House Hunting

We've been doing some (unsuccessful) house shopping.

I talked with Dad a little bit the other day about the current situation (our bid was rejected for a different house earlier this month). He told me not to be disappointed and assured me that something better would come along, and of course I rolled my eyes and thought, Not likely.


So of course the universe would decide to go and prove Dad right. Not two days after I spoke with him, a new house was listed on the market. The price was a few grand less than our previous bid. I got permission to take a walk around the property and peek into the windows and I ended up doing that twice before Roy and I actually went inside to see it this morning.



It's small, just a few square feet larger than our apartment, but the house sits on about a half acre lot, so there's a large fenced off yard with plenty of room for adding on. Plenty of mature trees, and it's on a short dead-end road so traffic is very light, and just a few blocks away from the elementary school and park. The best bit is that you can't even see the house from the road; it's tucked into a private little corner.

The carpet is horribly stained, the fridge is from 1970 and needs replacing right away, and I'm pretty sure whoever painted the house was on something at the time (and by "on something", I don't mean linoleum... alternating pastel purple, blue, yellow, and green walls on the inside and denim [yes, denim] curtains) but those are all things that won't take too long to rectify now that we have a bit of money saved.

The only downside is that, to be pre-approved for a mortgage, we have to make several repairs to the house out-of-pocket (new gutters, new windows, creating a runoff around the edge of the entire house, getting a new electrical box outside, etc.). For me, this is terrifying, because there's still the possibility that we put weeks of hard work into this place and spend lots of money out-of-pocket, and then don't get the loan (and we've already been told that, if that happens, we won't be reimbursed for any of the labor or costs). It's a huge leap of faith, but we're not going to drop the idea just yet.

Tomorrow we're meeting with our real estate agent and making an offer on the house. I know I've already asked, but if you guys could keep your fingers crossed for us again, we'd appreciate it!

36 Hours and Counting (The Orphan Part 2)

You can imagine my surprise when I woke up for this morning's feeding and Bean was still alive! I know I said I wasn't going to name the mouse because I didn't want to get attached to it, but... I can't help it. I've taken him on as my responsibility, and in doing so his well-being has become vital to me.

Feeding has been a bit hard since I only have an eyedropper and the tip is too large for Bean's tiny mouth, so formula ends up all over him; every meal time ends up being bath time too (and this has to be done every four to five hours) But he's been going potty after each meal without any problems. I tried going all over Moscow and Pullman looking for an oral syringe with a teensy tip to make feedings easier, but I haven't succeeded yet.

I'm looking forward to when he finally opens his eyes and can begin weening off the formula on bits of cooked white rice and apple. But I have to keep reminding myself that in all likelihood, he's still going to pass away before it comes to that. Every four or five hours that goes by is a surprise to find him still alive and wanting to be fed. But until that moment of "it's all over" actually arrives, I'll do everything I can to take care of him.

The Orphan

I know it's ridiculous, but I just can't help but get all soft and jelly-legged when it comes to animals. So when I woke up to head to the Farmer's Market only to encounter what appeared to be a 1-to-2-week-old mouse pup being circled by a gang of cats, all my plans for the day melted at the sight of him.


I had no idea where to find his mom, and after calling around town in hopes of finding someone with a nursing rodent of their own that would adopt him (to no avail - no one would accept a wild stray), I decided I had to take care of him myself. Upon closer inspection, I discovered not only that he was a boy, but also succeeded in confirming my fears...a near microscopic cut on his wrist and nose, almost certainly from a cat. My hopes came crashing down; I had rescued this adorable little baby, only to discover that within hours, he would most certainly die from his cat saliva-infected wounds.

When he started suckling the creases of my hand, knowing he would die couldn't move me to leave him. I made him a warm bed in a tiny box and put him in the drawer next to my bed, and rushed to the pet store to buy puppy formula. I've been feeding him a few drops of formula from an eyedropper every few hours and then wiping his tummy with a wet washcloth until he uses the bathroom. I almost teared up when he let me clean him up and then curled up in the palm of my hand to fall asleep.



I haven't named him. It's not that I don't want to, it's just I know that if I do it'll be that much harder when I wake up tomorrow and find him gone. But at least I have the comfort of knowing he'll die in a nice, warm, soft bed with a full tummy.

Back Home (Fandemonium Part 3)

The con was amazing. It was so wonderful to meet people in person who had read/seen my work and were, you know, fans of it. It's so weird to run into someone who knows about you and isn't even a relative! The critique and the suggestions I received from the other artists was incredibly helpful. Even well-known comic book artists were offering me advice; I just couldn't believe how kind everyone was!

My best selling print of the week was Romancing the TARDIS, naturally. Another panel even used the image in a workshop about copyrights, in a section involving parodies.

The trip was fantastic, and exhausting. It felt so good to come home and see how crazy the kittens went when they saw us again. This is the longest we've ever been away from them, so it was hilarious to see them rush into our laps and start chattering like crazy when we walked in the door.

Amazingly enough, just as we were scraping the bottom of our wallets for a full tank of gas to make it home, Borneo donated generously to our gas fund. I do believe I actually became speechless, it was so unexpected and sweet. Thanks to that, we were able to make it home without having to attempt to sell prints at reststops along the way!

It was an amazing experience. I've always seen myself as a complete nobody, and yet everyone was so nice. I'm so glad that I worked up the courage to go. I met a lot of talented people who were eager to offer advice and encouragement. Even with the thought of a six hours drive to Nampa, I'd love to return again someday.

Midnight Inspiration! (Fandemonium Part 2)

I couldn't stop worrying this week about coming up with a good workshop for the Con. I know it sounds silly, and we're all just a bunch of geeks coming together to have a fun time in a safe environment, but I really want to present something worthwhile for these guys.

Last night, I woke up and had a great idea: I've met many people online over the past few years who've expressed an interest learning to draw and color their own work in Photoshop. I've also noticed that most of these people also end up blaming their lack of practice to the fact that Photoshop is too expensive for them to legally own. My conclusion was, why not use a capture program to film a step-by-step process on making a drawing using an alternative, open-source imaging program, like The Gimp? Not only would the program be attainable for everyone with a computer and an internet connection, but it would be promoting open source software, and perhaps deterring software theft.

Now that I'm more prepared, I'm really excited about the prospect of attending! Roy says it will  be fun. The only thing we have left to factor in now is if we can budget around the cost of gas for a twelve hour round-trip and several nights in a hotel. Tonight, we're going to crack out the old calculator and see if we can swing this.

The Invite (Fandemonium Part 1)

I am an extremely shy person. When I meet new people for the first, I often begin to feel a little ill to my stomach. Where is this leading? Well, I've been invited to Nampa, Idaho this August as the Webcomics Guest of Honor for the Fandemonium Con of 2008. They've offered me a free booth and a free 3-day pass. The catch is... I'll have to talk to people. As in, lead a discussion panel and present a workshop. In front of real, live people.

I got all weak in the knees just reading the email! How bad am I going to be if I decide to attend and actually do it?