A few days ago, I mentioned how we had
a very strange week. I was really looking forward to the weekend to
relax and just be at home. It turns out, our weekend has been rather
weird as well!
Friday after work, I took Christmas to
the vet. He had a dark spot on his chin that I figured was feline
acne. I was right. So one vet visit ($68), one bottle of cat shampoo
($17) and one prescription for a topical antibiotic ($104) later and
he is good to go. Well, he should be good to go as long as the
antibiotic works. And for that price, it BETTER EFFING WORK.
Christmas sure is a high maintenance cat but we love him and glad
it's something treatable.
When I got home from all that running
around to the vet and pharmacy, Paul informed me that our phone,
internet, and TV had not worked all day long. Fast forward to
Saturday evening when a technician came out and informed us that on
Friday, some tree trimmers cut our Verizon Fios line (by accident)
and failed to inform Verizon. The technician said that a crew would
be out Monday to fix it. So for the whole weekend, our cable, phone
and TV is not going to work. (My brother let me stop by and borrow
his wifi to type up this blog post! Thanks, Tyler!)
I am slightly annoyed for myself, as I
love to spend my weekends relaxing by blogging and watching all the
shows I DVR'ed throughout the week. But I am SUPER annoyed and sad
for Paul because he loves
football. He lives for
Sundays and we even splurge and get the Red Zone channel for him. He
will be able to watch whatever games are televised in our area if he
goes to his parent's house to watch, but it is not the same as DVRing
Red Zone and watching in his pjs at home. Monday through Friday is
radiation and chemo for him, but SUNDAY is supposed to be his
football day. I am sad for him. I know that sounds like first world
problems but I don't care, he needs something to cheer him up and now
he doesn't get it this weekend.
The most surreal
part of this weekend was celebrating my Uncle Jack's life and saying
goodbye to him at a viewing and luncheon on Saturday. My parents
brought down several photo albums and scrapbooks Uncle Jack kept of
his time in the service and trips he took around the world. It was a
shock to see him so young in the pictures and to see how well he
captured his life as he traveled to different countries. There were
several pages of his trip to Hawaii. He flew first class and took
pictures of the first class quarters as well as his meal on the
plane. (Uncle Jack was taking pictures of his food before it was even
cool!) I looked at every single picture at the viewing, and at the
luncheon we shared stories of our uncle. It is still hard to believe
he is not going to be at our Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers
we have coming up.
Speaking
of Christmas, I started the process of Christmas decorating! Wow, I
can be quite productive when I don't have the computer and TV to
distract me. What I did was put away all the knick knacks I don't
have room for when I put up my Christmas decorations and then I
carried all of my decorations up from the basement. Tomorrow, I will
clean the house (a must do
before decorating) and then I will start the actual process of
putting decorations up. I probably will not get the entire house
done, as I have a TON of Christmas decorations, but I can at least
get started. I have Christmas CDs I can put on our CD player and I
have a DVD of a Yule Log so the house will be completely festive! I
normally don't decorate this early, but I need to take advantage of
the time I have without distractions! Plus, I think the festive house
will cheer up Paul.
I am
typing this post Saturday around 6:30pm, so if anything else weird
happens this weekend, I will have to let you know on Tuesday when I
post my Weekend Wrap Up! No wrap up tomorrow, as I won't be able to
type it up. Instead, you get a generic post about the podcasts I am
listening to while I run. Now, time to go download a couple before I
leave the wifi at my bro's house so I have something to listen to on
my run on Sunday!
Thanks for reading
my ramblings and sorry I haven't had time to read or comment on
blogs! Oh, and if you emailed me or Facebook messaged me... I didn't
get it. I don't have a smart phone. The only way to get ahold of me
this weekend is to text me! Don't call because you all know I don't
answer my phone unless it is Paul, my mom, or my grandma!
We were without cable or WiFi this summer when the landscapers cut our cable. They didn't tell us. My husband came home to the cut cable draped over the fence. Comcast told us it would be a week before they could come out. 3 very irate phone calls later, they "escalated" us and came out the next day. I wish I could function like they do!
