something to frame

So I had the cat to the vet yesterday. She is definitely feeling better. They thought about bringing in the clear box with the air tube to just put her in it and gas her to get some blood. But I suggested we try to get blood out of her without the gas. Thankfully she did great. She hissed at the very end…I would hiss too if that’s what I did. Getting stuck with a needle hurts! But it’s done and over, unlike getting gassed. She acts drugged and unhappy for hours afterwards. So it was a win.

And I thought we’d have to wait until today to get the results, like last time. But last time she was looking for more things in her blood and it took longer. So, the vet and I chatted, she with arms crossed relaxing against the counter and me with elbows rested on the cat’s carrier. Within 15 minutes the results were back.

And she said her labs were fairly nearly perfect…something she wishes she could frame. : )

Every bit of her blood except one little part is completely normal. She now doesn’t think she had kidney failure as much as she was sick and it caused her kidneys stress. Her blood rebounded that much!

So for now we will do fluids only twice a week this week and next. Then once a week for two weeks and then blood at that fourth week. She will recheck that one little thing that is still off kilter. Hoping it corrects itself by then. Not sure what will happen if it doesn’t. But for now, she seems to think she is on track for a normal life expectancy again. Strange to hear after having to have the discussion about maybe having her put down just two weeks ago.

So she is happy now. She will be glad to leave those daily vet visits behind. She was out of sorts this morning because I had to lock her up in the office because we are having some dry wall repairs done. We had a slab leak in the summer and they had to cut a hole in two walls. And we have a busy contractor. So today is the day. She has cried a river wanting out of there. I feel sorry for her. She thinks she’s locked up so I can take her to the vet later. I wish I could just tell her it’s ok but it doesn’t work that way with kitties.

And within minutes of the workers arriving this morning, I rinsed out my tea cup and realized we have almost no water coming into the house right now. So I called the city. There is a problem but they aren’t sure what it is yet and not sure how long we will be without water. That’s really made me rethink that “good to the last drop” cup of tea I had this morning. Good times, y’all…good times.

a little kitty update

She seems to be feeling better. She’s more active. Eating, drinking and all that jazz. All of which are good signs that things are moving in the right direction for her. : )

We did fluids every day last week, including Saturday. We had Sunday ‘off’ from fluids and I take her today for more blood work to see if things are turning a corner for her. The vet said last week that all the ‘signs’ (active eating drinking pooping etc) are good “prognostic indicators” that things will be ok for a time. But we find out tomorrow with the results.

But y’all..she is a stinker. she has found amazing hiding places and at times has worn us slap out just trying to find her or get her out of something so we can take her in to the vet. It’s been interesting and funny and kept our minds off all the what-if’s lately.

Right now every door that can be closed is closed in an attempt to keep her in the front of the house. I’m hoping she will chill out soon and eat and drink. Her vet appt today isn’t until later, which isn’t my favorite. I’d rather do it and be done with it, but scheduling didn’t work in my favor this time. Sigh…

From what I understand, I will still be having to bring her in for fluids but not every day. But on a tapering off schedule sort of thing for quite some time. The vet called it ‘a commitment’. I just thought this is a drop in the bucket. Although I never had to get either of my kids out of the arm of the sofa. Ha.

Hoping all goes as gently and easily as possible for her today. Have a great Monday! : )

some stress

Last week was a super stressful week. Last weekend, I had been noticing that the cat wasn’t eating very well. Monday I took her to the vet. She did blood work on her and I got the results Tuesday.

She’s in kidney failure. Y’all, I cried and cried. I know she’s a pistol, but I love her, as crazy as that sounds.

So we were in and out of the clinic last week giving her fluids and some new meds and foods and we’re hoping she turns a corner. It’s possible she can sort of snap out of this and have some good months and be maintained for a time. We even learned how to give her fluids here at home after getting a couple of lessons from the vet’s office. Yesterday I’m thankful to say, we were able to do it here at home instead of having to load her up and take her somewhere. Hoping we are successful again today.

Been private messaging my cousin (who is an emergency vet, but not AB’s vet) to get advice over the weekend as we keep watching her. She got a push of antibiotics in her fluids on Friday and she’s hardly eaten since. Ugh. Not sure if it’s the antibiotics or something else, but her not eating is worrisome.

We will recheck her levels in another week or so after (hopefully) doing fluids every day and see where things are. We are hoping she’s bounced back a bit and her kidneys start doing better, which is possible. If they aren’t, then we will be having to explore…ya know. And that makes all of us very sad to think about.

And Wednesday I had an onc appointment right in the smack middle of everything else. I had to have a bone density test before my appointment. And I found out Wednesday that I am in the beginning stages of osteoporosis…fancy word for it is something like osteopenia or something like that. So I will be having to order something called Grow Bone from Amazon which is cheapest, because it’s pretty expensive stuff. And take it for a year. Sigh….

