Summer of Cen-Chan

Hello there!

If you are on DeviantArt still and know who I am, congratulations!! You're old! (As am I!) In about 17 more days I'll be even older! WOOO!!!

If you remember me and have been wondering what on earth I have been up to, well... that's somewhat why I'm here. Ya see, if you didn't know, about 8 years back my dad rescued a pinky squirrel the ones just a few days old with no fur (I know you see those feel-good rescues of baby squirrels online - it was almost like that). See, it wasn't your typical rescue, in fact, instead of "bringing it back from the brink of death" this squirrel was actually dead. It wasn't pink, it was dusty blue and was laying in snow as crows were eating her siblings. My dad went outside on St Patrick's Day 2008 and picked up that squirrel and thought "hey, you can sometimes revive drowned swimmers that have drowned in ice waters" so he gave it a go with rapid warmth and resuscitation. It worked but left this squirrel absolutely dependant on my father because it had become blind (I believe it was due to the length of time without oxygen, but I can't say for sure).

Fast forward a bit, and my father went through lots of trial and error with raising the squirrel he named Lucky (as for Lucky to be alive, being rescued on St. Patrick's Day was a coincidence). One thing he has always made for her were these nut treats that contained a day's worth of vitamins and minerals she needed (especially calcium). Since he became a squirrel rehabilitator, he would buy the items he needed in bulk to make them for all his squirrels. He had modified his recipe over the years and now has a really great product and began to sell the mix for "make your own". Well... some people don't always want to make their own and he doesn't always have the time to make it himself... so that's where I come in. I make the mix and sell the pre-made squares. I have also continued to make and modify my one original drawing I made for him for his site. I don't particularly care to upload any more of my art here on DA, so if you are on Facebook and would like to still get the occasional picture (in form of a squirrel) on your feed to bring a smile to your face, please look for me under Squirrely By Nature. I post photos and drawing, but I don't push you to purchase the product (if you want to, cool! Your squirrels will love you for it!). Eventually, MAYBE, I might make merchandise with my art if there's an interest. I dunno.

Doing this has allowed me to make enough to leave my stressful job and be able to work from home so I can be with the kiddo. (There were times I literally only got to see her for 2 hours a day because of my job!) She'll be entering 3rd grade in about 2 weeks. Is still smart as a whip - her math class was getting into algebraic expressions last year and she made short work of those. Still in the advanced spelling and reading class. I believe her last reading comprehension tests had her at 124 wpm or thereabouts. Still super tall (closing in on 5' if not taller).

Aside from that, it's been about 3 years since I had half my thyroid removed. I'm still kicking and still slowly plugging away at a novel (just over 50k words now, hoping to pick it back up once school is back in session). I hope all of you are doing well too. Don't let this year get you down!

Cen-chan