The Blackburn Family

Well, took the car to be inspected today and it wouldn’t pass without new tires. I guess I can’t complain since I have 65K miles on 60K tires. I knew I needed new ones this year, but it sure sucks to need them the same week the cat has teeth taken out. Not to mention the 2K worth of work needed on the exterior of our home and replacing the deck (another 1K). I did decide to go ahead and get the insurance on the rabbits. I think it is too late for J.D. since his heart murmur and kidney disease are now considered pre-existing conditions. Tuscan and Moose have a few more years left in them, but they are getting older so it seems smart to go for the insurance. It isn’t cheap ($200 a year), but if they get sick it will cost WAY more. Rabbit vets aren’t cheap.

On a lighter note we made our first attempt to make pasta today. It took forever and it really wasn’t very good! I guess our technique needs a bit of work not to mention a pasta roller! We will try again, but what a pain. I hear it gets easier the more you do it and eventually we will perfect the texture and flour mix that we like. It was a bit chewy for our taste. Gotta start somewhere.

J.D. is doing much better. By Friday he was back to normal. I think the morphine type medicine he was on was making him a bit out of it. Once he was off that stuff he improved quickly. He is back to our cuddly little boy. We will see how he does next week when he has to go back for his followup visit.

Oh, more news! We got some new fish today!!! I decided if we were going to have a fish tank in the living room it needed to look nice! Poor Alfred was alone in that big tank with no lights, one fake plant and ornaments that were so algae covered you couldn’t even tell what they were. We have been working to clean it up the last couple weeks and have put a good amount of money into fixing it up. I still have a bit more to do, but I will post a pictures at some point. I wish I had a before picture. Trust me it was bad. So now Alfred has two new friends that look like small versions of him, George and Simon. Plus we have two little fish with pretty yellow tales. They are very tiny. Eugene and Frank. Hopefully we will get a couple more in a week or two.

J.D. had to go to the vet today to have his teeth cleaned. The fee for cleaning his teeth is around $300 and we were really hoping no teeth would have to come out. Well, I got a call around lunch that two teeth had to be taken out. The back two molars on the bottom. Final bill $560! He is on three medicines and is NOT happy. He wants to keep an eye on us, but is still a bit jumpy and doesn’t really want us to touch him too much. To make matters worse he also has a mild hear murmur and the early stages of kidney disease. Poor little J.D. So tomorrow I will be doing some research on pet insurance.

Before I get to the fun stuff (my latest video) I want to mention two more serious issues.

First, Rabbits are NOT good gifts at Easter!! Please see my banner to learn more about rabbits as pets before you decide to bring one home! Help me spread the word that rabbits and Easter don’t mix.

Second, for those of you in Wake County please see the link below to the SPCA’s website. The county decided a few weeks ago to change where animals in our county are surrendered. Currently the SPCA acts as the intake facility for the cities of Raleigh, Cary and Garner. Animals from all other areas of Wake County are taken to the Wake County shelter. Starting July 1, 2008 the animals from Cary and Garner will not go to the Wake County shelter. The county shelter is not equipped to handle these additional animals. Plus the Wake County shelter still uses the gas chamber as a form of euthanasia, the Wake County shelter doesn’t spay/neuter all animals adopted out of their facility and the Wake County shelter doesn’t meet standards for cleanliness leading to disease outbreaks. Please read more about this situation!!! We need people to email, call and write their county commissioners to request the conditions at the county shelter be improved immediately and the decision to change the intake agreement between the two shelters reversed!

SPCA Watchdogs

Now, the good stuff. While I was getting our Plush Pet Packets ready I put all the stuffed animals on the couch. Tuscan and Moose just couldn’t resist. I didn’t have my camera near me, but I did have the camcorder. I thought it was cute, but then it got really funny. I don’t want to spoil it, but you have to watch the whole video to find out what happens.

Some days my life is just so exhausting that I have to stretch out and rest while I drink my water. I mean, it is tough you know? I have to follow mom around all morning crying for food. Then I have to keep moving my nap spot all day to follow the sun. Then when mom gets home from work I have follow her around all night crying for my dinner. It is no wonder I am so tired.

Love,
J.D.