Just another day in paradise...

What a week it's been- things have been soo stressful lately! There's a Phil Vassar song "Just Another Day in Paradise" that really sums up my emotions...even though it's been an insane week- I still have to remember to put things into perspective & count my blessings- family, friends, furbabies, school/clinicals, roof over my head, and Jack- my amazing God-fearing boyfriend that always seems to know how to magically make everything better even when things seem to be falling apart around me and I get frusterated. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR4Y6Ll0DwA )

 Here's the low-down  (why I've been absent from blogging the last few days, please excuse the mini-novel and spelling errors (it's late and I've had a pain killer & muscle relaxer for my back/neck injuries!) :

Last Saturday I adopted Tommy & Cecilia- two very sweet special needs kitties- I may have them for a few good days or a few good years just depending on their health- eithor way, they're going to have a loving home!


Monday I made a good grade on an incredably difficult test! (Ya!!! I was doing a little bit of a happy dance that afternoon!)


Tuesday some horrid woman (with NO car insurance) hit my car on my way to clinicals...it was a nightmare. (I had the right of way and was going straight at a green light when she decided like an idiot to turn left and slam into the drivers side of my car). To top it all off- my insurance company is trying to give me hell- so that is NOT helping at all. (You better believe I have every last thing documented -reports, paperwork, pictures, estimates, etc..EVERYTHING and I'm getting legal advice) I'm just greatful that I was not severly injured and that I've had some loving friends/family help me out through this difficult week.

Wed & Thrs- chaos trying to figure out car rides/insurance,clinicals, etc- My sweet boyfriend Jack helped drive me around and tried his best to cheer me up- He always makes me smile, even on tough days when I'm frusterated and upset. He brought over "The Blindside" and "Facing the Giants" each night- both were wonderful movies and both had great messages!

Friday- spent ALL day at body shops getting estimates for my car (apparently, it's totaled) then I spent the rest of the evening visiting with my Dad and stepmom, Gina (who I haven't seen in years). It was great to catch up and try to build a relationship. Friday night I got to have a late dinner with my sweet boyfriend Jack- he's such a blessing in my life! :) My dad is being very kind and letting me borrow his truck until I get my car fixed- that's a HUGE blessing!

Saturday I made an emergency call to my doctors office (who is thankfully open Saturdays!) and was able to get in- I tried to tough out the neck/back pain I was having all week long from the car wreck- but it got to the point that I couldn't tolerate it anymore. Multiple x-rays later- I have severe sprains to my neck/back/ whiplash, and was having severe back & neck spasms so my doctor wound up giving me some medicine to help. I go back in a week for another x-ray and will potentially need physicial therapy as a result of the car wreck on Tuesday (yuck!). The one nice thing about that trip to the doctors office was stepping onto the scale and seeing that my latest exercise attempts had paid off and I had lost a little bit of weight! (Had to end that on a positive note!)


Sunday- well since it's technically after midnight- I spent quite a while chopping up some amazing fresh veggies and preparing a beef pot roast in the crock pot! I LOVE cooking when I have the time- it's soo theraputic when you've had a tough week! I can't wait to wake up in the morning and have it all finished! My sweet friend Rachel is comming over later today and I will be helping her plan her wedding. After that, possibly a double date with Jack and some friends of ours- if not, lots of studying and just hanging out with Jack instead- eithor way, I'm happy!

Now, here's the background on the two new furry additions (and the last ones until I move into a bigger place or create a clone of myself to take care of more;) )

Last Saturday I went into the local rescue my friend owns to adopt one of her special needs cats since she is having to likely close down her shop after years of operation due to lack of funding. (I used to work as a vet tech, so I didn't mind helping out with a special needs kitty- It is absolutely no issue for me to administer medicine or IV's whereas most people wouldn't be comfortable with that.) My friend is trying to line up over 100 homes right now for all of the cats in her care in the even that she has to close her doors. She has been in operations since the early 90's and has adopted out over 8,500 cats to loving homes. (If anyone wants details about how to adopt/foster- please let me know!)

While I was there filling out the paperwork on little Tommy (He is a gorgeous 8 yr old Maine Coon with the most outgoing personality! He is also in CRF (renal failure) and requires daily medication and IV's drips 3x a week.) a little decrepit looking kitty ran over to me- poor little lamb looks like she has one paw in the litter pan and the other in the grave. I picked her up to love on her while I filled out Tommy's paperwork, and long story short- 20 minutes later I never put her down and told my friend to get me another carrier haha...she is 20 years old and the only issue she has is gingivostomatitis (a bacterial infection in her mouth that she gets a shot for once a month.) Other than that she's in perfect shape- just needs a loving home to live out her golden days in. I wound up fostering them both for a week to see how they would acclimate into my home environment, but after the second day I made them both permenant ID tags. ;) They are both soo sweet and loving- they just needed a special home that would look past their age/medical issues and give them a good life, be it a few days or a few years.While I was driving in the car on the way home (in a deluge of rain nontheless) with them both, the Simon and Garfunkel song "Cecilia" came on over the radio, and well...it stuck for the little 20 yr old kitty! I kept Tommy's name the same since it suited him and I named my sweet new girl, Cecilia. Welcome home Tommy and Cecilia! :) (They're both doing lovely by the way and get along soo well with my other pets. Tommy is a good little trooper about getting his regular IV drips too!

Cecilia (Some punk dumped her off in front of the rescue over a year ago- in the middle of January when it was below freezing outside...she's over 20 yrs old. I hope Karma bites someone in the rear end! This sweet girl will never have to worry about being abandoned in the cold again!) I will try to get more pictures of her once she is groomed- should be soon! :)

Tommy (He is quickly becomming my little shadow- he follows me around everwhere and constantly wants to be held. He is the most sweet, loving kitty ever! Mischevious as hell too! - He opens up EVERY cabinent in my kitchen/ bathroom when given the chance!)

Tommy & Ranger are quickly becomming best buddies!

Yes, Tommy and Cecilia are special needs- but they both deserve a good loving home to live out their lives in, reguardless of how long that may be. I would definitely encourage everyone who has the time, $, energy, love, and room to add a pet to consider adoping a senior or special needs animal. They can be just as loving as any other pet and giving them a good home is soo rewarding! As far as medical needs go- many vets will offer their services free of charge when you work through shelters/rescues to adopt.

For all of my Ranger fans...as of today, he's 18 weeks old and weighs 27.3lbs (that's over 5lb weight gain in two weeks!) and he had a blast in his puppy class today as well! He wound up doing his class at one Petsmart and then driving with my sister and I to the grand opening of the new one to visit Jack (he's working at the new store). We had fun visiting the new place and they had lots of nice give-a-ways! Ranger pretty much went everywhere with me today (2 pet stores, running errands, my sister's house, etc...I'm trying to acclimate him to as much as possible while he's young so that he will be a good pick for therapy work later on). He is becomming quite the frisbee dog too! I adore this little guys soo much and am soo happy to have him in my life!

18 weeks old

Ranger hung out with my sister's dog Bailey today

Ranger likes to hang out with my sister's Chinese Cresteds (Toby & Mac)

And to end on a bit of a funny note- apparently there is a mushroom growing in my indoor palm plant??? Not sure how that happened, but it looks kinda cute, so I left it alone!