Actually, yeah, pathetically enough. Aside from the many times my pets have walked away from me without any interest in my existence, I once felt really hurt--betrayed, actually--by my cat, Xander. It was a few years ago during a pretty big wind storm, we were frantically packing to get to a hotel away from falling trees, and when the door was open Xander ran outside. He was probably overwhelmed, too. I chased him into the neighbor's backyard (new neighbors at that point) and he slowed down at the door.

I picked him up and carried him back, but before I got out of the yard, the woman who lives there came out and asked, "Oh, is that your cat?"

Xander was squirming, wind was blowing branches, and I was stressed. "Yeah."

"What's his name?" I think she asked this. And if she did, I told her.

"Oh, we feed him sometimes, he eats the wet cat food our cats don't finish," or something to that effect. This is what happened, I just don't remember what she told me at the moment.

After that I felt a little too upset than I should have. We noticed Xander wasn't eating as much at home, kind of turning his nose up at the dry food, which didn't seem good. Turns out he was being fed by someone else! I mean, besides food, what motivates a cat to stay with a family? That's what concerned me. I thought we were going to lose him. :(

Pathetic, right? Yeah. And yet typing this up kind of upset me, too. But Xander is still here, he can switch between dry and wet food. The Cat Neighbors are very nice and offered to watch Xander if we ever need it, and Xander is actually social with their cats! Weird.

There's was a Simpsons episode where Snowball II is getting food from another family, and Bart and Lisa have a similar reaction. I guess it's a MUCH lesser version of being cheated on or something?

Completely off-topic: Almost done with Gilmore Girls, and I'll make one Extra Big-Ass post about it when it's over. I'm currently on Season 7. And I drank four cups of coffee this morning. So I'm with a Gilmore myself, or just a caffeine addict.

I guess I never mentioned it, but early on in April, my little sister, Gillian, got a hamster. She always wanted one, even though she knew they aren't the easiest pets to play with. She bought the hamster that she saw huddled in the cage corner, not getting her turn on the wheel, thinking that the other hamster's weren't letting her. We were at PetsMart (PetSmart?) for an appointment for Xander, because he had been throwing up a lot (and I cleaned it up almost every frakking time), and she saw the hamster, called my mom, and begged. She paid with her own money, and named her Diana, after the Roman Goddess of the Hunt, Moon, and Protector of Maidens. She thought Artemis sounded a bit too weird, and wanted to go with the more modern, human name Diana.

Gillian didn't realize that you're not suppose to play with a hamster immediately, so when we got home that's what she did. And I don't blame her, that thing was adorable. And Diana did seem to like Gillian, as much as a recently domesticated rodent can love a new human. Really.

A few weeks later, we had a little health scare with her. Gillian started freaking out when she saw symptoms of wet-tail disease in Diana, which is very serious and often fatal. Gillian felt incredibly guilty, blaming herself. We rushed her to the only vet around that would treat hamsters, but turns out it was only a mild, treatable infection.

Gillian was very responsible with giving Diana her medicine, but one day she didn't have time to and so my dad had to do it. If I remember correctly, Diana got out of her cage, with the cat nearby, so my dad panicked, grabbed Diana and held her tight. This of course terrified Diana and she bit my dad's finger deep and hard, my dad accidentally threw her. She survived all of this, but once she got back in her caged, she stayed in the wheel and was too scared to come out. From then on, my sister was too scared to play with Diana anymore. She tried giving her the medicine, but it didn't always work. But the infection passed.

Gillian checked up on Diana every day, made sure she had food and water, but other than that left her alone. Diana seemed perfectly content just running franticly in her wheel every night. She neglected to clean the cage, though.

But a couple of nights ago, Diana died. Gillian didn't tell any of us until yesterday when my younger brother Cole asked if she checked up on her. I think she felt guilty and too embarrassed to tell us. God, that just breaks my heart.

R.I.P. Diana the Hamster.

Thursday, we decided to get a dog.

Saturday, we adopted said dog from the Oregon Humane Society. She is a border collie, and we named her Ella. She is two years old.

She has pooped in a the house a few times.

Ella and Xander (my cat) seem to tolerate each other. So that's good.

Also on Saturday, I had my very last parade EVER (for high school marching band, at least.) The Starlight Parade. It was fun!

But my family couldn't make it because my mom was in intense pain. She and my dad went to the emergency room, and found out she had a kidney stone, but seemed to have passed it before they went to the hospital.

And today, my sister and I went for a walk, with Ella, up to Safeway and the strip mall there. When we were sitting outside of Subway, we heard a bunch of guys yelling at each other, but we couldn't see them. My sister was really scared, and wanted to run. Then she realized she left her phone on the ground, so I ran back to get it, holding Ella's leash, and her collar slipped off. I grabbed the phone, and we got her collar back on and tightened it, and went home.

Yeah. I should get back to homework.

So, this week is my Spring Break, and I've mostly just been sitting around playing Pokémon and Animal Crossing: Wild World until today. I finally left the house! (Oh, I finally beat the Elite Four in Leaf Green! Yay!)

First my family and I had lunch with my dad at the mall, and that was fun. I found a bunch of really cheap Lord of the Rings video games. I didn't buy any, but I might later. They probably aren't very good.

Then we went to Powell's where I bought The Hobbit!! YAY! I'm only a couple pages in, but I already get a kick out of the narration. My older brother really wanted me to buy Watchmen, but I can get extra credit in Mythology for reading The Hobbit because we're currently reading The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Tolkien and Lewis we're good friends and critiqued each other's writings. But anyway, I won't get extra credit for read Watchmen. Not to mention Watchmen was $19.99 and The Hobbit was only $6.95.

Then I went bowling with my friend (who is in college but is home for the break), her younger brother, and another friend from Marching Band. We played three games. First one I won, second I got last but with a decent score, and the third I came in last with only 31 points. There was another kid from band there a few lanes down. That was pretty cool. So that was a lot of fun.

So, yeah. We're going to watch LOST soon! Yay! In the car my younger brother said "son of a!" and I thought of Sawyer and my mom said "is there a new LOST on tonight?" XD

I keep forgetting what day it is. Here, it's still July.

My cousins are all over here. Young and Ellie from my mom's side, and Kyle and Kayla from my dad's. And as pseudo incestuous as it sounds, Young and Kyle like each other. Yeah. Awkward. I think they're planning on kissing or something. >.< They aren't related biologically at all, so there's nothing really wrong with it, but still, they both call my parents Uncle Marty and Aunt Liz. It's just plain weird. But Young's going back to Alaska soon, so this won't last too long.

Anyway, I've found a nice coffee place down the street. I can walk to it. They also have ice cream, so I bring my little sister, Gillian. I mean, I've always known it was there, but I've never really *been* there until recently, and I love their Frappes. I like them more than Starbucks' Frappuccinos, which has a bit too strong of a coffee taste for me. Plus, this place is local, and I always feel good helping local businesses. They have punch cards, and if you get ten, then you get a free coffee. I'm thinking of taking the cousins there tomorrow. They're all spending the night.