Broken Glass

This would be the handy work of one of the 'kittens' this morning, playing in our bathroom.

Errand Day

Today was day #1 of running errands in the final preparations of my Texas vacation! I had to work half of the day, and then another good portion of the day was spent going through old Disney photos (which I tend to do a lot). But I did manage to get a few things done that I can cross off of my handy-dandy to-do list.

For starters, I saw Lisa driving along in her low-riding sporty-thingy and waved hello before remembering that one thing I desperately need to do in the last week and a half before I leave is fix my hair; both color and cut. So I called her at the studio and set up an appointment (Wednesday - 2:45) and then drove myself off to Longs/CVS/whatever it's called now to see if they still carried my hair color because a certain store that shall remain nameless at this point in time discontinued the shade that I love. Stupid Target! At least I was able to find it. Yay - go me.

And yes, I do color my hair. I got tired of being that dishwater blonde and I found a color that I liked, so there you have it.

I also took a dive into the Dollar Station to just take a gander at what they had. Someone needs to remind me to get a Happy Birthday banner to hang up in my hotel room for my birthday - they had a Mickey Mouse one!! There's also this totally awesome green-sequin lanyard that I really want to get. Or maybe I should go with the purple. Hey, better yet! I should get both, they are only a dollar. Oh, and I need to remember to stock up on glow sticks because wearing those at night at Disneyland is genius. Especially on Indiana Jones.

Last but not least, since I am in need of shoes other than my Converse, I went to Payless to take a look at flip flops. Flips flops seem like must haves to me when you're in super-duper hot Texas. I found these two adorable pairs that I love - perfect since it's BOGO time. There's some Teal, then there's some and yellow polka dots. You can't go wrong there.

One impatient cat

Ella had a little surprise for me when I got home from work this afternoon. I went to take a look at her stitches to see how things were healing and make sure everything looked good and to my surprise, half of her stitches had come undone and the thread was just hanging there. I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing if she then tries to get at the loose bits. I gave the vet a call in too see what should be done and they had me take her back in to check on the stitches and see if we could even get them completely removed a few days early.

Poor girl did not want to go back into the carrier, but she really had no choice in the matter. She kept voicing her objections frequently until we got back home.

She was a good girl when we actually got in to see the vet, but it was also a very quick appointment. We were in and out of there in just about 5 minutes, really. They just took her weight and temperature and then took a little look at the incision and where the sutures had come undone. She said it looked like she was healing very well and everything looked good but she wanted to leave what was left of the stitches in to give the skin some extra bonding time, but she did cut off the part that was dangling so she couldn't pull at it.

So she's halfway there, just a few more days until the rest of it comes out.

I thought I got a picture of her with half of the stitches pulled out, but I must have deleted it on accident. I tend to do that now and again - unfortunately. But I did get one after the stop by the vet.



So she's home. I just have to keep an eye out to make sure that without all of the stitches there isn't and separating or shifting of the skin. At the very least, I'm pretty sure she didn't pull the stitches out on her own. She's been very good about not licking or scratching at the area but today she was a hyper-active little nutcase and I did see her fall and slide down something that could have caught on the stitches. So I'm pretty sure it had more to do with her activity than anything else.

The countdown starts ...

... Right now!!

I will ofically be en route to Texas in only 13 days. Normally, not something to be excited about, but this is no ordinary stop in the lone star state. Nope, I'm visiting family - and not just any family either! I'll be seeing my most favoritest Grandparents in all the world (not that I don't love all of my Grandparents, because I do) and more family who I haven't seen in a long old while.

My flight leaves on June 21st (Sunday), which also happens to be Father's Day. That's my gift to dad, going away for a full week! I wont be arriving in the Houston area until sometime after 10PM. Wonder how that is going to work out seeing as my flight is less than 12 hours after I get off my overnight shift at Target. I always have a hard time getting used to normal hours again and now we're going to throw in a 2 hour time change into the mix. Oh boy, this should be fun!

I'm trying to make a list of things I need to do before the end of next week so I'm all prepared and ready to go. The sooner I get my butt in gear, the better.