ReplyDeleteA week is ridiculous! That just doesn't make sense.
DeleteThat is frustrating. I feel for Paul--It is really weird when something like that happens and you realize just how internet dependent we are!
ReplyDeleteI have to wait until we move to decorate for Christmas (Dec. 12). The kids and I are joking that we will decorate before we unpack. It's true. I am probably going to have to put up at least one tree here, and some outdoor lights...:)
Cable companies...don't get me started...
Oh man I am so internet dependent! Little things like getting a podcast for a run, checking the weather so I knew what clothes to lay out for the week, figuring out if the McDonald's down the street has wifi.... lol!
DeleteNot having internet or TV is very frustrating. We'd be lost w/ out our Sunday football watching. I hope it gets resolved soon. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteIT'S BACK!!! :)
DeleteYes, losing your internet/TV is a first world problem, but don't apologize for getting irritated about it. Paul has a LOT going on, and it stinks that his day of relaxing and football watching gets taken by someone who didn't have common courtesy. I hope the weekend got better today.
ReplyDeleteThanks girl! I definitely think it is good to recognize what is a REAL problem, and what is just an annoyance. I just love Paul and want him to be happy and as much as I personally dislike football, it makes him so happy. I woke up this morning to a Verizon van parked down the block and 2 hours later they knocked on the door and said it was fixed. YAY!!!
DeleteI had no idea cats could get acne, or that it had to be treated and wouldn't just go away on its own. I guess pets are more maintenance than you really think about!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your uncle. He sounds like a really interesting guy!
They definitely are a lot of maintenance- especially if you want them to lead a good life. Obviously if we left it untreated it would maybe not get worse, but who knows? I would hate for him to be uncomfortable.
DeleteOf course then there is Jelly, who is never ever sick. In his 9 years all he has ever had was a UTI and that was a quick fix!
DeleteWOW that topical antibiotic is expensive! Cecil gets acne on his chin about once a year and the treatment we get from the vet only costs $20 - it's called Dermalone Ointment and it clears his chin right up after 2 or 3 days.
ReplyDeleteCat shampoo.... does that mean bath time?? My little Leo LOVED getting bathed, such a weirdo cat haha. I wouldn't even dare think about putting Cecil in a bath. He would most definitely claw me to death!
It sounds like the gathering for your Uncle was a nice celebration of his life. Losing someone is always tough on those left behind, but if they lived a good long life you just have to hope they're on to the next adventure.
I saw on FB that Paul was able to get his RedZone - yeah! Adam would be lost without it too!
Okay so right after I left the vet, I dropped Chrissy off at home and drove to Rite Aid. "Prescription for Christmas Cooney", I said to the girl at the drive thru. She got me the RX and when she said $104, I made her repeat it because I couldn't BELIEVE it! My eyes welled up with tears and I paid for it. Then I told myself to be happy Christmas didn't have an inoperable tumor or something and that I am lucky he is going to be okay. I drove home and put the stuff right on his chin, then I brushed his teeth. HE LOVES HIS TEETH BRUSHING. Right after I did that, the vet called EXTREMELY apologetic that the RX was so expensive. They did not realize how much it was and that the ointment was a lot cheaper. I felt so sick in my stomach. I called the pharmacy to see if I could return the RX and the pharmacist was really nice and said I could, but that he did check the price of the ointment before he even filled my RX and the ointment was $88! Cheaper, but not by a lot. I decided to just keep what I had, even though it was a $16 difference, I was exhausted and it was 6:30 and I was too hungry and tired to drive back to the pharmacy. So I am making note of the name of the ointment you use and I am going to ask my vet about it... maybe it is the same ointment and maybe not. The pharmacist said the ointment used to be A LOT cheaper and that it went up in price...
DeleteI am comforted in knowing Cecil's acne goes away! Poor Chrissy. Everyone laughs when I say he has feline acne but it can get really bad if untreated!
