Pet First Aid, New Hair, & the last 2 Weeks

Hello All,

Not too much has happened in the last 2 weeks so I decided to put off the post until some more interesting stuff happened.

The first thing I want to talk about is the Cat & Dog First Aid Class that I took with the Hawaii Red Cross. I took it about a week ago and I learned SO much. I feel pretty confident that if an emergency were to ever take place I would be able to care for the pets until I got them to the vet. I learned how to do CPR, how to help them if they are choking, how to wrap their wounds, and a few other really useful things. It was a really neat class, I took it was 4 other people, however none of them spoke English! They were Japanese business owners (they owned a pet shop) and they were in Hawaii for vacation and decided to learn something while they were here. It was kinda neat to be around them, expect the interpreter got somewhat annoying. Other then the class that week wasn't too interesting. Just living the usual McCain life in Hawaii with the pets.

This week was a little bit more eventful, but not by too much. The most exciting things for me this week was chopping my hair off and signing up for my summer classes! I decided to cut my hair after having long hair for about 2 years. I already miss my long hair (especially my side braid) however it was in desperate need of getting the dead ends cut off. Signing up for my classes was probably the most exciting thing that I did though. I'm really looking forward to finally starting school again and getting it done. I found out that I am classified as a Senior so if I really wanted to I could finish school this year.

I also went to the dog beach with one of my friends here. It was pretty fun, Eeva loves going out and being by the water. However it was a super busy day so I had to keep her close to me, especially because a lot of people who bring their dogs to the beach don't keep a close enough eye on their dogs. Usually a few dogs will come up to her and try to start a fight (which always ruins the beach trip), but this time only 1 dog came up to her. I did what you aren't supposed to do and put myself between the 2, Eeva wasn't growling or biting, however the other dog was. I don't understand why all these dogs come up to Eeva and either want to be her best friend or they want to bite her head off.

On the Michael front things are going very well. He just started ALS today, which is Air Force Leadership School, so he now goes to class everyday for 8 hours and gets the weekends off. I'm pretty excited that he is on a normal schedule now, he hasn't been on one since before he was deployed to Spain (July 2011).

The pets have been their crazy selves. Tony & Horus are constantly getting into stuff but being cute in the process. Just today we came home from getting some Starbucks and the cats had tried eating the aluminum foil that I had cooked my lunch (which was honey barbeque chicken bites). Eeva has been awesome as her new usual, she spends most of her time just following us around. She still has her moments of being a terror, but after a few minutes she usually knocks it off. Her favorite part of the day is still her nightly walks with me.

Craft Fair

Hello All,

Yet another week has gone by, one more week closer to school starting for me & one more week closer to Mike starting ALS. It wasn't too much of a crazy week, just cleaning around the house & doing a few random things here and there. We got rid of cable this week which made me somewhat sad, but atleast it means I'll be able to focus on school when it starts. I also finished reading The Hunger Games series, something I definitely recommend anyone to read.

The mots exciting thing that I did this week was go to the Craft Fair here on Hickam. There were about 30-40 booths set up of different crafts that people were selling. I managed to not buy too many things, however I did buy myself some lunch & two bandanas for Eeva, which look quite cute on her.

The pets have all had a pretty awesome week, Tony & Horus have been up to their usual cat ways and Eeva is still on her well behaved steak. I got her a new bed early last week, she has eaten two of her beds before but this time we made sure she never once chewed it. She absolutely loves it! However she will only lay on it if we put it next to the couch so that she's near us, she has separation anxiety. Speaking of Eeva she has also manged to learn how to get through the pet gate that we have in our living room that keeps her in. This pet gate has a cat door at the bottom so that the cats can get in & out whenever they please, however Eeva has learned how to get small enough to crawl through it...Don't you love pets?

School Update

Hello All,

No more neglecting this blog, I'm going to try my hardest to update it atleast once a week, maybe once every 2 weeks but it'll all depend on if anything exciting happens. So far it's been a pretty relaxing 2 weeks, I'm used to not working now which is nice, it had been feeling like I was on a long vacation but not anymore! I think the pets all love having me home, especially Eeva.

I haven't been up to too much, just hanging around the house with the pets, hanging out with friends more often then I had been, and I got almost everything figured out for school. I went and talked to an adviser yesterday where we planned out what my school schedule was going to be like. I'll be taking 3-4 classes each term and if I take 4-5 classes each term I could be done with school as early as May 2015. That really surprised me seeing as it's been 2 years since I've been in school, but I'm not complaining.

