Life Update Sunday (v. 1.26.14)

It's been a very long week full of ups and downs.  Mostly ups, on the bright side, but I'll be glad to have a more normal week next week!

Let's start with the most concerning news and something I spoke about on Thursday (technically early Friday).

This is a new asymmetrical mole that has been coming and going on my stomach since mid-December.  I've been hesitant to tell anyone about it until just recently, and kept it between myself and a few select people last week.  I have seen a doctor about it and they're keeping an eye on it for the next four weeks.  More than likely, I'll never have an official diagnosis and it will be removed with a laser by my dermatologist within the next few months.

Maybe never knowing is for the better.  Skin cancer's pretty easy to treat and anything else isn't going to be detrimental to my health.  My doctor did confirm that she didn't see anything particularly precancerous about it, but that I caught it "extremely early," so it's hard to tell.  I will say that she held my hand as we discussed it and gave me something for my anxiety.  I'm going to be absolutely heartbroken when she retires.  It's worth the struggle with the office staff to see her.

This will be my second cancer scare alongside my autoimmune scleritis which they thought might be MS or a pituitary gland tumor in August through November.  I'm only 25, but it feels like my body's already trying to fall apart on me.

On to better topics.

After the extremely cold temperatures this month and watching Artie struggle to walk on the ground because of them, I resolved to purchase booties for him.  As I previously promised, here's the first time he tried them on:


What I was unable to video, and what I really wish I would have, was his first walk outside with them.  Even though they're obviously some sort of pleather, nothing could have prepared us for the clack sound they make on pavement!  It was all Aaron and I could do to keep it together enough to walk him.  Artie also has a habit of kicking up the ground when he's done going potty.  Despite being snug on his legs, the force of his kicks sent one flying up towards a second story window only to bounce off and hit the ground.  The second one hit Aaron smack in the middle of his face.  I collected them and we walked him back to our apartment door, but poor Artie felt so uncoordinated from having the booties just on his front paws that he fell up the stairs and face-planted into the doorway.

He's completely fine, but I told Aaron that the half-hour Artie wore his booties was well worth the $14 I paid for them.  If he never wears them again, I'm still satisfied.

Artie and Zeus have both had health issues this week.  Artie's bout of stomach issues came back on Wednesday and I vetted him.  He got a shot and some pills to help quell his tummy.  Hopefully that clears things up.

Zeus has also had an interesting issue.  Today we woke up to find he had a loose lower canine.  It must have happened sometime in the morning since he was fine late last night.  I actually originally thought he had a piece of lint or paper attached to his mouth and was terrified to find out it was a loose tooth just barely hanging on!  I pulled it out in whole and he seems to be feeling much better.  We typically reserve wet food for special occasions since their dry is special formula, but I fed him some wet food this morning assuming he hadn't eaten all morning because of his tooth.  And, just now, I watched him eat dry kibble.  He's purring, playing and seems normal.  I'm mostly just concerned about infection, so I'll probably call our vet tomorrow to ask.  He's currently still on his UTI antibiotic, so I wonder if that would cover infection or if I'll need some sort of topical.

I think he lost it due to some sort of trauma since his teeth are very white and his gums look pink and fresh.  He'd just been in to see the vet recently as well and they took a look at his teeth, so I'm strongly doubting periodontal disease.

Can't win for losing with the pets' health problems, can we?

Other than that, the pets have been fine.  Zeus and Apollo are reconnecting, Artie has been happy and Hermes has been his regular Asscat self.

On Thursday, I went over to Sara's to craft with her and her friend Holly.  I brought my THIS IS NOT A BOOK along.

This is not a book.

This is (also) not a book.

THIS IS NOT A BOOK is something I gained by losing weight last year.  My goal this year is to complete it by doing 9 prompts a month.  Here's some of my handy work:

This is a Thought Garden.

This is an ANNOYANCE.

This is a Nature Emulator.

It was a great evening and I stayed entirely way too late considering I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, but it was incredibly fun!

Also, yesterday, Aaron and I did what we originally decided was our "official" date night: a blanket fort!

About five seconds after we got it set up, Apollo knocked it down.  Maybe ten minutes after we got it put back together, I clumsily knocked it down.  That's when we decided we needed to go a little further.

Our solution?

We rigged our blanket fort to last by tying it to every surface imaginable, including tables, the sliding glass door and our fireplace.  This apparently made it sturdy as it still stands today!

