(no subject)

[pacificpikachu]

So, Tosca's still not home. A few weeks passed without any sightings, and then about a week ago a man said he's seen her coming and going from a shed on an abandoned property (right near the area where other people saw her before). I set traps there for about five days, but caught absolutely nothing. Ultimately, I ended up buying a trail cam and putting it up on the property. It's been up for a little over two days now, and so far all I've seen is a raccoon and a few birds. I'm checking the pictures it takes once a day, in hopes of seeing her. At this point, nothing has worked out and I still haven't seen her, so I've accepted it might take a while for her to come back to that property if she does at all.

It's immensely frustrating and hard. I feel like I'm chasing a phantom. I'm just continuing to hope and believe that she's out there. I can't do anything else but continue to search as best as I can, and hope someone sees her again, or manages to catch her. At least much of the neighborhood is aware of my search for her, thanks to putting notices in mailboxes multiple times. There was that one lady who saw her up close multiple times, on multiple days, and she really believes she's out there, and in times of doubt I just keep reminding myself of that. That was nearly a month ago, but it gives me hope. It's been well over two months since I've seen Tosca, but it feels so much longer than that. I think of her constantly, but I can only keep pushing forward, searching in whatever ways I can, hoping she'll come home, and try to focus on positive things in my life to help balance out the sadness.

I'm also sad because one of my favorite chickens passed away today. Porcia, the bantam silver spangled hamburg. She was gorgeous, smart, and friendly. She used to periodically launch herself into the yellow bucket for food before I put the food out for everyone, and a few times she even richoted herself off the chicken coop sides to get into the bucket. It was hilarious and cute. The other day, I noticed she seemed very slightly "off," so I picked her up. I couldn't find anything wrong, though, looking at her or feeling her, and she scampered off like normal. Anyway, I already miss her. It seems like my favorite chickens often don't make it as long as others do, by sheer chance or whatever. RIP, Porcia. The coop's not the same without you. <3


ANYWAY. On a much more positive note, Japan is coming up pretty fast! 45 days now! Every time I see a picture of a Pokémon Center, I get super excited! My savings are going great. If I include the money I'll be putting away from my next two paychecks and the money I just earned petsitting, I'm only $100 away from my goal, and I'm selling at a convention Swap Meet next weekend so I should be able to make that and beyond! Of course, I'll save up more than my goal if I can, and I think that should be easy to do. I'm also planning on doing some Ebay sales next month, once I see what I have left after the convention. There are so many things I'm looking forward to doing and seeing in Japan with pheonixxfoxx! I think we're going to have an incredible time together!

I'm also happy that Pokéscans, my side Tumblr blog, reached 10,000 followers! It's actually heading towards 11,000 now. I just put a tracking script on it the day before yesterday, and just from checking it occasionally, so far I've seen visitors from:

- US
- France
- Peru
- Canada
- Mexico
- Argentina
- Japan
- New Zealand
- Poland
- Guatamala
- Brunei Darussalam
- Austria
- Spain
- Brazil
- El Salvador
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Puerto Rico
- Vietnam
- Russia
- Korea
- Sweden
- Hungary
- Switzerland
- Hong Kong

The script only tracks people that are online at any given moment and I just check it periodically, so it's incredible that the visitors are from just about everywhere! Pokémon really does unite people. I'm glad I started this project. Even if it is hard work and sometimes a pain, it's been so worth it to see the response and gratitude for what I'm doing. It's going to be fun to post pictures from Japan, and gather more material for the blog!

I guess that's all for now... My feelings are mixed for now, strong on both sides, but as I said before, I'm just trying to stay positive. It's hard sometimes, as I really, really miss Tosca and wonder where she is and what she's doing, but at least I have this amazing trip coming up soon to look forward to. <3