Defintely Winter

Yesterday morning after I woke up and started moving around I deemed it officially winter. Though it looked like any other morning from my bedroom window, the windows in our living room showed something else: there was ice on our lake! If you look closely at that picture that I took just yesterday morning, you'll notice only one white duck swimming ... the others are standing on the lake! Yes, yesterday (Friday) morning was chilly and my dad stayed inside most of the day because of it. Now, why is this fun fact of the silly ducks standing on the lake blogable? Well, you see, we live in New Jersey and little did I know that our "trusty" weather reporters were about to UNDERestimate their predictions for today...

This is the lake this lovely, snowy Saturday evening! Included in the picture is also my sister, Michelle, her boyfriend, Steve, and the Dobie pup, Tali, moments before she tried to run on to the ice to chase the ducks. Lets just say it ended up being more slush than ice, but the pup barely got her toe wet before changing her mind about the duck attack. Yes, were cursed gifted a large amount of snow ... much more than was anticipated, I believe. Friday night into Saturday morning they were estimating only about an inch with maybe 6 - 11 more falling throughout the day. By 9 AM this morning the weather was predicting more like 3 inches every hour ... and it's still snowing now! So you can imagine what the yard looks like...

the horses are covered in snow

the sheep are snowy even inside the one barn

and even the ducks were up all day begging for food instead of swimming around in the slushy lake! (note: that area they're in was shoveled clean moments before I took this photo)

Call me crazy, but I think it was a pretty nice day. I woke up early and went out to see if my mom needed help repairing the barn (I heard a very loud crash in the middle of the night and though my dad went out to make sure everything was ok, apparently a huge board had fallen down and needed to be put back up). After taking some pictures, we headed in where I made sure the fire in our wood stove kept burning and we waited for my little sister and her boyfriend to wake up. After that, it was lots of playing in the snow, clearing areas that needed to be cleared and having fun with some of the pups - only Tali at first since we weren't sure we could trust Sadie completely ... and for good reason! When we finally did let her out, after being adorable for so long, she definitely got more than just her toes wet when she decided to try to chase the ducks. Goofy dog! We took them inside to eat then while my sister and her boyfriend played in the snow.

There was also more picture taking outside, hot chocolate, hay being thrown around (for the horses), extra wet food for the ferals, good smells while my sister was making tomato sauce, finding & setting up the fake tree (since going out to buy a live one today was canceled thanks to mother nature), lots of movie watching, puzzle doing (not by me, I'm too impatient) and we did not lose the electric. I think overall today was a great day and definitely put me in the holiday spirit: the snow, the lights, the decorating and everyone together getting along (though, of course, my blood pressure surely spiked during meal time with my dad).

I hope this post finds you warm, loved and content like I was today. Happy holidays!

::sigh::

I have a feeling this blog is going to turn into more of a journal about rescuing myself than it is about rescuing animals. The blows seem to just keep coming and I'm just completely heart broken right now...

I partially blogged about my dad and that situation. I strictly posted the email I sent out because, honestly, I'm not sure I can sit down and spill my guts out about that whole ordeal and my feelings about it without A) sounding super whiny or B) breaking down and crying while I type which is just awfully messy if you know the way I cry. The news alone has been a lot to deal with and then there's been all the reading to find out about FTD and what's to come as well.

And then, this passed week, I lost my job... stupid economy! Losing my job means losing my income when I have student loans, medical bills, my credit card (thank god I'm pretty good at controlling my spending with that!!) and the payments for the car I just bought as well. If that's not bad enough, my apartment that I've been settled into for about a year and a half is provided through work, so I've lost that as well! I've been given a week to pack up and head out. I don't want to pack up, I don't want to move back in with my parents and I feel so bad taking my cats there too when they've been pretty stress-free at my apartment for so long now.

I don't get to see Ruby adopted out or see Donny needs more surgery or see if Freda gets all better or what's going to happen with the possible mass in Nickey or see my love Molly anymore or if Polly is going to get surgery. I've just really invested myself here in a way I don't even think my co-workers know and so this is all very sad for me. I used to walk around here sometimes at night just checking to see what the kitties were doing and making sure they were ok.

I'm just forced to hope this is for the best. I've been here for some great, great things like my work's 5th Anniversary and all the publicity with Tashi - it was so nice seeing other people recognize and appreciate the work done here. At least I was let go because of the economy so I can collect unemployment instead of having to quit in several months or something because of my dad (or who knows what might else go wrong at this point!).

Now, I'm going back to my parents, the farm, sheep and chickens and horses and too many guinea hens. At least I'll have lots of time to read, write ... and blog, right? Ahh ::sigh:: Who knows, maybe I'll even start rescuing again ... doing fundraisers or working with kick ass people like my friend who likes the special babies, like Joa (who has since been adopted!).