Poor Marbles

So today I did an irrational thing. I took in an injured cat. Here's the story...

While browsing the "Pets" section on Craigslist the other day, I saw an ad for a free cat. I don't want another cat, but I clicked on it anyway, just to see what lame excuse this person has for getting rid of their pet. However, it turns out that they're giving the cat away because she has a large infected wound on her side and they can't afford to take her to the vet.

I felt compelled to help so I emailed the owner to get more information. Turns out, the cat has had this wound for at least a month, and she's isn't walking much anymore...mostly just lays in one spot all day. I knew that if someone didn't do something, the cat would die soon, so I asked Dimas if I can step in. Thankfully, he said yes!

I picked her up today and she was in worse shape than I expected. Malnourished, dehydrated, and with a ridiculously large and complex-looking infected wound on her chest & right side. I took her straight to the vet, who tested her for FLV & FIV. Luckily, she was negative for both. Since there really wasn't a large abscess to drain, he decided to give her an IV with fluids and penicillin and gave me some antibiotics to give her at home. He told me that the wound looked like an old dog bite and he had never seen one that bad. On top of that, she's not much more than skin and bones, so he told me to let her eat as much kitten food as she wants. This alone should help to fight off the infection. At least I hope so....if it doesn't get better she'll need surgery.

So, I cost our family $140 by doing this and though I know it wasn't the right thing to do monetarily, it still feels like it was the right thing to do in every other way. The family that had her was in pretty bad shape. The house was in more of a disarray than I've ever seen....and I'm pretty messy. No car, no money....and they had a couple of skinny dogs and little kittens that they were trying to keep fed....I hope by taking their cat I've helped them in some small way. They seemed like really nice people...the husband even cried when I took the cat away. Sigh.

Her original name was "Mommy Cat" (How creative, right? lol), but Dimas has since deemed her "Marbles." Cute name! I knew he could do it! He's been so great about all of my craziness, and the first thing he did when he got home was go check on her.

I'm hoping to get her healthy, spay her through one of those free or low-cost programs, and then get her adopted into a loving home. I've been trying to contact local rescue organizations to see if they can assist in any way....especially with finding her a new home...but no responses so far. She seems to be doing pretty well, considering. She's a quiet, very sweet cat who likes to be rubbed behind the ears, just like most cats.

Yuna, by contrast, is fat and healthy and extremely curious about our new visitor. Her nose was glued under the door of the office, where Marbles is recovering. There was some hissing and growling, but that's to be expected.

Anyway, here's hoping she doesn't end up needing surgery. Pray for a speedy cat healing!

Doctors are silly people

Interestingly enough, Dimas and I both had doctor appointments today. (Isn't our life Exciting?!) He went to get the old headaches checked out, and I went to return my new ones. They still had the tags, so I figured it would be okay. Turns out Excedrin Migraine is supposedly better than prescribed headache pain meds. Who knew? Too bad I hate swallowing pills and will never budge from my stubborn position.

My new PCM (that's primary care manager, for you lucky non-military folks) is a chummy old chap who likes to tell me how to live my life. Him: "Exercise, stretch and just try to lead an overall healthy life." Me: "I thought you were supposed to tell me things I didn't know. Interesting, medical things. Do you even watch House??" Him: "No, but I hear it's a great show." Me: "Oh, but it is!"

That's pretty much how I assume everyone's doctor appointments go. I just heard two gunshots from not more than a couple of blocks away! I hate this neighborhood.....

Anyway, all in all it was a winning kind of day.

Also, I've determined that I'm "nesting." I thought you had to be preggo to do that? Ah well...till next time!

Politics on the brain

So, like more than a few Americans, I'm on the fence about who I'm voting for in the upcoming presidential election. Dimas is certain he's voting Obama, but I think the McCain/Palin ticket does not necessarily mean another four years of the Bush administration. Palin's speech at the GOP convention was definitely interesting, but I'm not a small town gal with 5 kids so I can't say I relate to her 100%. Still, putting the governor's luxury jet up for auction on ebay does say something about who she is. The research will continue, because ultimately policy is what will matter.

