Update , April 13 2024

News

Saturday

Saturday I slept in because I’d taken some NyQuil for a cough, and I was still feeling groggy in the morning. Aaron and I played D&D in the afternoon.

Sunday

Sunday I went to work. When I got home, the family went out to Red Lobster. I also set up an appointment to meet with a potential new kitten. The foster mom sounded skeptical that a 5 year old should get a kitten, so hopefully she gives us a chance.

Monday

Monday Aaron and I attended Zoom meetings for transitioning IL5’s IEP to kindergarten and D14’s IEP to high school. Then, IL5 and I went to the library. He picked out a book on the Bush dynasty to read to him. We were unable to watch the eclipse because it was cloudy (boo!). I spent a good amount of time moving toys back into IL5’s room. (J20 moved them all downstairs in a very disorganized way when he was in IL5’s room, so moving them back in is a process.) I didn’t quite finish, but he’s happy with the result for now. Then a guy came to look at our tree stumps to give us a removal estimate. In the evening, Aaron went to a baseball parent meeting and I took IL5 to swim lessons.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I ran errands, did yardwork, and took D14 to a dentist appointment.

Wednesday

Wednesday was anxiety-ridden. I hate vet appointments, and was dreading it all day. When I got home from my overnight job, I couldn’t really get myself to do anything except take a nap until M11’s dentist appointment. (Anxiety makes me very tired.)

When I got up from my nap, I went to the livingroom to pick up my book for the dentist appointment, and one of the cats had peed on it! I know cats pee in obvious places in order to get the attention of humans when they’re sick or in pain. It’s almost as if they knew the book would be obvious. It had to be either Polyphemus or Puck, because Hero doesn’t get on the table. But, coincidentally, I was taking Puck to the vet that day. I dried off the book and set it down to dry further. I was already anxious, and it was a disappointment to not take the book to the appointment.

As I was leaving, I ran into dad, who was walking back from his dentist appointment. We had both expected him to get his dentures that day, but it was just another fitting. He has another fitting in 3 weeks, and will get the teeth in a further 3 weeks. We had been going to eat pizza that night to celebrate his new teeth.

M11’s dentist appointment went smoothly. No cavities. They recommended further orthodontics, and I told them that we’d agreed with M11 that he didn’t have to wear his retainer after the last set of braces as long as he realized we wouldn’t pay for his second set of orthodontics. So, no, his crowded teeth and overbite is not something we’ll do anything about when he won’t actively participate in his orthodontics.

When I got home, I immediately stuffed Puck and Hero into cages. I’d been dreading that all week, because Puck is hard to get into a cage, but this was easy. Of course, they were howling, which bothered my anxiety. I was taking them to the vet to get updated on vaccinations, since I hadn’t been responsible about their boosters over the years because vet appointments stress me out so much.

Puck ended up being a problem. First, we needed a urine sample to see if he had a bladder infection (related to the peeing in a strange place – that’s a common reason to do that.) Then they discovered an ear infection, which could be the reason he (might have) peed on my book. But they also discovered that he had dropped 3 pounds since the last vet appointment, which they said was too much, and they needed bloodwork to see if there was an imbalance somewhere. Also distressing was the fact that both cats will have to come back in 3 weeks for another booster.

$600 later, I took the cats home. I called up the cat rescue organization and explained to them that we shouldn’t come and look at the kitten we were going to buy because the cats still aren’t “fully vaccinated.” I dreaded telling the kids. They were looking forward to seeing the kitten. Then I took another nap.

We had pizza anyway. Dad gummed his.

Thursday

Thursday I went from my night job to my day job, as usual on Thursdays. In the evening, Aaron and I finished watching the penultimate season of Supernatural. I tried putting ear cleaner in Puck’s ears. He is supposed to get cleaning drops in his ears every 2 days. After putting in the cleaning drops, I’m supposed to stick my finger in his ear to scoop out the gunk. Then I’m also supposed to give him medicine in both ears every day for seven days. But Puck isn’t a very compliant cat. I got in a squirt of ear cleaner to the right ear, but no finger-in-ear or medicine. I’ll try alternating ears for a couple of weeks, then putting in medicine daily for a week. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to scoop the gunk, though. He’d never let me do that.

Friday

Friday IL5 had 3 appointments. Speech, PT, and the dentist. We decided he didn’t need any more PT. So, yay! Another regular appointment off my agenda. The dentist appointment went really well. IL5 let the dentist look at and brush his teeth, and the dentist said that IL5’s teeth looked great. I managed to successfully squirt the wax remover in Puck’s ear without getting scratched. Then Aaron, D14, and I watched a couple episodes of X-Files.

I got the results of Puck’s blood test and urine test on Friday. He has stage 2 kidney disease and microscopic amounts of blood in his urine (possibly from infection, possibly from inflammation of the bladder). He needs to have his kidney function rechecked in 3 months.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

One letter Maine
One letter Texas
One letter Alberta

Reading to myself

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes
Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
Maid, by Stephanie Land
Bible

Reading to IL5

Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
Sydney and Taylor Take a Flying Leap, by Jacqueline Davies
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy’s Side-Quest Test, by Thomas Flintham
Fran that Time Forgot, by Jim Benton
Press Start: Super Game Book!

D14 reading

Matched, by Ally Condie
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer

Aaron reading

Book of Night, by Holly Black

Media Completed

Taylor decides he wants to fly, and Sydney isn’t supportive. But Taylor wants to fly anyway. This was a cute and very colorful story that kept my 5yo happily engaged.

Mad scientist Franny hates being laughed at. So when everyone found out her middle name was Kissyface, she was angry when they laughed. So she invented a time machine to change her name. This was a cute book, and my 5yo stayed engaged and loved the pictures.