The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" ~Jeremy Bentham

Today is a day I'll never forget. Keep in mind, I have a strong stomach for many things, but today just about proved that statement wrong.

I was at the shelter printing and typing up some new documents for the shelter information binder. It was a pretty tame day by the time I arrived, however it was busier earlier. I was helping clean up around some areas and went back to typing the new documents.

I was behind the main counter putting the new documents in the binder, chatting with two of the staff members and bidding an evening farewell to the shelter manager as he was leaving for the day. A young woman, young man and children came in with a kitten wrapped in a towel. I didn't know what all was going on in the beginning as I was talking to the foster care coordinator. The older staff member had the kitten in her hands, and I offered to hold him while she had the young family fill out the paper work. I glanced at the man, and he smiled very warmly, almost creepily. I asked what the problem with the kitten was, and the older staff member said very quietly, "He's burned." She had an empty, glossy look in her eyes as I took the kitten from her. The kitten was meowing, looking around, and most importantly, moving. I unwrapped part of the towel and smelled something.....I smelled cooked meat. I took the kitten back into cat receiving so he could have a kennel to himself with some fresh food. When I unwrapped him from the towel, my heart sank. The other staff member was already in cat receiving preparing the kennel, and she was on the phone with one of the kennel managers. This is the conversation:

Staff member: "You won't believe this, and I need you to come in a soon as you can. I know you just left, but this is unthinkable. We have an 8-10 week old kitten....that was placed in a microwave. He has severe burn marks, and it doesn't look good. You need to see the look on Ashley's face. I think she's going to punch something."

I didn't punch anything. I just stood there in shock. I have pictures of this poor kitten, but I don't think I'll post them. The family's story is as follows: The toddler, who comes up to my KNEES, put the kitten in the microwave and cooked it. They stated that the burns didn't look bad, but what the staff members tried to explain to them is that microwaves COOK from the INSIDE OUT.

Oh, it gets better.

The staff member that was on the phone earlier speaking to the shelter manager walked out and noticed the man laughing hysterically in the car.

This poor kitten just wanted affection. He was forgetting his pain thanks to the affection we were able to give him. It was so sad. I will never forget the smell. Never. I'm going to be blunt; the kitten was practically cooked from the inside. His feet were burned with pus coming from the wounds, the inside of his legs were burned, his tail was burned, and his anus was burned terribly. He kept swelling and swelling, but he was so hungry for food and affection that he ate and nuzzled our hands.

The humane thing to do was to euthanize him. We have the woman's name, address, and telephone number. We were all in such shock that we didn't think straight to ask for a state issued ID to scan in order to obtain the proper information.

I came home in tears to Fred. I have more feelings for animals than I do for humans anymore. Animals are innocent. They can't speak, but they can communicate. They can't tell us how they feel, but they do reason. I do know that they suffer, and the lucky ones are fortunate enough to get forever homes while some are better off being humanely euthanized. All I can think about is the animals that we have saved instead of the ones we've lost to idiotic owners.

Today started a month of chaos, excitement, and an overall feeling of refreshment.

At 4:30 PM today, Fred and I will be at Shadow Asylum, a local haunted house. We have been helping build the entire thing since March, and it has come around very nicely. This isn't a typical cheesy carnie haunted house; this is a haunted house that is pitch black, took months and months to plan and build, and fills an entire warehouse. If I'm counting properly, there are roughly 15 rooms/areas. I can't tell you the theme though. You'll have to come to find out yourself ;) Regardless, Fred and I have been helping since we started volunteering at the animal shelter. I wondered what the haunted house had to do with the animal shelter, but when I found out, I knew I wanted to be involved. All of the ticket sales goes toward a donation check to the animal shelter. Last year, Shadow Asylum raised over $52,000 for the humane society. I can't wait to see how much is raised this year!

