Ferrets!

Our ferrets have taken to sleeping together at the end of playtime. Yesterday I found them nested in a blanket on the floor (well, a corner of a blanket that they'd pulled off the bed). The other favorite place is a round cat bed we got them. It's big enough for all three to squish into -- though usually only Koosh and Gabby are in it. Trixie prefers to sleep on our bed. The cutest, by far, though, is Gabby -- stretched out in the middle of our king-sized bed! We'll have to get a picture the next time she does it. It's too cute.

Bird's Nest

The bird's nest outside is now as big as a big beach ball. It's above and a little to the right of the door. It's suspended by sheer will at this point. I don't even want to mess with it. It's not just that I'm terrified of birds, but that I'm afraid there will be baby birds in there and I don't want to harm them. I don't know what to do.

Things

Things feel wrong again -- overwhelming. I think it's because I'm trying to reduce the amount of anti-anxiety medication I take. Or maybe it's something else. We'll see. I try to remember that people naturally have emotional ups and downs, a little dip doesn't mean a downward spiral into despair. Did I mention that I don't like roller coasters? -- Mary

http://www.TopicalTees.com

It's live! Go check out the stuff I've been working on. I will be adding more designs and products soon, so check back there. I'm having loads of fun working on this. As my friend Lisa said, "Work should be fun." I agree.

But two of the designs ...

Neat, huh? Go look! -- Mary

Another Lovely Day

Spring is here! There are birds living in the eaves.

Last night I made 19 t-shirt designs for my new TopicalTees.com web site. It's a start. They're kind of random. I hope to have them up later today.

It's noon. Time to work. -- Mary

Weather Report

It's finally spring. The sun is out, the temperature is moderately warm, and the air is full of allergens. Our neighbor is washing his car. I like this time of year. It's one of the few times of year I actually like.

OZZY and Pets

What a great quote from Ozzy Osbourne in one of the episodes of "The Osbournes" I stayed up way too late to watch: "You don't have a pet for five minutes, you have it for life." Yeah. Ozzy Osbourne said that. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy for him, eh? I mean that seriously. I'm not a fan of his music (I never was), but since reading about him getting straight I've had some respect for him (I'm sure I'll take a hit for that -- respecting something about Ozzy Osbourne). Now I respect something else about him.

Too many people think of pets as accessories. They get rid of the dog/cat/ferret when it's no longer easy to care for it or when some other, presumably more important, responsibility comes along. Too many people don't think about the animal's lifespan when they bring home the puppy/kitten/baby ferret. They don't think about the possibility of having children during the pet's lifetime. Then, when a baby is on the way, they ditch the animal in favor of the baby. It's wrong. Pam Troutman told me she'd love to say to people who wanted to turn in a ferret to the shelter because a baby is on the way and they felt they wouldn't have time for the ferret: "Are you going to get rid of the first baby when the second one comes along because you won't have time for the first?" It's a cop-out argument, the "not enough time" excuse. Ferrets don't even have a particularly long lifespan, so shuffling them to a shelter then a new home has, I think, a stronger disruptive effect on them. Sure, ferrets adapt well, but that shouldn't be used against them. Children adapt well, too, but as a society we try to give them a sense of stability by not moving them from home to home (though, sadly this happens too often and, in some cases, children aren't moved to a new home when that's really the best thing for them).

Ozzy's statement bears repeating and repeating and repeating: "You don't have a pet for five minutes, you have it for life."

--Mary

Raining

Today it's rainy and windy. The sky is gray -- it makes the budding spring colors seem dull.

New Web Site

I did most of the work I can on my TopicalTees.com web site without uploading it and setting up the actual storefront. Maybe today I'll do that. I'll let you know. I'm excited to have my own venture. Everything I've done for the past 9 years has been with Eric (except writing, of course). It's about time I asserted my independence. -- Mary

PS: I'm having a bitch of a time publishing this blog entry. I have no idea if or when it'll show up. Grrrrr. It looks like our host site is the problem. {HUGE EXASPERATED SIGH}

Friday Again

I don't know how this happens. One minute it's Sunday night, I'm curled up in bed watching Charmed, and the next minute I'm frantically packing orders to make the Friday UPS pickup. I think as we get older the world spins faster. Maybe senility is just a state where the world is spinning so much faster that the older people's reality is different from the reality of the younger people. Spinning, spinning.

Enough silly philosophy.

I'm still working on my new web site. But today is magazine day. Eric and I are going to go over the pages I did and get the rest of the photos together. I'm excited to be close to finished. Plus the sun is out, which is always a treat. --Mary

Marc Morrone and Martha Stewart

Our friend Marc Morrone from Parrots of the World in Rockville Centre (NY) just struck a sweet deal with Martha Stewart. We're really proud of Marc -- he works almost endlessly (from early in the AM to late at night, he tends to animals and does all sorts of stuff). He's always included ferrets in his pet segments on Martha Stewart's show. So kudos to Marc. You can see the article in Newsday at:
http://www.newsday.com/business/local/newyork/ny-bzmart243251394apr24.story

Congratulations, Marc! --Mary

Saturday

This day used to mean freedom. Now it's just another day. A day I won't venture out to shop, because that's what everyone else is doing. I don't like crowds. The sun is out and it's warm-ish (certaintly warmer than yesterday). I'm not feeling wonderful today. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just that I'm getting used to feeling good, so it doesn't feel as good as it used to. Maybe it's worry over how old I am. Maybe it's writer's block.

