I'm on Twitter

I caved.

I've been thinking about it for a while, actually, but I finally signed up tonight.

You can find me over here: http://twitter.com/Fyrecreek
or, see what's up with my feed on the sidebar.

Fox in the Woods

No, I'm not talking about my friend who I call Fox when I blog about him, I'm talking about a red fox. I have seen one in the woods outside my condo before. Yesterday, I was looking out the window with a cup of tea and saw a funny reddish thing. At first, I thought it was a roll of carpet. And then I wondered if it was a deer or a fox. And then I wondered if it was alive or dead. So, I got my camera and (sans coat) stepped out onto the balcony to get a better angle.

It stirred!


He actually looked up in my direction at the sound of the door, but I didn't have the camera ready. So, I made some noise.


Isn't he cute?! This is super zoomed and a little fuzzy because I was shivering in the cold. Look at that sweet little fox face! I went inside and watched him for a bit longer. When I came back after a short thirty minute nap, he was gone.

But, cute! I hope he keeps warm in all this snow.

And, yes, we did get snow. It's light and powdery, but my fingers are still swollen from cleaning off the car. I think I need to wrap them around a nice hot mug of tea.

Waiting to Know

I know you're all waiting to hear how the cardiologist visit went yesterday. I guess I can start there and come back to Wednesday.

The cardiologist was in the same building as the emergency clinic. I actually liked this place quite a lot. They took us to a room where Miss Luna was able to get out of her cage and wander about, jump on the window sill, cower under my chair. A technician came in to weigh her and she played peek-a-boo with another through the door window. She was distraught, but otherwise well behaved, and she came to me every time I called her (which impressed everyone who witnessed it). Then the doctor came in and listened to her heart. Then we all went into the next room, where we held her down while the doctor slimed her and had a look. If you've ever been through an echocardiogram, you know exactly what I mean by slimed.

They found that her heart is enlarged a little and has some thickening of walls, causing to blood to pump a little abnormally and causing a murmur. At this time, she doesn't need medication. She needs to be monitored by the regular vet every six months and to come back every year for another echo. As young as she is and as early as we're finding this, we should be able to catch it fast if it really develops into a problem and medication should take care of things.

I'm glad she's not on regular meds right now. And, I'm glad I know what's going on so I can keep an eye on it. And I'm glad I'll have time to save up to pay the cardiologist in the coming years. Right now, well, I can only cut back so much, but I'll make it work.

On Wednesday, my parents and I each had a dental appointment. After lunch and some Trader Joe's grocery shopping, we went to the community that they've been looking at for my grandmother. She had a physical and cognitive assessment to see if she is fit for independent living in their apartments. She is mentally sharp and gets around her small house with minimal aid, so there was no reason for them to not recommend her for independent living, which, of course, they did. They're planning on getting her a scooter or electric wheel chair to help her get around. After her assessment, we looked at a couple potential apartments (an efficiency and one bedroom), toured the large dining hall, and went through the library.

Unfortunately, my grandmother does need the full assessed price of her house (or close to it) and that brings it out of my range. However, the sales rep who was working with us mentioned to me that they have an open position and she thought, by the way I was interracting with others in the community, that I might be good for it. Phoenix is going to help me update my resume, then I will give them a call. If nothing else, if feel like that would be a much more fulfilling job than the one I currently hold. And I could probably join my grandmother for some meals, which I think she would like. Depending on what happens with this, I may revisit the modular that I couldn't get two years ago. We'll see!

Feels Like Friday

I'm going to my parents' this evening. We all have dental appointments tomorrow, and we all go to the same office. It kind of feels like Friday, probably because I'll be off for the next two days. I'm hoping I can convince mom to make a run to Trader Joe's tomorrow.

I'm also going to talk to my parents about the possibility of buying my grandmother's house. Other than the fact that the opportunity is presenting itself, one of the reasons I'm doing this now in the face of Miss Luna's still-growing bills is that, depending on the asking price, I might be able to get my mortgage payment to be less than what I'm paying right now for rent. It will wipe out my savings (which, I'm happy to say, I did not have to dip into to pay vet bills. Sure, it would help with the bills, but it wouldn't improve my situation any if I used it.), but a home is really what my savings are for.

