Cost of Owning a Pet

I found a graph on Petfinder.com that estimated the cost of owning a pet breaking down the average costs for all animals from a lizzard to a cat, small dog, large dog etc. I consider owning a medium & large dog 20lbs & 50lbs but they are honestly probably a small dog & a medium dog. The average for owning these two dogs a year should run about $1245. I also use mint.com to keep track of all my spending, you just upload your bank & credit card accounts into the system and it keeps track of everything you spend than you can sort it into catagories. So I just looked real fast to see and I've spent $761 on Pet related expenses since 9/20/08. I consider this to be extremely below average especially since about $400 of that was Vet expenses for Winstons allergies or flea treatment because we had serious issues with fleas all summer. We feed the expensive food & spoil our dogs with treats. Which makes me wonder how someone can spend $1245 on dogs... WOW! I think that everyone who considers adopting or buying a dog should have to look at this form and sign it stating they understand the costs of a dog. $1245 is about $100/month for two dogs so it doesn't seem that expensive but when you add it up, 2 dogs = cable + internet + phone line. EVERY MONTH! And than when people say they have to give up their dogs because they can't afford them...no one ever said Dogs were cheap animals, maybe you should have gotten a goldfish for 18cents.

Dolphins

Alright I may have lied, Vacation was pretty miserable but I did get to eat lots of amazing food, hang out on Burbon Street AND swim with a Dolphin named Lizzie (pictures to come) We went on a "family" vacation 2 years ago and I actually really enjoyed the family 2 years ago. I think because Blake and I had just been dating over a year, they were more reserved. This vacation it was all about Jordan hating Blake and calling her little brother her boyfriend... Blake grouchy because even though his parents know we live together and have dated for almost 4 years we weren't allowed to share a room. So when we finally got to New Orleans where Blakes dad had gotten a hotel room for "his family" and Blake & I had our own hotel room it was wonderful because we had some alone time and we're able to relax knowing that no one was going to yell at us for breathing too loud. The vacation strangle brought us both a little closer and made me feel like his family is nuts. His sister Jordan is skinny, like 5'5" 130lbs. and kept talking about how she was fat because his mom was skinnier than her, his mom basically didn't eat for several months while his brother was in rehab so she is now 5'9" 119lbs and grossly skinny. Than Jordan would order room service & eat non-stop. All of her talking about feeling fat made me feel like maybe I should care about how much I eat, but I still couldn't, I love food and am comfortable with my body enough to not care if eating that third brownie makes my stomach jiggle a little.
Than Blakes mom never drinks so after 2 drinks she is a serious drunk, so while we were sitting there one night she blurts out asking us 20 questions about getting married & a wedding, to which we both basically said we weren't getting married until his sister does because she wants to have a $150,000 wedding, which we both know is totally not our style and his mom loves to spend money so we figure letting his sister get married first will allow us to have a small wedding because they will be over that stage.
Upsides of the vacation: Free Cruise, Great Tan, Lots of wonderful food + 6lbs. & getting away from Springfield for a week.

Vacation

I spent a few days helping my mom move into her new house, which I love! But I was soo tired after 3 days of basically a 14-16 hour day of standing and moving that I needed a vacation after that. So than I came home in time to be home for a few hours and mow the yard before picking Blake up at the airport and driving to New Orleans for the cruise. FYI: 8 days with his family = needing another vacation. 8 days of fighting, arguing, hating each other, never wanting to do anything, complaining about everything DROVE ME INSANE!!

I am home again and on the job hunt, hope I find something soon!

Families

Is it possible to be in love with a guy and want to spend the rest of your life with him if you think his entire family is nuts? Please let me explain. I just got a call from Jordan (Blakes younger sister whose 21) 's ex-boyfriend, who she still is talking & sleeping with... Andrew, he texts me a lot and calls me whenever he is really drunk to talk about Jordan. He is still in love with her, and I know she still likes him but she is always trying to make him jealous and he treated her like shit a few years ago when they were dating, dumping her just before the last family cruise. So he is talking to me and mentions that she isn't suppose to be drinking and the prosecutor wants to put her in jail for 5 days because of her second DWI...I go WHAT?? We didn't know anything about the 2nd DWI, her first one was when she was 18 and trying to drive from KC to COMO after drinking a 5th of Vodka alone. She totalled her car 30 miles outside of Columbia and blew a 2.71 (legal limit is .08 unless you are under 21, which she was, and than it is a .02) I have a friend who went to the hospital to have her stomach pumped for a 2.17. After her first DWI she spent a weekend at a mandatory Alcohol Intervention, where her counselors told her she was an Alcoholic and should never drink again. So apparently Andrew than let the beans spill to me because we weren't suppose to know about the 2nd one. He said her parents know because they are footing the bill for her 4 hours, 3 days a week for 6 months of "outpatient rehab" for Alcohol. She got her DWI mid-march (right before she turned 21) and had to sign paperwork that she wouldn't drink for 6 months. She works at 2 bars and is a bartender at one of them, she drinks at least 4 nights a week and does not have a stop button to her drinking, she will drink until she blacks out- EVERY TIME! So Andrew said he was fed up with her shit, which I don't blame him but that is another story. So Blake's sister got her 2nd DWI in 3 years and before she is even 21... her parents just pretend that nothing is wrong and allow her to continue drinking. I am pretty sure after 1st DWI my Mom would have cut me off from all financial assistance, she is now at DWI w/ a $700/month allowance and now getting her "rehab" paid for.
Taylor, Blakes brother also has serious drug issues, at age 17, and was bought an $800/dog and sent to rehab just this past year. After failing numerous drug tests and still being allowed to go out with his friends without any punishments when he returned home, read past posts for more details on Taylors issues. I already sometimes get frustated with how Donna treats her children, they are essentially adults and being treated as small children because she favors them so much. And the way she is so "honest" and picky about details that seem so unimportant. So now I am looking at a family that obviously has serious addiction problems, an alcoholic and a druggie...and it makes me wonder about Blake. I know he has his issues and I get really frustated with him at time but he seems so "normal" compared to his siblings, should he have an addiction? Yes he drinks but not anything compared to what it was when he was 21, he can go out and have 4 or 5 beers and than go home. He doesn't drink unless someone else is drinking and is never more than 3 or 4 times a month now. He has smoked pot, I've seen it, but not any for the last 3 years of our relationship and maybe 2 times in all. He doesn't have a porn addiction, he doesn't have a food addiction. He loves TV but I don't think that is an addiction. He likes to gamble but never plays more than Nickel slots because he's afraid to lose his money. Can saving money and being a cheap ass be an addiction? If so that is his and I don't really have a problem with that. I thought my divorced parents who still spend time together and talk daily made my family a weird one but nothing is compared to the family that belongs on VH1 for how many addictions Dr.Drew would love to disect.

"Every woman has the exact love life she wants."

The Wedding Date with Debra Messing (Grace from Will & Grace.) was on and I love that movie. This is a rather famous quote from the movie. I found myself wondering if its true. Does my bestfriend want to be in love with a man who beats her and is really controling? Do I want to be in a relationship with a man who is a slob and super cheap? Did my mom want to be in a relationship with a man who worked too much? What makes every womans relationship the one she wants? Is it because by not doing anything to change things we are settling for what we have? Does this also mean that I have the exact job, family relationships, daily living, pants size, fitness level, etc that I want??