Visit

Yesterday a friend and her whole family (four kids) came to visit. The younger kids were enthralled by the ferrets. They picked them up and played with them until the poor ferrets were zonked. It was a good workout for them. Now the house is cleaner than it was (that's one of the perks of having visitors -- incentive to clean).

Walking

Eric and I have been trying to take a good long walk every day. I think it's good all around: physically, mentally, emotionally. I have a lot of work to do and walking makes me work better.

New Store

We're going to be setting up a new store -- tee shirts and stuff like that. It is not going to be ferret-related. We're hoping that reaching a broader audience will help us bring in more money. It's time to move our life-plan forward and that takes more income than we have. I'll talk more about it as it develops.

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A Poem

I don't know when I wrote this, but here it is:

Young

We know it.
The light, the glow.
What’s left of them —
not memories
(those are here).
But the flash
seared fast into us.
The fused part
where we meet.
Where we’ll always meet.

Dense as the dark now,
but for a sharp impression
snapped across the sky
then gone.

There’s the trouble.
The absence of light —
knowing what’s gone
once was not gone.
Once was here,
was illumination —
life.

How can we not know it?
The spark, ash
— already.


By Mary R. Drews Shefferman
Copyright 2002, 2003

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That's it for now. -- Mary

The Weather

It's hot up here in my "sanctuary." Opening the window doesn't seem to help. Heat still rises. The natural progression of weather here in the Northeast has changed from winter -->spring -->summer to winter -->spr -->summer. Tomorrow it will rain. Be cooler (about 40 degrees cooler, if the weather man on channel 11 is right). That'll be nicer. I like cool weather. But not too cold.

Eric

Eric got some good news today -- all his bloodwork came back normal. Even his cholesterol, which had been a concern at one time, is well in the normal range. Yesterday, he finally got the Remicade treatment he was supposed to get a month ago. He should start feeling better soon. In the meantime, we're keeping up with our resolution to walk more. The nice days make walking pleasant. But not today. Today was too warm.

Family at Holidays

Easter's coming on Sunday. We're going to my Aunt Helen's for dinner. I actually enjoy seeing my family (I know many people only tolerate their family members, but I genuinely like mine). Unfortunately, none of my brothers or my sister or my stepmom will be there. We'll still have a good visit. It's hard to get everyone together at one time anymore. Usually we try to do that on the Fourth of July. My brother Mike likes to have a big party at his beach house. I look forward to that.

Surprise

Eric and I were in Home Depot today, getting some paint samples and looking for stepping stones. While I'm standing by the paint samples, a woman (I saw the polished nails) puts her hands over my eyes. I turn around and ... it's my godmother! I hadn't seen her since my godfather died. She seemed good. She was getting plants. I always admired my godmother. She's originally from England (I've always loved her accent). She's had white hair since ... I don't know ... she was very young. I've only known her with white hair. She used to be a ballerina a long time ago. I think she still has that grace.

Et Alia

I've been getting a lot of supportive e-mails from people since I wrote that I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. So far, I'm not in a lot of pain, and the pain I have is in my joints. I'm finding that stretching makes me feel a lot better. I'm taking Elavil (amitriptyline) every night. It's supposed to help with the pain, but it takes a while to work. In the meantime, the stretching seems to help. All in all, I think I'm doing very well. All the medications I'm on seem to have a good synergy, which leaves me with the wonderful ability to enjoy things -- something I haven't had for a long time. I'm noticing the buds on trees. How the various flowers take their turns blooming now -- first the crocuses, then the forsythia, the tulip trees, daffodils. We have forsythia along most of the parkways here on Long Island -- it makes the driving right now very pleasant. I don't think I've noticed this progression of spring in a few years. Nature is the one constant. Everything else is flux.
--Mary

April Showers...

It's been cloudy and drizzly here for the past week. Nothing like gloomy weather to perk up the spirit. Right now everything outside looks like a minor variation of the same color: gray. Houses, trees, sky ... it's all the same. It's like living in a black & white movie.

On the bright side -- I'm seeing all sorts of harbingers of spring: crocuses, forsythia, buds on tulip trees. Spring evokes the same kind of excitement as birth does. It is birth. Spring is like a flower blooming.

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A Bit of Business

I went and discounted the FerretFaces 2003 Calendar by 30% on the Ferret Trading Post site (www.FerretTradingPost.com). We're running low, so now's a good time to get it. I keep one in my purse (at 6"x6", it fits just fine). /End of Announcement.

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Eric

Eric hasn't been feeling well in a lot of ways. So if you want to contact us here at Modern Ferret, send all e-mails to me at: mary@modernferret.com. Eric really needs to take a break from all the ferret stuff (all work stuff, actually) for a while and concentrate on getting himself in tip-top shape. If you want to wish him well, please send the e-mail to me. I'll make sure he gets it.

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That's about it for now. -- Mary