The job search continues as well. It's getting to the point where I'm actually considering volunteering for medical research. Hopefully something will surface or I'll hear from at least one potential employer. Wish me luck, the one person who might actually read this. :)

First Post Ever...Cripes!

Hello, blogger world. I've finally decided to try and do this blogging thing once and for all. I have no idea how these things are supposed to go, so bear with me. I guess I'm supposed to introduce myself, so I've decided to do a long, drawn-out, kind of boring post about how Dimas & I got to where we are right now. So, without further ado, here is what our life has been like as a married couple thus far:

January 1, 2005: Tied the proverbial knot. I was 23 and he was 25 at the time, and he had just joined the Army. We got married on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX during his Christmas exodus from "boot camp." (Que romantico!)

January 3, 2005: He went back to finish up his basic training in GA, and I began my final semester of college. Woo hoo...fun times. He graduated at the end of January, and I drove up with his family to see him for like 2 days.

June something, 2005: I graduate from college (go me!) and Dimas graduates from AIT in AZ (go him!). I fly out to see him graduate and we drive with his family up to Vegas (go fun!) to spend a few days with his mom & sis. We then flew our little selves back to San Antonio to pick up my car and few personal belongings and drove the 15 hours to Colorado Springs, CO...his first duty station. We live in peace for a few months, and then...

November 28, 2005: Dimas deploys in support of OIF. For a year. No fair. And to top it off, it was like 5 degrees the night he left. I'll have to figure out how to put pictures up. Somewhere in the months leading up to his deployment he did a month-long training at NTC (which he hated) and I got my appendix removed. I thought that was worth mentioning. Oh, and Dimas bought a $1500 Isuzu Trooper, which he still has and loves dearly. I move back to my dad's house in San Antonio and work for the IRS. It only makes fiscal sense.

May something, 2006: Dimas comes home for mid-tour leave. Yay. Unfortunately, my grandpa passed away and a family member had a premature baby which didn't survive, so it was also a very hard time for me & my family. It was great to see him, though, and there were some fun times. Las Vegas (again) and my college roommate's wedding were a couple of highlights. Oh, and we bought our first new car together....the inFAMOUS Subaru Forester (or as we dubbed it, the "Boobadoo"). He was home for a few weeks.

September 2006: I head back to Colorado Springs to wait for Dimas' return, with the help of my mom and some of her friends. I get a little apartment and have little furniture, but Dimas' sister came out to visit with me and it cured me of the lonlies. She also helped me pick out a couch, which I would've been useless at doing on my own.

November something, 2006: Dimas comes home, safe and sound! Thank the heavens! We both had to adjust, but we did and all went well.

February something, 2007: We adopt the Yuna Cat from the Humane Society. She almost dies of an URI, but instead she lives and becomes the world's most spoiled cat.

May 2007: This is unexplainable. We buy our first house in Colorado Springs, CO, knowing full well it's a silly thing to do. We do it anyway and live to (sort of) regret it, because.....

September 2007: Dimas gets orders to PCS to Monterey, CA, and he has two weeks to get there! Yikes! We were in a frenzy, but we eventually got the house rented out and somehow made the move to beautiful Monterey, CA. This was a blessing, because had he not gotten the orders, he would've deployed right back to Iraq with the rest of his unit (poor guys and gals).

October 2007: I get a job working with the City of Monterey. Dimas learns Spanish at DLI. All is well, except Monterey's boring. Pretty. But boring. For us anyway. Other things happen...I make some good friends, a Disneyland trip happens, I see the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen....so all in all it was enjoyable. Which brings us to:

August 2008: Dimas graduated from DLI in July and officially knows Spanish now! He got orders to PCS to Ft. Lewis, WA so I quit my job and we made the trek two states northward. Turns out I really miss that foggy old town...Monterey...but I'm sure I'll learn to like WA as well. We have an apartment and are enjoying our time together. I'm job-hunting and Dimas is busy leading a squad of 6 soldiers, because he's an NCO now. :) Life has been good for us and we're thankful for every day we have together. Awww....

So there you have it. Now that you're all caught up, I'll try and keep this thing updated with new adventures and happenings and/or just my random thoughts about the world at large. I have a lot of those, so brace yourselves. Take care, all.

Yours truly,
Crystal