Home Improvement

Well, this is the second day that I'm just sitting here, bored out of my mind. I hate being trapped in my house. I'm getting new floors installed which is very exciting! But I can't really do anything because I need to make sure all the animals stay out of their way! The one BAD thing about having friendly animals! Oh well. At least today I brought down my computer so I can entertain myself a little easier.

So, I have no more carpeting in my house! I like carpet, but it's just not very practical with all my animals. And now Tristan can't use the floor as his scratching post. It was looking bad on the stairs... So now when they are done, I can paint the floor molding and doors and start putting stuff back in there! Everything that was in the guest bedroom is now in MY bedroom and so it's very crowded in there. I can't wait til my house is back in order!

I've also replaced the ceiling fan in my bedroom and got a new garbage disposal. My Dad helped me with those projects and I'm sure I can do it again - so I'm for hire! I love learning how to do things on my own. Now I'm not afraid of electrical stuff as much, so now I know that I can replace my bathroom vanity lights when I want to. The ones I want are expensive, so I have to pace myself here!

My last few weeks

What have I been up to? Well, we had a rafting trip for work and I was able to invite my parents! I was very surprised that my Mom wanted to go, but she said she had a lot of fun. The other day they went hiking up in Frisco as well. Pretty soon, we'll have her backpacking and camping too! Ok, maybe not.

Jared and I have been keeping in touch. If we don't talk, then we email or write to each other on Facebook, or text. So we have communicated every single day since he's left. At first we had these talks about how he just wanted to be friends because of the distance and also because he's in med school and works 80-90 hours a week and he can't afford to be distracted. But HE'S the one who started breaking the friends-only rule by flirting endlessly. He keeps talking about how I need to come to Seattle, but then he doesn't really want me to come because it would only complicate things. Well, yesterday morning, he told me he really does want me to come. So.... I'm going! It'll be a quick weekend and he has a lot of fun adventures planned for us (whale watching, kayaking, hiking...) I have to remind him that it's only 1.5 actual days! But I'm so excited to see him again.

He's also talking about coming here in December for his vacation time. He keeps talking about staying in Vail and how perfect our days would be. So hopefully that will happen too! We'll see!

Fate Plays A Joke On Me

So, meet Jared. I met him on Match.com about a month ago. His profile was perfect, everything from his favorite things, to his description of what he thought was important, and yes, his pictures! I wrote to him, and that was it. One problem... He lives in SEATTLE! Crap!

He came out here to Denver for a few days during a break in med school. We spent whatever time together we could, which is good because he's an amazing person, but bad because I didn't want to let him go back! I seriously haven't met a nice guy in a long time, and he was continuously complimenting me and I don't think there was a time we were together when there wasn't a smile on my face.

He left last night and called me when he got home (brownie points!). We are definitely going to keep in touch and just see where things go. Because of distance and his schedule with school, I know that it's highly unlikely that a relationship can really happen, but it's nice to have him in my life now. I haven't felt butterflies in a long time and I forgot how great it was!

First Hike of the Season

I took the dogs for a hike this morning. I kept passing the trailhead over the years and wanted to check it out. It's in Boulder County and I was only expecting to be out for an hour. Well, it turned into a four hour hike! Needless to say, even though I slathered myself with sunscreen, I still got burnt. And poor Pacey had to be dragged back to the car. Even Greta was spent. I learned my lesson. Next time, Greta is wearing her little backpack and is carrying extra sunscreen, water, and treats for both me and the dogs.

By the end I was hoping it would get cloudy and start raining. At least I didn't try the trail in July at the peak of the heat. We would have been miserable! There wasn't a lot of shade to rest in, but there was a little creek that the dogs got to play in. Even Pacey went in, which means he must have been hot. I just wish that I had waited to give Greta a bath until today. Oh well...

There is Josie - the third kitten. They are all doing much better now that they are being treated for giardia. Yuck.

I've decided that after this batch of kittens, I am finally finishing my project of getting rid of all the carpeting in my house. It's just not practical for all the animals that I have! You have carpet cleaning supplies, but I just don't believe that it really gets sanitized and cleaned all the way. And that thought just grosses me out! Unfortunately, the pergo prodigy that I installed in my bedroom and the family room has been discontinued. Apparently it is now called DuPont at Home Depot, and supposedly the colors are pretty much the same (haven't looked yet), but of course they don't interlock with the 4 extra planks that I still have. Figures...

Because of my new motivation to get it done, I've also decided that while the furniture is out of there, I may as well paint the room too. It was the first room that I painted when I moved in and I was so anxious to get rid of the nursery walls that I didn't pick a very good color. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but this time I will put a little more thought into it!

So, today I've been going through the guest bedroom and sorting through things to get rid of. I am SO NOT a packrat. Things accumulate, it drives me crazy eventually, and I have to get rid of everything I haven't used in a while. I must admit, I do have some books and things that have sentimental value, but for the most part, I can't stand having things around that I don't use.

So that's my new project, and it feels good to be focused on something!

Tristan's Woes

I know I sound a little pathetic in that all I write about are my animals. But right now, that's all that's interesting in my life. Otherwise it's work work work.

Tristan has been having bladder issues lately. He was using Greta's dog bed as a litter box, which is his sign that something's wrong (at least he does it where I can wash it, not on MY bed). So, we find that he has a urinary tract infection and a lot of sand in there. I got an ultrasound done and he found a lot of stuff wrong with my boy. His bladder wall was really thick and irritated, and he had some stones in there. We flushed some out, sent them out for analysis and they were a bad type. Some of them can be dissolved if you change their food, thereby changing the pH of the urine. But these can't be dissolved. Luckily he can't obstruct with them anymore since his sex change operation!

The more worrisome finding on ultrasound was his pancreas. He found lots of nodules that might be cancer, might be nothing. Hard to tell. But he is losing weight even though he's eating pretty well. In fact, he weighs less than he did when his IBD was flaring up a couple years ago.

This is always my conflict. How far do I take it? I judge people who don't do enough, like the people who wanted to euthanize Pacey for having epilepsy without even trying. But I also judge the people who go too far, like a client right now has this emaciated 16 year old cat that can't walk anymore and came in last night twitching and freaking out and just went blind yesterday. I would do anything for my animals (see Bethany!), but at the same time, I don't want to keep them around just because I'm selfish and don't want to let them go. Veterinary medicine has come a long way, and we can keep our animals around a lot longer than we used to. But is the animal happy? In pain? Still enjoying life? I know Tristan isn't in dire straits yet, but it makes me think. The boy loves to eat and he loves to be on someone's lap. I think if that ever changes, that'll be my sign.

Sorry - depressing. But it helps to write it out!

I'll leave on a happy note. The 2 kittens I'm fostering have a sister! They finally caught her and now she's reunited with my two. In keeping with the hockey theme, I've named her Josie (after Jose Theodore). She looks nothing like them except for the fluffiness. But she's darn cute too!

Bethany's Checkup

There's Bethany waiting patiently for the doctors up at CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital to come in and examine her. She was so good. As long as needles aren't involved, she's pretty reasonable (for a tortie - they have a reputation).

Everything went well. The pacemaker is looking good and we have to go back in another year to check battery life and its function. It has a "memory" and they can tell how hard it's been working. Basically, it's working 100% of the time! Which means, if it malfunctions, it's bye bye Bethany. Which is scary and amazing at the same time. Scary because I could walk in and find her dead any day it decides to stop working, and amazing because the thing is keeping her alive and her own heart just doesn't work at all. That's insane to me!

But she should have 3 years left on the battery life and so I hopefully won't have to worry anytime soon.