stabby stab!

In other news, J got his first puncture wound last night after stepping on one of my size two, steel, double pointed needles.

It was driven in approximately two inches.. and at a fairly good angle. I admit, I lied to him and told him it wasn't in very far, and that it must be the angle giving him trouble to remove it. But truthfully, it was far enough that he couldn't pull it out. In fact, he had to brace himeself while I did.

When my first two, firm yet polite tugs yielded no fruit (or pinkish silver dpn), I nearly thought we should maybe leave it in, and hit the ER. I was concerned that at that depth, maybe the needle plugging that hole could be a good thing. He wanted it out, and the third time it came (completely unwillingly).

On the bad side (BAD AMANDA!) I was filled with a mixture of concern and laughter. If it had been my foot, pictures would have been taken before withdrawal of the needle.

Not a lot of blood, but a pretty good sized hole. I slapped some bag balm on it and gave him a clean cotton hiking (arch supported) sock. (Notice how that keeps in the theme with my trekking yarn and my trek-a-long, knit-a-long sock). I told him to soak it in epsom salts. Today he is supposed to be investigating getting a tetnus shot.

After a bit of the pain subsided, he began to freak out, worried that he had wrecked my sock- he thought it was a needle that had been carrying stitches, but it was the fifth needle that had been poking out of the ball of trekking.

One more adventure in my trek-a-long, knit-a-long sock.

Use this story as a warning. I reminded him to remember this, the next time he annoyed me and I threatened to stab him with one of my double pointed sticks of doom.

that darn cat

This week has been a whirlwind of medical stuff, with doc appointments literally every day. Wednesday even had two. I had an ultrasound of my kidneys this morning. Whee. Back to the doc on Tuesday, then again a week from Wednesday and another the next day. That's all I have, that I know of, for now.

This morning we were up wicked early to get Elvis to the vet on time. The kitties didn't want me to get any sleep last night- they were standing on me, staring at me, demanding to know why their dishes were empty. Sad state of affairs when the trio is subject to the diet restrictions of the little patient. As soon as Elvis was crated this morning, Alex and Spooky were ready to dine.

As for my little man, he and his inflated ear were delivered to Dr. Tracy's office at 7:20 this morning. He should be in surgery now, with them calling me in the 1300-1400 range for an update, its fairly likely he will need to spend the night. Cait is terribly worried about him, and I guess I am too. No one wants to hear things like 'infectious' and 'potentially gangrenous' in relation to their baby, (even if the baby is cat-shaped).

Cait is off on a day camp field trip to the Rose theatre to see a production of 101 Dalmations, followed by a picnic. She wanted me to leave her at the vet's this morning with Elvis. eek.

Fireworks tonight for Papillion Days, should be a good time. I love me some fireworks. We had plans of coffee and hitting Simon Joyner and Ted Stevens at an art opening downtown, but its just too much after such a long day. We should be at Sunday coffee for sure.

From my apartment, to the vet, to the day camp and downtown to Creighton Med Center... all by 0810 and with a nearly two year old in tow.

I am so ready for a nap, just need to stop fretting about the darn cat.

home again

Elvis is home, repaired, and looking beat down. His ear is shaved, he has one of those cone dealies and last but not least.. hot pink stitches.
My punk li'l babe.



He is sore, tired.. and pissed.

more kitty woe

Thursday at the vet was rather eventful.

While Elvis was mite- free, he did have a bacterial infection in both ears. They think after we mite- treated him in December (and cleaned his grubby ears) apparently down deep there was some gunk left over. Gunk is infected.

My lovely boy, from shaking and scratching his ears, did a lovely combination of seperating the two layers of skin on his little ear, and burst the blood vessels contained therein. His swollen ear was not from pus or something ick, but backed up blood. They lanced his ear to drain the blood, shot it full of steroids in an effort to convince the layers to reattach and sent me home with a sad kitty, some ear washing gunk, and some antibiotic drops.

If luck was with us, this would solve the problem.

Unfortunately, its not looking to be the case. Friday evening his ear started to swell again.. its been swelling more each day- its refilling with blood. Elvis is going to need surgery to drain it and properly tend to his ear. Freaking lovely.

I need to be a little less broke, so that I won't have that guilty feeling- the one associated with me having to pause and figure out financing, and lamenting my cat's wounds because of how they affect *my* life. our first visit cost the gas and electric bills. This next one is looking to be like, half my rent.

Crap.

A week of trekking a long

Last Thursday was the kick off of the Trek-a-long, knit-a-long. I am pretty excited, having this be my first foray into socks. I've been playing with random yarns on DPNs for the last week or so, trying to get comfortable with the technique and ready for this endeavor.

My first trip into the wild with my trekking yarn, was at the Fontenelle Forest. On this particular visit, I went on the one mile riverview boardwalk trail. Its a great trail for those are easing their way into hiking, or those with small children or disabilities. As it happens, I went with my daughter (in a wheelchair), my two year old nephew (in a stroller) and my friends James. There are no stairs along this route and there are rails located throughout this trail. While there are some steeper grades, they are broken up with switchbacks and many benches and resting areas can be found along the trail. (perfect for sitting down and enjoying the wild with some knitting).

Trekking XXL in colourway #123

as modeled with two size 2DPNs and a couple of rows of my 'DPN practice'

Throughout the week, I spent some frenzied and frazzled time working on my first sock ever, a toe up thigh high number. Let's just say I made some mistakes. I kept chalking them up as "don't stress out, its your first sock." For about the first twenty mini mistakes (including too many rows on the toe cast resulting in a 'resevoir tip') this theory worked, finally as I neared the end of the in-step, i dropped/unraveled about ten stitches in an altercation with one of my cats. Needless to say I took this as the impetus to frog the darn thing and start (nearly) anew- going back to the first couple of rows of the initial toe casting.

Nearly all of the knitting has taken place out doors.. the park, the field... not exactly on the trail, but I'm making a concentrated effort to get as much "trail time" as possible, and do the rest "out doors". I hope everyone else in the trek-a-long has gotten off to a great start!



So this is where she sits now. I am really happy with the way the patten of the yarn is coming through. I think this sock is going to be really fun. (just don't ask me how I'm feeling when its time for me to turn my first heel).

call me the ever panicking mom

Monday, in addition to other events, like Cait smashing her face in being "independent", I came home to discover that Elvis's ear looks like its about to explode, and not in a good way. I called and tried to get him into the vet, and four of six are out of town this week, and tomorrow at noon is the first appointment I could get. Each day, his ear has gotten more swollen, tonight its discoloured and so inflated.. it looks like it wants to burst.

My baby is pathetic, I am guessing its some sort of abcess/ infection thing, that will result in antibiotics and them possibly popping it. I think that could completely disgust me.



my poor, poor baby kitty.