delsheeZOO: the final chapter

hello, faithful friends!

well, the time has come. i am no longer a pooper-scooper. i am free.

i was contacted by the home owners this evening to say that they returned and everything looks fine but they inquired when i last saw one of the cats and if i knew how long one of the crabs had been buried under the sand.

i told him i saw the cat last night; she's probably just running around in the hood. and the crab was out on the town a day or so ago but has been making a habit of going down under from time to time.

he then followed up to tell me he's sure the crab is fine in there. and that since his last message, the cat had come home.

"we looked!
when we saw him
step in on the mat!
we looked!
and we saw him!
the cat in the hat!"

this all leads me to the assessment that indeed, on my watch, ALL EIGHT SURVIVED. i was relatively ill-equipped for this task, but i'm not stupid enough to blow something so simple.

so there you have it. i have washed my hands of this and emerge a wild, impatient woman, no more inclined to adopt a pet and no less inclined to eat meat.

oh and p.s. if you know anyone going out of town, give 'em my number.

delsheeZOO: day eight

eight days! eight days! they lasted eight days!

perhaps the more shocking revelation is that i lasted eight days.

tomorrow morning i will take the dogs on their final walk, spray the crabs for the last time, and spoon out the cat food to mark my (black) swan song here at the manor.

my ultimate post--the conclusion, closure, and confirmation of success and survival--will be forthcoming. until then, i thank you for your interest in my trivial travails and bid you good night.

delsheeZOO: day seven

not much to report today but i didn't want to slack off on my commitment to post daily. i could definitely give you details of the pooping that went down but i will assume you are extremely disinterested in such things and would rather just review the NFL playoff schedule. let me just say that if i never see another canine caca in my life it'll be too soon.

tomorrow is day one at work and almost the end of my duties. everyone is still very much alive, though my patience may be dying a slow death.

guten nacht.

delsheeZOO: day six

¡feliz año nuevo, devoted readers of this ridiculous animal saga! i now have only 3 days left of my duties. the biggest challenge at this time is that i start work on monday (after an 18 month employment hiatus) and i'm nervous enough about how my body will rise & shine on time and how my brain will function in a professional capacity without the stress of tending to the farm in the wee hours of the morning. as long as mickey doesn't try to fly the coop again and the rest stay alive and cooperative, i should be in good standing to close out tuesday morning with a winning record.

my mom happily accompanied me to walk the dogs this morning. see, this is why moms are pretty great. she didn't offer to pick up the poop this time (though she did earlier this week, SCORE) but she was all fired up about the adventure, which kind of prevented me from getting all angry at the dogs when they act up and try to mess with me.

still a slew of floating dead crickets in the frog tank. i am pretty close to confirming he's a bit anorexic. (can one be "a bit" anorexic? perhaps it's more of an all-or-nothing kind of thing.)

the felines are fine.

the crabs are...crabby.

i'm shooting for a lot more status quo til my term here is up. tuesday, i can see you on the horizon and i can't wait until that moment when i wrap you in my arms and tell you how i've longed for your touch.

it will be magical.