The pets are all doing pretty well, Tony & Horus have been fighting a lot more then usual but it's pretty easy to stop. As soon as they see me walking towards them they split apart. Eeva has been doing fantastic! She is almost a completely different dog. She's been around people a lot more lately, especially kids. It's quite cute to see how happy and excited she gets when she's around kids.

As for Michael he is back on nights, which he doesn't really like, but he'll be switching back to days in the middle of May so that he can go to ALS. ALS is a leadership class that Airmen take before they become a staff. Mike won't find out until August if he made Staff but we're fairly sure that he made it this time around.

Overall it's been a quiet but fun week. Enjoy the picture below from the week!

It's only been 4 Months....

Hello All,

Big time no long no talk, life has been crazy here in Hawaii. Mike has been working, I've been working, life has been happening and I haven't taken the time to write about it. Well time to catch you up on anything that you may have missed.....

I quit my job! After a year Michael and I decided that it was time to leave Target and to focus on school and our little family. It's only been a week but I've spent that time with Mikey, the pets, and catching up on being a lazy person. Hopefully within the next few days I get myself back into a routine so I can be more productive.

Michael took his promotion test! He took it last week and with a little luck he will make it past the cut off, who knows with the military downsizing, but he thinks that he did a good job. He even studied this year!

Eeva is actually behaving! It's quite amazing, we aren't sure what's happened with her but lately she's become a really great dog. She is even walking around with toddlers in the room and isn't trying to tackle them while playing. We're quite impressed.

School time! It's about time that I get my butt into gear and finish school, I've applied to Hawaii Pacific University, it's just time to wait and hear back from them. I'm feeling pretty good about it though, the school is on base, online, and on a bigger campus downtown. I just gotta wait to hear back from them.

The Island Adventure, the past few months we really didn't do much around the island, we stuck close to base, however the past few weeks we have done a lot! We went and stayed at a hotel downtown, we've been traveling around the island, enjoying food, and even bringing Eeva along for some adventures.

Overall there haven't been too many crazy things going on, just a few changes here and there. With a little luck things will keep going smoothly here in Hawaii.

Hi, My Name Is Katie & I Have Been Neglecting My Blog.

Way long time no talk! I can't believe that the last time that I blogged was in July, whoopsie. Not too much has changed since I blogged last, we have been living the daily life with a few eventful things happening. Where do I begin?

First off we have a new cat named Horus! He's a little black cat (as you can see below), who is very energetic, cuddly-yet mean, & he is obsessed with food. He will literally steal food off your plate if you aren't paying attention. We got him back in August from an animal shelter on the island called Joey's Feline Friends. He has made a great addition to the family, however there truly is never a dull moment in this house anymore. Horus is about 6 months old & is pure cat, one minute he loves you the next minute he wants nothing to do with you. He's fit in great with Tony, they've become brothers who occasionally get on eachother's nerves, however he has made Tony way more active & helped him to lose much needed weight. Him & Eeva are well, they have a complicated relationship. Eeva doesn't realize she's a big critter compared to him which often scares Horus, however whenever Eeva is passed out in her cage Horus loves to go sleep near her, it's an odd relationship. 

Eeva has been doing pretty good, she's still a constant terror but we've learned to live with it! She actually just "graduated" from obedience class, she has improved so much since I started taking her to Achilles K9 (https://www.facebook.com/achillescanine), she is actually going to be doing a working dog class starting in 2 weeks. She is still constantly full of energy, however we have learned to manage it & help her burn it off. Eeva B also goes to doggie daycare once a week in order to get some socialization in, burn off some energy, & give me a chance to catch up on the cleaning since she keeps me busy whenever I'm not working. She is turning into a great dog, the only thing we have to work on with her is being gentle with the cats & her barking problems. Eeva has a very sensitive stomach which makes for some not fun times. She is on a special vet diet which is no fun because we love to spoil our pets with lots of treats, however we make it work. We've managed to regulate what she eats & were accident free for almost a month before Black Friday happened & I came home to a mess at 1:30 in the morning. BUT none the less we love her to death & she has definitely become my little baby, my mom was right, dogs really are like having a kid.

