My Bird Kiwi

I got Kiwi for my 15th birthday. She is a green parrotlet (aka pocket parrot). At the time she was one of many pets at my moms house. We had three dogs, a goat, and my mom also had a bird named Zek (an African Grey). When I went away to college i had no pets. It was very sad. I was busy enough freshmen year that it wasn't as noticeable, plus i was able to go home pretty often. At that point Kiwi, Zek, and our dog tracker were all that was left of our huge menagerie of pets. I couldn't find any apartments that allowed pets, so originally Kiwi stayed in back home. I was able to get permission to have kiwi as an emotional support animal by giving a doctors note to my apartment complex. It was awesome. i suddenly had someone/thing that needed me, cared if i didn't get out of bed all day, and was really glad to see me when i got home after a long day of school and work. I had been feeling really lonely at my apartment and then once i had kiwi i wasn't anymore. I would still get bored but it was a significant improvement on life. I love kiwi so much, and i can tell she loves me to. She has so much personality. She doesn't mind chewing me out at all, but then she can be really affectionate. We know each other really well, and can read what the other one is thinking. I can tell by her body positions and where she is standing in her cage what she is thinking. She has been a huge blessing in my life.

I feel like i should mention that you should not get a pet unless you are ready for the commitment. Parrotlets can live for up to twenty years, and  bigger parrots can live longer. They need daily care and attention. If you are new to pets it might be better to start with something a little more low maintenance, before jumping into a pet that you aren't ready for. Budgies don't live as long if you still are wanting a bird. If you are considering a pet, scout out your options and do a lot of research into the requirements as a pet owner of the animals you are considering.
Also kids who are raised in homes with pets are less likely to have respiratory problems like asthma or allergies to pets.
Dogs are awesome, but can be a lot of work. I love dogs, but it isn't feasible for me to get one right now because i don't have the time to dedicate to training the dog. I miss having one though. The next pet i am going to get is a dog.Labs are my favorite type of dogs because they make great family dogs. We mostly had labs while i was growing up, and they were always awesome with kids.

Symptoms

I thought it might be helpful to post the list of symptoms my doctor gave me when he was diagnosing me. He told me that if you have 5-7 of these symptoms you have Primary Affective Disorder aka Depression.

Increased:
irritation
guilt
fears
fatigue
apathy
escape thoughts
sleep
appetite

Decreased:
mood
motivation
fun
interest
hope
descision making
self worth
memory
concentration
sleep
appetite

Sleeping, my love/hate relationship...

So basically sleeping and i don't really get along, even though i love sleeping deeply... I don't think its my fault, i blame Depression for screwing with my relationship with sleeping. One of the signs of depression is sleeping way to much or not nearly enough. Ughh. You wake up tired either way, whether you have overslept or under-slept. My first year of college before i was on any meds i slept 3-5 hours a night, and then about 10 on weekends. I actually felt great a lot of the time, and was really focused and doing well. With winter came depression, but i still managed to do my work, I just avoided people. As soon as i got home for the summer boom i was sleeping 12 a night. At first i thought it was just catching up, but three months later when i could not wake up with less then twelve hours of sleep i was concerned. I would sleep in, and then not be tired until 14-16 hours later, so then when i slept twelve hours after going to bed successively later i was sleeping in successively later. If my mom came in and chewed me out and stayed til i got up i could get up but would feel really tired. At the end of the summer i started on Prozac and it was amazing that i could sleep 8 hours and feel rested. I felt like i could take on the world. When bouts of depression would come, a lot of times i would sleep them off. If i wasn't depressed i could still sleep fine. Then this spring and summer rolled around and it got progressively harder for me to wake up/go to sleep. I don't know why summer makes me so sleepy, but it does. Anyways i worked out a system where i take my Seroquel at precisely 8 PM, and then at 10/11 i start getting ready for bed even though i don't want to. If i do this i can get up at about nine the next morning. At least i'm not sleeping through the day anymore... If only i could be nocturnal :P