Aaron and I went out for Burger King (I know, I know, for shame, but a shake and a chicken sandwich just went so well in the fort!).  We even watched a couple movies before falling asleep.

The pets loved it last night and are continuing to enjoy it today.  I'll hate taking it down because we've all enjoyed it so much, but I have to have my front room back at some point!

... Just probably not today. :D

Aaron has a doctor appointment tomorrow.  I finally convinced him to go for a check up and blood work, which I know is a freaking shocker!  First one in over five years.  Yeesh!

And that just about sums up my week.  Let's hope next week is a little less eventful.

Life Update Sunday (v. 1.12.14)

So you remember how, in my last LUS, we had six-ish inches of snow and ice?  Today was 61F.  In about a week, we've had a 90 degree difference between our highest temperature and our lowest.  Climate change is real, folks.

On the bright side, because it's so gorgeous out, I actually did make it to my Exercise Sundays with my mom.  I've come to understand that I really dislike exercising on machines.  It feels bulky and unnatural.  I'd rather walk on foot than in an elliptical.  Maybe next time I can imagine I'm piloting a mech?  Part man, part machine?  Hasta la vista, baby... fat?

Aaron's feeling much better and is fully over the cold he had last week.  On Saturday, I asked to take a walk.  What started as a "Oh, we'll just go a couple blocks around the neighborhood" turned into four miles in slush and mud, including a small round trip in HyVee and discovering a park we didn't even know existed. Kind of exciting, aside from decimating a pair of perfectly good polka dot flats.  Poor flats.  I barely knew ye.

Actually, I knew ye too well.  Good riddance.

I ended up counting said walk as our date night since our original plans were blown.  For about a week, we'd been talking about building a sheet fort.  Yes, a sheet fort.  I may be 25, but I'm five at heart!  Just ignore the crows feet!

Unfortunately, poor Zeus sprung up with another UTI.  While he has one, he really dislikes going in the litter box (aka bladder torture device) but will begrudgingly do so if there's no where else to go.  I found out it had returned by attempting to put on my poor winter coat.  I've had it cleaned since then, but we've had to pick up everything soft on the floor.  Nothing yet, and I don't honestly expect anything more, but we sincerely felt a sheet fort would be too tempting for him.  Next month's date night, for sure.

Lil Bits had his last vet appointment on Tuesday (or should I say No Bits?).  While he handled it very well, Apollo had the usual after-effects of the vaccination boosters.  His little nose was hot and he didn't have an appetite for about 24 hours.

During this time, he cuddled with everyone and everything.  By the next morning, he was begging for food and back to his normal self, which apparently included climbing the screen door about six feet up.  I'm impressed he left no marks on it, but that little monkey's gotta keep his paws on the floor.

When Apollo returned home, Hermes acted like he'd never seen Lil Bits before.  I don't know if he'd picked up other cat scents from the vet office or if the removal of said goods was a huge issue for Hermes (or if that cat's IQ is really about the equivalent of the ponytail palm he so likes to eat), but the dynamics in our house changed for a while.  I caught them cuddling yesterday though, so I think things are back to normal on that front too.

Hermes is keeping up with his usual antics of climbing the shelves.  Last night, I awoke to the sound of him knocking objects off our mantle.  When I came in, he was on top of the second bookshelf.  Cat looked me straight in the eyes and knocked Aaron's diploma to the floor.

He'd make a wonderful pair of gloves.  Or a very small fuzzy scarf.

Honestly, I'm mostly concerned for his safety.  When we lived in the rental house, he sprained his front right paw diving down from a high window.  These shelves are significantly taller.  Never mind the risk that he might knock one down, or knock something valuable off.  Caaaaaaaaat.

Artie has been feeling privileged lately.  Because of Zeus's UTI, the cats have been closed out of the bedroom.  If I left Artie outside of the bedroom, he'd whine and howl all night.  Every time we let him through the door, he prances in like "Hey, hey guys, hey.  I'm special.  I'm awesome.  Mom said so."  He spent much of last night playing with us, much to my distress.  I like sleep, Dog.  Seriously.

That being said, I've definitely heard a few "Hello?" meows from Hermes and Zeus was pawing at the door last night.  It's been hard on everyone.  I miss sleeping with my Tubby Tabby.  He's my cuddlebug, but I just can't chance another comforter being soaked by accident.  It only happened once, but once is more than enough... particularly since he was laying on my back.