And this leads me to my next thought:

Fred and myself have taken in multiple dogs to foster/rehabilitate before they are adopted. So far, we are up to eight dogs since April. Some have been hard to let go (Sweet Tea), but we always try to make sure that they go to loving homes. If they don't get adopted, we know they are taken to a no-kill rescue shelter that will guarantee them a home. So far, we have had Dorian, Lady, Sweet Tea, Bagel, Linkin, Contenelle, Jenna and now we have Morgan. Morgan is a beautiful collie/golden retriever mix that's feral. Her and her litter mates were found out by the federal prison grounds wandering. They've had no human contact or affection, so Morgan tends to shy away from loud noises, people, and other animals. Since we've had her (approx. 4 weeks), she has made some major progress. When we first received her, she wouldn't come out of her kennel/cage. She would cower in the corner refusing to eat unless she was by herself. She wouldn't play, walk on a leash, or even look you in the eye. Fred has had the opportunity to take her to work to get her exposed to other people and other environments. I feel this has helped tremendously. Right now, she's sleeping in the recliner near me, she plays with our dogs (Grimm not so much; he's a grumpy old man), she looks people in the eye, and she even came up to lick my hand. Dublin didn't like it much; he gets jealous and snorts at me =) To make a long story short, she has improved greatly since we first received her, and we hope she continues to do so.

Some people have told Fred and myself that there needs to be more people like us in the world, or what we're doing is fantastic. I'm so glad that people realize that animals need the attention and love just as much as we do. I know we've made an impact on some of their lives, but I feel that there are many other animals Fred and I could help. I know that we'll be receiving more to rehabilitate, but I always feel (personally) I could do more.

Monday, the animal shelter was overpopulated. We have 110 kennels for dogs and puppies. One-hundred-ten. They were full. You can't exactly put more than one dog in a kennel since they can cross contaminate each other, and we absolutely don't want that. When people would come in stating "We found this stray in our yard, and we can't keep him/her since we live in an apartment" or "This box of kittens was left in our apartment complex" or "This dog was almost hit by a car on the street. We wanted to make sure he stays safe in a temporary place", the only thing we could tell them was, "You can do two things; you keep the animal or someone you know keeps the animal until we have available space, or you could let the animal go free again, risking it getting hurt or even killed." When a box of two kittens comes in so anemic, full of fleas, starving, and crawling to you to receive your warmth, it's hard to say "put them back on the street" especially since our main philosophy is to keep strays off of the streets. This brought tears to my eyes. Here is how I see it: Imagine someone bringing a baby to an orphanage because they found a stranded baby on a door step. The orphanage is full. The receptionist tells you ," I"m sorry. We are out of available space. You need to put the baby back on the street." How would you feel? What would you do? What would be your first course of action?

I advocate adopting animals so much because they need to be adopted from shelters. Overpopulation in animal shelters is too common. Nearly all of it is caused from not getting pets spayed or neutered. I've been working on a power point presentation the past week or so to present to schools, events, and even volunteers so they can be better educated on the importance of spaying and neutering an animal. I'm spending a lot of time on it because I want to thoroughly research my topic and make sure I cover everything, top to bottom.

I guess the point of this whole post is to tell you guys what Fred and I have been doing as well as to advocate how deeply I feel about adopting animals from your local shelter. If any of you want to volunteer, just ask Fred and I what you need to do. We'll help you out!

I hope to see you guys at Shadow Asylum sometime this month! We're open every weekend in October, and we're located at 1st Avenue and 10th Street. Admission is $7, and it's going for a good cause! You're donating to the animal shelter, and that $7 goes toward keeping the shelter running! It costs $10.60/animal per day, and almost $420,000/year to run the shelter. All of this money is from donations since we're a non-profit organization. Thanks for listening to me ramble =)

So she sends me this:

Bite me!

I love you, too Grandma :)

I have a feeling I'll be typing a longer entry once I get home from work. It's been a long time, and I have a bunch of random thoughts floating around in my little brain.

Top ten reasons to date a mortician:

10. We'll let you crash at our house and even use our car
9. We have a long history in bondage
8. We like it on the table and the table tilts
7. Things can get pretty hot (like 2000 degrees)
6. We're comfortable in tight spaces
5. We have a way with pumping fluids
4. It's okay if you want a public viewing
3. We'll always remember to bring you flowers
2. We're not afraid to see you naked
1. You'll sleep well when we're finished

Fred: hell... I didn't know that was available at 7:30... I'll have to keep that in mind for future reference.
me: I'll remind you everyday
me: hey, the drive-thru at the bank opens at 7:30
Fred: shush
me: you know what?
Fred: I'm going to block you if you say the drive-thru at the bank opens at 7:30?
me: everyday I'm hustlin'

Richard: "There are kids and young adults all over the world without Microsoft XBox LIVE. This travesty cannot continue. For less than 2 dollars a week you can satisfy their video gaming needs for a month.