We'll discuss it anyway. It may not work out. But it may. There are pros and cons for all of it.

Miss Luna heads to the cardiologist on Thursday. For a mini-weekend, I'm going to be super busy!

Weekly Weigh-in 1

After one week of Weight Watchers, I'm 4 lbs less!

Loosing weight is really a perk of this plan. My intention was to learn what I need to eat better - better portions, healthier choices.

So, for this start of week two:

I've learned that a cup of peas is a lot of friggin peas.

I can refrain from using my extra weekly points until the end of the week when they're really needed.

I don't make very healthy choices on weekends - but still don't go overboard.

I can have only one cup of coffee a day because I don't want to spend the points on cream and sugar. Except on weekends, the points on cream and sugar add up fast.

My goal for last week was to eat more fruits and veggies. I didn't do so well on the fruit front, but I improved greatly on the veggie front. I had bags of frozen veggies in my freezer that have sat for weeks and even months. I'm down to one cup of corn.

My goal for this week is to eat even more fruits and veggies. I did well last week, but I know I can do better. I can eat more. I can get bags of salad and not let them go bad in the fridge before I finish them. I know I can.

Dreams and Things

Yesterday, I went back to working on a sewing project that I started years ago. Although it was bright and sunny, I decided to hold off taking pictures of the newest line of Gnomes until today (just because I really felt like sewing).

It's cloudy and rainy today. Go figure.

I guess that means more time in front of the sewing machine. Which is fine, naturally, but I'm not selling this dress. I do have some Gnomes to work on until my roommate wakes up.

I dreamed that I was living in my grandmother's house last night. When I woke up, I decided that, if I do get this place, I should get a dog. While I like Shiba Inus and Alaskan Malamutes, I might go with an Akita. They're like Shiba's, only larger. Well, if I do get a dog, it will be a fairly large one, and from a shelter or rescue. So, we'll see what we can find. Of course, it will have to tolerate Miss Luna. Miss Luna will have to learn to live with it!

DIEt

Ever notice how the first three letters in diet are D-I-E?

While I've got tons of Weight Watchers tools to track my progress, I'm going to write some things here as well. Probably mostly observations.

I've finally learned that one tablespoon of soy sauce goes a long way. And it's zero points. Huzzah!

I've also learned that I can avoid a twelve point cookie simply because it is a twelve point cookie.

And I've learned that I can hang with knitters and not eat a ton of chips or cheese Danish.

I think it's a good start for being more than halfway through my first week.

Feels Like Snow

Phoenix and I left the condo together this morning. It felt like it was going to snow. So much, in fact, that I had to ask Phoenix if she knew if it was supposed to snow. I'm so out of touch with the weather right now because I've been filling car time with a dramatization of the Chronicles of Narnia (Thanks, Fox and Fae!). She didn't know. I heard some people in the office talking about storms this morning, so I had to look it up.

Sure enough; rain, sleet, and snow are in the forecast for the next couple days. How interesting!

Developments

Miss Luna has a cardiologist appointment next Thursday. Roscoe went to the vet yesterday for yet another high fever. His doctor doesn't think the problem is toxoplasmosis at all, but bartonellosis. While that is much more common, it's kind of the same as toxoplasmosis - as in it's rare that symptoms are shown. And, the symptoms caused by bartonellosis are not in line with the behavior I observed in Miss Luna, nor would it account for Aura's blindness.

So, we're probably never going to know what the real problem is. It's far more likely that three cats would come in contact with the same thing than for each to have contracted something different. The only thing that my roommates and I seem to agree on is that the trouble started with Aura (not that any of us are trying to blame Aura in the least).

