Be patient with me while I obsess

I know, I know: I'm obsessing.

Snowball's blood work came back with only a very few things slightly elevated and the vet thinks that was just due to the stress of being at his office and getting blood work. He has no idea what is wrong.

Snowball is spending the weekend at the vet's office. He's crated, lying on a heating pad with an IV.

The vet promised to call me today to give me an update. At 12:30 I got a little upset that he hadn't called yet because I knew the office closed at 1. I called them. They changed their hours (or else I was just wrong) and they closed at 12. So, I have no clue how my cat is doing. They're not open tomorrow, either.

They had my phone number, my cell and my husband's cell. GRRRR.

I'm hoping that it is safe to assume he is still alive. Surely they would have called me otherwise. I'm hoping he gets better.

Snowball joined us every day for school. He thought it was quite funny to lie down on Thomas's work. He loved to bat the pencil, too. He looks like a big, fat cat in this photo, but it's mostly hair.

Not looking good

Another post about our kitty.

We took him to the vet this morning. He is dehydrated, but worse, his temperature is three degrees below normal. The vet said that is typically a sign that "they are on their way out."

We left him there as they are going to run blood tests and give him an IV.

It doesn't look good, in all honesty.

Thomas has been bawling all morning. This is the cat who sleeps with him every night. This is the cat who lies on his math book and bats his pencil during school. This is the cat we love with all our hearts -- all three humans in the house.

This is just out of the blue. Oh, so sad.

I have a bad feeling

My kitty is sick. Our precious white kitty who found my husband at work one day. Our loving, snuggling kitty who adores Thomas. I have a very bad feeling about this.

Kitty got sick a couple days ago -- all over the entire house. Even on my one-year-old love seat and carpet. I didn't complain like I might if there was a hairball, because I knew he was really sick. I didn't think to take him to the vet, either. Just thought it was a bug of some sort.

Today Kitty did not bother us during school like he normally does. We finally took a break in search of him. He was lying on his side with his mouth open. He looked dead. He wasn't. He was very lethargic, though. I carried him up the stairs and brought up a litter box for him. He finally drank just a touch of water and used his box. Then I tried to hold and pet him like he loves. He wanted no part of that. He jumped down, with great effort, and sat at the other side of the room watching us. Finally he lied down.

Tonight I lied down on the floor next to him and he let me pet him. He didn't purr, but he moved his head into my hand. I could tell he was enjoying this. I watched his eyes and they just don't look well. His mouth is funny colored as well.

I will be a basket case if he dies. I love this cat. Thomas loves this cat. If he makes it through the night, I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning.

My world just wouldn't be the same without him. Sigh.

$1 of fun and some other things

We went to the dollar store tonight. We needed balloons for science experiments. I had a huge ziplock bag full of balloons, but they disappeared. I bet if I went and cleaned under Thomas's bed, I'd find them.

A friend of mine showed a picture of a cute clay creation her daughter made. It was precious and made me want to play with clay. There are two brand-new Sculpey kits upstairs hidden away for Christmas presents. I really didn't want to get into those, so was thrilled when we happened to find boxes of modeling clay at the dollar store.

We bought one box.

That one box provided 2 1/2 hours of play tonight -- play by Thomas and me. It was cheap clay, though. When we started working it in our hands, our hands turned colors. Mine were green and Thomas's hands were blue. They still are, even after washing them numerous times.

Thomas made a cute hermit crab and a darling bird. He's feeling sad because all six of his hermit crabs died, so he had to make a new one. (No, they weren't molting.) I just made messes.

We had a ball.

It got me to thinking, deep in the far regions of our homeschool room closet is a Sculpt Now kit. We got it this summer, watched the video, and for some strange reason, put it away. Perhaps I should dig that out.

***

School today went much better. We spread it out over the day and finished at 5:30. We took a long break between each subject. That was kind of nice. Thomas and I lied down on the living room floor and did geography together. Last year it was his favorite subject. This year it's his least favorite subject aside from math. So I tried to make it fun. To me it felt like we had really connected to each other as we learned. (Yes, we.) Thomas said it was "kinda' fun. Oh well.

