead squirrels, and may start rejoicing if I see bunny and chipmunk and groundhog bodies besides the grey guys, but I do worry over the foxes and their kits eating the bodies, especially if they're poisoned. Saw a fox wandering through the roses on Tuesday after having taken a lounge in the small pool amongst the ferns and evergreens --the fox, not me).