Meow we move on to Tony, not much has happened with our adorable first child. He has however lost a large amount of weight, he went from 22 pounds to 17 pounds! He still looks very big but that's because he's freakishly long. He gets along well with both the other pets, he also seems to enjoy the fact that we aren't constantly bugging him for attention, though sometimes I can tell that he is missing it. He still hates baths (unlike his brother Horus) & he will still eat anything that you will give him. He's our little golden pet because he doesn't do much bad things, however he has been chewing on my Christmas Tree lately...

As for Mike not much has changed for him either. He's still working the flight line & he has made some pretty good friends here, he still also keeps in constant contact with some friends back home by playing video games with them a lot, A LOT. He was also attending American Military University for a semester, however his TA got messed up this semester so he has to wait to start up classes again. I can't really ramble on about him as much like I can with the pets so.....


.....I've been doing great! I'm still working at Target in the front end, however I have started doing other jobs so I am not cashiering as much (& I love it!) I've been working on the end caps, side caps, & 1 Spot (the dollar area in the store). I keep it full & organize it on the daily, I surprisingly love it! I think it's because I get to organize things for hours (something I love to do). I have really been enjoying it! I also don't work as many hours as I used to when I first began, we decided that I needed to spend more time at home so that the dog wasn't in her cage all day & so that I can actually see Michael & spend time with him. Other then work not too much has been happening with me, I am however finally getting braces put on this coming Thursday. After years of being told that I need them I am finally biting the bullet & getting my teeth issues taken care of, the time to procrastinate is over. Other then that not much has changed for me, as I mentioned before Eeva just graduated from obedience class, that was something huge for me & her. I would spend hours training with her (as would Mike) in order to improve her disruptive behavior & it is finally paying off. I am really excited to start training her in working dog classes. I take Eeva on hour & a half walks almost every night, that's actually something that I look forward to everyday. I think that's how you know I've grown up, I look forward to walking my pup. I guess that's what happens when you turn 22.

Anniversary Photos!

Hello All,

This past week I had a small vacation from work and during that time I decided I would be productive and get stuff done. I had appointments for things I have put off, including dog microchipping and dentist appointments. However we had one very fun appointment set up, getting professional photos taken. We were really excited to have them taken and they turned out amazingly, most of you have probably seen them on Facebook but if not you can follow the link below and it will take you to an online album of them.

http://kbmccain96.imgur.com/

My vacation is almost over which kinda stinks, but I had a lot of fun relaxing and spending time with friends and the pets. Now it's time to get back into the swing of working and planning our next fun activity.

~KbM

It's Been a While!

Hello All,

Long time no talk! It's been quite a busy time in the McCain house with trying out school, work, and the newest addition to the family I feel like we haven't done much worth talking about. However I want to get back into writing the weekly blog to keep everyone up to date with what is happening in our lives. So here is a quick catchup in a nutshell:

We got a cute puppy named Eeva, she's 4 months old now and she's a German Shepherd. She certainly is a handful, we've had her for about a month now and she's still as crazy hyper and annoying as she was when we first got her. The good news is that she's in obedience classes now so she will hopefully become easier to handle.

After playing with the hose on a hot day.

When it comes to school I was accepted into the University of Hawaii but I still haven't decided if I'm going to attend after doing some intense thinking. Michael also needs to get his bum into gear and decide what to do about school but working so much makes it hard to start school.

Speaking of work Michael and I are both working, Mike is still working maintenance on heavy air craft and I am still working at Target as a cashier.  I'm liking it, it's nice to get out of the house and make some extra money however I keep spending it all on stuff at Target that I want!

Tony is doing fantastic still, he's not too sure about the new sister he has but he likes playing with her, as long as he's up higher then her. He's still the little baby of the family and still acts like the star of the house (which he probably is). We also found out that he weighs 22 pounds, which means he's on a diet, and he's not a fan of it. He misses getting fed a bunch of food but we gotta keep our little kitten healthy!

His 2nd favorite spot in the house.

We haven't gone out and done too much stuff, ever since I started working and Mike being back on nights we just haven't had much time to do very much. However now that Mike is back on days hopefully we'll be getting out and about to do more stuff which means I will be blogging all about it!

I hope that everyone back home is doing well and that we get some new visitors here with us soon! We miss everyone and wish that we could go back and visit, unfortunately we won't be able to go back to Ohio until atleast next summer.

Hanging out on a beautiful Hawaii day.

 ~KbM