It's a zoo 'round here

After hearing about the crazy selection of furry and feathered friends we have around the homestead, I'm often asked about the interactions between all of the residents.  I guess initially it's a little concerning when you hear of three cats living with a tank full of fish and a parrot, not to mention the three velociraptors, I mean chickens we have as well. 

Well, here is proof my friends, that all is hunky-dory 'round these parts.  This is a pretty common scene around here; chickens peering into the house, Skipper on top of his cage, and Gus being in the middle of it all. 

As far as the cats and Skipper the parrot go, they hardly notice each other.  Pretty boring.  When the chickies were little, the cats were super interested in them and would get into stalking position, but now that they are big and have little chicky attitudes, they chase the poor kitties around the backyard to the point that Gus is sometimes afraid to go outside.  Abby, the one on the left, is super territorial and will chase anything that comes into the yard: squirrels, chickadees, crows, flickers, jays, you name it. 

All these animals were not acquired at the same time.  I don't know how it happens, but animals just have a way of accumulating around me.  It's a lot of work sometimes, but they are all my friends, and so worth it.

The Wheels on the What?

I have spent many hours over the last several weeks riding the bus. All in all, I love it. I pretty much have door to door service to campus on one bus and never have to worry about parking, traffic, gas, and all those lovely things that come with driving a car. I know this sounds nuts-o, but I feel a sense of freedom with my U-Pass. I can go anywhere (well, anywhere the bus goes,) and I don't have to feel guilty about driving. Should I feel guilty about driving? Hell Yes! We drive way too much!

I used to be afraid of the bus, like getting on the wrong one and ending up stranded in no-man's-land, but thanks to metro trip planner and onebusaway, I feel way better about it. Today I even got on a bus without being 100% sure where it would go. It took me close enough where I needed to be so it was sweet.

So I love the bus. I really do. But here is a list of things I don't love about the bus:

1. Getting assaulted by backpacks. (Yo, your backpack is bigger and sticks out further than you think.)

2. People who think their backpacks deserve a seat of their own.

3. Not having anywhere to look besides the person sitting in front of you. You know, when you sit in the seats that face sideways? I end up either closing my eyes and pretending to sleep or looking out the small piece of window not taken up by their heads. And there's only so many times you can read the ads in the bus. But even still, I end up looking at people and accidentally meeting eyes with them, who are I'm sure dealing with the same awkward feelings as I am.

4. Getting motion sick :(

5. Super grumpy bus drivers or drivers that don't enunciate well.

6. The stinkies/crazies. 'nuff said about that.

7. People standing too close to me. I didn't know I had personal space issues until recently.

8. Not being sure whether to move into a newly open seat when you're sitting way too close to a stranger but only have one more stop to go...

But at the same time some of these things make riding the bus interesting.

Now onto something completely different: We got a new cat tree. The one we had was falling apart, even after we rebuilt it last year. The kitties just loved it to death. Nikolai's brother Andre had one that he wasn't using, so we traded a dome heater with his ma and pa and got ourselves that one. I think they like it.