It looks like I didn't mention this a year or so ago, I couldn't find any reference to it anyway. It was some time last year, we've been trying to convince my grandmother to move out of her home and into an assisted living community. My mom and her siblings have done some research and some recommending. Usually, nothing sounds appealing to my grandma. On the last attempt, I mentioned buying her house. It's not in the best area, really, but she's been living there with no major problems for years.

Fast forward to now. My parents have identified yet another assisted living possibility. It's very near by and mom says the facilities are very nice. She also said some of their retirement cabins are bigger than my parents' house. Grandma seems to be considering this place seriously. Which means we'd have to sell her house. Once again, I'm considering looking into me buying her home.

It's a quaint little single-floor place with three bedrooms and one bathroom. They had an addition put on the back many many years ago that served as a dining room. There is a detached garage and a little fenced-in yard. It's enough space for me (though I would like to see about adding another bathroom) and possibly a roommate. (And it's possible that LDS and Gnome might need a place to live in the near future. Phoenix and Sunflyr, while they would be welcome, would likely not come with me.) It would put me close once again to Sunday brunches and kayaking and the Renaissance festival, but further away from the ministry I work with and the friends I've made out here.

As far as the neighborhood, well.... We really wanted my aunt to get out of there when she moved to Albuquerque. And we really want my grandmother out of there now, though those reasons are not all for the neighborhood. I went to high school in that area and, while I know things can change in thirteen years, I never thought the area was that bad. I know most of her immediate neighbors are kind and helpful. If I need my parents for something, they could be there in about twenty minutes.

There are a few downsides. If I see Robin infrequently now because of our schedules, it will be more so if I move back to Maryland. He won't be able to visit after work, and likely not after school either. We'd have to plan to spend weekends together or something. I'd once more have a near fifty mile commute to work. Though, for some reason, I don't see those drives as being all that bad anymore. Sitting in traffic may be another matter, though I hear the improvements to the Wilson Bridge have really helped on that.

I mentioned this to my dad this morning, who asked if I could swing it and if I really wanted to live there. Being able to swing it depends on the price, naturally. While I'm sure my grandmother would like to give me a deal, I don't want her to sell to me for less than what she needs for it. About wanting to live there, the simple answer is that I can deal with it. Dad also mentioned that the might be able to help me with financing, just as they offered to try to help me with Miss Luna's bills. And then he said it's something to talk about. I think I'll call my mother this evening.

Would it really hurt to look into it and consider?

Gone and Done it

A few weeks ago, I signed up for Weight Watchers at Work. The first meeting was today. Now, I signed up before Miss Luna spent some time in the hospital, and I really shouldn't spend the money on this in light of the bills I'm facing now. However, while it would be a perfectly legitimate reason to put this off for another twelve weeks or more, I decided to go forward anyway.

They can't hold classes without a certain amount of people signed up. I already signed the payroll deduction form. And, if I don't follow through now, who is to say I won't come up with some other excuse the next time it rolls around. No, going forward was a good idea. I may think differently when I see what it does to my paycheck, but right now, I think it was a good idea to do what I said I would.

I have a few extra pounds that would be nice to loose, but I'm not really doing this because I'm hoping to fit into a size six again (as if!). I'm hoping to learn how to make better choices, how to fill my diet with good foods like vegetables. I like eating vegetables but, more often than not, they just go bad in my refrigerator. Every bag of salad that I throw out is money going in that trash can too. I'm the first to say that spending money to save money is illogical but, in this case, I really need the help.

A friend of mine from the Renaissance Festival has had great success on Weight Watchers. LDS's mother also made the plan work for her. My dad started in November and has made some real progress. While I can't speak for LDS's mother, the other two people were at unhealthy places and could really see the benefits. The Leader even said that accomplishments do not have to be on the scale. I hope to see a change in what I buy, what I eat, and how long that energy will last me. And, as a bonus, this should work well with the Blood Type Diet that I've been (roughly) following for years. I can still get the no-migraine benefit.

I'm reminding myself to see it for its benefit, and not for the money that could be going to vet bills. It will be an added strain for a while, but I think it will prove worth it.