Please...donate today.Call 1-800-NEED-LIVE."

Richard: "How about your nike bill?
Me: Nike bill?
Richard: "JUST DO IT, BITCH!Thanks for the setup."

Also, which would you rather be stuck in: Zombie Apocalypse or a post apocalyptic city from a nuclear war?

Last night was AMAZING!!

Fred and I had the chance to see Colin Hay perform at Birdy's in Indianapolis. We arrived really early. The tickets said 7:30 and nothing else, so we wanted to be there before a mob of people showed up. Turns out the doors opened at 7:30, and there was an opening act. Needless to say, we waited in the parking lot for a good 2 hours.

The doors open, and we sit right up front near the stage. We were roughly about 10 feet away!

After the opening act, I was a giddy little school girl. Colin Hay came on stage, talked for a bit and played a new song titled California from his new album being released in August. He sounded amazing, and the song is absolutely beautiful much like all of his work. He stopped after that song and told some funny stories of his past experiences, like the guys tripping out of their minds while dancing at his show wearing ballerina outfits, the guy that stopped him on the street saying "Hey man. Play that song about goats. Ya know, Goats appear and fade away", and many many more. He started playing one of my absolute favorite songs of mine, Maggie. Me and one other person clapped to this, but he saw my reaction. I was giving this glowing grin as he was playing it, and right before he sang, he looked at me, smiled great big, and winked. When I met with him after the show, he said "You're the one that really likes Maggie. We briefly talked while Fred was showing the girl how to work the camera, and I told him why I liked it so much. I told him that it was a beautifully, simply written song of a tragic love. He thanked me for seeing the song in that manner =)

He played songs from when he was with Men at Work as well as songs from his solo career. I was very very pleased with his performance, and I was able to meet with him, talk to him for a bit, get a picture with him, and get his autograph!

I just want to get to the pictures =)

( My my my, it's a beautiful world... )

Last night, Fred and I went on our bi-monthly beer tasting at Chief's in Greencastle. Here's the menu, and then I'll discuss the beer.

Paulaner Munich Lager served with Rye Crostini and vegetable slaw
Bells Oberon Wheat Beer served with whole grain noodle salad
Anchor Bock served with maple BBQ chicken, cheese grits, and asparagus
3 Floyds Robert the Bruce served with Blueberry-Pecan Baklava

Paulaner Munich Lager
http://www.paulaner-kundenportal.de/50.0.cf83e96d3a598d514cf6bffc24017edb.html

This is what started our night, and it was a great choice. It's a very crisp, smooth lager with a golden color. It has a slight citrus taste after you drink it, and it's one of the finer beers that you can drink anytime of the day. However, it goes best with a lightly flavored meal such as the vegetable slaw mentioned above.

Bells Oberon Wheat Beer
http://heavytable.com/bells-oberon-release-party-at-bryant-lake-bowl/

This was the first beer I was introduced to by Jared that turned me into a beer snob. I feel it's the primary example of an excellent wheat beer. It has the hazy, golden look in the glass. So hazy that you can't see through it. It typically has a citrus taste to it; more orange and tangerine than anything. It doesn't have too many hops in it, but enough to taste a slight bitterness in the end. It doesn't have too much carbonation, but just enough to make the tangerine/orange taste pop.

Anchor Bock
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/bockbeer.htm

The Anchor Bock pours very dark and heavy with a tan foam. The aroma of the beer is very malty and sweet, and there's a smooth, carmel taste. The smoothness from the carmel is what sets this beer off, and it's brewed very well. I would consider this a medium to lightly heavy beer that goes well with the BBQ chicken mentioned above. This was one of my favorites out of the bunch.

