All About January

I don’t want this year to start out like last’s with not one single entry in January, so here I am, trying to recall everything that’s happened in the last month without overloading you all.

Christmas was awesome, and I was right on the money about my gift from Chuck.  Well, one of them anyway.  He managed to find a $650 KitchenAid mixer for less than half that, and I’ve been baking breads and pastries and goodies like nobody’s business since.  He did surprise me with a last minute find, too.  I’d been eyeing a Garmin Nuvi navigation system for some time, but I wasn’t really interested in shelling out the cash for a nicer model.  He somehow negotiated a close-to-Christmas deal on a Garmin 760 (MSRP $599) for, again, half the retail price.  I think he might be a better shopper than me.

We didn’t do the big Christmas dinner with the family since all the kids were with their moms.  We got to pick them up the day after, though, and it was awesome watching them open presents.  The rest of the week was spent riding in the neighborhood on their new bikes and scooters, getting crafty with the Bratz Magic Hair Color dolls, and taking down the tree and lights for the season.  It was really nice.

New Years Eve was pretty mediocre.  We drove down to Austin for a house party at a friend’s.  It was kind of lame at first, but you can always count on 15 gallons (yes, gallons) of mine and Chuck’s home brewed beer to liven up a situation.  The night was capped off with a champagne toast and illegal fireworks.  We were supposed to stay the night in the guest room, but it became a little too awkward when said friend had passed out on his bed and his wife was curled up in the laps of two other male friends on the couch, one of which she’d previously had a relationship with.  I was sober, so I pulled out my handy dandy new GPS system, and we bailed.

Life is pretty much back to normal since the holidays have ended.  Chuck and I are both back to our regular work schedule, and we’re still making changes to the house a little at a time.  We’ve also made a lot of changes to our financial situation.  Chuck closed on the house refinance on Monday, which knocked almost $500 off our monthly payment.  I was shocked!  On top of that, we negotiated a better rate with our electric company, taking off over $100 a month.  We also switched from Dish Network to DirecTV.  Now, not only do we get our local channels in HD (a football necessity), but it’s about $40 a month cheaper.  Chuck filed for child support from Matt’s mom.  It’s not much — $120 a month — but every little bit counts.  He also got reevaluated for has veteran’s disability, and they increased his monthly pay from $123 to $376.  Crazy.

I have had a pretty sad week, though.  You all know that my cats are like my kids.  I’ve had Elvis and Priscilla for seven years in February, and Cash is the newest member of our family.  They’re all my babies.  Last week, I noticed that Elvis was acting sluggish and just wasn’t himself.  I immediately took him to the vet.  The doc wanted to do bloodwork, but it’s so traumatic for cats.  I opted to wait a few days and give him antibiotics instead.  On Monday, Elvis was worse.  I took him back to the vet for the bloodwork and some additional tests.

He has FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus).  I was dumbfounded.  When we adopted Cash into the family, he had already been tested negative.  Well, at the time, Priscilla had an appointment for an allergy shot, so I had her tested, as well.  We didn’t want to chance Elvis and Priscilla transfering anything to the kitten, either.  She was negative.  FeLV is highly contagious.  It’s passed just from sharing food and water bowls and the litter box, which they all do.  Because of that fact, we never tested Elvis.  It was assumed that if Priscilla was negative, Elvis would be, too.  They’re brother and sister, and they’ve lived together their entire lives.

The vet got the bloodwork results back on Tuesday.  As of right now, Elvis doesn’t appear to have cancer or any other diseases.  However, the virus is already attacking his bone marrow.  His red blood cell count is low, and he’s severely anemic.  He’s too weak to get up to eat.  I have to feed him four to five times a day, which consists of me holding the bowl of food to his mouth wherever he lays.  I have to give him antibiotics twice a day.  I also have to feed him two different pastes twice a day to supplement the nutrients he needs to produce more red blood cells.  We’ve also started him on Interferon, an antiviral treatment, that I have to administer three times a week. 

I’ve been doing my own research, though, and I found a new treatment that was released in 2006 (and is the only American approved treatement of FeLV).  My vet had not even heard of it yet, so I took him the information yesterday.  He’s in contact with some A&M vets (pretty much the best in the country) to find out more info and if he can get it for me.  The reason I’m interested in it is because it’s the only treatment available that also treats the symptoms, specifically anemia.  The worst case scenario is that (assuming I can’t get my hands on the new stuff) Elvis’s body has completely shut down RBC production.  The only other option at that point would be monthly blood transfusions.  I can’t do that to him.  I love him too much to let him suffer like that.  I’m taking comfort in the fact that he’s not in any pain right now.  He’s just run down.  As long as he’s not hurting, then I’m going to do whatever I can to get him better.

Needless to say, I was terrified that in the six months it’s been since we adopted Cash, one or both of my other cats had contracted it.  Kittens under a year are especially susceptible.  We took both Cash and Priscilla in Tuesday and had them retested.  Both negative.  We immediately started them both on vaccinations.  This is such an unusual case.  I just can’t understand how this has happened.  None of my cats have ever been outdoors.  They’re strictly indoor cats, and they’ve never been around others.  The virus can only live outside of the feline body for a few hours.  It’s impossible for Elvis to have contracted it since I’ve had him.  He had to have had this virus dormant in his body his entire life.  But if so, why does Priscilla not have it?  It makes no sense.  I love my little fattie so much.  I’m heartbroken.  Anyway, I’m trying to stay in high spirits and remain optimistic that I can get the new treatment and it will help.

In other news, my birthday is Sunday.  One year closer to thirty.  Yay is me.  And of course, my birthday is also SuperBowl day, so I suppose that’s how I’ll be celebrating.  I really don’t give two shits about football, but we’ll be with friends, having drinks and good conversation.  That’s never a bad time, so I can’t complain.

Saturday, we’re going aquarium shopping.  I used to have a 55 gallon salt water setup, and we currently have a 35 gallon f

resh water in Matt’s room.  I loved the hobby, and I’ve been thinking about getting back into it for some time.  We drove up to Austin a couple days ago and spec’d out a 90 gallon system.  It’ll cost me about $2200 to get up and running (which is exactly what I expected), but I’ve got a fat tax return check headed for my bank account in just a few days.  The one I’m looking at will be like this…

… but bigger.  That’s a 55 gallon like I had before.  The 90 gallon will be slightly shorter in width, but about 2 1/2 times deeper from front to back.  It’s more like a square tub than that long rectangle, so you can see the reef better from all sides.  I’m excited!

And on a completely random note, just because it makes me giggle…  You all know that I’m originally from Arkansas.  Well, my brother and I love to share the ridiculous stories that we hear from that ass backwards area.  Rob has an 18- or 19-year-old cousin that’s engaged to a deadbeat that just joined the Army.  Somehow (not really sure how he managed this), her fiance’s first assignment is in Hawaii.  Now, our company does a lot of work in Hawaii, and my bro has been several times.  She’s recently been messaging with him about what it’s going to be like to live there.  I’m pretty sure she’s never been out of the state of Arkansas.  In her most recent email, she explained, "It’s not that I’m scared to meet new people or anything.  I’m just worried that I’m in another culture where people don’t speak very much English."

And that, my folks, is the future of our country.

Cheers!
Felina