surgery for the cat

Our cat, Mimi, has had a lump on her right shoulder for about a year now. We did some research when it first appeared and found out that this was common for older calicos and thought nothing of it since it was fairly simetrical and it didn't seem to be bothering her.

Fast forward to now... the lump is much larger and she is constantly messing with it as if it's bothering her. She's even licked the top of it raw. She is also much more vocal than usual which, if you have ever met Mimi, you know that this means near constant yowling.

We took her to the vet and they told us she needed surgery. So, they took some blood work to make sure there were no underlying medical conditions that could cause complications with the anesthesia or proceedure itself. The results came back today and she is good to go. We are taking her in tomorrow around 9am to have the lump removed and then sent to an outside lab to be analyzed. With any luck it will be that simple and there will be no further complications.

Our vet is optimistic but, since Mimi is an older cat (15 years old to be exact) surgery in general is going to be rough on her. We should have her back Thursday morning. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

menu planning monday

I'm really excited about our menu for this week. All of it looks so good! I'm testing out a couple new recipes and combinations that friends have reccommended so I'll definitely let you know if there are any big hits or misses.

Sunday- lasagna
Monday- cajun style baked chicken, baked potatoes and peas
Tuesday- stuffed tomatos with chicken speedies and green salad
Wednesday- roast beef and cheddar paninis and sweet potato fries
Thursday- New Year's Eve at Steve's grandparents' house! - low country boil
Friday- pesto pasta with grilled chicken
Saturday- strawberry waffles and turkey bacon

I am also attempting a new cake recipe on New Year's Eve to take to the family party. It's a white cake with lemon curd filling that I found on my absolute FAVORITE cooking blog, vintage victuals.

In other news, this morning was our first day doing the couch to 5K program and it was.... interesting. Steve and I are definitely closer to couch potatoes than runners so between waking up at 5am and the running we are both worn out. However, we still plan to keep up with it even if we end up having to repeat a week here or there. Our goal is to be able to run a 5K in April.

We have also been dealing with some issues with our cat, Mimi, but I'll post more about that later.

home again

Steve and I made it back to good old Port Wentworth this afternoon. We got all the goodies from Christmas up to the apartment and put away. The wedding certificate pictured below is now hanging in our living room and tomorrow preparations for new year's begin.

Our big suprise for the day was coming home to find that our cat had some sort of fit while we were gone and puked and defacated all over the place. You can't even really get mad at her because she's an older cat and things like that happen as animals get older. It took a while to get it all cleaned up especially considering that we were out of paper towels, rug cleaner and pretty much everything except air freshener. Add to that some other smaller issues and it wasn't exactly my favorite day this week.

I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Coming up this week: Steve and I start the C25K program and new year's eve!

Christmas!

It's officially Christmas! Everyone is home this year which is awesome in and of itself but I'm excited because this is my first married Christmas with Steve!

We actually did our Christmas gift exchange on Christmas Eve but I decided to wait and post about it until today.Steve and I got some great things that we will certainly use (clothes for work, a waffle iron and a panini press to name a few) and Steve actually bought me a beautiful diamond necklace. However, our favorite gift of the day was a suprise to both of us from my parents.

They took the Quaker wedding certificate from our wedding and had it framed with the picture we had taken of everyone who attended the ceremony. Check it out!

It's beautiful and we can NOT wait to hang it up in our apartment!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and stay safe and warm wherever you are. :)

home for the holidays

Steve and I made it to my parents' house for the holidays and it has been really nice being able to relax and spend time with family. My younger brother should get here late tonight and the whole family will be all together for the first time since my younger brother left for boot camp! While everyone is here we are also going to sit for a new family portrait. It's all very exciting.

Also this week, I found out that I am officially accepted to AASU for the spring! I wasn't happy about having to take a semester off of school so finally having the opportunity to get back to working on my degree is a big relief. So many people leave for a semester and never go back. I promised myself that it wouldn't be the case for me.... and it's not!

Finally, I got a confirmation phone call from my new boss. My official first day is January 5th! Woo hoo!

So... to recap... I get to see my whole family during Christmas and my in-laws during New Years, I'll be able to work on my degree again and I'm no longer unemployed. It's been a good week. :)

my husband rocks!

This morning, as I went to make breakfast, I noticed that our salt and pepper grinders were full. Steve filled them without me asking him to or even mentioning that I needed to do it soon. Little things like that are why my husband rocks. :)

On another note... read your car's owner's manual when weird lights come on instead of taking it to the shop right away. The simplest answer is probably right.

magical cures

Finally, a day in December that I am NOT sick! It seems the Festivus miracles are abundant this year...

In all seriousness though, I have to give credit where credit is due. If you ever find yoruself with a bad case of food poisoning ask one of your healthy friends or neighbors to go get you some of this:

I generally drink this when I feel a cold coming on or my throat feels a bit scratchy... or even if I'm having trouble sleeping. It works really well. However, the other day when I was curled up on the couch feeling like I was going to die, Steve suggested I drink some just to see if it would help. Low and behold... it did! I drank two cups then went straight to bed. The next morning I was infinitely better.