3 Floyds Robert the Bruce
http://www.threefloyds.com/dspRobertBruce.html

Minus the IPA's (I personally don't like IPA's, but I'll taste them when given), I've never been disappointed with any of 3 Floyd's beverages. 3 Floyd's is based out of Munster, Indiana. This is the Scottish Ale out of the bunch brewed with chocolate malts with just the right amount of hops to even out the smooth, malt taste. It's a sweet dark ale that goes down smoothly, but not as smooth as the Anchor Bock.

Vincent Van Gogh Banana Vodka
http://vangoghvodka.com/index.html

This was not on the menu, but after we had dinner, most of us that attended the beer tasting went down to a small bar in Greencastle called the Swizzle Stick. It was a Monday night and dead, and Jared wanted us to see the bar that recently opened. Upon sitting at the bar, I noticed some flavored vodkas. Lo and behold, there was banana vodka! (I assume you all know how I love bananas). They had a menu of martinis that had the banana vodka as one of their ingredients, but I didn't want a martini. I asked if she could mix it with orange juice and pineapple juice. It was DELICIOUS. Very smooth, there wasn't the rubbing alcohol smell to it (it smelled just like bananas), and it was a good beverage with breakfast juices.No one had asked for that mixture before, so I took the liberty of calling it Dead Man's Twist =)



UPDATE: Well's Banana Bread Beer
This is one of my favorite beers right now, very close to Oaken Barrel's Razz-Wheat. When you first open it, you can definitely smell the bananas, and it smells just like freshly baked banana bread. The banana taste isn't overpowering, and it's very creamy thanks to the malts. It has a crisp ending to it. It is a very unique beer, but personally, I wouldn't sit and drink it all night long. It's one of those beers that goes well with a dinner or even banana bread ;)


Oh, and all of you should ask why Jared didn't go to the Brugge Brewery to drink beer DIRECTLY FROM THE BREW, RIGHT OUT OF THE TAP WITH THE BREW MASTER HIMSELF. Fred and I will continuously give him a hard time about that ;)

I figured since Fred and I go to beer/alcohol tastings often, I would put down what we tasted on what day here. I wanted to do this simply because I forget what we've tasted and I thought I'd spread the word.

Here we go!

Indiana Vodka

http://www.heartlanddistillers.com/products.html

" Indiana Vodka is produced in our copper pot still in small batches, cold filtered, and hand bottled. We think you will agree it is the finest vodka available."

I think that phrase says it all. There was a tasting down at Bourbon and Canal today in Terre Haute, and this has been the smoothest vodka I have ever tasted. It has no nasty, rubbing alcohol odor to it, and it goes down smooth with a sweet aftertaste since it's main grain is sweet corn. If you feel like splurging $24 a bottle, I would get it. However, I wouldn't get it for parties. I would get it if you feel like spoiling yourself a little while making a nice, hearty dinner.

KEO Beer

http://www.keogroup.com/site.en.html

This lager has a nice, spritzy, light taste. I think the best word to describe this beer is energetic :) It hails from the island of Cyprus. If you like lagers, you will enjoy this beverage.

Wells Banana Bread Beer

http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/wellsandyoungs/beers/export/wells-banana-bread

This was not at the beer tasting, but I stumbled on it while walking around the store. I looooooove banana bread, and when I saw this, I had to have it. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm eager to get my hands on it.

http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=50158&SectionID=181&SubSectionID=301

This article makes me extremely happy. Once I received my license to practice mortuary and funeral preparations, I wanted to utilize my Criminal Justice degree as well in order to investigate funeral homes to ensure they are following laws and regulations effectively and not taking advantage of a grieving family in need. I knew it would take me a little while to do that since I obviously don't have my license yet, but I'm extremely pleased to hear about this trust law being noticed. I'm glad I'm not the only one that had a similar idea.

( Or click here for full story )

For those of you that I love so dearly that aren't in the Terre Haute area, this is a video of outtakes from the videos we have filmed for Igames competitions. Both of our videos we submitted have won first place.

Our friend Jason (a.k.a. J-Mac) does all of the filming and editing. He compiled a bunch of the random outtakes from the two videos we have made. I thought I would share with you guys the video since it was the first thing to make me giggle constantly today. Hope you guys like it!

I felt that a much needed update was called for since I haven't written anything in a while, so here goes!

