Status Updates From Otterly Irresistible (Boys ...

This family ...

Crazy, I know.

Yep. I'd even say ... it's otterly chaotic around here.

And that is otterly delightful, Dr. Foster.

*When* he proposed. That was like a proposal for a proposal, wasn't it?

Since grandkids become adults, or since become too big to sit in timeout behind bar & read William Shakespeare out loud to Ellie while she worked, favorite punishment was to w/hold their favorite foods. for 7 out of 11 of them, it was her gumbo. But she knew every one of their favorites & wouldn't hesitate to cut them off if it meant making a point.

mini beignets, meat pies, & fried alligator balls all turned out great. nice to have some authentic LA food alongside typical snow cones, ice cream sandwiches, nachos, & pizza slices. They'd even been discussing how to do gumbo in easy-to-handle containers.

I was already falling in love w/place & your family when you got here. But you pushed me rest of way. And made me fall in love w/you.

might have been just careless act, but negligence just as dangerous to animals. Maybe more so in some ways. If people didn't realize what could happen, they could do it again. Next time it could be lemur. Which was not only special to Griffin but was endangered animal.

Did you know that lemurs will lay around in morning & bask in sun? It's even group activity.

Yes, I did know that. In fact, I've witnessed it many times.

And did you know lemur means "shadow tail" in Greek?

I think that's squirrels. Lemur is Latin for "spirits of night".

Sometimes people need to be yelled at.

I agree 1000%. But I realized ... I've already turned you into animal advocate & I haven't even been trying. Maybe if I'm just little patient & realize that people sometimes act inappropriately simply because they don't know any better, I can help them learn.

Maybe petting zoo in Autre, LA, was small-time next to National Zoo in Washington, DC, but anywhere there were animals, there was need for human beings to treat them well & protect them. Maybe Griffin would help inspire bunch of new veterinarians or humans to travel to Africa to work on game reserves.

Not only was that great for kids & animals, but also great for Griffin. Instead of caring for animals alone & feeling like their only protector, he could help teach others to protect them as well.

you're scowling @ bunch of little kids watching cartoon movie & herd of goats in pajamas. Which are probably some of cutest things ever. If that is making you frown, something is up.

suddenly he wanted big & crazy.

Actually, he'd always wanted big & crazy. big & crazy ideas had once been his. But he'd let circumstances rob him of that creativity & joy.

It was back now. Because of this woman. Of course, he was falling for her.

I'm starting to understand that falling for things in Autre, LA, is different than getting attached to things in other places. here, it's deeper. things here last. People do what they say & say what they mean. People do right things for right reasons. Or if they screw up, they say sorry & do better next time. everyone still has their back. That's kind of place I want to be.

I don't regret doing them. Just like you don't regret what you did to get fired. But that doesn't make it easier to have lost those things that mattered.

Animals?

But also work I put in, potential for programs, & respect + trust in people I worked w/. I thought I was on same page w/colleagues & bosses + they put other priorities ahead of my expertise + beliefs.

"you have way of making me willing to make lot of exceptions." He realized giving that knowledge to woman like Charlie - who epitomized "give her inch, she'll take mile - was dangerous. But true.

Not only had it been long time since someone wanted to take care of him, it had also been long time since he'd wanted to take care of another person.

You all even grow nerds big & hot down here.

Animal procurement is above my pay grade.

Is exerting some control over crazy around here above your pay grade too?

Waaaaay above.

USDA oversaw animal care in petting zoos & animal parks & zoos.

A sloth?

His name is Slothcrates.

Seating arrangement made Charlie smile. Big tables @ back of Ellie's always been where family gathered. big enough space for them all but also kept them out of way of paying customers.

She liked being savior, but really nice to have people step in & save her sometimes too.

Maybe she was making people happier & more successful in smaller, quieter ways. Maybe she couldn't make everything better, but she could do her best w/things in her control.

You like making your mark. But ... you need to start realizing you make your mark in lots of ways. Maybe you didn't send Isabelle's attacker to jail, but you made her feel supported. ... You can't keep Griffin from never facing tough times, but you can be there for him when those times come.

Some hurts just have to hurt.

You don't have to change things all the time, Charlie.

Isn't that what we should do? Change things? Make them better?

Maybe you're not looking @ changing right things. You can't change fact that dogs die. But you being there to give Griffin big hug can change how it feels for him afterward.

Rather than looking for ways to make it all work & pushing for bigger & better, he'd been determined to simply be content w/what he had & take one day @ time. It had taken bubbly, pushy, addictive blond Landry to shake him up & make wonder what the h3ll he was doing.

when [vets] went into practice, they knew times when patients didn't pull thru or when euthanasia was humane thing to do. But knowing it didn't always make it easier. He was used to working w/other animal experts. When animal died on preserve or zoo, ... hard but hadn't felt it was his obligation to comfort co-workers. They got it. Seeing woman he was falling in love w/heartbroken made heart ache in new way.

Veterinarians had one of highest suicide rates of any of professions, not only because always hard to lose patient but because of human beings devastated by those losses. Vets often blamed for not doing more or working harder & faster ... leading to stress & depression. But vets knew death was part of life. Just like human physicians did.

dog that had been hit by car along highway hadn't made it. wasn't his first, of course. Sometimes, no matter what he did, animals didn't survive. It always tore him up a little, but it was part of being a veterinarian.

Today had been made worse because Charlie had been there. He felt like a d@mn failure.

working w/animals amazing & very rewarding. But also can break heart. Animals, like people, get hurt & sick & sometimes don't recover. Exotic animal especially be lot of work & difficult to treat.

if you're going to have collection of animals & if you're going to support Griffin in this, you have to be prepared for bad things that happen, too.

Really purple, like grape soda. Charlie hadn't known Fiona long, but already she felt that truck fit woman's personality - big, bright, colorful, & impossible to ignore.