I just gave the kitty some wet food, which she usually doesn’t really care for…and she’s been in there licking at it, so I hope she’s making a bit of a dent in it. Unfortunately it doesn’t have any of her “sprinkles” (meds we now have to add to her food because of her kidneys) because she won’t eat the wet food WITH sprinkles. Bleh…it’s never easy.

Hoping things turn around for our kitty. We are all pretty sad right now.

Both these girls have aged a bit since this was taken, but it’s still one of my favorite pics of them together. : )

what day is it?

Yesterday we were sorting through her fresh school supplies. Can I take a moment to lament being a college parent and the frustration of trying to find the things she needs since it’s so PICKED OVER by now?! Gee whiz.

Anyway..we were looking through her supplies and talking about what comes ‘tomorrow’ (which is today), as much for me as for her.  The conversation went like this…

Me: And tomorrow it’s art and math.

Her: And Duck Dynasty!

Me: Yes, that too.

Priorities people. Priorities. : )

(It’s not basic math, but we call all math classes ‘math’)

sixteen

It’s another birthday.

Another day that I know he’s not here.

But there.

Heaven.

I don’t know how to fathom Landon’s experience.

But I know it was precious* to God to bring Landon to Himself.

And I’m thankful for that.

Happy “sweet” birthday in heaven, sweet boy.

Another one.

Hug and kisses,

Mommy

*Psalm 116:15

first day for my fish

For many of my friends, school ‘began’ last week when they dropped off their kid at college for the first time and got them all settled in their dorm etc.

For us, it started today when I pulled into the parking lot and dropped her off at a very nice community college just a few miles from our house. She isn’t completely sure what she wants to do and with excellent opportunities to learn in a less expensive environment and do some exploring and perhaps a little more deciding, this was a perfect fit.

And my girl just wasn’t ready to ‘go off’ just yet. She doesn’t even really like to drive. Thank you big city traffic. FREAKS her out sometimes. Freaks ME out sometimes. ; )

So today was kind of strange. I packed a lunch and dropped her off, much like I did when she was in middle school and her first year of high school. Only this time, we’re starting over.

I was excited to pick her up today and hear about her day. She told me the social stuff first and then after I prodded, she told me about her professors and her classes.

So far so good, being a little fish.

The summer vacation that almost wasn’t.

So this year we kept looking at the calendar and shrugging. What do you want to do? I dunno. Where do you want to go? I dunno. 

And then finally we just said well, are we or aren’t we? And then we quickly made some reservations at an extended stay hotel in Colorado Springs one weekend and headed out the very next. I think that is a record even for us. And we planned our first Disney trip in something like three weeks. So yeah…

So Saturday the 27th of July, we headed out. Made the trip in a day. Not that bad. This year we are driving a new car (a CRV) and last year we had van troubles in Amarillo (window mechanism broke and window wouldn’t stay up, so we lost about an hour while hubs ran the van over to the dealer to get the window dealie fixed). Thankfully no such problems this year and we made it there uneventfully. Yay.

So Sunday we got up and ‘hit it’, but it was a little tricky..it was foggy and rainy. I was so happy for the Springs because I know they need rain so badly to keep the threat of fires down, but a bummer for us since we were only going to be there four days. So we made the best of things and changed what little plans we had and went to Cave of the Winds first thing. Y’all, it was so foggy, it was nuts. We weren’t sure where to walk after we parked the car because we couldn’t see that far ahead…and we’ve been there before.

This was our ‘view’ over a little overlook porch in the gift shop. Is this all a dream..did we accidentally go to the Smokies? Crazy, I tell ya.

Getting in the last text before going underground.

After the cave, we went into Manitou Springs and found some lunch. I had researched before we left, so I had an idea in mind. We ate at the Stagecoach Inn and it was a super cute place to have lunch.

And yummy. I had a bison burger. And it was good. : ) After lunch it was still raining, so we piddled around in the Penny Arcade for a little while before continuing on with our day. {the arcade was super fun for nerds, I on the other hand, went to a nearby shop}

The weather was still gloom and doom so we went to the Air Force Academy. And walked around outside. {I don’t think we thought that one through very well.} I have been going to the AFA since I was very young  but never realized there was a Catholic, Jewish and one other (Hindu maybe?) chapel below the Protestant one up top. So we checked them all out. Interesting.

And on the way back to the car, a warning came over the loud speaker to seek cover because of the weather. Rain was a frequent theme all week. : /

Monday morning we rode the Cog Railway up Pikes Peak. The weather held out for us thankfully. It was still pretty chilly at the bottom so that meant it was downright COLD at the top. {it averages 30 degrees cooler at the top than the base} Before we knew it, it was time to go back down the mountain. Such pretty views from the cog and from the top. I was so thankful the weather held out for us so we could see.

Stinkin’ gorgeous!

By the time we came off the mountain, we were starving. So we got some lunch and went to Seven Falls. I’ve gone to there since I was three years old. It is chipmunk INSANITY! So many and so cute. And so bold.

After many snapshots of these cute little guys, we headed up the gazillion {224} stairs to the top of the waterfall.