I feel I should clarify that accidents in our house are nonexistent.  My pets are incredibly clean and well behaved.  I can't tell you how many times I've been complimented on my housekeeping.  I take great pride in the organization and cleanliness of my home, and feel a need for it to be meticulously spotless since I work in it.  So for Zeus to have an accident means that he has to have something medically going on.  He's only had two.  The first one was the comforter (and me) in December which told me he had his first UTI.  The second was on my coat the other day, which signified the recurrence.  Both times, it was something of mine, meaning that he's trying to tell me that he's hurting.  I'd rather he do that than hold it in until we have a bigger issue, like kidney problems or urethral blockage.  UTIs in male cats can be particularly fatal.  So if I have to go get my coat cleaned to save my cat, I'll do it.

This next week is incredibly busy for me.  Beyond catching up from some mishaps last week, I have a full commission schedule, a couple gigs at the end of the week, and I'm seeing a different friend each day all the way until Sunday.  Seems like leaving Facebook has meant living a real life instead of a virtual one.  I'll take it!

With that, I think that's enough from me.  I have a book to catch up on and that personal illustration sketch that isn't going to line itself.  Look for my check-in sometime Thursday and an update on my personal illustration around Saturday!

I'll leave you from another song cover I've been feeling particularly close to lately.  Enjoy!

The End of an Era

Before I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning today, I officially deactivated my Facebook.  With it came the loss of a set of friends, some close and some from other countries, that I will sadly miss.  By hitting that deactivation button, I am stepping out of an era of negativity, stifled with social frustration and disconnect.  I am rightfully at fault for allowing things to happen the way they did.  I made some mistakes.  A made a lot.  I tried to apologize.  Sometimes it was good enough. Sometimes it wasn't, particularly in the case of last night.  And that's fine.  Some wonderful people came out of the woodwork and got me back on my feet when I needed it the very most, and I couldn't be more grateful (even if the donuts are giving me a terrible stomach ache right now).

However, I'm turning my focus towards putting all of that behind me today.  My apartment has been a wreck since shortly after Christmas, so I'm going to fix that.  I still need to take down the tree even.  That's happening today.  Then I think a good negativity cleansing is in order, complete with sage smudge, salt - all that new age-y stuff you've only heard about at your local metaphysical store.  Yeah, I'm into it.  So sue me.

After that, I think I'm going to take a nice, long bath and try to relax.  I don't think I'm going to force myself to work or stick to my schedule today.  And that's okay!  I truly need a day anyway.  I spend a lot of time giving too much of myself, whether it's through work or friendship or volunteering or events.  Today's going to be about me.

I have some things to return.  I'm going to get that out of the way in the next few days.  I also have a chunk of things to donate.  They've been building up in the entry way since our move and it's time to get them out of the way.

By the end of the week, I want this whole thing to be over with and a new life to be set before me.

Seems so dramatic for Facebook, doesn't it?  Eh, Facebook was dramatic all on its own.

In other news, Apollo went in for his neutering today.  Because he's young, we won't get him back until tomorrow afternoon.  It's putting me on edge a bit, but it's also kind of a relief to know my toes won't get nibbled on in my sleep for a night!

In addition to that, when I went to take him for said appointment, my car wouldn't start.  I'm going to imagine that's the sub-zero temperatures at work.  Today's supposed to be warmer (if by warmer, you mean just over actual freezing), so I'm hoping to go try again at the warmest point of the day.  If it doesn't start still, then it's time to get it towed and looked at.  My car usually does this thing every year where it costs me a grand or two to repair and then it's good for twelve months.  Maybe I'm just getting it out of the way early.

Add a new car to the list of things we need to invest in long term.  Actually, since my husband's is only a couple years newer, add two.

Expect posts from here on out to go back to the couple-times-a-week schedule.  I've been posting often because of the Facebook deactivation, but I don't want to make this the new norm.  What was the point of shutting down my Facebook page in the first place if I simply step right into another form of social media?  I have a Check In scheduled for tomorrow, but I think I'll be taking the rest of the week off from blogging barring any major life events.  See you all on the flip side!

Life Update Sunday!

Don't think I'm going to make it to my mom's today for Exercise Sunday.  It may not look like much thanks to strong -10F winds, but there's 5.1" of snow blowing around in my zip code today.  Under that?  A quarter-inch of ice.  We never get our snow without some ice.  Woo, Misery - I mean Missouri!  Yes.  Missouri.