One big change that I'm going through is my diet. It's not only for me attempting to get healthier, but it's also to aid my psoriasis. After I discovered that the medicine I had taken for 3.5 years for my psoriasis caused progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), I figured I would try something more natural instead of a medicine that hasn't been approved by the FDA.So far, none of the symptoms have showed, but I still plan on seeing a doctor relatively soon to see what goes on. Most psoriasis medications aren't approved by the FDA since they're experimental and they have trial studies. The diet is pretty strict, and I've slipped a few times, but I'm attempting to stick to it. It has helped me lose weight. I lost nearly 10 lbs in 3 weeks.

The diet mostly consists of vegetables. When I eat a salad, I have to eat 3 above ground vegetables and 1 below ground vegetable. Normally, I eat Romaine lettuce, carrots, celery and cucumber. I can eat chicken as long as it's grilled and white fish as long as it's baked. I can eat certain fruits as well, low fat butter (when cooking with items), freshly squeezed fruit juices, olive oil, red potatoes, and a handful of others that I can't remember off of the top of my head.

One more thing I'm implementing is the Couch to 5k running plan. I wanted a planned running schedule so I can work off of that to create my own. I ran one day so far due to the weather and time constraints, but I plan on running tomorrow even if it's raining. I'm determined to get back into better shape since my health has become better than what it was previously. I want to lift weights just to be tone, and I need to look at decently priced gyms.
***
Fred and I are still doing amazing as always! We're in the process of cleaning out our garage full of grandma stuff (FINALLY), and inheriting another large dresser so we have enough room to put our clothes. For a while, we had clothes everywhere since I moved in and I'm a girl that has a huge amount of shit. I can't wait to get the house and garage completely cleaned so we have a place to put everything else. After we get everything cleared out, the place will be spotless because I love having space and making things smell good and appear nicely.
***

School is going well. I start my embalming labs really soon, and I plan on looking around for closer funeral homes in town to potentially be employed at. I'm usually busy since I'm in the hardest part of the courses. I've been writing papers and going over my restorative art book to refresh my memory for my lab. I'm a tad bit intimidated by my restorative art lab and my embalming lab. I'm embalming real people for my lab and I'm using a model to reconstruct/model an entire face. I think my intimidation won't reflect on the outcome though.

For now, that's all I feel like writing. Those are some of the major updates that I have. I guess I should update this more often =)

"Everything is 'green' now.Even green burials and eco-friendly burial containers. It helps reduce our carbon footprint or whatever the heck it's called. I don't know much in this area. I was an oilman before I became a funeral home director......"

My two professors for this whole program are amazing. They have a great sense of humor, are very understanding, and they will help you with almost anything you need. His lecture notes are always filled with information like this just to make teaching a little less mundane.

I have a lot to update since I haven't written in here lately, and since for some unknown reason I'm wide awake right now at 4:08 a.m. I figured I'd go ahead and update a bit on what's been going on.

Recently, I became a godmother to Samantha and Kevin's daughter, Madyson. She's so precious! I was fortunate enough to be in the delivery room with Samantha as she gave birth. She didn't use any epidurals, and she had very little pain medication. I helped calm her down and ease her pain as much as I could. I even rubbed her legs to take her mind off of the pain. She did use a numbing solution, but that looked so damn painful. Imagine a rather large needle, say 6-8 inches long going into your....hoo-ha. Yeaaaah. The experience was surreal, and it has given me the thought of using an epidural when Fred and I have children =) Samantha did a fantastic job since this is her first child. The nurses and the doctor commented on how well she handled her labor. I can't wait to go home to see her and Madyson!

Fred and I have been married for a little over six months now, and it doesn't feel like it's been that long at all. We finally have our kitchen to where it's functional, but it still needs a ceiling and a floor. I think once we get everything together, our kitchen will look pretty darn good.

I want to keep this relatively short since I need to try to get some rest and I want to attempt to go through another lecture in one of my classes. Maybe one of these days, I'll do a longer update.

"The recent boom in cosmetic procedures has raised the bar for many of us when it comes to appearance. And, it turns out, the dead are no exception."