I am soooooo glad Paul gets to watch his football!!!!! He is just taking a pizza out of the oven and about to start the 4:30 games. (He DVRs so he doesn't have to deal with commercials.)
Oh, and as far as cat shampoo- no bath time, thank goodness! Just wetting the chin area. When I was young and dumb, I thought my cats needed baths. I would put on my ski pants and ski jacket so I wouldn't get clawed to death. That was back when they were less than a year old. Now they only get bathed when they have poop on their butt. Of course, Jelly is so clean and Chrissy is the one that always needs bathed. He has learned to take it like a man, though. Oh, and baths are Paul's job. :)
Oh man, yeah, $80-100 for feline acne treatment is crazy. I just googled Dermalone and it looks like it's still $20. I would definitely ask your vet about that if Chrissy gets acne again. It works like a charm for Cecil! I hear you on the being grateful thing though. I've noticed in the last couple of months that Cecil doesn't jump up on high things as often as he used to and that makes me really sad. I don't want him to get older or feel like he can't do the things he used to like doing. It breaks my heart. I know at 8 he is considered a senior now, but I still think of him as my little baby kitten.
DeleteI gave Leo baths when I was young and dumb too, haha. Luckily he liked them so I would just put my bathing suit on and get in the tub with him. He would sit there and purr. I think he just liked that the water was a little warm!
Cecil once ran into the shower when I left the door open while I went to get a fresh towel from the laundry. We have glass shower doors and when Cecil realized he was getting wet he tried to run out too fast and he slammed into the glass. Poor thing! He hasn't gone near the shower since then!
Ugh I am going to be so pissed if that dermaline stuff works. I am going to call tomorrow to my vet and inquire. Chrissy only has ONE little spot, it's not like he has something severe. I am so ANGRY RIGHT NOW just at the thought that there is something else that could have possibly worked!!!
DeleteThat is so weird that Leo liked baths! I read that if you start them young they get used to it. I wish I could swaddle my baby boys in the tub hehehehe!
OH MY GOSH Cecil must have PTS from the shower incident! I am laughing so hard because it is funny how cats act so fearless and it is their fearlessness that gets them into bad situations!
Cat acne! OMG! WHAT! Is it bad that I laughed a little, but not in a mean way - I have cats and know they get weird things, but that is one I have yet to experience. Ugh, the Internet thing - so sorry to hear you had that problem! We have one of our local cable companies as our ISP, and sometimes, they SUCK. I get so annoyed! Hope you have a good week this week!
ReplyDeleteNo it is not bad you laughed a little haha that is everyone's reaction. :)
DeleteHe has never had it before thank goodness. He sure is my high maintenance kitty cat.
ReplyDeleteOh man, Lola has had weird things happen to her skin as well that has cost $100+. :( But I feel like I would pay anything to keep her healthy and happy. <3
ReplyDeleteI love that you have started decorating! The Holly station has started on XM radio and I play it EVERY day on my way home from work!!!
My first thought when I read that they cut your wire was "OMG I wonder if she was able to keep her blog streak going?!" LOL. It also reminded me of our wedding that we had at a beach resort that was run on a well of some kind. The construction crew dug up some wires that ran electricity to the resort and no one, including me, could shower on the morning of our wedding! All was well and repaired one hour before the wedding.
SAME. I would spend whatever on Chrissy BUT at the same time I hope my vet is giving me correct instructions/advice...
DeleteI love Christmas music! That is awesome they are playing it already! I usually listen to podcasts in the car, but I have to remember there is a station here that is playing Christmas music already, so I could listen to that.
OH GIRL I WOULD DRIVE TO MCDONALDS TO KEEP MY BLOG STREAK GOING hahahahaha! I can't stop!!!! I would feel like a failure!!! The day I don't post means I died. Seriously.
I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SHOWER BEFORE YOUR WEDDING!!! I would have been so freaking pissed. I would have joined a nearby gym and used their showers for the day!!?? Glad it got restored. Way worse than having no internet. I would rather shower than have internet/cable. But it was debilitating.