BUZZ BUZZ Once There Was...

I put Berlioz, my nine year old cat, to sleep this afternoon.

He had a ping-pong ball-sized tumor obstructing his lower bowel near his colon. The surgery to save him would have involved cutting away a large section of his intestine and reattaching it to his colon. There was a very high possibility of post-surgical complications--that passing stool might cause a painful and lethal rupture. It would have been two weeks of enforced rest, with high risk of complications during and after surgery, only to be followed by the strong likelihood of further tumors.

If anything had gone wrong during surgery or even in the weeks full of painkillers that followed, he would have died confused and in extreme pain.

We couldn't even just bring him home and let him pass in familiar settings, b/c the tumor may have ruptured his bowel with its growth.

We made sure he was not and will not be in pain.


He was an AMAZING cat: lovey, loafy, cuddly, obedient, and always down for a group-nap. Bye bye, Buki.

Berlioz is unwell. We go back tomorrow to get him checked out. The possible results are not very encouraging. If you want to visit with him, you should come by soon.

Ooooo! Aaaaah! Delight and awe! AND it's not the kind of ring that slowly consumes your eternal soul while calling out to its Dark Lord and bringing all the creatures of the foul abyss down on your head like a thunderous horde of Baltimore City Pigeons.

It's just shiny!

There's gonna be more pictures. Some dull, some pretty, some kinda gross. You take your chances if you read below.

EDIT: Plant is Aucuba Japonica and according to at least one website, it has some mild medicinal properties. It can be made into a poultice for burns, swelling, and chillblains. It can also be cooked and eaten. Nothing about eating it raw. Sally? Does your mother need a plant? end EDIT

( There's something wrong with Kitty. )

There will be another post fairly soon detailing all the stuff i've suddenly realized MUST HAPPEN before i go back to school on Jan 17th. But that's gonna be a list post. One of those 'Oh-My-Eyes-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!' lists of everything and anything i can possibly think to stress about. Mostly b/c i haven't done that recently enough and i'm kinda feeling relaxed. And we can't have that. ;)

it's been a while since i've posted in my journal proper. Mostly b/c i've been posting (almost) daily over at honest_eats. I know that community has been a personal success for me and my eating habits, and i invite anybody who hasn't joined it to join us!

BUT, other than keeping track of my new years' resolution over on that community-- i really haven't been around lj too much. Which is a shame. I should be. Stuff is happening, and writing things down is always cathartic.


( One of those enormous 'here's my life' posts. )

well. Deep breathing. There's so much to do, and not nearly enough time to do it. They should probably carve something like that on my tombstone: "WAIT! I'M NOT FINISHED!" or "JUST GIVE ME 15 MORE MINUTES!"

heh.

oh well. time to roll onward.

it was a really fun quiz to take!~ Go! take it!





in other news, Berlioz is home and happy. He's much more stumpy than anticipated, but whaddya do? it's not like a hair cut. It won't 'grow out.' but he doesn't seem to miss it. i just know that i do.

He's got about 4 inches of tail left.

since i've been out of town, and school rose up and hit me between the eyes, it's save to say that Hanami and NanoWrimo lost their momentum.

So here's my token resistence to giving up:


( Drabble )


and the graph.


oh. and i saw berlioz's tail without the bandage.... it was deep and bloody and dangly and he was crying and it flopped around as he tried to move... it HAS to be amputated.

First off, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! (Belatedly, but maybe you're still eating leftovers?)

Secondly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BLUE!!! (Belatedly, but i had no int0rwebs during the travelling.)

Thirdly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO VCHAN!!! (Belatedly, but i've got a theme going.)



Okay. I went to vermont. I love vermont. I love Kevin. I love kevin in Vermont. It seems so... optimistic at this point. I still need some more facts and actual commitments from my boss, but oh the possibilities!




