LORD SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED. Including Realmscon, which just finished after the beginning of this month. :o I've been using Plurk more often, that's why my journals have been collecting dust. I still read my flists, I've just been too lazy to post anything myself. And crossposting my fanfics is still a pain in the neck (which I still have to do for some fic, haha...) BUT I feel like I have to tell you the two most important things that happened in my life: Riley and Chara the chinchilla.

A few months after we buried Freddie, we contemplating getting another dog. Mom wasn't ready, I was, it was strange for everybody all around. One day, Dad told us to get in the car; the entire family is driving three hours to Laredo, TX. For a puppy.

Here's the story: a woman's grandparents had a pair of Bichon Frises who had puppies, and decided to give her one as a gift. But since her new puppy kept peeing everywhere and seemed incapable of being housebroken, she contemplated throwing him into the street. A friend of hers said, "NO DON'T DO THAT" and took him in herself. Unfortunately, this lady has a HUGE family of noisy kids to take care of, including her mother and sister and two pit bulls. So she offered to let us have the puppy for $400.

The poor guy shivered when we first met him. As soon as we carried him into the car and Dad closed the door to the driver's seat? He smiled at us for the first time and wagged his tail. My brother suggested we name him "Riley." :D

Riley was terrified of the grass at first. The suburbs where he was from didn't have grass at all and he wouldn't budge at all. When he did, he moved slowly like a cautious fawn. The next day though, he was romping around our yard like no tomorrow. He seemed unusually intelligent for a puppy; he'd follow us in the kitchen and wait for food to fall, which a puppy wouldn't learn until later. When we took him to the vet to catch him up on vaccinations and set a neuter appointment, we learned the truth; Riley is not a puppy. He's actually a year and seven months old! :o The lady probably lied to us about his age because she was worried we wouldn't take him otherwise. But of course we'd take him, we love him. ;; I only wish Freddie had been around to meet him.

Riley's definitely his own dog from Amanda & Freddie. While Amanda and Freddie didn't care much for toys, Riley loves them and ADORES chasing his frisbee. Amanda and Freddie love riding cars, but Riley will always shake when he's inside one. Amanda and Freddie hate being wet. Riley, on the other hand... as soon as Dad turns on the hose to water his plants? Riley immediately starts jumping again and again into the stream, play-barking and chasing the water around and trying to get drenched as much as possible. And he buzzes. Constantly.

Whenever any of us enter the room, whether it's waking up or looking for a snack, Riley gets excited, wags his tail, and gives us kisses. ;;

( Living the life of Riley )

Like Amanda and Freddie, Riley loves the chinchillas. Usually he comes into my room, wags his tail as he follows Frisk and Chara around the cage, trying to kiss them when they're close, and whimpers because he can't reach them.

Speaking of chinchillas, Chara was my present for my 28th birthday. :D Petco said she was the smallest chinchilla they ever had, so they doubted if she would live after I brought her home (which is weird because wtf if she's old enough to be weaned, she'll be just fine). While Chara had a hectic day and was scared of everything, I made sure to help her calm down and have as much space as possible. She hidden under the bottom platform of her cage for the first few days before she got confident enough to come out and play with Frisk (who treated her like she's her own kit). But yep, Chara's fine and growing bigger and stronger everyday! She's not terrified of everything anymore (she's even constantly teasing Riley by hopping up to him and deliberately backing up to make him suffer) and she's much easier to hold than Frisk. XD She's a little nipper though. Figures. :P Whenever it's Treat Time, she gives me this half-lidded look that says "GIMME." One of these days, I should take a picture of her and caption it with red text: * No raisins.

( Considering chinchillas love bathing in dust, it's kinda ironic I named her the way I did. )

So now, I have Riley, Frisk Chell Roberts, and Chara GLaDOS Roberts. Hurray!

This post has been crossposted with Dreamwidth at http://shamanicshaymin.dreamwidth.org/138510.html. Pick your poison. Mwoiiiiiiiing~!

Ryu had quite a day today! ( tw: Eye Scream aka Puri's too squeamish to be a vet ) He's been calm throughout the whole thing and never tried to escape. He's such a good boy. ;; The vet said she was also impressed how old he is, since the oldest chinchilla she had evermcared for was around eight years old (Ryu is 10-11).

Ryu's like the Snow White of the pet world; everybody who meets him loves him. ♥ The people outside in the waiting room were curious about my chinchilla, and a lady asked me if she could pet him. She's so enchanted and amazed how soft he is! Then she asked if she could take a picture of him with her cell phone, which I said of course, haha. I talked to the other patients and visited their pets while waiting on Dad and Ryu, hehe. A lady had two rescue doggies, both mixed, and one of them is likely to have Chinese Crested in her. :o The poor things were so nervous. I saw a couple with a Siberian husky mix, and I talked to them about Ryu, but I couldn't let them pet him because I didn't want their dog to jump all over me and him. :o

Ryu's currently relaxing in his little house right now, occasionally running on his UFO wheel. I'm so glad he's doing okay. ;;

This post has been crossposted with Dreamwidth at http://shamanicshaymin.dreamwidth.org/113647.html. Pick your poison. Mwoiiiiiiiing~!