- Re-stock my supply of shorts and tank tops. Texas in the summer is HOT!!
- Make an appointment with Dr. H to talk about getting more Ativan and a nasal spray for my allergies.
- Become a master at packing and unpacking my luggage.
- Make an appointment with Lisa to get a trim. My hair is too long for long and hot days in the sun.
- Find someplace that still stocks my hair color. I am in dire need of a touch up.
- Brush up on my lyrics to all songs from Grease, Chicago, and Mamma Mia for the sing alongs I intend to have with the Lady.
- Get Ella's stitches taken out on 6/12.
- Go to cousin Haley's high school graduation on 6/12.

Speaking of that first bullet point, Heather and I hit up Ross and Marshalls today to see what kinds of things we could find for cheap. I didn't get too lucky in that department though. I only ended up buying two shirts (one tee and one tank), but that was about it. Well, we did have an exciting outing to the Dollar Tree to find what awesomely fun cheap junk we could. It's where I discovered strawberry scented bubbles!! Too bad they didn't smell strongly of strawberries; they were just a touch on the sweet side.

Now I'm curious to know if the still make edible bubbles anywhere.

Anywhoo! The bubbles inspired another impromptu excursion for Dre and myself. Playing with bubbles is fun. We really need to get some Disney bubble necklaces and where them everywhere so we can have impromptu bubble wars anytime and anywhere.



This would be me, attempting to do a heel click.
It would also be me failing to do a heel click. Miserably.

4 days later

It's been 4 days since Ella got her stitches, and so far so good. She hasn't been scratching or licking at the wound so she's been E-collar free since she came home from the Vet. It's funny to see her walk around with a big old bald spot that takes up a big chunk of her right side and belly right behind her front leg. She's a tortie (tortoise shell) and her skin is just as funny looking as the color of her fur - and super soft!! She's been a big cuddle-bug though, which was how she was as a kitten when we first brought her home up until about a year ago, so I'm really enjoying it. That is as long as I am not wearing shorts. A cat laying on you with stitches feels really weird to the bare skin.


The shaved spot looks a lot smaller when she's sitting like that because her leg gets in the way! It goes all the way to her belly.

She'll get her stitches out on Friday, June 12th.

Watermelon cookies

Just one of the many treats offered at our desert party at work today. I have never heard of such things before - Watermelon Cookies! They smell and taste like watermelon. Very sweet!

One expensive cat

My cat is more expensive than a trip to Disneyland. No joke.

Sometime this weekend my cat, Ella, got herself a pretty nasty slice that runs from her shoulder to her belly. I couldn't tell you how she did it - whether she got caught on something or got into a fight with someone. I tried cleaning it out after I first discovered it, but haven't been too successful in that department since.

My nursing skills = fail.

I made the call to get her into the vet today because the last thing we need right now is for it to get infected really bad and something worse develop out of the incident. My sister had to say goodbye to the cat she's grown up with attached at her hip last week and it's made me really paranoid about Ella. I love her. She's so much more than a pet to me. Luckily by the time I called they still had one open appointment time today so I was able to get her in without too much delay. Just a lot of frustration on my end.

Guess what happened on the drive there? I get lost. Of course I get lost. Why wouldn't I get lost? I get lost everywhere. Nothing new here; my sense of direction is dismal. I printed directions beforehand and I still got lost. I'm sure my mother appreciated my frantic calls to her to try and figure out how to get there, and Heather must have loved them even more because I was in full-blown panic mode by that point.

Keeping my cool under pressure = fail.

To make a long story short - or at least short in my world - she got the cut cleaned out and it was a pretty minimal procedure. She didn't need to get an IV which would have been necessary if the surgery took more than a certain period of time and would have run us close to $800 total. I don't think I've ever needed any medical procedure that cost that much. Then again, I did have one E.R. visit that I'm aware of and I have no idea how much that cost my parents. Keeping the ones you love healthy sure isn't cheap.

So in the end $662 covered
- exam
- blood work
- surgery
- stitches & follow up appt. to get them removed
- feline leukemia testing
- 2 vaccines
- pain medications

She's home, safe and sound now, although she's got to stay in the kitty-carrier until she can calm down. She's still going a little berserk at the moment, which is sad to watch. I've got to keep an eye out on her when she comes out to make sure she doesn't lick or scratch at the stitches. She's also got a good portion of her right side shaved. Makes me thing we could turn her into a cat-poodle! I'll take a photo of her tomorrow if she'll let me.

Now the funny thing out of all this? I can spend less than that of a trip to Disneyland. I did spend less than that on a trip to Disneyland this past March. I don't know whether I want to laugh about this fact, or cry.