Since my decision to leave Facebook, I've wanted to start a weekly Life Update day.  Hopefully this will be an every-Sunday kind of thing.  At least, when I have the time.  Caricature season gets extremely busy in the summer through fall, but with some preemptive scheduling, I should still be able to hit it.

The cold I had this past week is making its rounds as my husband, Aaron, finally picked it up.  "It's not that bad," he says as he goes back to bed for the third time.  Yeah, that's what I was saying for the first few days.  Of course, my asthma was the only reason I hit a doctor's office.  They ended up giving me a breathing treatment on the spot.  Aaron doesn't have asthma, so hopefully it'll be a smoother ride for him.

The fuzzy babies are doing well.  Hermes and Apollo are becoming even closer.  I'm very proud of those two.  When we first got Apollo, Hermes couldn't do anything but hiss at the little guy.  This has convinced me that Zeus is the Love Bug of our group, spreading peace and joy where ever his fat little body goes.  Zeus has always been best friends with all of our fuzzy babies, even attempting to get on Nyx's better side.  It was Zeus that welcomed Hermes into our home with a headbutt and a purr.  And now that we have Apollo, I fully believe that Zeus, who has been acting like Mister Mom to Lil' Bits, is the main source of the serenity in our household.

Speaking of Zeus, you'll be happy to hear that he's losing weight!  Aaron and I have noticed that he's getting a little less rotund in the midsection and has more energy from his new grain-free formula.  In fact, he started up the "7 AM Train" this morning.  When we first got Zeus, Artie and he would zoom around the house at 7 in the morning chasing each other.  After about six months, it stopped.  This is also when Zeus starting getting plump.  This morning, I was woken up by that same 7 AM Train with a twist: It involved all four pets and ended in my arm.  Ouch!  I bled, I hived and I'm over it, but Lil Bits has to watch those claws!

Hermes has continued his more-loving and more-needy lifestyle.  Once upon a time, this cat was almost unbearable, earning the nickname Asscat for everything he destroyed in his path and his attitude when I nailed him for it.  Now, he has to be in my lap at least three hours out of the day, which is difficult for me when I'm trying to work.

He's also discovered that he can climb one of our bookshelves.  I guess that continues his Asscat legacy, but I'm terrified that he'll end up knocking it over because of how big he is.  Training continues.

Artie Bean is doing well.  He's struggling with the negative temperatures outside.  We're trying to limit his walks, but it seems like he has to be out there for at least ten minutes before he can take a number two, leaving him to walk funny as he gets ice between his paws.  Aaron and I have admittedly laughed at it, but we both know that it means the cold is hurting.  I've tried trimming the fur back in between his paw pads and am planning on getting him booties (Oh lawd, I know, I know) but, until then, all I can do is pick him up and gently hold his paws until they're warmer.  I know I treat Artie like my little baby boy, but he truly is a blessing for how amazingly smart and empathetic he is.  He, like the rest of my fuzzy babies, deserves nothing but the best.

Also, as I'm sure you can tell in the picture up there, he's due for a teeth cleaning.  I was desperately hoping to make it a couple years before he needed another one, but he's prone to tartar build up.  Poor little guy.  He's going to be so distressed when he finds out he needs another one...

And, of course, Apollo (aka Lil Bits) is growing up fast!  He's actually really mellow for a kitten, but we have got to break him of attacking things under the covers.  He wakes me up at least twice every night because I twitch in my sleep.  If I move a hand under the blanket or a foot, it's claw city.  Caaaaaaaaaaaat!

He's also about due for vet check up number three, where his, er, nuggets will be removed.  As usual, I'll be guilt-ridden dropping him off at the vet that day, but I refuse to own a pet who won't be fixed.  With all my volunteering at shelters and foster groups, I've learned this: It only takes once.

As far as other updates go, I weighed in this morning and found myself at my goal weight for Thursday.  Boy I'm losing it fast!  I expected nothing different though, as my diet change was sudden and temporary.  I'm sure I'll hit a wall around 155 (as I did last year), but I'm prepared to actually be my goal weight this year.  Nothing will hold me back - not even being blind.  I was never overweight as a teen or even a young adult but hypothyroidism is, for lack of a better word, a bitch.  I can't wait to be me again.

With that, I believe it's time for me to get off of here and get some things done.  I have a plant chart to make for my balcony garden, a book to catch up on and some work to do.  Catch you all on the next update!