And then it rained. And we huddled under an umbrella and waited for it to pass. Thankfully it did. And then we came down. Crazy.

And then we went to Helen Hunt Falls…another one I’ve been visiting since before I can remember. Smaller…and free.

They have hummingbirds. LOTS of them.

I spent a good amount of time trying to take pics of them. They are crazy zippy…zooming all over the place. So fun to watch.

And then we stopped by Garden of the Gods and walked around. Something else I’ve been doing since I was 3. : ) It was a nice walk.

And then Tuesday, we took a day trip to Denver. I will start this by saying NEVER AGAIN. Traffic is horrid there. I’m glad went. We had a nice day, but I don’t desire to go back. And I could smack myself for ever thinking I would like to take an entire vacation in that crazy city. Just too hectic. But we did enjoy our day. : ) Just not the traffic.

We stopped by the state capitol. This was a major disappointment to us and we didn’t waste any time moving on. First off, the dome is being remodeled, so it was covered. And very dark inside. And secondly, there just isn’t all that much history to tell about inside. I guess I’m spoiled by Texas’ rich and varied history and this just left us a little flat. We decided to take the guided tour, but it was just painful. The girl was so sweet but she had a very VERY heavy Spanish accent it was was almost impossible to make out what she was saying. And when we could…yawn. So we bugged out of there after about 5 minutes of the tour.

Stained glass is sort of a ‘thing’ in the capitol, but this picture was almost funny to us. It really reminded us of something that would be on the Haunted Mansion at Disney. Doesn’t it? {be honest} I’m not meaning to offend anyone, but our entire time there was less than stellar.

Stopped by a Catholic church. Very pretty architecture. Was so wishing we could have gone inside. But no.

Kinda neat, even though I’m not Catholic.

And they have a statue and everything…

Then we went to the Molly Brown House. It’s the home of the famous “Molly Brown”, a survivor of the Titanic. It was an interesting tour. We learned a lot about Mrs. Brown, including that she wasn’t named Molly, but Margaret. No one knows where the name Molly came from. But what a lady. And what a rich history the house has. Was a really neat tour. (no pics allowed inside though)

And THEN we went to Wings Over the Rockies, which is an air and space museum. And we all thought it was PRETTY COOL. And the biggest reason was because they have an X-Wing fighter on display (a scaled replica from Star Wars…and signed by all the stars…squeee!)

It was a huge hangar filled with so much history. So much to see! We were all geeking out.

And then Wednesday, we went to the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide. We visited this place after a tip from a friend and it did not disappoint. It was amazing! This is a sanctuary for wolves and foxes and also provides an educational opportunity there and out in the community. These were magnificent animals that are being cared for in such a great way. They have very LARGE enclosures, but our guide called them by name up to the fence to talk about them and feed them raw meat while she discussed them as we toured. Some of their stories aren’t for the faint of heart, but the staff there was very mindful of children without sugar coating their plight.

It was kind of funny..when the tour started, they all just started howling spontaneously which really surprised our guide. But we loved it! And then at the end, she led us in group howl to try to entice them to howl back. They finally did and it was incredible. My daughter loves wolves, and now I think I do too.

I noticed we were close to the Florissant Fossil Beds when we were at the wolf place, so we drove on further and spent a little bit of time there. I had packed a lunch for us that day since I knew we were going to be pressed for time and I didn’t want us wasting time figuring out meals, so we ate our lunch in the car, but it was comfortable and a yummy meal. After lunch, we hit the trails and saw the fossilized trees etc. A pretty walk but we didn’t stay long.

It was so pretty out there! : )

And then we went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. This will be my family’s second visit, but I visited several times as a kid and have been enjoying this zoo since I was 3. Love love love!

They  have quite an impressive herd of giraffes and I love visiting them. And they love to eat from your hands so they love you visiting them too. : ) She fed a giraffe, but it was so fast, I missed the shot. I was so bummed!

The views even from the zoo are lovely!

After visiting the zoo, we also did this.

 

There go my peeps…

Stairs, stairs, stairs…

The views from the top are amazing.

And that concludes our trip. We ate dinner(at Famous Daves…I loved it even though I couldn’t eat bbq. We actually ate there twice while we were there. YUM). We packed up our stuff and hit the bed, knowing we would drive the whole way home the next day. We were sitting on the couch in the hotel room (we stayed in a Residence Inn…love!) and all I could think about was not being ready to go home yet. We discussed staying another day and driving home on Friday. I almost jumped at it, but I knew the hubs wanted that extra day to rest from all the driving before he had to return to work. And I couldn’t really do that to him. So I agreed with our original plan and we headed home Thursday. It was a full, fast trip and we loved it. I so wish we could live there…I never tire of her beauty and long for it during the rest of the year until we can (hopefully) meet again.

It makes me incredibly sad that Manitou Springs has experienced a significant flood since we visited. I know I don’t live in Colorado but I’ve visited it more than most people and it makes me sad that my “state away from home” is experiencing so much right now.