This is all thanks to Christie =)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28114566

This was on this past week's PostSecret website. When I read it, I immediately felt sad for the woman, and instantly said "What a dickhead" to the guy. I would feel you need to respect that individual in order to love them. I know I have my 'dummy' moments (sometimes a lot more than others), but we all do. I know I get on Fred's nerves every once in a while, and he gets on my nerves as well, but that's part of a relationship. You're going to get on each other's nerves. I also know that I don't think a lot of things through sometimes which can make me seem like a 'dummy', however, I know I'm somewhat intelligent. I have a college education, and I have enough discipline to take online classes to earn yet another degree.

Below this PostSecret was this email sent by another anonymous person:

"My dad is an award winning physicist who graduated from top universities. My mom had to repeat a couple years of high school. My dad loves and respects her because he recognizes she posses abilities he'll never have."

That in itself, is just touching. I'll reiterate it once again how I feel. You need to be able to respect the person you love, or you won't have a strong, honest relationship. Each individual has different attributes. As stated in the paragraph above, that person's dad may be an award winning physicist and their mom may not, but they may lack in certain qualities where they would need each other to survive. He may not have the nurturing or social qualities that she has, and she may not have the intelligence he has, but they're like two pieces of a puzzle that needed to be put together.

I'm glad I'm in a healthy relationship with Fred. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't, I wouldn't have married him ;)

Rules
1. Pick 20 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it's guessed.
5. No googling/using IMDb search functions.

Entries

1. person 1: By law I have to tell you, sir, I'm a Jew.
person 2: Well, I'm a German, so there we are.

2. "It's all right, Andy! It's just bolognaise! "

3. "I've been nothin' but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that it's your failin', not mine. "

4. "I just realized I'm not pissed off anymore. My father cut me out of his will. You probably knew he tried to contact me over the years. I never called him back. I was a prick. If he was my son and didn't return my calls, I'd have written him out. But it's not about the money anymore. You know, I just don't understand. Why didn't he tell me I had a brother? Why didn't anyone ever tell me that I had a brother? Because it'd have been nice to know him for more than just the past six days. "

5. "Look, I don't care what the telly says, all right? We *have* to get out of here. If we don't they'll tear us to pieces, and that is really going to exacerbate things for all of us. "

6. "Get thee to a nunnery! "

7. "Careful Bill, you'll give yourself a heart attack and ruin my vacation. "

8. "So you want me to tell you the story of my life? "

9. "Ooooh, do me yo-yo master I want you to do me cuz you're the yo-yo guy... "

10. "What most people don't know is that when someone dies in your house, it's up to you to clean the mess. That's where I come in."

11. "I didn't know we had a pool!"

12. "I never blamed you. Not once. You came for me. That's all that matters. "

13. "I like Shrek."

14. "That was the second most disgusting fluid I've ever had in my eye."

15. "Sometimes, truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. "

16. "Don't you think that's kind of weird, not remembering one cold or a fever or a sore throat? What do you think it means? "

17. "Back up in your ass with the resurrection. "

18. "Yeah, you don't know what is like when you try, and you try, and you try, and you try, and you don't ever get there! Because you were born perfect and I was born like this, and you're perfect!"

19. "The line waiting to see Santa Claus stretched all the way back to Terre Haute. And I was at the end of it. "

20. "It's more comfortable for you to label me as insane. "

( Click here for correctly guessed answers! )

Zack: he had to go see a girl or something... it wasn't that big of a deal since he was so far ahead of us with levels, but most of us really need to do some power leveling before Thursday
me: yeah
sigh when these guys see something with boobs and a vagina, it's like the end of the world :)
Zack: no, the beginning of the world
me: hehe
Zack: or the beginning of the wood
hehe
me: hehe....wood
Zack: I wonder if wood is fun because it sounds like boob... maybe something about two "o's" together
me: yeah, cause poop is a fun word to say
Zack: yeah, totally!! boob, wood, poop
me: you see a boob, you get wood, and then you have to poop after the wood goes away from seeing the boob
i dunno :)
Zack: hehe... this is real gross, but you can use them in an awesome sentence: "Yuk! You got poop on my boob from your wood"
Zack: Oool..... "You got poop on the stool from your wood you boob!"

I love the people I work with =)