On a less euphoric note, my beautiful boy, BERLIOZ got out while i was up in Vermont and go his TAIL stuck in ... something sharp?? The bone is exposed and the vet is talking about amputation. he's currently heavily bandaged (much to his annoyance) and may be loosing about 4 inches of tail before this is all over. $$-wise, that could be 1500$ dollars worth of cat tail. The vet also says she heard a heart murmur.

My boy... my beautiful boy... *clings to her kitty.* He's supposed to live to be 22 at least! He's only 8! These things can't be happening! He's still under warrantee!



really... i've not told my family about things with Vermont, b/c it's all so vague still... or at least it was before the trip. It's way less vague now, but still not grandparent-proof. I'm so scared to tell them-- they've done so much for me here. I don't want to jerk them around. I don't want them to shoot it down. I don't want to have to choose a PRAY i'm making the right choice, b/c while they'd be there for me, i don't want to fail AGAIN and come home AGAIN and have them never trust me to do anything ever for the rest of my life and have them treat everything like a failed idea before it starts b/c they ALREADY do that and ... guh. *thumps head.* But not telling them is getting to me big time. I feel like such a liar.

i've gotta run and write a minimum of 7 pages of macro-economics paper.... or i'd give you guys the full spectrum of hope that is Vermont.

I GOT MY SCHOLARSHIP!

huzzah! My books and my tuition are all paid for! Dance with me!

I also have had bronchitis for the past 3 weeks. I'm over it now, but i am gonna have to drop at least 2 classes (yoga: one credit. stats: teacher who taught nothing.) ...maybe the accounting too, but that depends on how much more work i've got ahead of me for the remaining two (economics and computer science).



Berlioz got a puncture wound on his fat widdle head from sneaking out like a punk and getting into fights with things larger (not too many of them) and meaner (but many of these) than he is. Now he's got an abcess. It burst last night. (YUM!) I spent the evening and a good part of this morning "milking" the cat's head. Like a bloody, ruptured mayonaise packet. mmmmm. mayonaise. He goes into the vet on monday to have the whole fool thing flushed out properly.



I owe kevin, blue and sc some doodles from that art meme. There's stuff to do all over the place for the studio. I've got my work cut out for me with homework. Boss is due back into town at any moment for the store. I've gotta get Visa's distemper booster AND schedule her for spaying. My room's a mess (need to do some laundry, vacuum, clean out those litter boxes, change my bedding, balance my check book, and file all my paper work from my desk). Kevin and I are planning a roadtrip to Vermont in the next two weeks or so. I have so many things to ebay for $$$, that it's not even funny.

And you know what i've gone and done?

Joined NaNo.

National Novel Writing Month. A support community for writing 50,000 words on a story by Nov 30 at midnight.

Is it b/c i have free time on my hands?

No. Quite the opposite in fact. But quite frankly, if i'm going to wait for a november when i'm "Not Busy?" I may as well admit i'm never gonna participate. There's no fees involved. There's no stigma attached to not finishing. And from what i've heard from past participants, it takes a few years of effort to actually hit the 50,000 word goal.


So yes. This is me adding one more thing that i want to do to my plate. My eyes may be too big for my stomach, but dangit, if i wait on EVERYTHING i wanna do, i'll never do anything.


Here goes nothing!

But yes, i promise to use lj-cuts, and post my progress here. It will be rough. It will need mad work. You guys will probably see it before my editor does. And when she sees it, it'll get reworked and either put up for review to be reworked again, or hidden away carefully for the final posting. I swore i would not post the thing until it was done, but you know what? I'm finding I need a little more support. So, yes, in time, this FAN FICTION (oh god, yes. that's what it is.) will go up on ff.net and on places where i WANT people to read it as a finished work. Here? It's my babblings that may or may not end up in the fiction.

If you're not into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Fan Fiction, please skip all posts using this icon: . They'll also be tagged "NaNo" if you're looking to just read what i've got written this november.



Hey, sally. Keep me on track. ...cause i can't wait to see YOUR next portion!

Here's My Progress: