Life in the Zoo
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here. Too long, in fact. Here’s a relatively lengthy synopsis of stuff in my life that’s happened:
Shortly after the ferrets moved in, some new additions were made to the Zoo. Jamie, my girlfriend (of over a year, now) has moved in, along with her seven cats. That’s right, after she moved in, we had a total of 2 humans, 7 cats, 3 ferrets, and 2 rabbits all living under 1 roof in a 950 square foot space. 
The moving process, though it started in October / November of 2007 is still on-going. That is to say, everything that was going to be moved has been moved, but not everything is unpacked or placed in a place that makes sense, yet. I’m hoping we’ll be done in another month or two, but we’ll see.
Oh yah, a couple days after I got back from Hawaii, Jamie left to go to Bermuda for a week with her mom.
We’ve had a some health issues in the intervening time that have been rather time consuming, but it looks like we’re out of the woods. Recently, my mom had to go in for surgery, and also had a case pneumonia (simultaneously, but unrelated). She’s doing better now, though. this happened just a couple weeks ago.
In a conversation over dinner, I realized I had misjudged when my CCNA was expiring. I expected to have until December of 08 to get a professional level cert, it’s actually the end of May. The plan had been to nail down the CCVP by December, but plans change. the goal now, is to finish the CCNP by end of May, since that certification is more review for me than the CCVP. This is in part the reason why I rarely leave the house any more other than for work. study study study
Jamie and I took a small mini-vacation in Vermont in November. It was just before the Holidays got started. It was nice to kind of prepare ourselves for the Holiday season. We had already finished the bulk of our Holiday shopping and needed a breather. It was beautiful, as Vermont always is. We stayed at a resort in Bolton Valley, and the highest elevation you can stay at in Vermont. We were ill prepared for the weather, though. Note to self: Just because there’s no snow on the ground in South Eastern MA when you leave, doesn’t mean there won’t be a couple feet of snow at 3500 feet above sea level in VT. So, during our trip, we had to make a stop off at a K-Mart to buy hats, gloves, and warm socks, etc. While we were in Vermont, we visited the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, and the Ben and Jerry’s Factory among other places. We took plenty of pictures, and I expect to get them posted, soon.
The Holidays were interesting. We had 2 houses to visit on Thanksgiving Day, and 4 houses to visit between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We managed to pull it off, though it was indeed tricky. I did, however, get to meet the Italian side of Jamie’s Family. They seem like a nice enough bunch. The Holiday’s bounty was plentiful, too. From various sources, I got a washing machine, a Kurig Coffee Maker, a new monitor, and a new point and shoot digital camera. Huzzah!
We also at some point (it’s been so long, my memory is getting hazy) met up with Jamie’s mom’s cousin, and her aunt. Nice folks. We also met up with that same cousin, his partner and his father just a couple weekends ago. Great folks, really.
The only other thing that comes to mind right now is that the Zoo shrank recently. We lost Bonnie, my little brown bunny. She passed away about a week ago. So, the zoo now contains 13 members (including the 2 humans).
Well, I’m sure I’ve missed something, and I think of it, I’ll post it again, soon.
I don’t know how often I’ll be posting because of the whole studying-my-but-off thing, but I’ll make an effort to keep on top of things.
~G