*****

I got news that the cowboy is not doing well. It seems he is only eating ice cream and not wanting to drink anything. He's losing weight rapidly. He's in and out frequently. It breaks my heart -- but it's life. The day my mom died, we had a long talk. In fact, it was minutes before she died unexpectedly. She said to me: Death is a part of life. You're born, you live, you die. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's only hard on those you leave behind. She was right. It's hard to watch happening, though.

I think the best thing that I can personally do to honor both the cowboy and my mom is just to live my life without worrying about them. It makes the mundane days seem special, because in reality, they are.

Our pancake breakfast (for supper)

(Sorry for yet another blurry photo.)

We didn't make it out to breakfast for pancakes, but we did have them for supper. Thomas and I had a long talk about school. I took my paper and a list of all we needed to accomplish in school. We looked it over, talked it out, cussed and discussed. Oh wait, we didn't cuss. Well, he didn't, I'm sure with my potty mouth I had to have said one bad word during the meal.

At any rate, we scribbled out schedules, we crossed things out, we arranged and we re-arranged.
We both agreed on a final schedule that includes everything, but not on a day-to-day basis. Gulp. Mom is feeling a little panic that we'll get everything done that needs to be done. However, the pressure also just seemed to lift from my shoulders.

I just read at Carole's blog how she dropped vocabulary for both her boys and was "trimming her sails." I was thankful she posted that because it helped me in letting go. Thomas loves vocabulary and excels at it, so instead of dropping it, we are reducing it to two times a week instead of four.

We've made several reductions, and all these reductions we made will enable us to hit the big subjects that we have, sadly, been hit and miss with: US History, World History, and Science.

So I'm feeling a little better, Thomas is feeling much better, and we'll give this adjusted schedule a few weeks to see how it goes.

And as Heather suggested in the comments section (thanks!) -- we have decided if we are climbing the walls with boredom or from being antsy, we will get in the car and hit the library.

Whew. Crossing my fingers on this.

Mom, School's boring

Yup, Thomas uttered the words I didn't want to hear this afternoon.

"Mom, school is boring. We do the same thing day after day after day after day."

And he's right.

Our homeschool has slowly evolved into public school at home, only with more subjects.

I have to admit that I am bored as well.

Problem is, I'm out of ideas. I just don't know how to shake things up. The only thing I could even fathom is doing a week of science and nothing else. Problem with that is he'll get behind on math, and at this point we can't afford to get behind on math. Yeah, I suppose we could do math and science all week.

Argh.

Today I thought it would be fun to listen to a Kids Bop Halloween CD while we did school. Oh, no, Thomas couldn't have that, it was too distracting.

All my visions of cool school have flown out the window.

I think tomorrow morning I'll take Thomas out for a pancake breakfast. I'll take a notebook with me and we'll sit and brainstorm.

I'm curious what others do if their school gets boring!

PMS

The Hormone Hostage knows that there are days in the month when all a man has to do is open his mouth and he takes his life in his own hands! This is a handy guide that should be as common as a driver's license in the wallet of every husband, boyfriend, co-worker or significant other!

DANGEROUS:	SAFER:	SAFEST:	ULTRA SAFE:
What's for dinner?	Can I help you with dinner?	Where would you like to go for dinner?	Here, have some wine.
Are you wearing that?	Wow, you sure look good in brown!	WOW! Look at you!	Here, have some wine
What are you so worked up about?	Could we be overreacting?	Here's my paycheck.	Here, have some wine.
Should you be eating that?	You know, there are a lot of apples left.	Can I get you a piece of chocolate with that?	Here, have some wine.
What did you DO all day?	I hope you didn't over-do it today.	I've always loved you in that robe!	Here, have some more wine.

13 Things PMS Stands For:

1 Pass My Shotgun

2 Psychotic Mood Shift

3 Perpetual Munching Spree

4 Puffy Mid-Section

5 People Make me Sick

6 Provide Me with Sweets

7 Pardon My Sobbing

8 Pimples May Surface

9 Pass My Sweat pants

10. Pissy Mood Syndrome

11. Plainly; Men Suck

12. Pack My Stuff

and my favorite one.

13. Potential Murder Suspect

Pass this on to all of your hormonal friends and those who might need a good laugh!

...Or men who need a warning.

And remember: Money talks .... but Chocolate SINGS!!!